Jesus told them a parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.’ Matthew 13:31-32
Tiny Seed
The first plant from which I intentionally harvested seeds was broccoli. I was flabbergasted by broccoli seeds. Yes, I said flabbergasted.
The broccoli seed is itty, bitty, teeny, tiny. It is so small it’s difficult for me to pick up and hold it between my huge fingers.
Huge Potential
Its tiny-ness is contrasted by the plant that produces it. At the seed-bearing stage, broccoli plants are gargantuan. They grow taller than me by far, and have enormous waxy leaves that are themselves longer than my arm and wider than my body.
The plant produces a broccoli head, the part many of us like to eat with ranch dressing or roasted with a little salt and olive oil. When you look closely at a broccoli head, you see it is made up of teeny, tiny green buds.
If you were to leave that broccoli head attached to the plant, you’ll discover that each of those tight, little green buds grows into a yellow flower. When the flowers are spent, they leave behind scores of long, thin beans, each containing a dozen or so seeds. A single broccoli plant can produce thousands of seeds.
Abundance
There is so much abundance. It is over-the-top. It is extravagant.
Just one of these tiny seeds has the potential to produce a plant that will outgrow me, and which can provide me with food this season and the capacity to produce hundreds more plants for food.
Whilst the broccoli plant is doing all that amazing work, it is also providing other services like creating habitat for frogs among its waxy leaves, feeding pollinators with its abundant flowers, loosening the soil with its root structure.
That first year, I collected maybe 40 or so dried pods from the plant. I couldn’t possibly collect them all. Dozens were left for the birds. I cracked open the pods and chased the tiny seeds into a container. Seeds were rolling everywhere. I couldn’t possibly catch them all. I collected more seeds than I could count, more seeds than I could possibly plant in my garden space.
I said to myself, “I could give some of these seeds away and still have plenty!”
I put the message out to my friends and neighbors – who wants seeds?!
A Very Good System, Designed for Sharing
I realized with awe and wonder – this is God’s economy. This is the very good way He designed His creation to work. He made the seed. He caused it to grow. He blessed it and made it exceedingly abundant. It is enough for me, for the bees, for the birds, and for many others.
We’re Invited to the Party
In Matthew, Jesus is recorded as telling his disciples “the Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed (side note – mustard seeds are about half the size of a broccoli seed) which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” Matthew 13:31-32
Jesus’ story isn’t just about the mustard seed and the amazing thing it grows to become. He includes people as participants in the wonder-work. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and planted in his field.”
There are a few steps the person is invited to take in this story about the Kingdom of Heaven.
First, the man needs to take the seed from the one who offers it.
Then he needs to carry it to his field.
Then he needs to place it in the soil.
An Unplanted Seed Doesn’t Grow
My friend Jeremy gave a message about stewardship that has stuck with me for years. He reminded us that seeds need to be planted in order to produce a crop. If I’m being honest, I like to keep the seed in my pocket. I like to know it is safely tucked away so that I will have it when I need it. But a seed in my pocket will never grow. I have to drop it into the soil and trust that God will cause it to produce as it was intended.
I need Jesus to keep reminding me “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” John 12:24.
Overcoming Scarcity Fears
Here, I need to make a confession. As I was divvying seeds into smaller packages, a voice in my head started fretting. What if my plants don’t take? Maybe I should save some extra seeds, just in case. And maybe I should set aside a few more for the year after, just in case something goes wrong with the harvest.
Building resilience is important, and there are times to save for the future. At the same time, I am reminded of a talk Joshua Becker (author of Uncluttered Faith) gave recently here in Savannah. He shared that, when he published his book, he and his family decided they had enough financial resources for their needs so they chose to use income from the book to start a non-profit for orphan care. He encouraged listeners to consider whether we might be holding onto resources in case of “what if” scenarios that may not ever materialize, when God has a purpose for those resources to be used for “what is,” now.
If I were to try to keep all of those broccoli seeds, they might stay in my refrigerator for years, never producing any broccoli and eventually becoming nonviable. If I give them away, they multiply in the world.
God has shown me that He can produce a broccoli plant from a seed smaller than a pinhead, and that He is faithful to do it season after season. Will I trust Him and plant the seed he has given me for today? Will I trust Him to continue to provide in the future?
