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Chapter 1

Sustainability and Waste

Sustainability has become one of today’s most overused words as the people of the world recognise – at last – that the planet’s natural resources are finite. We see too that many people have lifestyles which far exceed their real needs and are quite out of proportion to those of others. For our children’s sake and the sakes of our children’s children, we must look at how we live now, and consider the demands we make on the planet we share.

Because what we do and where we live differs from person to person, household to household, there can be few hard and fast rules. Living our lives in a sustainable way needs everyone to draw up their own basic rules and whilst many of these can be based on good old common sense, faiths will often provide guidelines for sustainable living which have been there through the ages and which include wasting less and buying only what we need. We must know our limits and live within them.

Why has it taken us so long to realise this? The writings of the Abrahamic faiths show that Jews, Christians and Muslims have always been taught to think about sustainability and waste as a matter of belief and survival. The texts that guided our forefathers are as relevant today as they were when they were written – maybe more so!

Jewish

We are guests here and must leave things as we found them. If there is one idea the monotheistic faiths might teach the world it would be this:

The Earth and its fullness are the Lord’s

Psalm 24:l

Even though we may live in a place of plenty, we have a duty to care for what we have, making sure to replace what we use for future generations. This is the essence of living sustainably:

When you come into the land, you will plant

Leviticus 19:23

A famous parable in the Talmud teaches this very lesson:

One day Honi was journeying on the road and he saw a man planting a carob tree. He asked, ‘How long does it take for this tree to bear fruit?’ The man replied, ‘Seventy years.’ Honi then further asked him. ‘Are you certain that you will live another seventy years?’ The man replied, ‘Just as I found a world full of carob trees planted by my parents and grandparents, so I will plant for my children.’

Talmud Ta’anit 23a

It is easier to understand the moral responsibility to act in a particular way if we believe there is someone to whom we owe responsibility; that we are not owners of the planet but linked by covenant to those who come after us. Like the planter of the carob tree in the parable, we act so that those who come after us will have a world to enjoy as we did.

The simplest image, and surely the most sensible one, in thinking about our ecological responsibilities is to see the earth as belonging to the source of being, and us as its trustees, charged with conserving and if possible beautifying it for the sake of our grandchildren not yet born.

Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, ‘The Dignity of Difference’

The injunction not to waste, the law of Bal Taschit, is one of the fundamental commands in the Torah. It comes from Deuteronomy 20:19-20, where Israel is told that even in a time of war, fruit bearing trees must not be cut down to build siegeworks – the vision of a sustainable world must never be abandoned:

When you besiege a city for many days to wage war against it to seize it, do not destroy the trees by swinging an axe against them, for from it you will eat, and you shall not cut it down; is the tree of the field a man that it too shall be besieged?

Deuteronomy 20:19

Later the Sages of Israel expanded the law to include any kind of wasteful activity.

Jews believe that we must utilise the world’s natural bounty with consciousness and foresight. Nearly 5,000 acres of the Amazon rainforest will be cut down in the time it will take you to read this small book. Almost a quarter of the food found in our rubbish bins is perfectly usable, unopened and within its sell-by date.

Regard all living things as God’s property. Destroy none, abuse none, waste nothing, employ all things wisely… look upon all creatures as servants in the household of creation.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch

Christian

The issue of sustainable development is consistent with Christian beliefs concerning creation and humanity’s stewardship of it all.

For many people modern life has become a status of plenty, but is not sustainable because it involves so much waste. Products are soon discarded adding to already hugely wasteful packaging and the need for replacement.

Not much is known about Jesus’s own lifestyle, but it would appear that he lived simply and wished others to do likewise:

Foxes have holes and birds of the air have their nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

Matthew 8:20; Luke 9:58

Christian worship often quotes the Old Testament message:

Love thy neighbour as thyself.

Leviticus 19:18.

When Jesus was asked by young man who had kept all the Ten Commandments what did he still lack, Jesus answered:

If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

Matthew 19:21

Today it is the poor who are the first casualties of any changing climate.

And what do we do with waste? If everywhere is in the sight of God, there can be nowhere called ‘away’ where we can throw things.

Jesus was crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem on a site also used for dumping rubbish. Today we not only produce more rubbish than we can cope with, but much of it causes further problems of pollution by poisoning the earth, the water and life. This is not just happening in our own environments, but the rich countries are also dumping waste on poor countries and contaminating other lands rather than treating the problem where it occurs.

The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has been dubbed ‘The Green Pope’ after declaring pollution a sin. Actually the Patriarch went much further by saying: