DECEMBER 2021 CREATION CARE GREEN TIPS
1. As the world moves toward decarbonizing the transportation and electricity generation sectors, fossil fuel and petrochemical companies are switching to the production of plastics, especially single-use plastics, in order to profit from reserves of oil and gas. A 2018 report from the International Energy Agency found that the shift from fuels to plastics "is rapidly becoming the largest driver of global oil demand," while the World Economic Forum predicts that plastic production could jump three-to-fourfold by 2050, the same year the ocean will likely contain, by weight, more plastic than fish. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch growing off the coast of Chile is widely considered an "8th continent." Urge corporations and our leaders to build a "circular economy" based on the reuse and recycling of products, and address the toxic chemicals in them, rather than building more plastic and chemical production facilities.
2. The U.S. Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management released a report saying oil, gas and coal extraction on federal lands produced more than 1 billion tons of greenhouse gases last year, about 1/5 of all U.S. energy-related emissions, contributing to the increasing "social costs" of climate change that include rising sea levels, floods and wildfires, and public health problems. Fracking and cheap natural gas have enabled the U.S. to profit from making polyethylene, a common plastic used mainly for packaging, with nearly half of all packaging comprised of single-use plastic. With 65% of U.S. household trash consisting of packaging, and only 10 - 15% of the plastic being recycled, global "waste mountains" are created when plastic goods reach the end of their useful lives. Entire economies need to shift toward a system of nontoxic reusables throughout supply and distribution of goods, with necessary single-use items being recyclable or compostable.
3. According to the Minderoo Foundation of Australia, the London School of Economics, and the Stockholm Environment Institute, Australia produces the most plastic waste per capita (59kg), followed by the U.S., South Korea, and the U.K., while Exxon-Mobil is the greatest single-use plastic waste polluter, followed by the Dow Chemical Company, based in the U.S. Worldwide, 50% of plastic waste collected for recycling is traded internationally, with the U.S. sending plastic scrap to 89 trade partners, mostly in poor countries. There it is often put in landfills or incinerated, releasing toxic chemicals. The #breakfreefromplastic movement, launched in 2016, envisions a future free from plastic pollution, demanding globally a massive reduction in single-use plastics and pushing for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis. Learn more at breakfreefromplastic.org.
4. About 28% of U.S. municipal solid waste consists of packaging, while 25% of materials collected for recycling are rejected and either incinerated or sent to landfills. As microparticles of plastic infiltrate oceans, the Arctic, the rainforest tributaries, and even our bloodstreams, human ingestion of plastic increases every year, with estimates that we each eat a credit card-sized amount of plastic per week. Hearing loss, cancer, and neurological harm, as well as damage to developing fetuses, are just some of the damages linked to ingested plastic chemicals. In the same way that some U.S. states have laws that make manufacturers responsible for hard-to-manage products such as electronic waste, car batteries, mattresses and tires, the states of Maine and Oregon have enacted the first state laws making companies that create consumer packaging (cardboard cartons, plastic wrap and food containers) responsible for the recycling and disposal of those products, too.

Laura Raedeke
EcoFaith Network NE MN Team
Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa, MN
Northeastern Minnesota Synod