Stories of change
As we face the global climate crisis together, religious and spiritual people in every part of the world are making personal lifestyle changes.
We are transforming our personal lives in the ways that matter the most to us, and making a difference by practicing our deepest beliefs and values. We are taking action in three priority priority areas that have the most impact on our climate: transport, diet, and home energy use.
We represent diverse traditions, teachings, cultures, and ways of life, all working together to create a flourishing world. Read our stories and be inspired by our journeys of change!
Ramila Chauhan
Leicester, UK; business woman and Bhumi UK Co-ordinator
For many years I’ve been going about my life just like everyone else: getting married, having children and running a family business. Where is the time to stop and think about the environment? We are just swept away with all the general demands of culture and commercialism.
I was born in Mombasa, Kenya, and I come from a working class family. My father was the sole provider for nine of us. We had enough but not plenty. When we came to Leicester in the late ‘60s, things were still very simple and wholesome. There were not the vast choices we see today in our shops and supermarkets and no ready meals packed in plastic. As our buying power increased and we had three boys, the large shopping trolley was always full, just in case we ran out. There was a great deal of waste, I have to admit. But now I shop little and often, planning my meals and buying only what I need. I’m also conscious of my food miles and try to buy local produce where possible.
As part of Hindu culture we treat our guests as God, so whenever we have guests or events, we make lots of dishes. The mantra was always, ‘doesn’t matter if we have leftovers, but we must not run out’. It was about status and prestige, but I’ve come to realise that we spend too much time cooking rather than enjoying the precious family time.
My children have been my inspiration and role models. They have educated me about air pollution, plastics and waste. They choose not to fly, follow a vegan diet and they walk wherever possible.
A Hindu marriage lasts over five days with various festivities and family gatherings involving many meals, which are usually served in single-use plastic plates. For my sons’ wedding we made sure that we only used compostable plates made from sustainable resources. We also used plants for decorations, rented from the local nursery, rather than cut flowers or plastics that would have ended up in landfill.
We have made small changes within our daily life. Being vegetarians, meat is not a problem in our family. Some members of the family still eat it but generally when they go out, it’s not a major issue. We have a composting bin and any food waste is composted. We try to grow some vegetables: potatoes, onions, carrots, courgettes, tomatoes, and my grandson’s favourite: strawberries.
Many Hindus believe Hinduism is a way of life, and I’m just beginning to understand its true meaning. Hinduism teaches us that God is in everything, the Earth is our mother (Dharti Ma). The trees are our life source taking away the carbon dioxide and giving us oxygen. Dharma, our main principle, is generally translated as ‘duty’. If God is in every living thing then it’s our duty to care and respect it.
My work with the Bhumi Project gives me the opportunity to help other Hindus to reconnect with their faith and become a little more conscious of our effects on the environment.
From New York to the Andes: A different life with my indigenious friends
Deborah, Ecuador
I am Deborah, and I live in the Andes of Ecuador. When I signed up to “Living the Change” several years ago I was a practicing Buddhist and concerned about global warming while living a modest average-consumption lifestyle in the suburbs of New York.
Since that time my consumer habits, needs, lifestyle and carbon consumption have all changed dramatically. I want to contribute what I hope is a welcome perspective here.
I realized after reading the Stories of Changes and potential resolutions that where one lives and whether one must earn an income to survive may be the most critical factors in one's ability to make significant changes in consumption. Additionally, the renunciation of the consumer materialist values that rest firmly at the core of US culture may be very difficult for some folks, but I think this is necessary. A willingness to do more daily physical labor and live with fewer physical comforts also is important. Small changes are helpful, but I believe that big changes that take us out of our comfort zone are going to make the difference.
Finally I needed to make a huge spiritual shift in my relationship with nature. I went from perceiving the Earth as a resource to benefit humanity to one of respectful reciprocity by learning we humans are Nature rather than separate from Nature. We are one. I retain many of my Buddhist practices while having adopted the spiritual practices and beliefs of the indigenous Andean people sometimes called the Andean cosmovision. At the center of their spirituality is reverence and gratitude for nature, a living Earth called Allpamama or Pachamama that provides us with everything we need to live well. Five years ago at 65, I retired and soon chose to live with my indigenous friends (Kichwa runa) in one of their rural mountain villages in a very small simple house just like theirs. I learned their languages and I learn more about their traditions and approach to life and nature everyday. Indigenous people could teach us so much if we are willing to stop being leaders and innovators and become learners and humble followers of people who have lived in harmony with nature for thousands of years. Like my neighbors, I have few labor-saving appliances and little interest in "home decor" or "remodeling" after upgrading from a dirt floor to a cement floor. I stopped shopping for entertainment and now purchase only true necessities and perishables. Nothing needs to be matching sets or color-coordinated or "in good taste." Nothing I own is on display for other people or an employer. Nor is anything a unique expression of "the real me." It's all simple and utilitarian stuff and there's very little of it. I share my neighbors' commitment to sustainable organic agriculture with compost, handmade wood plows attached to cattle, hand sowing of seeds, weeding with hoes, and harvesting crops by hand. We rely on rain rather than artificial irrigation systems, and we raise as much of our own nutritious food as possible. Their centuries of agricultural wisdom is now being challenged by climate change created by foreign populations who enjoy material conveniences and luxuries they have never known. After driving my own car for almost 50 years, I now walk everywhere unless I am using public transportation to the nearest city about once per week. Walking on peaceful mountain roads with almost no traffic helps me maintain muscle mass as I age and sure beats working out in a gym! I learned in this new home to never take electricity and running water for granted again. I learned new ways of managing water consumption because poor indigenous communities often have hours or days without it. Significantly lowering one's carbon consumption requires a willingness to endure some discomfort and inconvenience while redefining what is truly necessary for a "good life." I learned that eating only the plentiful cheap healthy local foods (grains, tubers, fruits and vegetables in endless varieties along with free-range pigs and chickens) available year-round made for a great improvement from my US fast food diet, but a 100% plant-based diet is not part of indigenous life. Especially without a refrigerator. Again, my wonderful diet is possible mostly due to where I live (region). Not everyone can afford to move to other countries or regions. My heathy diet would be unaffordable in New York. Five avocados for a dollar and fifty cents for a pineapple is affordable food. No need for heat or air conditioning because regional temperatures are not extreme. Layers and a change of clothing is sufficient to stay comfortable on what they call hot and cold days, but we would call it year-long spring weather in New York. By choosing to live in a region without extreme temperatures, I no longer need to consume energy for the purpose of staying cool or warm in a house. Indigenous homes don't have central heating. My greatest luxury in life is a washing machine (most folks here hand scrub for hours in a water canal or cement outdoor lavadora). One other thing I could do to lower my carbon footprint would be to wash my clothes less often by wearing them a few days before sticking them in the machine. Washing clothes after one wear seems wasteful now. Clothes in these communities are always sun and wind dried, usually within a few hours. I would not have been able to make most of these lifestyle changes if I still had to earn income or if I could not find enough money to fly (once in my life) and start life over again in a new country.
