Environmental outrage

Paul and I witnessed an environmental outrage this week in the form of shrink-wrapped logs.  That is, the kind of logs which you put on the fire.  In this case, they come from the supermarket shrink-wrapped in plastic coating.  And whilst burning wood is a relatively sustainable and environmentally friendly form of producing energy, surely it makes everything worse to cover it unnecessarily in non-biodegradable plastic.

What is perhaps most alarming is that no-one here seemed to find this problematic.  There is an interesting relationship between theology and environmental ethics in Yale.  Several students are on joint degrees between the Divinity School and the School for Forestry, which includes a large environmental programme.  Yale proclaims itself to be a environmentally friendly university, incorporating energy-saving lightbulbs and recycled hand towels in the bathrooms.  At the same time, however, people seem to think nothing of running the air conditioning all the time, leaving the lights on all night or - as we have seen - burning shrink-wrapped logs.  After the second world war, the USA decided to invest in roads rather than public transport, with the result that you need a car to go pretty much anywhere.  There is nowhere in the centre of New Haven where one can buy, for example, an ink cartridge for a printer - which means that every time someone requires something this basic, they have to make a car journey.  The fact that American shopping culture is based on you getting in a car to go somewhere means that there is a ridiculously high dependence on the use of cars.

The world's environmental crisis will not improve unless there is a little more joined-up thinking, especially from a country such as the USA which currently uses 25% of the world's oil.  Many of the churches here are concerned with the environment as part of their mission, but they need to think a little further than recycling the pew sheets.