Enough for Everyone

Celebrating World Fair Trade Day

Happy World Fair Trade Day!  The big day is tomorrow, May 10, but congregations and communities will be celebrating all month long.  There are many ways to join in the festivities.  People in 70 nations around the world will be spreading the good news about fair trade by hosting events such as food tastings, house parties, festivals, concerts and even fashion shows! 

In the US a number of organizations are working together to make WFTD 2008 the largest celebration of its kind.  Join up with one of the 100+ events planned around the country, or plan one of your own.  World Fair Trade Day is endorsed by IFAT (the International Fair Trade Association), a global association of over 300 organizations in 70 countries.

If you are part of a congregation that participates in the Presbyterian Coffee Project, feature World Fair Trade Day during worship and fellowship times all month.  Give a Minute for Mission during worship, write an article for the church newsletter or worship bulletin, hold fair trade sales after worship, the possibilities are endless.  This is a perfect time to educate members about the new products available through the project, including snacks (dried cranberries, pecans and almonds), chocolate bars and cocoas (new Drinking Chocolate and Spicy Hot Cocoa)!

Promote fair trade crafts that are available through the Global Marketplace.  Learn about the various organizations we partner with and choose a craft organization to support this year by holding a sale featuring their products for gift-giving all year long.

Learn about new fair trade certified products, including rice, flowers, sports balls and more.  Consider how you and your congregation can get the word out so that shoppers in your area are looking for these products and so that stores are carrying them.  Consider promoting these products to local restaurants, florists and sports leagues in your community. 

Order the new Fair Trade Bible Study from Partners for Just Trade, which will be released this month.  Use the curriculum with your own Bible Study group, or organize a special group to study these issues.

Learn more about the following nonprofit organizations and their work in fair trade: Coop America, Fair Trade Federation and the Fair Trade Resource Network.

Happy celebrating!

Responding with Hope in Myanmar

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is working hard to bring aid to the people of Myanmar following the cyclone. There are many ways that you can get involved in supporting the relief efforts to help ensure there is enough for the people of Myanmar.

Your congregation can get involved by utilizing appeal cards and bulletin inserts. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has already committed $100,000 from One Great Hour of Sharing and designated funds for emergency assistance. You can give directly through the Extra Commitment Opportunity DR000145 and by continuing to support One Great Hour of Sharing. Together we can work to provide direct aid and relief to the survivors of Cyclone Nargis.

Trouble with the Bottle

Water flows throughout our scriptures as a life giving force: we are baptized with water, our bodies need water to survive, and God is described as a well from which we can drink and thirst no more. For those of us with access to clean, safe drinking water water, it is easy to spend little time thinking about this commodity. However, I have recently been thinking about how I consume water and what this consumption means for me, my health, and for others.

I only drink bottled water when I have no other option. I support the think outside the bottle campaign and other efforts to reduce the privatization of water so that all may have clean, safe drinking water. Water is necessary for survival and should be a commodity to which all people have inexpensive and reliable access. Tap water in the U.S. is nearly always safe to consume without filtration and is strictly controlled and monitored. In contrast to tap water, bottled water is not as strictly regulated, carries a massive carbon footprint, and 8 out of 10 plastic bottles end up in landfills. The environmental impact of bottled water is devastating and strongly contributes to the destruction of God's good creation.

Knowing that bottled water is a bad option, I chose to use a polycarbonate Nalgene bottle. Every day new evidence surfaces about the potential dangers of Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical leached from certain plastics, most notably polycarbonate water bottles (generally listed as #7) and canned foods.

While I find it hard to justify buying a new water bottle when the risks of BPA continue to be listed as "negligible" for adults by the National Institutes for Health, I also do not want to ignore or minimize the potential risks of consuming BPA. The body of evidence against BPA grows steadily as more research is conducted. I am now beginning to avoid products containing BPA all together. The potential developmental risks for children are significantly greater according the National Institutes for Health report on BPA. The New American Dream offers a number of great resources for finding BPA free products for children.

Nalgene is now phasing out plastic bottles made with BPA in response to consumer demand for "safer" bottles. While some Eco-conscious consumers are switching to aluminum bottles, like SIGGs, or stainless steel bottles, like Klean Kanteens, I remain in limbo about what is truly the best water bottle option because no clear, conclusive, long term research provides evidence that any plastic, stainless steel, or aluminum bottles are 100% safe and free of leeching. Each option contains it own perks and risks.

What then is the best option for drinking water from the tap? I have decided to go the simple, sustainable, natural, and ecofriendly way of using and reusing a glass bottle. Glass is a great option because it is infinitely recyclable, easily cleaned, readily sterilized, free from chemical leeching, and inexpensive. Unfortunately glass is breakable and not well suited to adventurous hikes, so I will hold onto my Nalgene for those purposes. I am also excited to craft some sort of casing out of knitted or crocheted wool to help insulate and protect my glass bottle. If I develop a great bottle covering/carrying option I will be sure to include it in a future post. Until then happy and safe drinking!

Happy Arbor Day

I love trees.  I have always loved trees.  The first Presbyterian youth retreat I attended was held in the beautiful north Georgia mountains.  I remember a beautiful morning hike when several of us skipped the morning's activities (and later got in trouble with our leaders) to hike up Black Mountain.  We followed a stream all the way to the top until we reached a gorgeous waterfall.  I took pictures of trees all along the way.  In fact, I took so many pictures of trees, when I got home from the retreat, I had more photos of trees, streams and the waterfall than I had of people and activities! 

This year Arbor Day also falls on my birthday, so today I give thanks for God's precious gift of life--that of my own, and that of life-sustaining trees--everywhere.