Drying Out
Rev.Fletcher Harper, Anglican, Executive Director of GreenFaith, United States of America
In the midst of the pandemic and the ongoing work I do on climate change - which can be dis-spiriting - I love doing laundry. Maybe it’s that so much of what I work on is beyond my immediate control. Maybe it’s that in at least one area of my life, I’m a bit obsessive. Whatever the case, I like using the clothes washer. In a small but enjoyable way, it makes me feel whole.
So when I found out that the US spends more on energy (and creates more climate pollution) to power clothes dryers annually than some small countries spend on their total energy usage, I decided that I wanted to shift to using a drying rack.
I know that Europeans use these regularly. But in the US, there are almost 90 million clothes dryers and air-drying clothes is not the norm.
The biggest hurdle I faced was not that I lacked the space to dry clothes. The apartment my partner and I live in has adequate space and receives plenty of sunshine. Nor was it an aversion to air-dried clothes - I have always liked the stiffness of clothes from the dryer line. It was anxiety that my long-time partner might not like the additional clutter. She likes neatness and order, which has always been a welcome counter to my “spontaneous” and somewhat chaotic style. I’m conscious of not bringing too much of my life’s jumble - metaphorical or otherwise - into our shared space. This seemingly minor hurdle prevented me from moving “beyond the dryer” for close to a year. It never seemed like the right time to bring it up.
To my pleasant surprise, when I finally raised the topic over dinner, she was wholly receptive - and also noted her love of air-dried clothes. We bought our first clothing rack; it was an attractive wooden clothes rack that smelled and felt nice. But it broke within a few months in a way that led me to believe that unless I spent over $100 on a designer wood drying rack, I’d end up with another broken rack within several weeks. So, rack number two was a less artisanal, more light-industrial metal version. It works well. Every once in a while, I need to tighten the screws that connect its various parts. But that has become part of the ritual, part of the enjoyment. Simple pleasures are a good thing.
I know that my own individual change is the tiniest of drops in the bucket in terms of emissions reductions. The ocean is extraordinarily wide and deep and my boat is small. But I also know that new infrastructure and technology alone cannot meet the necessary emission reduction levels in time to avoid absolutely catastrophic levels of climate change, and that immediate behavior changes by middle classes and wealthy people - such as me - are a key part of what is needed. Whether this gets framed in the spirit of “more fun, less stuff” or as sacrifices needed for the common good doesn’t matter much - I suspect that from a communications perspective, a bit of both is smart. The important thing is that people like me need to make these and other changes now, and get others to do the same while also pushing like all hell for system change.
In another area of my life, I’ve benefited from working on becoming more anti-racist as a person. I think of these small steps in my energy use in the same way. Taking these steps makes me struggle with the oil-soaked US way of life, struggle with my own resistance to change, find new meaning in a different way of living. To the degree that addiction is a useful metaphor for the way we’re hooked on fossil fuels, a drying-out rack even has some humor as a physical-spiritual symbol.
Whatever the case, by air-drying my clothes I’m reminded that there are a lot of emissions reductions within easy reach, that our society's needs to make it the norm for us all to live more sustainably, and that the simple pleasures of living sustainably help sustain my spirit for the long struggle ahead.
Ms. Caroline Bader is the Director of “Living the Change” with GreenFaith. Based in Germany, and previously serving as Youth Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, she believes it is her responsibility as a Christian to care for her climate neighbors as her brothers and sisters around the world.
BK Jayasimha
How does your faith help you in times of struggle, change, and new beginnings?
The faith in the self, in God, and in community, brings the internal strength, which helps to overcome obstacles. The sustenance in challenging times comes from daily disciplined life and meditation. How does your faith describe the relationship between all living things, the Earth, and the Divine?
The human being is a nucleus point in relation with the earth, creation, and all beings, and is the most influential for all happenings. As a spiritual practitioner, it is the basic teaching of my path to respect the existence of every species on the Earth and also the five elements. I try to live in such a way that it is not disturbing the natural process of evolution.
What does your faith tradition teach about material consumption and simplicity?
The simplicity begins with thinking – our community focuses more on internal simplicity and contentment by positive thinking, which ultimately reflects in external simplicity and minimal usage of materialistic things. In what ways does your community provide you with a guide to life?
In our community, it’s taught that sangatan is shakti, which means that working together brings strength. By sharing and caring with each other, the new culture and way of interacting emerge.
How does your community approach examining and changing our lifestyles?
In fact, the above aspect is a daily practice in our community. Additionally, regular retreats focused on self-transformation through intense meditation serve to strengthen the self to live in accordance with this principle. Which sacred texts most inspire you to act for change?
I’m inspired by the ancient wisdom of vedic science, presented in the easiest way to understand and practice in daily life. It is a holistic approach to change the self by practicing four subjects, such as: gyan (knowledge), yoga (meditation), dharna (inculcation) and seva (service to humanity).
What have you done to improve the sustainability of your diet, transportation, and/or energy use?
As an engineer, I have been involved in developing and teaching about renewable energy devices for the last 25 years. As a community, we intake simple and sattvic food cooked by dedicated Raja Yogis using solar energy. We’ve also established several solar energy systems at the headquarters of our community in Mt. Abu, India, which can serve as a successful demonstration for others.
How would you describe the experience of making these lifestyle changes?
As we always work selflessly, without any monetary or other kind of expectations, the path is fairly easy and enjoyable. The reward is in the form of blessings from beneficiaries.
Per Ingvar Haukeland
How does your faith help you in times of struggle, change, and new beginnings?
