August 2025

Switch to a new generation. Advocate for them to have stronger education about sustainability. Earthday.org provides curricula and toolkits to engage students. Take the first step toward helping young people in schools, church, and home understand, become active, and be hopeful educators themselves.

For party fun on a hot day switch to magnetic, silicone water balloons, which are refillable, reusable, and remarkable as a creative alternative to latex, single-use, and dangerous-to-wildlife traditional balloons.

Plastic bags, made from fossil fuels, end up as waste in landfills and oceans. Wildlife often mistake them for food and eventually humans are harmed through the food chain. Switch to reusable tote bags—plastic-free and made from eco-friendly materials. 

Each year, around 20 billion disposable diapers are sent to landfills, adding 3.5 million tons of waste and potentially introducing pathogens, according to the EPA. The switch to cloth diapers saves money, reduces exposure to unknown chemicals, and decreases landfill waste.

The US uses 6.5 million tons of paper towels annually, each ton requiring 17 trees and 20,000 gallons of water to produce. Decomposing towels in landfills emit methane. Switch to old fabric (especially flannel) to make absorbent washable alternatives or buy rolls of paper towels made of bamboo.

The average American family uses 500 plastic snack bags each year, which are made from non-degradable polyethylene and may contain BPA. Switch to reusable silicone options to reduce waste and help keep plastics out of food and the environment.

The loofah and pouf are often confused. Poufs are colorful plastic-mesh scrunchies for the shower that contribute to landfill and ocean pollution and release microfibers into water. Loofahs come from the luffa plant. They are sustainable and can be composted. Switch to eco-friendly loofahs.

Upcycle old T-shirts into shopping bags or dog toys to donate to animal shelters. One church’s sewing club switched to including preteens and teens. Adults teach them sewing skills; they also learn from their younger members ideas of what can be made and made better for the environment.

Does your club, organization, or workplace have a sustainability voice for itself? Is there among the planning team, at least one person who speaks up for eco-friendly options? Having that one committed source will help others begin to switch their thinking.

Switch from “new” to “new-to-you” clothing and other items. Be adventurous and go to a thrift store. What you buy gives new life, keeps the item out of the landfill, and likely supports a charitable cause, as well. Donate your no-longer-needed clothing and other items too.  

The United Methodist Creation Justice Movement is providing these Tips 
as a tool to equip church members, families, and individuals to respond to God’s call to care for creation and do justice with our neighbors.