AN invitation to consider
What am I holding in my pocket that God has invited me to use up or give away?
What fear is holding me back from taking His invitation?
God, give me the courage to plant the seed I am holding!
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
How to protect a garden from aphid infestation, a devotional
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and protect it. Genesis 2: 15
Aphids: a gardener’s challenge
Aphids are sap-suckers. When an aphid colony settles on a host plant, the tiny insects pierce the tender stems and leaves of plants and suck out energy-rich liquid from the plant’s veins.
Sap-suckers can weaken their host plant
Aphids can do a lot of damage to a garden in a short amount of time. They have a unique reproductive capability whereby, under certain environmental conditions, they give birth to a bunch of clones of themselves (eek!) that are each already pregnant (eek again!) with up to 100 additional offspring (EEEEEKKK!). If aphids find a vulnerable plant in an unprotected ecosystem, an aphid colony will explode in population within a matter of days.
When aphids settle on a host plant in an area where there are not enough natural predators, they can quickly exhaust their host to the point that it can no longer sustain the colony. Then, the aphid colony will leave the damaged plant and move on to a new host. I find myself drawing parallels to times when I myself and my own species have exhibited aphid-like behaviors. And perhaps it will be insightful to consider both the aphid and the human as we continue.
What is a gardener to do in the event of an aphid uprising?
Indiscriminate Destruction is not the answer
For some, the first instinct might be to go on the offense. Bring out the pesticides! As it turns out, insecticides tend to be ineffective on aphids, since these particular creatures quickly build up a tolerance. Not only that, but insecticides can create devastating collateral damage by killing beneficial insects like pollinators.
Letting aphids run rampant is also not the answer
Personally, offensive action is not my go-to strategy. But my default can produce equally undesirable results. I tend to lean toward a hands-off approach. At one point in time, my response to an aphid infestation was to shrug and say to myself, “aphids will be aphids.“ And maybe even, “Gosh, that’s terrible for that poor plant. I’m so glad I’m not like those greedy, undisciplined aphids.”
aphids on a camellia leaf
protecting the garden
The question of what to do about aphids has me thinking carefully about when it’s necessary to protect against harm and knowing how to do it wisely.
It’s fairly straightforward for me to understand that I should make every effort to avoid acting in harmful ways to those around me. It’s not always easy, but it is straightforward. I understand that I am responsible for my own behavior. I am obligated to consider my actions and determine whether they are harmful. When they are, I ought to change my behavior. Again, I don’t always do this, but I understand that I should.
But what about when someone is being harmed by someone else. What is my responsibility in such cases? Certainly there is a lot of nuance and each situation is unique.
I generally take a “live and let live” approach. I lean into the conviction that we should be careful not to judge others, that we should be merciful as God is merciful, and that God Himself will convict where necessary. While I believe all of this is true, the aphid teaches me not to be a bystander in cases where harm is being done to the unprotected.
In the case of an aphid infestation, I as the steward of my garden, have an opportunity and responsibility to take action to rescue the plant from attack, reduce suffering for the garden as a whole, and even prevent detriment to the aphid colony itself, which literally eats itself out of house and home.
Aphids, it turns out, do not typically awaken to the error of their ways and begin practicing moderation and self-control through the prompting of their own collective conscience.
For the health of the garden, God designed boundaries for aphids and people. Sometimes, the ecosystem enforces the boundary. It is possible, even probable, that sometimes I may be called upon to enforce a healthy boundary.
rebalance
After an aphid population explosion, the garden ecosystem is out of balance and generally can’t right itself without help. A gardener can and should intervene by manually removing infested parts of plants and destroying them.
But experienced gardeners will tell you the best way to prevent aphids from destroying a garden is a slow and inconvenient solution that must be maintained over seasons and years. The most effective protection against infestation is this: to encourage the health of the garden as a whole and within each of its parts (even the aphid).
