I am always proud to be a Unitarian Universalist, but there are times when I am exceptionally proud. One of those times was last summer at General Assembly when I went into the dining area at the Minneapolis Convention Center. All the cups, utensils and plates were made from corn-based products, compostable and biodegradable.
Another point of pride for me is our denominational Green Sanctuary movement and our upcoming Green Theology course at OCUUC. I was recently able to take a college level course on ecopsychology. Since that time I have been acutely aware of the difficulty we humans have in recognizing long-term dangers, like ecological threats, to our safety.
Here is an excerpt from my final project, on plastics in the environment, from that course:
As I was reading about pollution in the Pacific Ocean, I found information on the North Pacific Gyre. The Gyre is a point where several of the currents of the Pacific converge, creating a dead space for water movement. Conservatively, the Gyre is estimated at either twice the size of Texas, or at the other end of the estimates, as large as the United States. It lies between San Francisco and Hawaii. It extends down 30 feet into the Ocean. It contains two to three million tons of trash. Some estimates state that the contents are 80% plastic, and 80% of the trash originates on land, the other 20% is dumped by ships. Items such as computers have also been found in the junk. You can read more about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch on Wikipedia.
Of course, the environmental impact of this sea of plastic is catastrophic. Since plastic photo-degrades, it doesn’t bio-degrade, the plastic just breaks down into smaller pieces of plastic. The tiny pieces of plastic absorb any toxins in the water and hold them in like a poison sponge. Birds and marine animals eat the plastic thinking it is food and either starve to death or send it up the food chain. Click this link to see the contents of one bird’s stomach:
I know that it is sometimes hard for us to take action. Here is an easy one we can all help with: Let’s declare our OCUUC kitchen a Plastics Free Zone. While it is best to wash our permanent silverware and plates, sometimes we do need the convenience of disposables. Please, no plastic cups, plates or utensils. Let’s use paper or corn-based products only. These products can be purchased for just nominally more at Smart and Final and other stores.
Take a look. Save some lives, big and small.
In Gratitude-
Rayna Hamre
Director of Religious Education
Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church