Creation Time, Change Islands and the Truth About Plastic

The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; 

the world, and they that dwell therein.

2 For he hath founded it upon the seas, 

and established it upon the floods.

Psalm 24:1-2 King James Version

While we were vacationing on Change Islands, Newfoundland, earlier this month we sent photos of different beach finds to our grandsons, four and six, with the challenge to identify them. They did reasonably well with most but knew right away that the object in the photo above was Lightning McQueen from the Cars animated films.

This was was the most benign chunk of plastic we encountered along the shores and while there wasn't a lot of plastic waste it was everywhere we walked, no matter how remote. While the water is remarkably clear, the closer we were to human habitation, the more plastic waste we saw it. Change Islands is a relatively remote community far from any community of size, yet plastic, some of it from the fishing industry, was on every stretch of shore and blown well inland. We know that the oceans of the world are filled with plastic and we're told that the volume of plastic may exceed the biomass of fish before the end of this century. 



We were pleased to see that the initiative for retailers to use alternatives to plastic bags and packaging continues on nearby Fogo Island and we actually packed reusable bags in our luggage for grocery shopping...we're such earnest nerds. 

Everyone who visits this part of Newfoundland and Labrador comments on the beauty and we can only hope and pray that this continues. Some people would argue that what we do with our consumer waste doesn't have much to do with Christian faith, but if "the Earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof" that includes any and all things which undermine the health of the planet God created. 

I watched the September 27th edition of CBC Marketplace (last evening) about the plastics we supposedly recycle in Canada. It was a grim reminder about our self-deception when we put items in the blue box and of our need to change our foolish ways. 

https://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/episodes/2019-2020/tracking-your-trash-where-does-your-recycling-really-end-up



David Common of Marketplace