Act as stewards

By Tony Staley
Compass Editor

Global warming continues to capture increasing attention as the studies come in and scientists, politicians, church leaders and ordinary people speak up.

Some people question whether global warming/climate change is real or if humans play any role in it. Others seem willing to accept that it's real, but wonder if warmer winters in Wisconsin would be so bad or if it's fair to assume that the climate of any era is perfect and therefore needs protection and preservation.

Wherever one lines up on global warming/climate change, we could get an entire different viewpoint by adopting a stewardship perspective.

The acceptance of stewardship as a way of life dramatically changes the whole global warming/climate change argument. Why? Because stewardship asks us to see all of life as God's gift to us which requires loving and careful nurturing.

For example, the United States represents 5% of the world's population, yet we use several times that amount of the world's resources. All this consumption comes at a high price. We shell out large amounts of money to buy the latest of everything, which drives up energy prices because of manufacturing and transportation costs, then spend more to use it and for the landfills where it - and the packaging it came in - will eventually reside.

Even if we're unwilling to give up this consumeristic way of life, there are still ways we can live more as stewards and save money in the process.

Sr. Sharon Therese Zayac, OP, offers some ideas in an article, "Global Climate Change and Why It Matters" in Just Words (Spring 2007), the magazine of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Ill. Here are some of her suggestions:

• Turn off lights in unoccupied rooms; unplug all appliances when not in use; forgo your computer screen saver.

• Wrap your water heater (better yet go solar) and keep the temperature no higher than 120 degrees.

• Use your clothesline more often.

• Buy fewer gadgets, particularly electrical ones; buy things with less packaging; eat less meat.

• Use less gasoline. Turn your engine off; do not let it idle. (Other experts urge combining trips and to think of how to use even one less cup of gas each day - not a bad idea with gas around $3.50 a gallon.)

• Replace one incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent; cut two minutes off your daily shower; wash clothes in warm or cold water.

Doing these things will save money. They also represent a relatively painless introduction to stewardship as a way of life - an understanding that offers even greater rewards.