From Pope Francis’ “Laudato Si’ ” encyclical an action platform emerged with seven goals intended to guide our individual journeys to integral ecology. One of these goals is “the adoption of sustainable lifestyles.”
This goal challenges each of us every day to thoughtfully use Earth’s finite resources and energy. It’s a wake-up call to become aware that we are speeding past the planetary limits with our participation in current socio-economic systems. As Pope Francis points out, “We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.”
As a society and as individuals, we need to admit the jig is up. Earth can’t sustain the way we live. It’s estimated that the world would need five earths if everyone lived as Americans do.
Using data from 2021, Global Footprint Network determined that by July 29 of that year, the world’s population used more from nature than the planet could renew in the entire year. That date each year is known as “Earth overshoot day.”
From July 29 until Dec. 31, we were in debt to our planet. We had busted Earth’s budget in just seven months. Trends show that “Earth overshoot day” comes earlier every year. In simple terms, we are taking more from the planet than what’s possible for it to give.
In a recent interview Pope Francis said, “Unfortunately, we have gotten to a point of no return. It’s sad, but that’s what it is. … Climate change at this moment is a road to death.”
We can get our planet back in balance, but it means we must make changes.
Think making changes isn’t needed? Warmer temperatures are disrupting the natural life cycle. Insect numbers are dropping. Fewer pollinators mean fewer fruits and vegetables and less food. If phytoplankton in the ocean and trees around us stop producing oxygen, you stop breathing. When the wind stops bringing clouds to where you live, you go thirsty.
But Pope Francis reminds us that the Holy Spirit “keeps the believing community alert and calls it to conversion in lifestyles, to resist human degradation of the environment.”
Like Frodo in the “Lord of the Rings,” we wear a ring; ours has the power of convenience and consumption. And it, too, is increasingly hard to give up. But, like Frodo, we can choose to save our community.
You can start small. Begin with actions like having a meatless day once a week and avoiding overbuying and food waste. Resist fast fashion and buy clothes that last for years, not weeks. Eliminate single-use plastics. Reduce the miles you drive each week.
Know there is no “away.” When you throw something away, it goes somewhere. Convenience and the cry that “we’ve always done that” cannot be reasons for avoiding change.
Let us respond to Pope Francis as he calls “everyone to accompany this pilgrimage of reconciliation with the world that is our home and to help make it more beautiful.”
If you’d like more ideas about how to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle, contact the Archdiocese of Louisville’s Creation Care Team at creationcare@archlou.org.
Mark Reilly is a member of the archdiocese’s Creation Care Team and leads Epiphany Church’s Creation Care Team. He is retired from GE Energy where he served as a manager of communications and public relations.
Well stated. Thank you, Mark.