August 2024 Newsletter
Issue #90
The Problem with Plastic
Plastic recycling has long posed challenges. Unlike glass and metal, plastic cannot be repeatedly recycled without quickly degrading in quality.

There are thousands of types of plastics; different elements are added to them in order to change their strength, appearance, and maneuverability.


Production/Use
Since plastic products became popular in the 1950s, over 9 billion tons of plastic have been produced worldwide.

The amount of plastic being manufactured has increased considerably, with the global plastic market valued at $712 billion and expected to experience considerable growth over the next decade.

The chemical industry owes its rapid growth to the increase in demand for plastics.

Humans have produced more plastic over the last 2 decades than was created in the entire 20th century.

Packaging production constitutes the highest-demand use for plastic, with 146 million metric tons used.

Beverage companies around the world produce over 500 billion single-use plastic bottles each year.

Americans purchase about 50 billion water bottles per year, averaging around 13 bottles per person per month. Using a reusable water bottle, each American would save 156 plastic bottles annually.

Manufacturing plastic water bottles takes roughly 6 times the amount of water per bottle that is contained in each bottle.

Of the roughly 300 million tons of plastic produced each year, 50% consists of
single-use items.
            Plastic Oceans

More than 1,000,000 disposable plastic bags are used every minute.
Waste
Americans alone throw away around 25 billion Styrofoam coffee cups every year.
79% of plastic that has ever been made sits in landfills or the natural environment

Plastic bottles account for 14% of all plastic waste.

While most plastic ends up in landfills, roughly 12.7 million tons end up in the ocean every year.

Every year, around 2 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals die due to plastic pollution in the oceans.

It is estimated that over 90% of seabirds have bits of plastic in their stomachs.
Plastic bottles are most often recycled into non-recyclable products, such as carpets and synthetic clothing, meaning that recycling is only effective once before the plastic becomes permanent waste.

Many of the world’s wealthier countries, such as the United States and Great Britain, export their plastic trash to smaller nations in Asia and Africa.

China is one of the world’s biggest consumers of single-use plastic, creating almost twice as much plastic waste as the United States.

Solution Efforts
China recently passed legislation intended to reduce the use of single-use plastics, including banning restaurants and hotels from providing disposable straws and banning markets from offering plastic bags for merchandise.
More than 30 countries around the world have banned single-use plastic grocery bags.
The 10 American states that have “bottle deposit laws” that refund a percentage of the beverage’s cost when the bottle is recycled have container-recovery rates almost 3 times higher than states without.

74% of Americans say they believe that the government should do whatever it takes to protect the environment from things like plastic pollution.

For more on the Environment, click here.
Other Resources
The Problem with Food and Climate —
and How to Fix It
A TED Talk, featuring sustainability scientist Jonathan Foley, who points out that global food production — from meat to grains — accounts for a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. He presents a portfolio of data-backed solutions to build a better food system world-wide, starting with four key steps to cut emissions:
  • A more efficient food system
  • Protect ecosystems
  • Low emissions farming
  • Larger food system


For more on the Environment, click here.
Where We Live: Environmental Activists' Fight to Save Their Communities
By Randy Cunningham. Drawing on interviews the author conducted with environmental activists across rural and urban Appalachia and the Midwest, analyzes what motivates activists, how they strategize, and what issues they encounter. Provides a guide to the on-the-ground realities of environmental activism in contemporary America. Each chapter deals with a different topic so readers come to know the stories of individuals and groups in their specific struggles and how their struggles are related to one another. Includes extensive documentation and endnotes. Read more.

For more on the Environment, click here.
Advocate: A Graphic Memoir of Family, Community, and the Fight for
Environmental Justice
By Eddie Ahn. A graphic memoir following the author -- an environmental justice lawyer and activist --striving to serve diverse communities in San Francisco amid environmental catastrophes, an accelerating tide of racial and economic inequality, burnout, and his family’s expectations. Weaving together anecdotes with moments of victory and hope, this contemplative full-color graphic novel explores the relationship between immigration and activism, opportunity and obligation, and familial duty and community service. Read more.