Why? Because a thriving garden can withstand stress. A healthy garden can support a reasonable population of aphids, while keeping them from breaching the boundaries of balance. Keeping a garden healthy starts with good soil that produces well-fed, nutrient-rich plants. This creates an environment that welcomes a diverse population of insects, including predators like ladybugs and lacewings who feed on aphids. When the plant and animal population is diverse and healthy, every species has enough to eat and a place to live.
cultivate and protect
I trust God can use anything to draw us close to His love and show us how He is working in and around us, if we have eyes to see it. Here’s what God is showing me through aphids.
I am reminded of Genesis 2:15, where the ancients explained the Divine design for the relationship between God and people and the world:
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and protect it. Genesis 2: 15
responsibility And stewardship
In the beginning, the Creator designed the world such that everything He created was in a pleasing relationship with Him and with each other. In this context, people were gifted with an important privilege and responsibility to the world around them – to reflect the image of God by both cultivating and protecting all He created.
Today, I am thinking about what the bible shows us about our responsibility to protect.
The Hebrew words used in Genesis for “cultivate” and “protect” are “abad” and “shamar”. This word pairing is the same one used in Leviticus to describe the duties of the Levites with respect to caring for the temple, the dwelling of God. Shamar means “to guard”, or “to watch over protectively.”
Let me pause there for a moment.
For evangelicals reading this post, let me point out that the words “abad” and “shamar” – or to “cultivate” and “protect” – were used before “the fall” (the theological concept of the point at which sin entered the world, resulting in suffering and separation from God). God didn’t observe the world falling apart and then devise a mitigation plan for good guys to start protecting their tribes from the bad guys that had suddenly appeared.
From the very beginning, before anything went awry, the Creator’s good and perfect design was for people to participate with God in building something beautiful together and protecting it against imbalances that might prevent it from thriving. In the beginning, God gave all humankind the responsibility and privilege to partner with Him in caring for and protecting the world He created and everything in it.
God calls us to protect, not to take vengeance
In the case of aphids or any person or thing that has caused harm, we are not called to take vengeance. The person or thing itself is part of God’s good design for the world. After all, God created them. John says, “Through Christ all things were made.” (John 1: 3) and Paul agrees in Col 1:16. Paul and John don’t exclude the aphid nor the cyberbully from “all things” and neither should we.
Instead, we are called to protect the wellbeing of what God created.
Whereas aphids – given unrestrained access – are destructive to the ecosystems upon which many species depend (including aphids themselves), the Creator has caused natural forces to restrain them. Take, for example, the many predatory insects He created to eat aphids like the assassin bug and the lacewing.
God has also given humans the ability to intervene, and the responsibility of doing it with care and discernment so that the impact is in line with His good and pleasing will. “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28.
By helping to rebalance when appropriate and then supporting healthy conditions, we contribute to an environment where all members of the community have an opportunity to live a healthy, balanced life and contribute to the wellbeing of the whole.
My response to this insight from the aphid is to continually ask God for wisdom to discern who and what He has charged me to protect, and how to act on that responsibility in alignment with His will. I must also continually search myself, asking God how He is calling me to protect from destructive tendencies within myself.
when it is my job?
In some cases it might seem obvious who I am charged with caring for and protecting. For example, most everyone would agree that I have a responsibility to care for and protect my children and my household. But, my neighbors might object if I jump over their fence and attempt to prune their rose bush without an invitation. Let’s consider another scenario: if I witness a neighbor’s child being harmed on the other side of the fence, now it is my responsibility to intervene regardless of who owns the title of the property where the harm is occurring.
It can be messy and complicated to determine what I am called to protect and even messier to determine how. Discernment and wisdom is needed. And frankly, I’ll probably get it wrong, a lot. But we can know He has told us in the scriptures that his will is for us to protect the vulnerable.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.” – James 1:27
“Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.” – Psalm 82:3
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” – Proverbs 31:8-9
“This is what the Lord says: ‘Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed.” Jeremiah 22:3
God’s whole creation was designed with care and protection built-in at every turn. We are all responsible to care for and protect each other. Sometimes my personal responsibility is to act directly. Sometimes it’s to empower another member of the body to take action. Sometimes I am not even aware of how we are all interconnected to create a resilient whole. God sees all the parts and causes them to work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.
