Caring for our Common Home
Continuing the spirit of World Day for the Care of Creation which was celebrated on September 1 and the “Season of Creation” which concluded on October 4, our Residents participated in “Call to Earth Day” on November 28 (a worldwide secular celebration of the call to care for our earth), making their small contribution to the care of creation.
As groups around the world worked on ocean clean-up, tree-planting, and many other endeavors on behalf of the planet, the action we chose for this day was a K-Cup recycling project – not as easy as it sounds, but doable even with our various limitations. We removed the foil lids, salvaged the coffee grounds and the compostable filters, then rinsed out and dried the plastic cups, which are recyclable. At the completion of the project, the rinse water was used to give a drink to the plants in our yard, the coffee grounds and filters served as mulch to keep our bushes cozy through the winter months, the cups went to our recycling hauler, and the only landfill waste remaining was the foil lids, which would have fit in a very neat little stack in the palm of one’s hand.
Our contribution to the important cause of caring for creation was indeed small, but we were so happy to do what we could. As the elders of whom Pope Francis so often speaks, we may not have the physical strength of yesteryear, but we still have a vibrant concern for the needs of our world.
“Be praised, my Lord, for all Your creation!” (St. Francis’ Canticle of Creation)
Caring for our Common Home