For more on the Environment, click here.
Tehachapi
A documentary that captures the stories of 28 incarcerated men in Tehachapi -- a U.S. maximum-security prison and one of California's most violent supermax prisons. The director invited the men -- many of whom were serving life sentences for crimes committed as minors -- to participate in an art project and collaborate on monumental artworks. The film follows their journey as they tell their stories, reconnect with family, and heal. It demonstrates how art is a powerful force for hope, reveals individuals’ capacity for change, and offers a poignant look at the humanity within prison walls. Watch the trailer.

For more on the Criminal Justice System,
Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food in the United States, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch
By Andrea Freeman. A history of the use of food in U.S. law and politics as a weapon of conquest and control. The title is from George Washington order to his troops to “ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more” to subjugate Indigenous nations. From frybread to government cheese, draws on over fifteen years of research to argue that U.S. food law and policy have created and maintained racial and social inequality. Narrates an account that moves from colonization to slavery to the Americanization of immigrant food culture, to the commodities supplied to Native reservations, to milk as a symbol of white supremacy. Traces the long-standing alliance between the government and food industries that have produced gaping racial health disparities, and shows how these practices continue to this day, through the marketing of unhealthy goods that target marginalized communities, causing diabetes, high blood pressure, and premature death. Read more.

For more on Hunger, click here.
Trash: A Poor White Journey
By Cedar Monroe. A book about and for poor white people: about unlearning the American dream, untangling from white supremacy, and working for liberation alongside other poor folks. Introduces people who are poor and unhoused and watches a community grapple with desperation, government neglect, and its own racism. From visits to jails, flophouses, tent cities, and trips to hospitals and funeral homes, readers learn about leaders forging connections between their people and the global movement to end poverty. With insights born of liberation theology and radical politics, the book highlights individuals hammering out survival strategies and hope in the abandoned zones of empire. Holds that capitalism and colonialism have stolen land from Indigenous people, forced workers into dangerous jobs, and then left them to die when their labor was no longer needed. Asks what would happen if poor white folks rejected the empty promises of white supremacy and embraced solidarity with other poor people? What if they joined the resistance to the system that is, slowly or quickly, killing us all? Read more.

For more on Poverty, click here.
We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family's Mythmaking and Migration
By Jessica Goudeau. An award-winning exploration of pivotal moments in Texas history through multiple generations of the author's family, and a reexamination of our national and personal myths. Tracking her ancestors’ involvement in pivotal moments from before the Texas Revolution through today, the book is an insider’s look at a state that prides itself on its history. It is an act of reckoning and recovery on a personal scale, as well as a reflection of the work that must be done to dismantle the whitewashed narratives that are passed down through families, communities, and textbooks. It is also a story filled with hope—by facing these hypocrisies and long-buried histories, exploring how to move past this fractured time, take accountability for our legacy, and learn to be better, more honest descendants.

For more on Immigration, click here.
Preventing Gun Violence:
From Rhetoric to Real Solutions
A small group program from JustFaith Ministries that aspires to move beyond the divisive rhetoric of gun ownership versus gun control, instead inviting participants to discern solutions to the gun violence epidemic. This program is for Christians across denominations who are committed to ending gun violence – gun owners and non-gun owners alike. Participants accompany one another in confronting the painful reality of gun violence as they engage in dialogue across their differences and discern how their faith calls them to respond.
Over the course of eight two-hour sessions participants explore data-driven research around gun violence in America; encounter stories, poetry, and art from gun violence survivors, faith leaders, and activists; learn spiritual practices to help process this emotionally-difficult topic; and receive practical tools for gun violence prevention. Each session includes prayer, dialogue, active listening, weekly spiritual practices, and relationship-building. At the end of the program, the group is guided in creating an achievable step-by-step plan for taking action.
 
For more on Gun Violence, click here.
Food for Peace
In different administrative and organizational forms, the Food for Peace program of the United States has provided food assistance around the world since the 1950's. During that time, approximately 3 billion people in 150 countries have benefited directly from U.S. food assistance. The Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the U.S. Government's largest provider of overseas food assistance. The food assistance programming is funded primarily through the Food for Peace Act. The Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance also receives International Disaster Assistance Funds through the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) that can be used in emergency settings. Learn more.

