How to be a good steward

Here is a list of practical steps for Catholics to take to be mindful of the earth:

* Look at the major decisions you make as an opportunity to practice good stewardship. "If you're deciding to buy an automobile, buy one that will last a long time and gets good gas mileage," said Dr. Richard Shirey, an economics professor at Siena College in Loudonville. "SUVs [Sport Utility Vehicles] get terrible gas mileage and are a menace on the road to the ordinary driver."

* If possible, use public transportation, carpooling, bicycling or walking to get to work or other activities, instead of driving -- particularly if you'll be the only one in the car. "All that fossil fuel adds to the pollution in the air," said Fred Boehrer of Emmaus House, Albany's Catholic Worker house.

* Don't move to the suburbs if you don't have to. "We seeing pieces of land that were woods, natural landscapes, being gobbled up by developers," Mr. Boehrer said. "Suburban living does great damage to the environment because it means putting houses where there weren't any before, and it also presumes a commute."

* Eat organic foods. "What foods have high levels of pesticides?" asked Mr. Boehrer. "Buy foods that are pesticide-free or organic."

* Buy those foods from local farmers. "You'll end up supporting a farmer that is really being a good steward of the land, contributing to cleaning up some small part of the environment," Dr. Shirey noted. In addition, if you buy fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables, you'll save on packaging, a major source of waste.

* Recycle more than just plastic, cans, glass and newspapers. "Somebody had donated to Emmaus House a leather handbag, but it was really worn out," Mr. Boehrer explained. "One of our guests who was an artist used the leather as a canvas and pained an icon on it. From an environmental perspective, a nice way to see good stewardship is to see how poor people live and use the few things they have."

* If you use a wood stove, buy local wood. "You're nurturing a good ecological practice here in New York State, because New York does have good laws around harvesting timber," said Dr. Shirey, citing the "forever wild" areas of the Adirondack Park, where lumbering is not allowed.

* Buy smart: recycled paper, non-toxic cleansers, cotton clothing, non-nylon carpeting. "Nylon clothing is petroleum-based and energy-intensive in its creation," Dr. Shirey stated. "Using oil to the degree that we use it is speeding up the building up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, causing global warming. We're also killing a lot of land with chemicals through the agricultural practice."

* Spay or neuter your pets to keep the population of unwanted animals in check.

* Cut down on fast food. "A lot of the fast-food restaurants use beef from cattle raised in rain forests," Mr. Boehrer told The Evangelist. "Rain forests are being chopped down for land to raise cattle."

* Become aware of how much excess waste your family produces. "Furniture that's used but still usable gets thrown out on garbage night," said Mr. Boehrer. "That says something about how we're not thinking of the whole cycle."

* Use less electricity. "One of the best things that happened to us was our dryer broke," Mr. Boehrer said. "For the past three years, we've hung out our clothes on a clothesline. It's much more economical, and environmentally a better way to go."

* Obey water restrictions. "Are we going to wash our cars every week during the summer?" Mr. Boehrer asked. "Are we going to try to keep our lawns green when there's a water shortage?"

* On a larger scale, remember the poor. "The people who are most vulnerable are the people who can't move away from the hazardous waste sites, can't afford air conditioning to cope with the increased temperatures," said Dr. Shirey. "People who don't have the resources to even consume at a very high level are most affected by overconsumption." (KB)

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