If you’re reading this, then it probably means you’re passionate about justice, God’s creation, and showing care and compassion for people living in poverty.
Sometimes, it can feel like we will never be able to solve the world’s problems. And we are left asking ourselves and those around us, ‘can a single person, like me, even make a difference?’
But the good news is that choosing to honour God’s creation with our actions also shows love to communities in poverty and helps bring justice to broken systems in our world. And when many of us take a small action, together, it makes a big difference.
It’s important to remember:
- Our small actions make a big difference and…
- God loves to see us step out in compassion and care for our world. Every small step we take makes a difference along our walk of faith with him.
As it says in Zechariah 4:10 (NLT), “do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin…”
So how can we set those small beginnings in motion?
Use your voice
A social media influencer and Tearfund Ambassador, Less Waste Laura, posted about having to litter pick disposable vapes on her dog walk on social media.
The TikTok video gained 10.5 million views. And for a long time, if you looked up disposable vapes, hers was the first tweet that came up.
Three years later, her campaign led to a UK-wide ban on these single-use vapes. Vapes that were causing significant environmental issues. At one point, users in the UK were throwing away around two disposable vapes every second; that’s 1.3 million a week. The number of discarded vapes accounted for around ten tonnes of lithium being sent to landfill or waste incinerators each year – enough metal to make batteries for 1,200 electric cars.
Using your voice - whether it’s online, at home, in the classroom, or in the workplace - makes a difference. And Less Waste Laura shows us how much of an impact just starting the conversation can have.
Where can you use your voice this year?
Ditch the fast fashion
Fast fashion is a hot topic. If you haven’t come across it before, fast fashion is all about keeping up with the latest trends and buying cheap and often.
But, however cheap an item of clothing is, it still takes resources such as water, land and petrochemicals to produce. And it can often be a product of unethical labour, too.
That’s why you can make such a big difference by keeping your clothes a little longer instead of sending them to landfill. In fact, extending the life of your clothes by just nine months, you could reduce waste by up to 20% (WRAP).
Why not try to avoid buying any new clothes for a month? Or only buying second-hand for a year?