My prayer today: Lord, thank you for inviting me to help you care for what you have created. Let me be willing to serve in whatever capacity brings you glory. Give me eyes to see the beauty of what you created and faith in your provision to protect and sustain it through any storms or pestilence that may come. Show me when you intend for me to be the instrument of your provision and protection. Direct me toward what you have charged me to cultivate or protect, equip me for the job, and give me the wisdom and courage to obey your call.
An Invitation to consider
Take a moment to be still with the Creator of heaven and earth. Ask God to give you eyes to see and ears to hear what He would like to show you today.
Consider with gratitude and awe the balance of all of life that hangs moment by moment on God’s good and pleasing design, his mercy, his protection, and his love for everything He has created.
Ask the Creator of the universe how He would like to expand your awareness and capacity to love what He has placed under your care and stewardship.
Ask the Spirit to show you if there is a step He is calling you to take to care for or protect something He created and loves.
Be brave to step toward what God has called you to. Ask God to give you the strength for the job He has assigned. He certainly will.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Luke 10:25-29
Milkweed Assassin
In its nymph stage, the milkweed assassin bug has a vivid, orange body with black antennae and slender, jointed legs. The other day, I noticed an assemblage of these creatures prowling on my viburnum leaves. I’m a novice gardener, and my first reaction was concern. What harm might these insects inflict on my garden?
Friendly Neighbor or Alien Invader?
Once I became aware that I was sharing space with these creatures, I had several possible options. I might decide they are unwanted intruders and try to evict them. I might be so terrified by their presence, I avoid the garden or tear it out. I might ignore them altogether. I might try aggressively to befriend them and likely get stung in the process.
whose Garden Is it?
Or, I could stop for a minute and re-center the Creator. I could remember the garden is God’s. I am His servant, placed here as a steward.
I could ask with awe and wonder, ‘What good, pleasing, and perfect design does God have in mind by placing me and the milkweed assassin as neighbors in His garden?’
Becoming Neighborly.
A bit of research and observation showed me something I hadn’t expected. Besides having a rad name, the milkweed assassin is also a highly beneficial garden bug. Like the dragonfly and ladybug, it is an efficient predator that consumes multitudes of aphids and mosquitoes. Whereas a colony of aphids can quickly destroy a plant by sucking out its sap, the milkweed assassin doesn’t harm plants in the least.
It occurs to me that before I became aware of my milkweed assassin neighbors, we were already influencing each other’s lives through God’s gracious plan.
Unbeknownst to me, as I was building a garden for my own enjoyment, I was also helping to build a nice neighborhood for the assassins – cool, shady homes and a plentiful food supply. Meanwhile, by feeding themselves, milkweed assassins were helping by preventing the garden from being decimated by an exploding aphid population.
What’s different now is awareness, a choice between fear and curiosity, and a likelihood that choice will influence future decisions that might help or harm these neighbors.
We know that God didn’t give us a pass to love only those that are helpful and desirable to us. In Mathew, Jesus commanded his followers to love our enemies and do good to those that hate us. In fact, this is how others should be able to identify us…by our love.
Still, sometimes loving our neighbor brings unexpected joys.
Today, as I am writing this, I caught a glimpse of one of those bright orange beauties on the viburnum growing just outside my kitchen window. I am delighted. It’s a new joy to be able to offer them a bit of housekeeping to keep their home shrub healthy and comfortable. And, I can now appreciate the work they are doing to keep the insect population balanced in the garden.
I would even say, I love this strange neighbor of mine.
What does it mean to Love My Neighbor?
The command “love your neighbor as yourself” is recorded in Leviticus 19 and comes with some additional guidance about what it means to love your neighbor.
“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the LORD your God. You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD. You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning. You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am the LORD. You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD. You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.”
Curious to explore further? Here are some ideas to consider.
Take a walk near where you live, go to school, work, or play. Ask God to give you eyes to see a neighbor, human or otherwise, that is unfamiliar to you.
Invest a little energy into respectfully learning what this neighbor might want to share about themselves. Where do they live? How do they spend their time? What foods do they love? In what ways are they thriving? In what ways are they struggling?