My faith is directed to the “Inner Light” that enlightens the way that is true and right for me, given who I am, what I can manage, and what is needed of me to make a better world. If we are unsure what to do, we Quakers use a method called “meetings for clearness”, which helps us discern what is of the Light. My faith is not a doctrine, nor a set of principles, it is a way and a practice. That of God within guides me closer to who I am in what is to come, so I am never lost; it is the inner compass that always shows me the direction where to go, if I am silent, open, and apt to listen. And if I answer the call, my experience is that doors are opening to new beginnings and a new world. It is already unfolding.
How does your faith describe the relationship between all living things, the Earth, and the Divine?
Quakers believe there is something of God in everyone. This has been extended by early Quakers also to include non-humans. We are, in other words, in a spiritual kinship with all of creation. In my book, titled “Himmeljorden: Det av Gud i Naturen” (HeavenEarth: That of God in Nature, 2010), now in translation from Norwegian to English, I elaborate on this topic from the Quaker tradition.
What does your faith tradition teach about material consumption and simplicity?
My faith tradition has several testimonies, one being simplicity. This gets at the way we live and how we practice our faith. We do not need anything else but silence to open for the Inner Light. Quakers witness also about how a life with simple means can create rich ends. You can be poor, but feel rich. It is part of the deep ecology approach that I have been active with over the last 30 years.
In what ways does your community provide you with a guide to life?
My Quaker faith in that of God in all living beings, and the quest to bridge faith and practice, inspire my commitment, not only in my own life, but also coming together with others in my community to create a sustainable and nature-friendly future.
Are there particular texts that inspire you to act for change?
The strongest inspiration is not in the text, but in the Holy Spirit within – that “Inner Light” that enlightens us to bond with all of creation, and that shows us the truth and what is right and wrong in the way we relate to our fellow creatures. We have to give ourselves over to this inner guide and spirit, and one place in the scripture that sums this up is when Jesus says: “Not as I want, but only as you want” (Mark 14:36). In my opinion, this speaks to that of God within.
What have you done to improve the sustainability of your diet, transportation, and/or energy use?
One change that I would like to share is the establishment of a transition town initiative in our small community in Bø in Telemark, Norway. It is a town of about 6000 people, which my wife and I established in order to “be the change that we sought” where we live. In this initiative, we have five topics that we seek transition in: (1) housing, (2) food, (3) transportation, (4) consumption and (5) inner transition. We try to change things in a greener direction in each of these areas, which we highlight on our website. Please visit bliv.no or transitionnetwork.org to learn more.
How would you describe the experience of making these lifestyle changes?
The key to this work is joy and making it social. The difficult part is to break habits, since we are so embedded in habits that undermine what we want. But the rewarding part is that simply starting with one small step is a movement in the right direction. And since the steps are joyful, not fearful, more people have been inclined to join. It is the community that upholds our engagement, and also works smarter by making it easier for people to join.
Imam Zaid Shakir
How does your faith help you in times of struggle, change, and new beginnings?
Faith defines the parameters of our goals and the struggles needed to achieve them. Therefore, without faith, there is no struggle.
How does your faith describe the relationship between all living things, the Earth, and the Divine?
Islam enjoins upon us to be stewards of the Earth. If we take our faith seriously, then we must do everything in our power to be good stewards, for we will be held responsible before God.
What does your faith tradition teach about material consumption and simplicity?
Our Prophet (peace upon him) is the model we should pattern our lives after. He is a model of simplicity. One cannot claim to be a true follower of the Prophet (peace upon him) if one does not strive to emulate his simplicity in living and doing without much.
How does your community approach examining and changing our lifestyles?
The month of Ramadan, by encouraging fasting, empathy with the poor, consciousness of what we eat and how it is produced, creates tremendous change for one month. It is up to us to make the lessons of Ramadan lasting and permanent.
What role does your community play in providing you with a guide to life?
Healthy communities are the key to healthy societies and a healthy earth. As Muslims, we are encouraged to create healthy communities.
Which sacred text most inspires you to act for change?
The sun and moon are in measured orbits. The stars and trees are prostrating. He has raised the heavens aloft and established the balance. You should not disrupt the balance (through excess)." (Qur'an 55:5-8)
What have you done to improve the sustainability of your diet, transportation, and/or energy use?
Praise be to God, I have been able to move within a minutes walk from my workplace. Hence, while I do have hybrid car, a Prius, I can go days without using it. I frequently bike to the store and the post office and for other errands. We do not buy meat throughout the year, we only eat it at various dinners we are invited to and at the time of Eid al-Adha. We recycle and compost also.
How would you describe the experience of making these lifestyle changes?
Doing the right thing is always rewarding. It is not difficult at all to live as we do. In fact it is quite rewarding, health wise, economically and in man other ways.
Sister Christin Tomy, OP (Order of Preachers)
How does your faith help you in times of struggle, change, and new beginnings?
God’s faithfulness to, love for, and presence with all creation (and not just humanity) gives me hope in times of struggle. No matter how badly humans have ruptured the bonds of relationship, the promise of the Resurrection is still available to all.
How does your faith describe the relationship between all living things, the Earth, and the Divine?
The biblical creation narrative describes God creating humans (Hebrew “adam”) from the soil (“adamah”). This imagery powerfully illustrates our belief in the intimate and inseparable relationship between God, humans, and Earth. Choices that deny or disrespect those relationships throw off the balance; choices that honor the relationships can help restore.
What does your faith tradition teach about material consumption and simplicity?
Material wealth rarely leads to spiritual health. While material consumption is not inherently evil (we all need to consume to live), we need well-developed consciences that are able to distinguish between needs and wants, and are able to self-regulate on an individual level for the good of the whole.
In what ways does your community provide you with a guide to life?
The principles of Catholic Social Teaching provide an excellent guide for living in ways that honor our interconnectedness. My life in a religious community teaches me on a daily basis that my life is not simply my own: my choices, however small, affect others.
Which sacred texts most inspire you to act for change?
Psalm 65 (“the pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy…”) is a love song to creation. Romans 8:22 reminds me that it’s urgent for us to act for change: “We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now.” Finally, Pope Francis’s recent encyclical, Laudato Si’, provides me with much inspiration.
What have you done to improve the sustainability of your diet, transportation, and/or energy use?
