For Our Good

Being the frugal sort, our family tries to reuse everything we possibly can. Despite my children's exasperated eye-rolls, I ask them to wash baggies so we can get more life out of them. Every bottle from shampoo to dishwashing detergent gets rinsed of the entirety of its contents before it goes into the recycle bin. More often than not, my kids Goodwill clothes don't make it back into recirculation due to their being well worn-out! And we refilled purchased water bottles until I began hearing about the toxicity of BPA, bisphenol A, leaching into our water.

Yesterday, I read through the posting and comments on GNOWFLINS discussing BPA-free freezer storage. Yet one more hazard to defend our families from. I'm sure it's not just me - sometimes it takes me a while to determine not to turn my back on new information that makes life harder. I mean, the day before this, I was ignorant of this peril in my pantry. Now, I have to either knowingly ignore this danger, or determine to incorporate changes for our protection. After a day of absorbing and ruminating amidst the stuff of life, I determined we will begin phasing out our plastics and bringing in glassware and pyrex.

I have not listened to it yet, but it just so happens that on the heels of these thoughts of change in our family, NPR held a piece on it's show today concerning this very topic: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/01/by_nell_greenfieldboyce_the_fo.html

For those who are new to this subject, read this from the Environmental Working Group:
BPA - At some of the very lowest doses the chemical causes permanent alterations of breast and prostate cells that precede cancer, insulin resistance (a hallmark trait of Type II diabetes), and chromosomal damage linked to recurrent miscarriage and a wide range of birth defects including Down's syndrome (vom Saal and Hughes 2005). Few chemicals have been found to consistently display such a diverse range of harm at such low doses.

I know my Dad thinks that I'm becoming a (colorful adjective), tree-hugging, eco-nut, earth muffin. (Believe it or not, I was once listed with the Green Party - in California, of all places! And I regularly enjoyed Earth Day celebrations for a number of years, to my Father's disdain.) Once my life was given to Christ, my views of earthly stewardship found their purpose and home, joining with my love for my family, the world, it's people, and my Creator.

"Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so."

As complicated as life gets, some things are really quite simple. The words of Genesis speak of life as it was intended from the beginning. Yes, we have corrupted it, and continue to try to work things for what we deem to be our own good. The lesson I am learning is that the closer I get to what He created for our good, the better.