For more on Hunger, click here.
OUR Rescue
A nonprofit organization, formerly known as Operation Underground Railroad, that helps lead the fight against child sexual exploitation and human trafficking worldwide. Helps identify victims of exploitation, trains law enforcement agencies, raises awareness about the issue, facilitates care for survivors, assists in rescue operations and supports the use of digital forensic technology. Learn more.

For more on Human Trafficking, click here.
Depaul USA

A national homeless services nonprofit organization and affiliate of the international homelessness services organization, Depaul International Group. Inspired by the values and wisdom of St. Vincent de Paul, Depaul USA operates in twelve cities with 25 programs, providing an array of services:
  • Permanent supportive housing
  • Affordable housing
  • Temporary housing
  • Day centers
  • Health clinics

These diverse operations help homeless men
and women:
  • Overcome the immediate crisis of homelessness
  • Improve their health
  • Increase their economic well-being
  • Attain and sustain housing

For more on Housing, click here.
National Public Housing Museum
The first cultural institution in the U.S. devoted to telling the story of public housing in the United States. Draws on the power of place and memory to preserve, promote, and propel the right of all people to a place where they can live and prosper — a place to call home. It is dedicated to sharing public housing stories of hope and personal achievement, as well as stories of struggle, resistance and resilience. Using art, oral histories, and material culture, the Museum archives and shares these stories to create opportunities for visitors to understand and engage in innovative public policy reform in order to reimagine the future of our communities, our society, and the places we call home. Learn more.

For more on Housing, click here.
We Refuse:
A Forceful History of Black Resistance
By Kellie Carter Jackson. A reframing of Black resistance to white supremacy. Urges readers to move past the simple binary between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolence and Malcolm X’s “by any means necessary," offering an examination of the breadth of Black responses to white oppression, particularly those pioneered by Black women. Examines other, no less vital, tactics that have shaped the Black struggle, from the restorative power of finding joy in the face of suffering to the quiet strength of simply walking away. Offers a fundamental corrective to the historical record and a path toward liberation. Read more.

For more on Racism, click here.
Search for Common Ground
A nonprofit organization that works to transform the way people deal with conflict, building healthy, safe, and just societies around the world. It does this through building trust and creating collaboration opportunities for adversaries, ultimately leading to breakthroughs for peace. The organization's unique value lies in the collective impact of its globally integrated team and partners, from those most directly affected by violent conflict in communities to those with access and influence on the major powers that influence conflict dynamics. Learn more.

For more Peace resources, click here.
Empowered to Repair:
Becoming People Who Mend Broken Systems and Heal Our Communities
By Brenda Salter McNeil. A starting point for Christians looking to put their beliefs into action. Looks to the Biblical story of Nehemiah for an action-based model for repairing and rebuilding our communities and transforming broken systems. Goes beyond theories, offering practical tools Christians need for organizing, empowering, and activating people to join in God's work of equality, reparations, and justice. Provides strategies to drive systemic changes that go beyond superficial diversity and teaches the skills needed to engage in this work long-term, such as organizing people, leveraging resources, and avoiding burnout through rest, prayer, and self-care. Read more.

For more Community Organizing resources,
Prayer
Election Prayer
God of peace, these times demand a change of heart: to be, think, and act differently.
Pour out your Spirit on your people as we prepare to vote in unprecedented numbers across the globe.
May we strive to make peace a reality by becoming agents of reconciliation, transforming and transcending polarization, misinformation, and division during this election year.
Help us to recognize the reality of our interconnection and interdependence and to make decisions for the common good. Amen.
 Important Dates This Month
Individuals Honored This Month
August 9th
If the Church stays silent in the face of what is happening, what difference would it make if no church ever opened again?
August 14th
The most deadly poison of our times is indifference.
August 15th
The life of "peace" is both an inner journey toward a disarmed heart and a public journey toward a disarmed world. This difficult but beautiful journey gives infinite meaning and fulfillment to life itself because our lives become a gift for the whole human race. With peace as the beginning, middle, and end of life, life makes sense.
August 21st
What is a pilgrimage? Isn't it a group of people, in the company of one another, who are travelling together for a holy purpose? Our journey is a pilgrimage that has Jesus Christ as both its origin and its destination.
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