About six years ago, I became a vegetarian. What began as a Lenten commitment (the common Catholic practice of abstaining from something during the 40 days leading up to Easter) has become integral to my spiritual practice. At first, my primary motivation was mindfulness of my brothers and sisters who go hungry. The more I learned about the social and environmental impact of meat production in the US (high carbon footprint, factory farms, exploitive conditions for both workers and animals, toxic waste, and more), the deeper my commitment became. In a society that glorifies excess and fears inconvenience, eating a plant-based diet is a simple discipline that keeps me grounded and reminds me to keep making choices that respond to the urgent cries of our Earth, our common home.
How would you describe the experience of making these lifestyle changes?
All things considered, the change has been only a minor sacrifice; it has been more rewarding than challenging. It has sparked meaningful conversations among the sisters with whom I live, and it has helped us to question how we are or are not responding to our current ecological crisis in light of our faith.
Rufus Kamran
How does your faith help you in times of struggle, change, and new beginnings?
I always get strength from reading Mathew 28:20, in which Jesus clearly said that "I am with you forever". When I am depressed, confused or failing in my work, I always spend my time in prayer, receiving the energy to start again with renewed spirit and enthusiasm.
How does your faith describe the relationship between all living things, the Earth, and the Divine?
I am a Protestant Christian who believes in the Ecumenical theology of development. It is our faith to work for climate justice and sustain the lives of all people. This involvement flows out of Christ’s Command to love thy neighbors, as it is the fundamental principle of Christianity.
What does your faith tradition teach about material consumption and simplicity?
In the Bible, Daniel Chapter 1 offers the wonderful example of simple food adopted by three persons. Also, Timothy Chapter 1 clearly says that love for money is the root cause of all evils. I believe that to accumulate wealth beyond your basic needs leads a person towards exploitation of natural resources and the green climate.
In what ways does your community provide you with a guide to life?
I always find the guidance of God for myself from the Book of Proverbs in the Bible. By reading Proverbs, my faith becomes stronger and I get more energy to work for my cause and commitments. I believe that we are here on the earth to fulfill and implement the Lord's commandments.
Which sacred texts most inspire you to act for change?
Exodus 23:10-11 (English Standard Version) "For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard and with your olive orchard."
What have you done to improve the sustainability of your diet, transportation, and/or energy use?
Inspired by our faith, my wife, my two children, and I all started making sustainable behavior choices about our transportation, our energy use, and our diet beginning between four to seven years ago.
First, we are now using bicycles instead of cars, both to reach the office and to take our children to school. Although we had a family car in the past, the bicycles are now part of our daily lives. There are some challenges, of course, including how the bicycle takes more time and requires more physical energy. Some neighbors also taunt us by asking “how can adaptation of sustainable living from one family can bring the change in the society?" But we are happy taking these actions in our own lives and inspiring others.
Second, our family switched to solar energy for lighting our home starting almost four years ago. For cooking purposes, we are capturing and using the biogas that is generated from our food scraps combined with the animal dung from our livestock.
We also have our own home organic garden with different varieties of vegetables and fruits that are sufficient for our own family’s consumption. We have also five cows and four buffaloes, which provide fresh milk, as well as animal dung that is used as fertilizer and for our biogas fuel production.
Last but not least, my family has been following a plant-based diet since 2011, when I first attended an international Asian Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security organized by the International Federation of Rural Adult Catholic Movements (FIMARC). We have also started to use indigenous and local cold drinks such as "Satu" (a product made by wastage of wheat harvest), "Shikanji" (a mixture of fresh lemon juice, water and salt), and "Lasi" (a combination of water, salt and a bit of fresh milk).
How would you describe the experience of making these lifestyle changes?
To become the first drop of rain, and to set the example for others, we have to change our personal behavior. Mobilizing the people for climate justice is a difficult task. In spite of this, the young and educated people are now working for climate justice voluntarily. To achieve our goal, we have to give sacrifices and be determined to achieve our target.
Rose Gwynn
When I was young, my devout religious beliefs led me to act as if the spiritual world was the only world where my daily, physical actions mattered. I didn't see a major link between my everyday habits such as diet, energy use, etc as being very important or affecting anyone but myself. My faith was very myopic and self-centered. I thought that as long as I prayed, read my Bible, and was kind in my intentions toward others, that I was living a holy life. As I have gotten older, my perspective has shifted, and I understand now that my beliefs mean almost nothing if I am living in a way that is harmful to others and creation. I have also become more aware of the stunning cruelty of the meat & poultry industries, as well as their destructive effect on the environment, which harms people. I decided to become a vegetarian not only because it is healthier for me, but because I cannot in good conscience support these immoral industries. The result of this decision is that I feel more at peace and aligned with my spiritual values, and I feel better overall. I am more appreciative of the rich bounty of foods available to us from the earth, and I am more conscious of how my decisions can help or harm others. It has been very empowering.
Rose Gwynn is a mom, artist, and Communications Coordinator for GreenFaith. She also loves reading books and her yellow lab, Daisy.
Rev. Dr. Neddy Astudillo
When my husband and I started making our changes on the way we eat, seeking to live a life that would manifest our ecological values; we did not consider its climate impact. We acknowledged that less transportation time for our food and eating organic from a local sources meant: supporting local economies and farmers (rather than bringing our food from 1300 miles away which is the average in the US), eating more fresh products, higher in vitamin content and minerals due to growing in healthy soils, avoiding nitrogen runoffs going into the sea, protection oceans, learning to eat what our local place produces, living more gently on the earth. So many benefits! Our own health improved! Today we understand that this type of eating is climate friendly, not only reduces carbon release from transportation, but healthy soils are capable of sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. We need more and more people eating locally, connecting to the natural world around them, living simply and grateful for what Earth provides in its due season. When we moved to a new city a couple of years ago, the first thing we did was connecting with local farmers. We did not want the city life to determine how we related to the new place but to discover its hidden treasures, what grew, when, including learning about new plants that would not grow in colder climates we came from. We are happy to say, we now have fruit trees in our yard, joined a community garden and have one of our own. Feeling nurtured by the place we live in, and learning its ways is key to living a climate friendly life. A climate friendly life is one that leads us to love ourselves, and the places we live in.
