The encyclical of Pope Francis “Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home” highlights some doable and effective ways on how to show our love and care to our common home. Laudato Si’ #211 teaches us ways of acting which directly and significantly affect the world around us. Hence, Living Laudato Si’ Philippines launched #LS211 campaign during the Season of Creation at the Marist School of Marikina last September 26, 2019, after the Laudato Si’ Workshop and Seminar with about 300 Grade 10 students.
#LS211 campaign encourages young and adults alike to “eco-citizens” anywhere, anyday, be it in school, home or workplace.
“After the seminar-workshop, the Grade 10 students of Marist School commit themselves to live the Laudato Si’ #211 of Pope Francis. Through this we may be able to contribute in our school’ vision and mission of upholding the integrity of Creation,” said Francis Louis L. Santos, High School Religion Coordinator.
Those who attended the seminar workshop started to share their #LS211 actions via social media:
Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, Chapter 6 (Ecological Education and Spirituality), Section 2 (Educating for the Covenant Between Humanity and the Environment), Number 211, states that:
“Yet this education, aimed at creating an “ecological citizenship”, is at times limited to providing information, and fails to instil good habits. The existence of laws and regulations is insufficient in the long run to curb bad conduct, even when effective means of enforcement are present. If the laws are to bring about significant, long-lasting effects, the majority of the members of society must be adequately motivated to accept them, and personally transformed to respond. Only by cultivating sound virtues will people be able to make a selfless ecological commitment. A person who could afford to spend and consume more but regularly uses less heating and wears warmer clothes, shows the kind of convictions and attitudes which help to protect the environment. There is a nobility in the duty to care for creation through little daily actions, and it is wonderful how education can bring about real changes in lifestyle. Education in environmental responsibility can encourage ways of acting which directly and significantly affect the world around us, such as avoiding the use of plastic and paper, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transport or car-pooling, planting trees, turning off unnecessary lights, or any number of other practices. All of these reflect a generous and worthy creativity which brings out the best in human beings. Reusing something instead of immediately discarding it, when done for the right reasons, can be an act of love which expresses our own dignity.” (Laudato Si’ #211)
#LS211: AVOID USE OF PLASTIC AND PAPER
“Live simply, minimize consumption and actively promote ecological awareness and action through integral waste segregation and by minimizing the use of plastic and paper, by eliminating single-use plastics, polystyrene and the like, from our homes and institutions.” (CBCP Pastoral Letter on Ecology, 2019)
“A serious consideration of this issue would be one way of counteracting the throwaway culture which affects the entire planet, but it must be said that only limited progress has been made in this regard.” (Laudato Si’ #22)
#LS211: REDUCE WATER CONSUMPTION
“Protect our watersheds while at the same time using fresh water wisely, promoting and establishing massive rainwater collection, and putting a stop to infrastructures that can be detrimental to the preservation of ecological balance and biodiversity.” (CBCP Pastoral Letter on Ecology, 2019)
“Greater scarcity of water will lead to an increase in the cost of food and the various products which depend on its use. Some studies warn that an acute water shortage may occur within a few decades unless urgent action is taken. The environmental repercussions could affect billions of people; it is also conceivable that the control of water by large multinational businesses may become a major source of conflict in this century.” (Laudato Si #31)
#LS211: WASTE SEGREGATION
Proper waste management is a must. Reduce waste towards zero waste.
Live simply, minimize consumption and actively promote ecological awareness and action through integral waste segregation and by minimizing the use of plastic and paper, by eliminating single-use plastics, polystyrene and the like, from our homes and institutions. (CBCP Pastoral Letter on Ecology, 2019)
Level-up your action with Mother Earth Foundation PH!
