Think having a green corner in your parish newsletter or bulletin is a great idea, but don’t have time to research or write one? Episcopal Climate News is here to help! Every Monday, to help Christians live out our faith in daily life, Episcopal Climate News offers a green-living tip and a theological quote that your parish can use in its weekly newsletter or bulletin. Just copy/paste the text below for your parish communications, and feel free to edit as space requires. Share this week’s column on Facebook.
Living on God’s Earth
By Episcopal Climate News, facebook.com/EpiscopalClimateNews
This week’s earth-friendly living tip: Use bar soap to wash your hands and body
Bar soap has a 25% smaller carbon footprint than liquid soap — and no, it isn’t covered in germs!
In 2009, Swiss scientists found that even though liquid soap has a smaller impact on land use, bar soap is still better for climate change. The environmental website Grist.org sums up the study’s findings: “For one, it requires a lot more energy to produce liquid soaps — about five times more. For two, liquid soaps can come with up to 20 times more packaging than a humble bar soap… Liquid soap also contains a lot of water, which means those bulky plastic bottles are heavier and much less efficient to ship — so its carbon footprint from transportation is a lot larger. And once we finally have the bottles in our bathrooms, we tend to use much more of it: about seven times more per washing session.” Read more from Grist: https://grist.org/living/whats-the-greener-choice-bar-soap-or-body-wash/
If you’re worried that bar soap isn’t hygienic, know that the Mayo Clinic says bar soaps and liquid soaps are equally acceptable. Research shows that even when germs do accumulate on bar soap, they don’t transfer to your hands.
The takeaway: We should choose bar soap when we can, in both the bathroom and the kitchen! When you do have to use liquid soap, whether in public or at home, stop first to ask yourself: How much do I really need? Often just half a pump is enough to turn into a nice foamy lather, reducing the carbon footprint of multiple pumps.
Episcopal Climate News quote of the week:
“We begin loving ourselves and the planet that sustains us more effectively by starting earthcare projects in our own community organizations. From there we can move on to address global concerns. We also consider what we preach, teach, and practice about the earth as we consciously develop healthy spiritualities. It is necessary to move beyond the notion that ‘man’ is supposed to ‘dominate’ the earth rather than love it as we love our own bodies. This vital step toward liberation is interlocked with steps that resist the interlocking oppressions of patriarchy, classism, racism, and homophobia.” – Professor Karen Baker-Fletcher, Sisters of Dust, Sisters of Spirit
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