Ask God to give you a heart to love this neighbor and to show you how.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
I was inspired by a post in a Facebook group asking for recommendations of local items which could be collected into a gift basket. What a great way to support communities in and around Savannah while giving thoughtful gifts that are also more sustainable. I’ve collected some of the group’s recommendations for sustainable gift ideas from Southeast Georgia and added a few of my own in this article.
Did you know that buying local does more than support your community and local economy? It is often a more sustainable choice too. Buying local usually reduces the carbon footprint of your purchase by eliminating emissions that come from transporting items to warehouses and retail centers. Get to know your local growers, craftspeople, and producers to learn how they care for their communities and ecosystems.
More Sustainable Gift-wrapping Options
In general, the less packaging, the better for the planet. If you use wrapping paper, check for options that are recyclable. Papers that have glitter or metallic bits usually can’t be recycled.
For smaller items, you could give your paper grocery bags an extra stop on their way to the recycler by having your kids decorate the bags with hand-drawn pictures for a giftwrap that is not only more environmentally-friendly, but also fun to give and receive. Consider wrapping an item in a kitchen or bath hand-towel which can be used instead of thrown away.
Do you know of a local gift item that should be added to the list? Feel free to drop it in a comment.
Wondering what you can do with your stuff instead of throwing it out? Unfortunately, not everything can go in the curbside recycle bin, but many items can be recycled. Here’s a list for Savannah and Low Country citizens.
There are several options for a hot or iced cup of caffeine in and around Savannah. But if you want a single origin roast with a shot of social and environmental justice, the Sentient Bean on Forsyth is one of the best choices. That’s because the Bean has worked hard to grow not just a thriving coffee shop, but also a healthy root system throughout the community. Owner Kristin Russell’s mindful business choices permeate the shop — from the carefully sourced ingredients coming in the door to the minimized waste stream that exits the building. It’s plain to see why Sentient Bean is one of the Low Country’s most admired businesses.
Origins of the Bean
A farmer’s daughter, Kristin Russell was taught good stewardship of the land from youth. Her environmentalist upbringing was galvanized at college where she was shocked and disturbed by the wastefulness of off-farm life. Russell, together with her like-minded roommate, created a progressive business plan built around sustainability.
The Sentient Bean opened in 2001 on a mission to become a local gathering spot with a positive impact on the community and the environment. Its location on Forsyth Park was an ideal place for people from many different walks of life to mingle.
Three days after opening, two planes crashed into NYC’s twin towers, and the young coffee shop was quickly put to a test of resilience. The Sentient Bean made a difficult decision to keep the doors open during the period of social, political, and economic uncertainty that followed the attack.
Despite the challenges, the owners were gratified to see that the Bean filled a gap and did indeed quickly become a place where neighbors could meet, find community, and support one another during a difficult time. “We’re open” would be come a motto of sorts over the years, since the Bean became known for being reliably open and available for community during crises like hurricanes, and recently during COVID shutdowns. “People need a place to charge their phones,” says Russell simply.
(Self) SustainABility AT sentient Bean
In those first years, the Sentient Bean managed to produce only a single bag of garbage each day, while serving a growing customer base. This was accomplished though commitment, hard work and homegrown ingenuity.
The Bean offered guests ceramic mugs which were washed and reused. There was no curbside recycling, so the staff took recyclable material to the hub every week. Composting was a practice from day one. Jane Fishman, a friend, would haul the compost to her community garden. The compost fed the plants, which in turn fed neighbors and unhoused who frequented the garden. When the volume became too much for Jane’s small vehicle, owner Kristin Russell sorted the trash from organic material herself, loaded it in the back of her family pickup and brought pails of compost to to the community garden. She continued this practice faithfully until 2008 when a member of the Sentient Bean staff volunteered based on a passion for compost. This staffer, Andy, would start his own compost business in 2011 called “Grow, Eat, Repeat”, take over management of the Bean’s compost, and free Kristin up to focus on more projects.
The Park Ave address is a great location next to Savannah’s largest community greenspace, but it had another strategic benefit: being situated just doors down from Brighter Day Natural Foods Market. Brighter Day’s owners shared a passion for community health. In those early days, when the Sentient Bean was trying to scrape together small orders of organic whole foods for their menu, they could purchase ingredients from Brighter Day and add small orders to the market’s truck deliveries from suppliers.
