Thank you for committing to this 30 Day Christian Green Living Challenge with us! Each day as we step through our journey, I’ll share the challenge for the day then, depending on your green goals, I will share resources where you can learn more, dig deeper into the topic, or challenge yourself even more. We will do the challenge once *live* together, but you can participate anytime by joining in on the comments below and by using the hashtag #ChristianGreenLiving. So, when you’re ready, let’s Go Christian Green!
“Whenever food is thrown out it is as if it were stolen from the table of the poor.” — Pope Francis, Laudato Si’
Few things bother me more than throwing out food. It’s wasteful, it’s expensive and it’s unnecessary. And as Pope Francis puts it, “it is as if it were stolen from the table of the poor.”
When I first read this quote from Laudato Si’, it hit me pretty hard. We don’t intend to hurt others through our wastefulness, but can you imagine the response from someone who is hungry if they witnessed us throwing out food? It would be devastating to them!
Would they know that we are Christians through our example?
Today’s Day 4 Challenge:
How is your family’s food consumption? Do you already consistently meal plan or do you find yourself being wasteful from time to time? How often do you share your blessings with others?
Pray
Today let’s pray and meditate with Matthew Chapter 25, verses 31-46. During your prayer, ask God for his guidance and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to help us to see and understand this passage “with the eyes of God.”
Act
If you don’t already meal plan on a regular basis, make a meal plan for next week. If you are ambitious, try planning for a month. In your planning, look for ways to avoid overbuying and then resolve yourself only to what you have planned. Include a plan for leftovers, if any. Can you have them for lunch the next day?
Go a step further: Consider giving a portion of your weekly food budget to the food bank or buy extra food and donate it to your local food pantry.
Share
Comment below and/or use the hashtag #ChristianGreenLiving. Share your insights and let us know how you meal plan (or intend to start) and how it helps you to avoid food waste.
Learn More~
- 5 Green Tips for Meal Planning Success—by DarleneGoesGreen
In this post, I give my top 5 tips for meal planning success learned from my BIG meal planning failure!
- How to Make a Reusable Meal Planner —by DarleneGoesGreen
This includes step-by-step instructions for making a reusable meal planner and a link to my free 3-template meal planning set to use with it.
Click here to go to Day 5
Ready to pin? Thanks for sharing!
This is sure a challenge I’m sure for most….it is for me….going from cooking for 5 now to 3 and figuring out portions has always been a challenge…I do make lists and meal plan regularly but honestly even with the best intentions I fall short….I recently decided (since I am blessed with the time to do so) I don’t plan far in advance and I run to the store maybe one or two times more to avoid overbuying.
I know that takes extra effort and time but it works for me and I definitely have less waste. One other thing I’ve started doing is only buy “staple” products at Costco. I used to buy their fruit only to find 1/2 the package to go bad before eaten. Sometimes we think buying in bulk saves money but if it goes unused and wasted….that’s not the case….this is what works for me….Enjoy Day 4 of the challenge:) #ChristianGreenLiving
It’s a challenge for me too, but it’s great to hear that you are working on it and are finding things that work for you and your family. Thanks for participating in the challenge and for sharing!
Meal planning is always a hard one for me. I guess that’s why we end up eating fast food or frozen convenience foods four or five times a month. I do like to try new recipes but that creates waste sometimes. For example, I had a Irish food community dinner last week and the recipe called for 1/2 a head of cabbage. So one half of the head of cabbage is going to waste since no one in my family eats cabbage. We do eat leftovers in this house so that does help a little.
I agree meal planning can be a challenge and it takes practice. Do you have a compost pile? That would be the perfect place for your half cabbage if you can’t find a friend to share it with. So happy you’re here to keep trying with us!
We do have a compost pile in our backyard. Although, sometimes I forget that it’s there. That’s why this challenge is great, because you’re reminded daily to all greener alternatives.
Keep on composting Erinne and I’m glad the challenge is helping!