As an immigrant, Jeremiah 29 is a good guide to anyone seeking to learn how to live in a new place, one that political, economic circumstances, or even love may had lead us to: “Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters ... Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jer 29:5-7)
Author: Rev. Dr. Neddy Astudillo, Christian, Venezuela/United States of America
Lindsey Fielder Cook
How does your faith help you in times of struggle, change, and new beginnings?
My faith gives me hope on days of despair, in myself and in others; hope in what humanity can do through love, through nurturing and cherishing the sacred. How does your faith describe the relationship between all living things, the Earth, and the Divine?
I was so caught up in peace and justice concerns as a humanitarian worker in war zones, that I was not very aware of my relationship with the Earth. But as I began to understand how our lifestyles are destabilizing nature, and how rising temperatures could lead to the violent, failed countries where I had worked, I began to understand that climate change (and other environmental crises), and in turn sustainable lifestyles, are a peace and justice concern.
What does your faith tradition teach about material consumption and simplicity?
As a Quaker, I am surrounded by people who do live more simply than I do, so I am continually both inspired and challenged by them. The teachings of Jesus, which inspire Quaker Testimonies, call for us to live in a way that at its core does need simplicity to be real. And if we try, even though none of us are perfect, if we try then we will be closer to God, to our neighbors and the Earth. In what ways does your community provide you with a guide to life?
The Quaker Testimonies are a backbone, focused as they are on Truth, Simplicity, Equality, Integrity, Peace and Sustainability. But the Quaker approach is also one of ‘seeking’, always asking ourselves if we are doing enough, being a witness within and without. We believe that God’s love is within us – not just in Quakers, not just in the general Christian community, but in ALL humans – and this links back to the cherishing of all living creatures. Which sacred texts most inspire you to act for change?
I gain from Buddhist, indigenous, and Hindu understandings of cherishing nature, since the monotheistic faiths around which I was raised often stress dominance. Yet the implications of how we live on Earth, and the destruction we see, are profoundly Biblical. Many of the root causes of environmental destruction are financially lucrative actions; the majority of Jesus’s teachings are about money, and caring for the poor and most vulnerable, and the destructions of pursuing wealth.
What have you done to improve the sustainability of your diet, transportation, and/or energy use?
It is easy as an individual, but we are a family of four seeking ways forward together and we are far from perfect. We do not eat meat (and I no dairy), we have solar panels, we bike or train when we can, we have joined a community agriculture farm, we buy heating from renewable sources, we supported a refugee family to integrate, we give away possessions and question new purchases, we devote our working life to fairtrade and climate change effort – blah blah – but there is always more we can do, and our lifestyles remain more privileged than most on Earth. We went without a car until the teenagers revolted, as they were struggling with our choices. Yet now, with one job far away, my husband flies monthly, and until we bring our lives back together next year, our travel is far from sustainable.
How would you describe the experience of making these lifestyle changes?
I knew dairy-free was a critical contribution to sustainable agriculture, but only went off dairy kicking and screaming due to an allergy. I hesitate with fundamentalist approaches – each life is different, and we must look honestly within ourselves at what we can do. Transformation needs to come from the heart to sustain, which is why faith is so powerful a call to act, a call to conscience that even in our own lives, in how we live and how we are with others, we can help create a more courageous and compassionate world so desperately needed to face the environmental and existential crises before us.
Sister Jayanti
How does your faith help you in times of struggle, change, and new beginnings?
My faith gives me the courage and confidence to know that I can draw spiritual power from the Source of all strength – the Almighty. That spiritual power enables me to bring changes in my awareness, attitude, and vision, and therefore my behaviour, so that there can be a new perspective and a new start. With faith and courage, help comes from God but also from others who are on a spiritual journey, too.
How does your faith describe the relationship between all living things, the Earth, and the Divine?
We understand that there are three eternal aspects: God, souls, and matter. At first, there is perfect harmony between the three. Then, as fear, greed, and arrogance start to motivate human behaviour, peace and harmony is lost. Re-connecting with God transforms the soul. This, in turn, transforms our relationship with all living beings. We return again to perfect harmony.
What does your faith tradition teach about material consumption and simplicity?
From the outset, the Founder of the Brahma Kumaris himself led a very simple lifestyle and inspired others to so the same. He taught the community to use only according to needs, avoid waste, re-cycle, and to give respect to the natural resources that we use.
How does your community approach examining and changing our lifestyles?
A very specific tradition within our community is to simplify our lives. Our aim is to centre our lives more on God and Divine attributes, rather than on an interest in the material only.
In what ways does your community provide you with a guide to life?
Every thought, word, and action of mine has an impact on myself, other people, and the world. Understanding the law of ‘karma’ (action and reaction), I aspire to give more than I take, i.e. to become a loving individual who acts in ways that uplifts the self and humanity. Non- violence, the highest principle one can live by, is what we aspire to.
Which sacred texts most inspire you to act for change?
The Founder of the Brahma Kumaris shared teachings daily for over 30 years. These contain guidance for all aspects of life and form the basis of everything we do. We pay attention to four subjects: connecting with God (yoga); daily spiritual study; developing virtues in life; and the service of others.
What have you done to improve the sustainability of your diet, transportation, and/or energy use?
I was born a vegetarian, but moving towards a totally plant-based diet took a little while. Partly it was a question of availability, or convenience, partly not offending others (cows are sacred in India!). But by keeping respect for the self as well as respect for others, I now have a firm commitment to this. It’s heartening that so many are doing the same now.
How would you describe the experience of making these lifestyle changes?
Moving to a totally plant-based diet brought many challenges, especially in terms of travel and hospitality, but non-dairy options are now available in most countries. It is rewarding to know that it is a contribution to the world.
Shelley Tanenbaum
How does your faith help you in times of struggle, change, and new beginnings?
It helps to feel confident that I am on the right path, even when the goals seem daunting. It also helps to be aware that I am part of a larger movement towards positive change, and that change may take more than my lifetime to ever be accomplished. I am sharing this journey with faith-based and other change-makers, most of us working on different threads of action, all based in love.
How does your faith describe the relationship between all living things, the Earth, and the Divine?
Quakers have traditionally summed up our faith as ‘there is that of God in everyone.’ Some of us are expanding that view of the world to ‘there is that of God in everything.’ That translates into being respectful of all beings, and living in harmony with the natural world.
What does your faith tradition teach about material consumption and simplicity?
Quakers value using only what is needed, living simply, and appreciating basics rather than extravagances.