And what about the beans? The Sentient Bean’s beans were (and still are) sourced from Café Campesino, an importer of small farmer coffee, and the only fair trade roaster in the South at the time.
Scaling up Environmental & Social Action
More than two decades after its first opening, the Sentient Bean has scaled up operations and community impact. In 2008, Russell helped found the Forsyth Farmers Market, which provides economic opportunity for local growers and healthy, seasonal foods for consumers. The Sentient Bean still serves coffees and teas that are exclusively fair trade, and now there are local Georgia beers on tap too.
Vegetarian Whole Foods Menu
With only a few exceptions, the menu is comprised of organic or locally-sourced whole foods. Five local farms steadily supply ingredients, and the kitchen staff is conditioned to work with a flexible menu. “We serve what’s in season,” says Russell.
In 2020, when Brighter Day’s owners were ready to retire, Russell bought the market and continues to build on its foundation as a source for healthy, natural, sustainable foods.
An Inclusive Meeting Space
True to its early vision, the Sentient Bean continues to be a meeting place where all kinds of folks gather for events in Savannah, like yoga @the bean, live music, politics, and art exhibits. FCPC Open Mic Night is every first and third Tuesday where “anything goes” — poetry, music, drag, performance art. Anyone can come and show off their talent.
“*All are welcome” says the sign on the front door…. *unless you are
a pet (with the exception of on-duty service animals)
you are being a jerk (please be kind to others, bus your own table and respect the space)
you are a gun (unless you are in service of an officer)
you are outside food (eat our food. It’s vegetarian, local and delicious)
scaling Down Waste
Russell has chipped in with six other businesses for private recycling to make sure the material has the best chance of getting repurposed. And when the city stopped taking glass for recycling a few years ago, the Sentient Bean upped their investment and began recycling their glass through Lammergeier Glass Recycling. In three years, Sentient Bean diverted 87,752 lbs of organic waste to compost and created 73 cubic yards of soil through COR Compost. Sentient Bean switched to renewable energy through Arcadia Power more than five years ago, and meets the qualifications of the EPA’s Green Power Partnership in recognition of efforts to reduce the risk of climate change through the use of green power.
Support Local FarmS
I asked Kristin what regular folks can do in the Savannah area to support sustainability. Her advice: “support local farmers.” We need thriving, sustainable farms for a healthy community, and Georgia is behind the curve for farmer support.
Here are a 7 low country farms who supply ingredients for Sentient Bean:
Being a mentor herself to many locals who are concerned about sustainability, I asked Kristin who were her business role models. She is inspired by Bill Harris, founder of Cooperative Coffees, who staked his career on a belief in transparency, sustainability and economic justice for small farmers.
Her other role model is her father, who was a farmer. “I would never have called him a businessman,” says Russell, “but he taught me about long-term planning. ‘Sacrifices must be made,’ he always said.”
Kristin says it’s impossible to count the number of sacrifices she has made to the bottom line, but “it’s worth it to feel good about what I’m doing here,” she says.
“You have to give yourself permission to make a little less money, so you can make more difference.” – Kristen Russell, Owner of the Sentient Bean, Savannah GA
Georgia is a beautiful state and Savannah is one of her jewels. Savannah’s great live oaks, feathery Spanish moss and lonely marshes are magical. But, in some places around Chatham County, it’s difficult to travel a span of 100 feet without finding soda and beer cans on the highway shoulder, along the sidewalks, peppering construction sites and in the medians. Georgia landfills collect literally tons of valuable aluminum resources that are discarded by residents, restaurants and businesses. Citizens of the low country can recycle aluminum to make a dent in this wasteful stream, keep our community beautiful, and get a little cash while you’re at it.
SA Recycling IN sAVANNAH pAYS fOR Aluminum cANS
SA Recycling is one local business that offers a better alternative to the landfill for aluminum and other recyclable metals. Nationwide, they divert millions of tons of material from landfills. SA Recycling takes in aluminum cans, refrigerators, washing machines, junk cars (no tires), and other scrap metals. The scrap is shredded, sold and remade into new metal products as part of the circular economy.
