In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis reminds us that unlike nature’s life cycle where all waste and by-products are re-used, “our industrial system, at the end of its cycle of production and consumption, has not developed the capacity to absorb and reuse waste and by-products. We have not yet managed to adopt a circular model of production capable of preserving resources for present and future generations” (LS#22).
 
I am motivated to consume less by facts about what happens to clothing and textiles in the landfill :  

• Textiles can take 200+ years to decompose in landfills, generating the greenhouse gas methane.
• Chemicals and dye may leach into the soil eventually contaminating ground water. 
• The volume of clothing Americans throw away each year has doubled in the last 20 years from 7 million to 14 million tons.
• It takes 2,700 liters of water to make one cotton shirt and synthetic blends come with their own set of perils.

We know many options for donating usable clothing and goods, such as local nonprofit thrift stores (Goodwill, The Closet in Herndon, The Clock Tower in Falls Church, Treasure Trove in McLean, Capital Caring’s Thrift Shop at Seven Corners), but what about those old shoes and jeans? Here are a few solutions:
 
Madewell* stores in Tysons and the Mosaic take old (blue or any color) jeans and work with partner Cotton’s Blue Jeans Go Green, who fabricates the jeans into insulation for Habitat for Humanity Homes.  Donate your jeans, keep a home warm and receive a store coupon toward a new pair.

The Teva Forever* program works with Terracycle to turn your old Teva sandals into running tracks, playgrounds and more.

Soles4Souls* focuses on shoes that are distributed in programs in the US and around the world.  Their local collection partners include The North Face, DSW, and mail in donations through Zappos.

​Postage paid mailing labels are available for these programs on their webpages.

Can we all be more mindful of following the Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle this year?

*See reference: https://www.madewell.com/inspo-do-well-denim-recycling-landing.html
https://www.teva.com/tevaforever/
https://soles4souls.org/give-shoes/
https://www.zappos.com/e/soles-4-souls
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How better to commune with God’s creation than by beholding snow covered peaks from the top of a mountain? Breathing the crisp air and feeling the wind as you glide down a frozen slope (or race pell-mell through a mogul field!) surely makes us feel at one with the universe and treasured by God.  
 
Sadly, some ski vistas have changed – while the trails are white, the surrounding countryside is a wintry gray/brown, no snow in sight.  The stark backdrop of the ski venues during opening days at the Winter Olympic Games this year showed this to the world.
 
Recently, a Washington Post Travel section* piece looked at how some ski resorts are responding to climate change. The ski industry is dependent on climate and is also responsible for exacerbating warming that may lead to skiing’s demise.  The article looks at several US ski resorts that are taking action to respond to the needs of the environment as they try to sustain their industry.
 
Aspen Skiing Company captures methane leaking from an old coal mine to produce power to operate the entire resort of four snow hills, hotels and restaurants and stops the methane leak.
 
Taos Ski Valley is a certified B Corporation that considers environment, sustainability and social responsibility in every action. Taos protects the health of water in the Rio Grande by caring for the forests in its watershed. The resort will convert to all solar by the end of this year and be carbon neutral by 2030.
 
Berkshire East Mountain Resort in Massachusetts generates 100% of its electricity on-site using a wind turbine and solar panels, feeding excess power to the local grid. A top-of-mountain pond for snow making uses gravity to reduce power needs.
 
Bluebird Backcountry is a dramatically different type of ski operation that is “human powered,” no lifts, no snow making, no hotels or restaurants. Portable solar panels heat the tents and at the end of the ski season, they disappear leaving the slopes unmarked.
 
These approaches show that, as stewards of creation, we can see with new eyes, asking -- what can we do for the earth? what does the earth need? What can I do today, to show that I value the intrinsic worth of creation?  Whom will I talk to about this?
 
*(How four ski resorts are working to slow their demise, Heather Balogh Rochfort, The Washington Post, Travel, Sunday, February 13, 2022)