In what ways does your community provide you with a guide to life?
In my Quaker community, we are active in different ways, but we share core values. The work I am doing as an earthcare advocate is valued and appreciated. My community provides spiritual grounding that both inspires me to take bolder action and sustains me in this work. I feel called to work on climate change – my faith gives me the strength to face this enormous challenge and the confidence to stretch myself to do this work.
Are there particular texts that inspire you to act for change?
Rufus Jones wrote about the power of the mystical experience. He valued a direct experience with spirit for strength and guidance, leading to action. His life and his writings were important to me, especially when I first discovered the spiritual depths of Quakerism.
What have you done to improve the sustainability of your diet, transportation, and/or energy use?
I have been actively engaged with Quaker Earthcare Witness for about 7 years – first as a board member, and now for the past 4 years as the General Secretary. Ironically, this work involved much more travel than I was used to, as part of our outreach to the larger Quaker world and for internal meetings (we use video conferencing for most of our committee meetings, but still meet face-to-face twice a year as a North American organization). I have committed myself to train travel rather than air travel as much as reasonably possible, and I piggy-back trips so that I am sometimes on the road for 3-6 weeks at a time. I am writing this from a train as I travel east from my home base on the west coast – enjoying views of San Francisco Bay as I take the time to write this response.
How would you describe the experience of making these lifestyle changes?
Train travel has ups and downs. I enjoy the scenery, the slower pace, the time for reading, reflecting, and writing. I also enjoy the conversations when I feel like it and the solitude when I don’t. However, time away from home and lack of sleep in noisy, uncomfortable spaces is draining. I find that I can travel this way for most, but not all, of the trips I take. I am also working on cutting back on some of those trips.
Marie Denis
How does your faith help you in times of struggle, change, and new beginnings?
A deeply incarnational faith has been the driving force in my life. I believe we are called to engage fully in helping to hasten the in-breaking of the New Creation. That is life-giving, joyful, and hopeful work – even in the context of a broken world.
How does your faith describe the relationship between all living things, the Earth, and the Divine?
I believe that the gratuitous, cosmic gift of the Creator invites all beings into right relationship with each other in the fullness of life. We are all part of Earth Community and are thus brothers and sisters to each other. St. Francis expressed this in a beautiful and powerful way in his Canticle of Creation, and right relationships are at the heart of a nonviolent life.
What does your faith tradition teach about material consumption and simplicity?
My faith tradition values simplicity, even voluntary poverty – as an act of solidarity with those who are impoverished by structural or systemic injustice, and as a way of living nonviolently and more lightly on the earth.
How does your community approach examining and changing our lifestyles?
Assisi Community’s commitment to live simply is a constant topic of reflection in our community. It affects everything about our daily life – from what we eat, to how we use our financial resources, to the environmental sustainability of our lifestyle, to our engagement in action or advocacy in the public square. This commitment is strengthened by our daily morning prayer together.
In what ways does your community provide you with a guide to life?
The values I hold dear come from my faith and are expressed in the communities of which I am a part, especially my family and Assisi Community, an intentional community where I have lived for 30+ years. These include a commitment to work for social justice and peace, active nonviolence, hope, and an effort to live simply near the margins of society.
Which sacred texts most inspire you to act for change?
Two texts offer particular inspiration for me. Isaiah 65:17 proclaims: “For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth”. And 1 Peter 3:15 says: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
What have you done to improve the sustainability of your diet, transportation, and/or energy use?
Since the 1970s I have made an effort to live more simply and to share that journey with my six children, now adults. As a family we adopted a diet that was primarily plant-based, stopped using a dryer and air conditioning, and replaced grass in our yard with a vegetable garden. In 1976, we moved from an up-scale suburban neighborhood to a 65-acre organic farm where we lived and worked hard for 10 years in an effort to deepen our respect for nature, including the animals and food we raised. Later, we helped establish Assisi Community in an inner city neighborhood of Washington, DC, where shared space with 12 to 20 others has made simple living the “norm” for the past 30 years.
How would you describe the experience of making these lifestyle changes?
Every step of the way for the past 40+ years has been life-giving and has had an incredibly positive impact on my family. At times I expected the changes we were planning to make would be difficult (the move to the farm, the move to community, etc.), and the skepticism of others was sometimes challenging, but in fact, the changes were so clearly the right next step for us that each one felt “right.”
Dr. Ather Hussain al-Azhari.
Imam, Writer & Lecturer, Leicester Central Mosque
We do live in a world where we advocate change all the time - political, social and even spiritual - but we do not take any steps ourselves. Allah informs us that He will not change a community until they change themselves
(Quran, 13: 11)
How have you been changing your lifestyle to move towards a more climate-friendly way of life, in one or several of the three areas of transportation, diet, and home energy use? Without a doubt, my family and I are certainly moving towards a more eco-friendly lifestyle. In terms of transportation, we have a hybrid car that we know is making a significant change to the environment around us. My parents’ house has a solar-energy panel installed on the roof, something I am considering for my own home too. Diet is one area where change has been most difficult. Having said that, my daughter Aisha (12) - who is very vocal on environmental concerns - is always reminding us of the need to recycle, cut out waste and make purchases that consider the environment, too. I think I have always been environmentally-conscious. My family loves nothing more than a drive in the Derbyshire Dales or a day at Rutland Water. As a Muslim Imam, I appreciate the wonderful guidance given to us on green affairs from our religion. Yet I happily admit that the talk delivered by Karman Shehzad (of the Bahu Trust UK, a partner of Living the Change- editors note) in 2019 in Leicester made a huge difference to how I viewed the issue. Whereas before my knowledge was largely theoretical, Kamran wonderfully highlighted the practical aspects of green choices on transport, food, energy, water consumption, food waste, packaging and how we can make a direct and immediate change.
How has this experience of personal change been a journey, and what have been both the joys and the difficulties on your path? This journey has been a wonderful one, not least because it leads to inner peace and contentment. I cannot think of any negatives at all. We do live in a world where we advocate change all the time - political, social and even spiritual - but we do not take any steps ourselves. Allah informs us that He will not change a community until they change themselves (Quran, 13: 11). In my opinion, environmental affairs is one area where it is futile to desire change globally, without one taking steps at home to make a difference.
