Author: Sasha Adkins
Located in: Chicago, IL
Submitted: April 27, 2019
Tell us a little about yourself. Sasha Adkins is a lecturer at the Institute of Environmental Sustainability, Loyola University Chicago.
What do you hope folks will gain from this project? “In this lonely and broken world, where do I look for God? I chose to start in the trash pile.” When Jesus talked about the kind of community that he would build, he started by reclaiming rubbish: “The stone which the builders have rejected has become the chief cornerstone.” My conviction is that nothing, and no one, is disposable. Each of us, and each material thing, is part of the beloved community. I encourage readers to notice how often during the course of their day they are using something disposable, and how often during the day they are using people only as means to an end. Start to see that these two habits are connected and then start cultivating new habits.
Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know: We cannot solve the problem of plastics simply by recycling more. The plastic in the oceans, the soil, and our bodies is a symptom of the broader problem of disposable culture. We are not just treating objects as disposable—we are treating ourselves and each other as disposable, too.
