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"Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: 'There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying."

Hosea 4:1-3

There is a wealth of information available on "going green". Below are just a few books, websites and organizations, and recycling resources that were recommended by members of the green initiative team. We have also written and compiled devotionals that focus on creation that you can download here. Have more ideas? Please share them by sending us an email at green@parkstreet.org.

Christian Environmental Books

  • › How to Rescue the Earth Without Worshipping Nature by Tony Campolo
    Tony Campolo draws on the Bible and other Christian writings to encourage churches and individuals to become stewards of God's world.
  • › Serve God Save the Planet by J. Matthew Sleeth
    "Turning to Jesus for guidance, Sleeth discovered how the scriptural lessons of personal responsibility, simplicity, and stewardship could be applied to modren life... Sleeth shares the joy of adopting a healthier, less materialitic lifestyle, which led to stronger relationships and a richer spiritual life." -Rev. Richard Cizik
  • › Our Father's World: Mobilizing the Church to Care for Creation by Edward R. Brown
    This book offers an argument for Christian ecological stewardship as well as ideas that churches, schools, and agencies can implement at home and around the world.
  • › The Gift of Creation by Virginia Vroblesky
    How do can we be sure that our views reflect God's truths and not just the spirit of this age? This study guide points to the biblical texts that can help you develop your own views on the environment.

Other Environmental Books

  • › Plan B 3.0 Mobilizing to Save Civilization by Lester Brown
    This book offers solutions, many of which are working in small parts of the world already, to many environmental challenges starting with poverty and education. It respects the many sides of these issues, providing cost analysis as well as environmental impact analysis.
  • › Mid-Course Correction by Ray Anderson
    Anderson, a high-powered executive and business owner, details his conversion to sustainability.
  • › An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore
    Gore shows the impact of global warming.
  • › This Moment on Earth by John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry
    "John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry have written a book that is a profound challenge to all of us but contains—in the examples of the men and women who are fighting the great fight for a better future for our environment—the clear hope that if we can embrace their resourcefulness detemination, and essential patriotism, we will prevail." -Al Gore
  • › The Omnivore's Dilema by Michael Pollan
    This well-written book tracks the ecological, philosophical, and health impact of the American food system.

Christian Environmental Websites

  • › creationcare.org
    The Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN) is a non-profit organization that seeks to educate, inspire, and mobilize Christians in their effort to care for God's creation, to be faithful stewards of God's provision, and to advocate for actions and policies that honor God and protect the environment.
  • › arocha.org
    A Rocha is a world-wide Christian nature conservation organisation
  • › careofcreation.org
    This Christian environmental organization seeks to awaken and mobilize the Church to care for God's creation in the face of an environmental crisis that is degrading many parts of the world and hurting our brothers and sisters in the faith.

Other Environmental Websites

Recycling Resources

  • › terracycle.com
  • › earth911.com
  • › Sneakers: Nike has a Reuse-a-Shoe program. You can drop off your sneakers (any brand, up to 10 pairs) at the Nike store on Newbury to be recycled into sporting surfaces (playgrounds, running tracks, tennis courts, etc.) You can also donate gently used sneakers to Shoe 4 Africa. They raffle off used running shoes all over Africa to race participants. At the most popular races, they offer on-site AIDS testing and education. Airmail them to:

    Shoe4Africa
    c/o Monicah Kiplagat
    PO Box 6943
    Eldoret, Kenya

  • › Batteries and Lightbulbs: Batteries can be dropped off at Best Buy, The Home Depot, Target, Staples, Sears, Verizon Wireless, Whole Foods, and Patagonia.
  • › Clothes: Patagonia has a Common Threads Garment Recycling Program, through which customers could return their worn out Capilene® Performance Baselayers to them for recycling. They also take worn out Patagonia® fleece, Polartec® fleece clothing (from any maker), Patagonia cotton T-shirts, and now some additional polyester and nylon 6 products that come with a Common Threads tag. Drop it off at the nearest Patagonia retail store or mail to:

    Patagonia Service Center
    ATTN: Common Threads Recycling Program
    8550 White Fir Street
    Reno, NV 89523-8939

  • › CFLs: Bring your expired, unbroken CFLs to Home Depot, Whole Foods, or IKEA.
  • › Gift Cards: 17 billion gift cards were produced in 2006! Earthworks recycles them for corporations but also accepts them from individual consumers. Mail them to:

    Earthworks System, LLC
    33200 Bainbridge Road, Suite E
    Solon, OH 44139

  • › Cell Phones: Best Buy takes cell phones, rechargeable batteries, and empty ink cartridges.
  • › TVs & Computer Monitors (for Boston residents ONLY) Please call 617-635-7574 for home pickup of TVs and computer monitors.
  • › E-Waste: Bring used computers, monitors, laptops, and desktop printers, faxes and all–in–ones to any Staples store. All brands are accepted, regardless of whether or not the equipment was purchased at Staples. A recycling fee of $10 per piece of large equipment is charged to cover handling, transport, product disassembly and recycling. Smaller computer peripherals such as keyboards, mice, and speakers are accepted at no charge.
  • › Sam’s Club Members: Sam’s Club has launched ecoNEW®, its new online electronics recycling service that helps members nationwide get rid of their older, unwanted, small to medium size electronics through a free, easy-to-use, environmental solution for e-waste recycling. Sam’s Club Members may trade in their older electronics for a gift card which is determined by a recycle trade-in value generated through the website ecoonline.com/samsclub.
  • › Wire Hangers: 3.5 billion hangers end up in the trash every year. Some dry cleaners will not take them back. But if they are in good condition, most will! Zoots is one drycleaner that has a wire reuse/recycling program. They are also perc-free!
  • › Eyeglasses: LensCrafters, For-Eyes and Pearle collect glasses chain-wide.
  • › Foam packing peanuts: Pack them up in a bag and deliver them to Mail Boxes, Etc. for reuse.

Devotionals

In Praise of the Creator (April 2009)