How have your faith and spirituality been supportive of your journey of change? Prince Charles once commented that throughout the world, people are more likely to take environmental concerns seriously if they see it as a religious responsibility, too. He added that no religion promotes green affairs better than Islam. We as Muslims know that feeding an animal is a religious act that leads to reward from our Lord (in the same way that harming animals leads to His displeasure). Through daily ablution, we have a regular link with water. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) talked in particular about the importance and superiority of planting trees. He was vehemently against waste. He loved green scenery and found joy in watching flowing water. Each and every day, I am learning more about how faith and spirituality supports one’s love for the environment.
Rev Amy Brooks Paradise
Unitarian Universalist, GreenFaith Organizer in the United States
My faith tradition, Unitarian Universalism, has a long, strong streak of environmental activism. From our 7th principle to affirm "the independent web of all creation" to our Green Sanctuary and Earth Ministry programs, Unitarian Universalists have moved to center the earth in our spiritual tradition . Thus my faith encourages me always to keep taking steps towards being a better partner in caring for the earth.
As I begin my story, I think it is really important to set the context. In the United States there are opportunities and options for everything, and you are exposed to these constantly through the media, at work, at school, and in your neighborhood. From disposable bags and cups to a lifestyle that promotes immediate gratification, acquiring more things, and fancy vacations, it can be difficult to refuse the ease and expectations that bombard you every day. Therefore, every day becomes an act of resistance.
I have always tried to do things like recycling and bringing bags to the grocery store. But it can be hard to remember and there are many times I have had to go back in the house to grab my thermos, tea cup, or tote bags. My friend Susan taught me to always have a take out container in my car for leftovers. I will often leave stores with my purchases piled in my arms rather than accept the plastic shopping bag. There is satisfaction in taking the extra time to do the right thing.
Over the years I have made other changes like using bar shampoo as well as bar soap. It's much harder to teach my daughter who is 13 and wants to try all the personal care products and make up. I've resisted the cosmetics industry for more than 25 years--I hope my daughter remembers these important lessons as an adult!
One of our biggest changes came when my husband and I moved closer to his job so he wouldn't have to drive so far to work. In the suburbs, you have to drive to get anywhere, but I insisted on finding a home close enough to walk to some places like a grocery store, bookstore, and restaurants. It brings our family joy to walk together for a meal out.
We have done things to our house including better windows to keep the house warm in the winter and cool in the summer. We added a solar hot water heater and then some solar panels. My husband now drives an electric car and I expect I will be next (currently I have a hybrid). These are bigger changes and not everyone can afford to do this. Still it has meant careful planning and I know we could not have done it if we had decided to do many of the things our society thinks are normal like buying fancy cars, clothes, and vacations. My daughter loves to point out she is the only kid in her class that hasn't been to Disney World. I tell her we are building character!!
Another act of public resistance is the refusal to keep a green lawn (yes that is a thing). Some neighborhoods actually have rules about this. We do cut our mix of grass and weeds but refuse all the chemicals that give our neighbors those lawns full of perfect, green blades of grass. I have also refused to rake up my leaves and instead just added them into natural areas. What is better than a pile of leaves to compost a garden?
I have participated before with Living the Change. My promise last time was to not use my dryer. I have found pleasure in hanging out my clothes just like I did when I was a child. This year I am focusing on food. Growing up in a farming community, going meat free is a challenge to a way of life, as well as to my palette and my meal preparation. This is resistance at the most intimate level! I am going to resist my own body and comfort and challenge myself to a month without meat.
Resistance is not easy; I understand why people feel overwhelmed. So, wish me luck and best wishes on your Living the Change endeavors! I look forward to hearing your stories.
Rabbi Katy Allen
How does your faith help you in times of struggle, change, and new beginnings?
Shabbat provides me with a time to step back from the busyness of the week and to gain perspective and revitalization. It also provides a rhythm to the week that is strengthening and comforting – Shabbat is never too far away, a landing spot for me after whatever challenges the week might bring.
Other holidays provide deeper meaning and opportunities for growth through the cycle of the year, as well as a sense of being connected to the moon cycles and the seasons.
Daily prayer and regular blessings infuse a sense of connection with the sacred into my life, and serve as a reminder both of G!d's presence in my life and in the Universe and that I'm not in control of everything. Text studies get my mind working and stimulate deeper insights into life, along with the ongoing wonder and amazement I experience in understanding that people have struggled with the issues of life for millennia.
Is there a ritual or tradition related to the environment that inspires you?
My daily davenning (Yiddish for prayer) I do outside, and every blessing and prayer takes on new and deeper meaning when I feel the Earth beneath my feet and see the sky above my head and hear the birds singing around me.
What have you done to improve the sustainability of your diet, transportation, and/or energy use?
I am a vegetarian and limit my dairy intake. I have a garden and buy much of my food through local vegetable and grain CSAs. I have solar panels and solar hot water. I use public transportation when possible, and I limit my flying. All of my finances are in fossil-fuel-free funds.
How would you describe the experience of making these lifestyle changes?
The main challenge with all of the changes is making the decision, and then sticking with that decision and implementing it. I have been a vegetarian for many years, so it is an integral part of my life and people around me now know and accept it. Although I've made moves toward a fully plant-based diet, going from vegetarian to vegan is much more challenging for me, especially given other dietary restrictions of people I live with.
Going solar was made easier because of a state-run program that our town participated in, which provided a lot of support to people as well as good prices. I live in an area without public transportation that is too far to walk to many things, though I nevertheless do sometimes walk places. This is painful and frustrating to me, and I try to carpool as much as possible, or to combine activities that are in the same area into one trip.
I struggle a lot about flying, as there are people I want to see and places I want to go, some of which are at a great distance. I've wanted to take a group to Israel, but I am struggling about the ethics of doing that, given the amount of carbon it would put into the air. I try to take the train when I can, but it isn't always very convenient, or it can take a long time. We are currently looking into other ways to make our home more energy efficient as well.
Lluc Torcal Sirera
How does your faith help you in times of struggle, change, and new beginnings?
I try to live all my life according to my faith and try to illuminate all the steps of life, changes, new beginnings, under the light of faith in Jesus of Nazareth.
How does your faith describe the relationship between all living things, the Earth, and the Divine?
