Often our "privatized" and individualistic mentality or lifestyle can make us believe that we live in isolation, and that our lifestyle choices only affect ourselves individually, "My choices, my life." But we belong to one another and no matter how private our actions are, they affect others through a ripple effect either directly or indirectly. If we believe that our life and all of creation are gifts from God, we owe it to God to care for one another by caring and preserving our biodiversity. 

Fundamentally, we depend entirely on the planet’s living systems for survival. We’re a part of these systems and we cannot exist without them. The better we understand how the systems of life work, the more sustainably we can live. The less we know, the more likely we’re going to continue causing irreparable damage to Earth’s ecosystems. (Source: Dr. Peter Raven).  

Ecological destruction and the loss of biodiversity obscure our ability to see and experience God, and are an affront to the Creator. The fate of the natural world and human life are fully intertwined. Ecological destruction harms human life, and human social injustice inevitably has ecological consequences. Source:Celebrate Life: Care of Creation, 1998, The Bishops of Alberta and NWT.
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Consider these for faithful living:

• Make lifestyle choices that care for all creation, being aware that our personal choices do affect each other eventually. 
• Learn more about how our actions impact global sustainability and teach our children to care about biodiversity. 
• Human life, animal life, and plant life - we are all in this together. Support ecological causes aimed to foster biodiversity, and those developing policies for the care of the earth.
• We know the choices we are making today will shape our communities, our economy, our health and the health of our planet for years to come, so let’s make sure our transition is towards a just economy that addresses integral human development. Support "People & Planet First" - Development & Peace Caritas Canada campaign this year. Learn more

​One major contributor to the world's waste problem is fast fashion and textile waste. An average person throws away 37 kg of textiles annually and North American send over 10 million tonnes of clothing to landfill every year. Globally, new garments produced annually now exceeds 100 billion, double the amount compared to the year 2000. (Source: WCWRCanada) 

​This infographic tells the story of textiles in Canada, from the first shoemaker to what it will take for our circular textile future.  

Consider these for faithful living:

• Avoid fast fashion, and consider getting items that are timeless to wear for years to come. Buy used clothes, or swap clothes regularly with family and friends.
• Repair your clothing instead of buying new. 
• Sell and donate your clothes to consignment or thrift stores.
• Support companies using sustainable fabrics with ethical business practices and inspire more companies to do better. Here is one for inspiration.
• Watch "The True Cost" documentary and find out who pays the real price for our clothes. 

Every year a significant proportion of electronic waste (E-waste) is exported from high-income countries like Canada to lower-income countries. There, e-waste is dismantled, recycled and refurbished in environments where infrastructure, training and environmental and health safeguards may be non-existent. (Source: WHO)  

The eye-opening video documentary: Welcome to Sodom - shows how children and adolescents in Agbogbloshie, a waste site in Ghana, dismantle recycled electronics in toxic smoke. Here, a child eating just one local chicken egg will absorb 220 times of the daily limit for intake of chlorinated dioxins. 

But there is hope. And it can start with us. This infographic tells the story of E-Waste, from the invention of the telephone, to the story of the first electronics recycling program in Alberta, and to what it will take for a circular future.
 
Consider these for faithful living

• Use the gadget you already have for as long as possible. 
• Purchase used or refurbished electronics before purchasing new. More importantly, ask yourself: Do you really need that extra gadget? Do you really need to upgrade?
• Sell or swap unwanted electronics before recycling. 
• Know where to recycle electronics in your community or to donate used electronics to social programs.