We have lots of hopes for the year ahead, given that last year was so awful. We need to be realistic, of course. It will be summer before we reach a vaccination level close to “herd immunity.” In the meantime we need to keep wearing masks and socially distancing, even after we have been vaccinated. Public health scientists haven’t yet determined whether the vaccine keeps you from spreading the disease once you have been vaccinated. However, the coronavirus can’t keep us from learning and practicing environmentalism.
As far as learning, first up this year is a new series by British filmmaker David Attenborough who has just turned 94. He has just made a new series for BBC One and the Discovery Plus channel: “A Perfect Planet.” You can watch the five part series on Discovery Plus. It is a paid subscription though there is a free trial. See the supplemental post “About A Perfect Planet with Province V” to learn all the details..
You can also learn from the Washington Post what it will take for the U.S. to stop contributing to climate change by 2050, as our new administration wishes to do. A new Princeton University study on carbon neutrality also lays out the steps that need to be taken.
Let’s turn from learning to doing. Written your New Year’s resolutions and broken some already? Don’t worry. There’s still time to revise. Katherine Martinko suggests that those resolutions not be too daunting, but aimed at making small, satisfactory behavioral changes. She gives some examples of six that will make your life more sustainable. If you want more examples, the New York Times polled its readers for “Resolutions for the Planet” and grouped them under community involvement, travel, electrifying, investing and home. You’ll find good ideas there.
As always, you can find this and all the Creation Care blogs for the church website that I have written at a consolidating blog I have created: ststephenscreationcare.blogspot.com
Happy New Year and thanks for your interest in caring for God’s creation!