As a Catholic, I believe that God created all beings, and that is why everything is interrelated. At the same time, all beings express the glory of God by the very fact of being. Therefore, the contemplation of nature helps us to approach God. For this reason, all natural species must be respected and protected.
What does your faith tradition teach about material consumption and simplicity?
The monastic life according to the Rule of Saint Benedict is a path of simplicity and discretion: everything must be, and must be lived according to the just measure and leaving aside the superfluous. Everyone gets what is necessary to live considering that all goods are common.
In what ways does your community provide you with a guide to life?
We are monks and therefore we try to live our lives following the Gospel, according to the Rule of Saint Benedict. For this reason, our faith is the true guide to our life.
Which sacred texts most inspire you to act for change?
The book of Genesis; the Gospel; the Rule of Saint Benedict and the writings of our Cistercian Fathers.
What have you done to improve the sustainability of your diet, transportation, and/or energy use?
The Poblet monastery, from which I come, began an ecological conversion process in 2007 that has led to the incorporation of solar energy to heat water and produce electricity. This process has also provided the monastery of a garden that serves for the feeding of the monks.
How would you describe the experience of making these lifestyle changes?
The work of ecological conversion has been quite easy because the entire community of monks has agreed and has collaborated in everything that has been agreed upon.
Rev. Milton Mejía
How does your faith help you in times of struggle, change, and new beginnings?
Today, we experience faith as a creative force of new hopes and unity, mobilizing us with other people who have the same values to continue working and fighting for a society that restrains economic models, and discourages lifestyles that destroy creation and increase poverty.
How does your faith describe the relationship between all living things, the Earth, and the Divine?
My faith has traditionally described the relationship with the Earth and other beings of creation as domination because, according to a classical biblical interpretation, God has given us his creation for our benefit and dominion. Thank God in recent years this biblical interpretation has been is changing.
What does your faith tradition teach about material consumption and simplicity?
In my reformed tradition today, it is urgent to recover the theological concepts and the practices of austerity, saving, and pastoral care from an ecological perspective. That allows our churches to develop a pastoral care for the whole creation – where nothing is considered “left over” or waste.
How does your community approach examining and changing our lifestyles?
During the last few years, the churches belonging to the World Council of Churches have dedicated Lent, seven weeks before Holy Week, to reflection and action on how to take care of water. In 2018, these seven weeks had an emphasis on the realities in Latin America.
In what ways does your community provide you with a guide to life?
My reformed tradition approved the Accra Confession in 2004 as a response to the cry of the people who are most affected by an economical model that destroys creation and produces increasing poverty. This confession is today a guide for all people of the reformed faith that helps us to a new interpretation of the bible and challenges us to a new lifestyle.
Which sacred text most inspires you to act for change?
Reading Genesis 1 from an ecological perspective helps us understand that human beings were created last as part of all of God's creation. As human beings, we are not the most important creature; what we have is the greatest responsibility to take care of this beautiful common home, created so that we can live together as creation of God. Since we have not been responsible, creation groans waiting for salvation (Romans 8:19-23).
What have you done to improve the sustainability of your diet, transportation, and/or energy use?
In recent years, I have developed an Eco-Theology Course in the Theology Program of the Reformed University in Barranquilla, Colombia, where we have started practices of healthy eating, recycling, planting trees, and producing liturgical resources so that churches embrace a greater commitment towards the care of creation.
How would you describe the experience of making these lifestyle changes?
Working to achieve changes in concepts and lifestyles that take care of creation implies that we need to have a lot of patience. For several centuries, we have lived with a wrong understanding of nature. But little by little, we are seeing changes and that the new generations have greater awareness for the care of all creation.
Rev. John Dear
How does your faith help you in times of struggle, change, and new beginnings?
Prayer and faith encourage me to carry on, along with the great saints and my friends and community. We can’t afford the luxury of sitting back and doing nothing when so many are suffering, when the nations are hell bent on destroying the planet. So we have to keep on keeping on. But every step of the way is filled with blessings.
How does your faith describe the relationship between all living things, the Earth, and the Divine?
For me, God is a God of peace, and gave us this beautiful creation, all the creatures and all humanity, to enjoy together in peace and nonviolence. Humanity has rejected this gift, and is deadset on killing off the creatures, destroying the earth, and killing millions of sisters and brothers. As a follower of the nonviolent Jesus, I’m called to do what I can to stop the killing and destruction, and to welcome God’s reign of peace and nonviolence on earth.
What does your faith tradition teach about material consumption and simplicity?
Christians are called to live simply and give our lives for justice and peace. I find it helpful to go to jail regularly for demonstrating against war and injustice; it reminds me of this calling.
In what ways does your community provide you with a guide to life?
My faith in the nonviolent Jesus invites me to pursue a nonviolent life, to work for justice and disarmament, to live at one and in peace with humanity and creation, and to teach and practice nonviolence. My heroes like Gandhi and Dr. King, and my great friends, like Archbishop Tutu and Thich Nhat Hanh, Daniel Berrigan and Mother Teresa, push me to carry on the journey.
Which sacred texts most inspire you to act for change?
The Sermon on the Mount, the Gospel of Matthew, 5-7. I’ve written 35 books on peace – including “The Beatitudes of Peace”, and now “They Will Inherit the Earth” – to try to unpack these great teachings of Jesus on nonviolence; I think they are the core of Christianity, and yet the most neglected teachings of all.
What have you done to improve the sustainability of your diet, transportation, and/or energy use?
In 1982, I began a vegetarian diet in response to reading “Diet for a Small Planet” by Frances Moore Lappe. I’ve been a full time justice and peace activist for decades, and have written and lectured about it, but when I moved to New Mexico in the early 2000s, I moved into a handmade house off the grid with no drinking water and no utility based electricity, at 8,000 feet on the top of a mountain, where I still live. I write about this in my new book, “They Will Inherit the Earth,” about my experimental living and its spiritual basis. For more information, please see: johndear.org.
How would you describe the experience of making these lifestyle changes?
For me, following the nonviolent Jesus is all about trying to be nonviolent, to be a public peacemaker, to work for justice and creation. So I organize demonstrations, work with campaignnonviolence.org, and continue to experiment with nonviolent living, which has meant, in this time of climate change, a deepening of my oneness with Mother Earth. It helps to live off the grid on a mountain, to live simply and peacefully. It’s not difficult; on the contrary, it’s full of blessings and peace.