“Let’s turn hope into action” By Julie Peller, Ph.D.

Green Junction

                Pope Leo’s message on the YouTube video “Let’s turn hope into action” begins with “God will ask us if we have cultivated and cared for the world that He created and if we have taken care of our brothers and sisters. What will be our answer?” (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QxEJovcQsZU) In response, the Laudato Si Movement is asking people who care for creation to share past and present actions or People’s Determined Contributions (PDCs). Instead of waiting for world leaders to initiate change, the organization urges people, families, and communities to elevate hope and action.

                This begins with visiting their webpage: raisinghope.earth/action. While not everyone is in a position to transition to renewable energy or to address climate change or other environmental crises in significant ways, each and every person can be a voice for the earth and can make contributions. These include driving less, turning off lights when you leave a room, using less plastic, buying less, getting involved in pro-earth organizations and talking with others regularly about how to better care for the earth and one another.

                My concerns and laboratory research were motivating forces for the nonprofit created with a group of incredible, committed people to address the plastic pollution crisis. The Plastic Reduction Alliance (plasticreductionalliance.org) was formed after years of discussions on ways to reach and educate others about the harms of living in a time of overconsumption and disposable goods. It turns out that plastic materials, which are manufactured at almost unbelievable levels (i.e., the Ocean Conservancy estimates that 127 billion plastic bottles are used in the United States each year), are harmful. Plastics and their chemical additives leach into food and drinks, into every earthly habitat, and have invaded our bodies. Meanwhile, the industry plans to increase plastic production and market it in enticing ways (e.g., huge blow-up holiday plastic figures in yards).

                Many people are doing great work to cultivate and care for our earth. Consider taking part in actions to heal our Common Home. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Plastic Reduction Alliance, visit our website or email us atprallianceinc@gmail.com.

Julie Peller, Ph.D., is an environmental chemist (Professor of Chemistry at Valparaiso University). She has been writing a weekly column called The Green Junction for the past seven years and is helping move the call of Laudato Si to action. Her research interests include advanced oxidation for aqueous solutions, water quality analyses, emerging contaminants, air quality analyses, challenges along the Lake Michigan shoreline (such as Cladophora, water, and sediment contaminants), and student and citizen participation in environmental work.