Green intersection

Environmentalism and Christian piety intersect when Christians begin to resist a culture of consumerism and actually live more simply and faithfully. Although Elizabeth Royte's article is not explicitly written from a perspective of faith, Christians would do well to think comprehensively about stewardship:

Green purchasing tells us to vote with our wallets, but it ignores a third choice: not buying at all. I try to resist these green come-ons because I hate to think our strength is based on consumption, instead of more substantive action. I'm appalled by the amount of junk mail I (used to) get from environmental groups, much of it offering to reward donors with cheaply made premiums (how many tote bags and baseball caps can one person use?). Some even have the nerve to offer "affinity" credit cards, which only make it easier to buy more stuff, to consume without a thought for the natural resources that went into making these goods, and for the toll they will take on human health and the environment once we've consigned them to the dump.

It's this culture of convenience -- how about a TerraPass, so you can keep driving your SUV? -- that makes it easy to feel better without actually changing how we live. Sure, buy some Toepeekas if you really need another pair of sandals -- anytime you buy something recycled you're preventing the extraction, transportation, and transformation of raw materials. But if you don't really need another pair of shoes, skip it.

Amen. Thanks to Instapundit for the link.