More Plastic - and more Prompting!

I started to carry out a 'plastic inventory' as part of yesterday's task:

Milk Bottle,

toothpaste tube,

Toothbrush,

Light switch,

Recycling box(!)

Wheelie Bin (!!)

Car dash board (actually a large amount of the car)

The list goes on and on...

I even bought some metal screws from a hardware shop and they were in a little plastic bag - as if they were going to be protected by it! Obviously it was used to keep them together.

As I became more aware because I was consciously looking for the plastic I became more concerned at the over use of this very versatile product. Equally concerned that people sleep walk into using plastic unnecessarily. Fortunately we have a cost attached to plastic carriers in Scotland. I would always avoid usin one in favour of a personal bag anyway - but nowadays you see many less supermarket bags. So that's good - but I guess it's often because of the accumulated added cost rather than some newfound Eco-awareness that may be going on.

Awareness - that's the key for me. This is my fathers world - I don't want to mess it up or break it, or even add to someone else's mess. Awareness for me means changing habits of a lifetime and looking after this amazing space He has provided for us. So I'm still going to try to ditch even more plastic and be careful with the resources that are mine - because they are a gift from Him.

That 'Awareness' needs to move beyond the resources and out to the people in this world, being aware of opportunities - or rather promptings from the Holy Spirit - to help others, make their day easier, their burden of life a little lighter.

When Catherine preaches she will sometimes say that if we are walking closely with God the first response to a situation will be spiritual because Jesus is within us, then almost immediately our selfish voice persuades us away from and action. 'Go with the first voice - it's God' she will say. 

How many people have gone without because I have not responded generously at God's instruction? Today I am on high alert to hear and act...

Plastic: not just a flexible friend but a friend for life!

So yesterday was about encouraging and thanking people and today is about not scooping up the earths resources and devouring them in unthinking ways (presumably if we thought a bit more we wouldn't use them so aggressively!). Particularly I am being encouraged to ditch the plastic...

Well yesterday I was able to give a little 'thank you' gift to five of my colleagues who often come in for a hard time because of the nature of the work they do - bricks and mortar can be very unexciting and quite frustrating for those not 'in the know'. So I shared some chocolate with them. Also I had five interviews/significant conversations with folks yesterday. And in all of them I really looked for the excellent work that had been done as they fed back - and it was no problem. They are great people, humble people, who do what they do because of the. God they serve - I heard myself saying a number of times in the conversations "thanks - that's excellent work" it wasn't difficult because it was the truth.

Thanking people is pretty much a default setting of mine so it's not difficult to do especially, today I want to ramp it up a bit and write out to a few people I don't see very often and than them...

Today's 'real' task from #40acts is to reduce my consumption of plastic - and other things that eat up the resources of the earth. So here are some targets: I will use a glass or mug not a plastic cup. I will not use a plastic carrier (I rarely do so not a real challenge), I will go through all the bins in the house and and separate plastics and paper and glass and make sure what needs recycling gets recycled.

I'll also monitor (and maybe take a picture of) all the plastic that goes through my hands in the day - and really be mindful about it's use and abuse - and try not to add to the problem!