“These problems are closely linked to a throwaway culture which affects the excluded just as it quickly reduces things to rubbish. To cite one example, most of the paper we produce is thrown away and not recycled. It is hard for us to accept that the way natural ecosystems work is exemplary: plants synthesize nutrients which feed herbivores; these in turn become food for carnivores, which produce significant quantities of organic waste which give rise to new generations of plants.” (Laudato Si #22)
#LS211: COOK ONLY WHAT CAN REASONABLY BE CONSUMED
“When we waste food, we’re not just wasting food. We’re also wasting all the resources that went into growing it.” Read more here: http://tiny.cc/lgu0dz
To further reduce greenhouse gas emissions, start a plant-based diet. #PlantBasedDiet#Vegetarianism #Veganism
“Besides, we know that approximately a third of all food produced is discarded, and ‘whenever food is thrown out it is as if it were stolen from the table of the poor’.” (Laudato Si #50)
#LS211: SHOW CARE FOR OTHER LIVING BEINGS
All of us are interconnected. Caring for our common home is caring for all of creation.
Level-up your action with PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) WWF-Philippines
“Together with our obligation to use the earth’s goods responsibly, we are called to recognize that other living beings have a value of their own in God’s eyes: ‘by their mere existence they bless him and give him glory’, and indeed, ‘the Lord rejoices in all his works’.” (Laudato Si #69)
#LS211: USE PUBLIC TRANSPORT OR CAR-POOLING
You may walk, travel in group in a car, use bicycle – there are many ways to travel with less greenhouse gas emission.
“The quality of life in cities has much to do with systems of transport, which are often a source of much suffering for those who use them. Many cars, used by one or more people, circulate in cities, causing traffic congestion, raising the level of pollution, and consuming enormous quantities of non-renewable energy. This makes it necessary to build more roads and parking areas which spoil the urban landscape. Many specialists agree on the need to give priority to public transportation. Yet some measures needed will not prove easily acceptable to society unless substantial improvements are made in the systems themselves, which in many cities force people to put up with undignified conditions due to crowding, inconvenience, infrequent service and lack of safety.” (Laudato Si #159)
#LS211: GROW TREES
Let’s plant trees, watch them grow and restore the whole ecosystem. RAINforestation is the key. Read more here: http://
Businesses are also engaging in this, know more about EDC BINHI by visiting https://binhi.ph/; and how a community in Kalibo, Aklan, made a mangrove forest themselves at Bakhawan Eco Park ASQ Bakhawan Eco-Park.
“The loss of forests and woodlands entails the loss of species which may constitute extremely important resources in the future, not only for food but also for curing disease and other uses. Different species contain genes which could be key resources in years ahead for meeting human needs and regulating environmental problems.” (Laudato Si #32)
#LS211: TURN OF UNNECESSARY LIGHTS
This is not only limited to lights, but also other appliances, gadgets and the like. Energy conservation, energy efficiency and just and fair transition to renewable energy. #EndCoalNow
“At the same time, on the national and local levels, much still needs to be done, such as promoting ways of conserving energy. These would include favouring forms of industrial production with maximum energy efficiency and diminished use of raw materials, removing from the market products which are less energy efficient or more polluting, improving transport systems, and encouraging the construction and repair of buildings aimed at reducing their energy consumption and levels of pollution.” (Laudato Si #180)
#LS211: REUSE
Reduce and reuse. Preventing waste doesn’t have to be complicated. It starts with simple changes in daily habits—like making grocery shopping lists so you buy just what you need to avoid wasting food. Or stashing reusable shopping bags next to your door or in your car. Read more here: http://www.stopwaste.org/
Level-up your actions with Ecowaste Coalition. The Sisters of Mercy have some ideas.
“We have not yet managed to adopt a circular model of production capable of preserving resources for present and future generations, while limiting as much as possible the use of non-renewable resources, moderating their consumption, maximizing their efficient use, reusing and recycling them. A serious consideration of this issue would be one way of counteracting the throwaway culture which affects the entire planet, but it must be said that only limited progress has been made in this regard.” (Laudato Si #22)
Use hashtags #LS211 #LivingLaudatoSiPH and share your acts of love and encourage everyone to do the same.
