Earth Day Week Project 2018
Let’s Conserve Nature with Our LovE
The main environmental problem of the present day is the notion that everything is available for human beings to consume. For example, a cow provides food for human beings, a tree is housing material for human beings, and oil is energy for human beings. People have been thinking this way for so long that they carelessly and relentlessly consume and waste animals, plants, minerals, and even earth herself.
Some people call this way of thinking materialism and their behavior egocentrism or anthropocentrism. One of the reasons that human beings have become this way is because they have distanced themselves from nature and have been seeking materialistic convenience. We have to reduce our distance from nature because we cannot live without her.
It is when we forget nature that we do not take care of her. This Earth Day week we will try to remember her, live as close as possible to her, and take care of her. The Seicho-No-Ie New York Missionary Area suggests you observe the following practices to practice during the week. You can also observe your own way to take care of nature. We need earth, not vice versa.
Environmentally Friendly Life
- Do not eat meat during the week because the meat processing factory emits global warming gas. There is enough food in the world to feed everyone, but 815 million people go to bed on an empty stomach every night. One of the reasons is that these grains are fed to livestock. Factory farm meat is most overly-medicated product and almost all restaurants serve meat contaminated with antibiotics that are dangerous for small children with weakened immune systems. In addition, to kill animals is against religious practice.
- Walk, ride a bike and enjoy nature. People who live in the city have busy lives and do not enjoy nature. However, when we stop and carefully observe our surroundings, we see many beautiful creatures and scenery.
- Carefully check how you spend your resources. Turn off the light if you are not in the room. Stop wasting water while rinsing your mouth and taking a shower.
- Inventory. Check your refrigerator and pantry to make sure you do not waste anything.
- Organization. Clean your home and recycle things and donate old clothes. Reuse things you have not used for many years. The 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) are key for organization.
- Crafting. When you accumulate things you do not use anymore, find out how you can give them life again. For example, Rev. Kawakami collected toilet paper cardboard tubes and made toys for his cat. He currently collects wine corks, so during the Earth Day week, he can create something and enjoy crafting at the same time.
- Plant vegetables in your garden or in a pot. You can start your own organic garden in your garden or balcony.
- Composting. By composting you do not waste food and at the same time can reduce garbage that goes into the landfills which pollute the air.
- Change your bulbs. An LED light bulb uses less energy but is still bright.
- Carpool. Instead of going to work by yourself, try carpooling.
- Education. Learn how you can contribute to live an eco-friendly life. Watch documentary films to learn about the world environment and earth such as An Inconvenient Sequel or Before the Flood.
- Energy. Buy electricity from a company that produces through wind power. You can learn about it during the week and in the future you can try it.
- Clean the beach, river, and/or forest. Join a community group that cleans the streets, beaches, rivers, mountains and/or forests. You can go hiking with your family and pick up trash on the trail as well.
- Buy locally grown products. We can reduce our carbon footprint by buying locally grown products. Visit farmers’ markets. If possible, buy organic products which are good for your health as well.
- Use reusable bags. When you buy locally grown products, bring your own reusable bags. Some local venders at the farmers’ markets do not have plastic or even paper bags. If you do not bring your own reusable bags, you may need to buy a reusable bag. If you are not used to using them, they just accumulate at home and take up space. Make it a habit to carry one or two reusable bags and use them.
Religious Practice
- Read the Song In Praise of Nature. During the week you can read the Song In Praise Of Nature to appreciate nature and earth.
- Sundial Diary. Write a Sundial Diary entry everyday during the week. Although you may not use this diary, it is a great opportunity to start using it. There is a section of this diary called, “How I helped my environment today.”
- Simple meal. In Seicho-No-Ie we practice what we call a simple meal (one bowl of soup and one bowl of rice) once a month. During the Earth Day week, you can practice having a simple meal for lunch or dinner, and remember one out of 9 people still suffer from hunger and about 40,000 people die worldwide daily from hunger. Meanwhile, we help organizations that feed people who do not have enough food for a day and also donate nonperishable food or money to them.
- Sharing creative non-meat recipes. Seicho-No-Ie promotes a no-meat practice and share creative no-meat recipes. You practice it at home and also share your creative menu with other people.
- Shinsokan Meditation. To nurture the religious mind of appreciating the blessings of nature, during the Shinsokan meditation worship the lives of mountains, rivers, grass, trees, minerals, and all the resources as manifestation of the Life of God.
Some people call this way of thinking materialism and their behavior egocentrism or anthropocentrism. One of the reasons that human beings have become this way is because they have distanced themselves from nature and have been seeking materialistic convenience. We have to reduce our distance from nature because we cannot live without her.
It is when we forget nature that we do not take care of her. This Earth Day week we will try to remember her, live as close as possible to her, and take care of her. The Seicho-No-Ie New York Missionary Area suggests you observe the following practices to practice during the week. You can also observe your own way to take care of nature. We need earth, not vice versa.
Environmentally Friendly Life
- Do not eat meat during the week because the meat processing factory emits global warming gas. There is enough food in the world to feed everyone, but 815 million people go to bed on an empty stomach every night. One of the reasons is that these grains are fed to livestock. Factory farm meat is most overly-medicated product and almost all restaurants serve meat contaminated with antibiotics that are dangerous for small children with weakened immune systems. In addition, to kill animals is against religious practice.
- Walk, ride a bike and enjoy nature. People who live in the city have busy lives and do not enjoy nature. However, when we stop and carefully observe our surroundings, we see many beautiful creatures and scenery.
- Carefully check how you spend your resources. Turn off the light if you are not in the room. Stop wasting water while rinsing your mouth and taking a shower.
- Inventory. Check your refrigerator and pantry to make sure you do not waste anything.
- Organization. Clean your home and recycle things and donate old clothes. Reuse things you have not used for many years. The 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) are key for organization.
- Crafting. When you accumulate things you do not use anymore, find out how you can give them life again. For example, Rev. Kawakami collected toilet paper cardboard tubes and made toys for his cat. He currently collects wine corks, so during the Earth Day week, he can create something and enjoy crafting at the same time.
- Plant vegetables in your garden or in a pot. You can start your own organic garden in your garden or balcony.
- Composting. By composting you do not waste food and at the same time can reduce garbage that goes into the landfills which pollute the air.
- Change your bulbs. An LED light bulb uses less energy but is still bright.
- Carpool. Instead of going to work by yourself, try carpooling.
- Education. Learn how you can contribute to live an eco-friendly life. Watch documentary films to learn about the world environment and earth such as An Inconvenient Sequel or Before the Flood.
- Energy. Buy electricity from a company that produces through wind power. You can learn about it during the week and in the future you can try it.
- Clean the beach, river, and/or forest. Join a community group that cleans the streets, beaches, rivers, mountains and/or forests. You can go hiking with your family and pick up trash on the trail as well.
- Buy locally grown products. We can reduce our carbon footprint by buying locally grown products. Visit farmers’ markets. If possible, buy organic products which are good for your health as well.
- Use reusable bags. When you buy locally grown products, bring your own reusable bags. Some local venders at the farmers’ markets do not have plastic or even paper bags. If you do not bring your own reusable bags, you may need to buy a reusable bag. If you are not used to using them, they just accumulate at home and take up space. Make it a habit to carry one or two reusable bags and use them.
Religious Practice
- Read the Song In Praise of Nature. During the week you can read the Song In Praise Of Nature to appreciate nature and earth.
- Sundial Diary. Write a Sundial Diary entry everyday during the week. Although you may not use this diary, it is a great opportunity to start using it. There is a section of this diary called, “How I helped my environment today.”
- Simple meal. In Seicho-No-Ie we practice what we call a simple meal (one bowl of soup and one bowl of rice) once a month. During the Earth Day week, you can practice having a simple meal for lunch or dinner, and remember one out of 9 people still suffer from hunger and about 40,000 people die worldwide daily from hunger. Meanwhile, we help organizations that feed people who do not have enough food for a day and also donate nonperishable food or money to them.
- Sharing creative non-meat recipes. Seicho-No-Ie promotes a no-meat practice and share creative no-meat recipes. You practice it at home and also share your creative menu with other people.
- Shinsokan Meditation. To nurture the religious mind of appreciating the blessings of nature, during the Shinsokan meditation worship the lives of mountains, rivers, grass, trees, minerals, and all the resources as manifestation of the Life of God.