How Does scRAP mETAL rECYCLING Work?
Many of SA Recycling’s customers bring commercial container trucks filled with tons of scrap metal, or junk cars. These trucks drive onto a huge scale where their payload is weighed then emptied. Then their empty truck is weighed again to calculate the value of the load. The driver cashes out a paycheck worth hundreds or thousands.
Here’s How You Can Get Cash for Your Aluminum Cans
You don’t need to haul a trailer to bring your metal to SA Recycling. As an individual, you can bring in aluminum cans, tin cans or other scrap metal for recycling in your hatchback or on the back of your bike.
1. Collect a Half Pound of Aluminum or More
I take a walk every day around my neighborhood in Savannah Quarters for exercise and fresh air. There are lots of new homes being built, and each day I walk by construction sites that are littered with aluminum cans. I’ve started bringing a reusable plastic bag to collect cans and plastic bottles. I pitch the plastic bottles in my curbside recycle bin and the aluminum cans in a box in my garage. Within a month of starting this practice, I had collected the equivalent of two big black garbage bags full of aluminum cans.
Note: Get permission if you want to collect recyclables from construction sites or other private property. Don’t trespass and be safe. The builders and crews in my area have been very helpful. One crew even set aside their recyclables in a wheelbarrow for me to pick up each day.
Tips for Collecting Aluminum Cans in Savannah and Chatham County
Aluminum cans can be found in just about every neighborhood or along the highways.
If you’re considering organizing a highway cleanup, park cleanup or neighborhood cleanup, contact your municipality to learn about local rules for organized community cleanup projects.
Safety first – wear gloves. Aluminum cans have sharp edges and can be dirty if you’re collecting litter. Wear bright clothing or a reflective vest if you are collecting in a high traffic area. Do not get hit by a car. Kids, bring your adult for safety.
Bring a bag for collecting your cans. I’ve ended many walks with arms full of cans and bottles, and I can tell you that a bag is much easier, plus you can collect more.
Restaurants, sports games, country clubs, events, and picnic areas are often great sources of aluminum for recycling.
Crush your cans to maximize space. Here’s how: with both hands, grab the can at each end, twist and press together. Voila – your can will be crushed!
Although dumpsters usually contain rich stockpiles of wasted aluminum and dumpster-diving is not technically illegal, it can be dangerous. It’s better to collect cans before they get to the dumpster.
Aluminum cans for recycling
Think Safety
Scrap Metal Scale
SA Recycling Staff
2. Separate Your Metals
Don’t mix your metals if you bring them to SA Recycling. Tin cans should be in a separate box or bag from aluminum cans, for example. You can also bring brass ammunition shells, and steel nuts and bolts.
3. Bring Your Scrap Metals to SA Recycling
Now I had my harvest: two big bags full of aluminum scrap. These bags I threw in the back of my car and drove to the SA Recycling facility at 100 Sonny Purdue Drive.
When Wayz tells you that you have arrived at 100 Sonny Purdue Drive, you may not see anything that looks like SA Recycling. Don’t despair. Keep driving. The road will curve to the left. You will see a long green fence, and lo it will appear unto you…the SA Recycling sign!
You will drive past a security gate, and then you will see a white trailer and a cutout safety figure. Do not drive your car onto the scale. The scale is for commercial trucks. If it’s your first visit to SA Recycling Savannah, it is probably best to park your car, walk up to the cashier window in the white trailer and ask where to bring your scrap.
4. Put your Scrap on the Scale
You will be directed to drive around the corner to the right where, if you are like me, you will be impressed by the mountains of scrap material and the sorting activates that are taking place around you. You will see a small building with a large square scale on the ground in front of the building. There you might find Aaron or one of his colleagues in a safety vest and hard hat who will weigh your loot. You’ll be asked for your driver’s license and then you will be given a ticket with the amount to be paid. My two bags of aluminum cans weighed a total of 0.8 lbs and were worth $13.60.
5. Get a Check
Next, you will take your ticket back to that white trailer where the cashier will trade your ticket for a check.
Deposit your check and go contribute to the circular economy. Consider using your money from recycling to subscribe to compost services from COR or sustainably-sourced coffee from Sentient Bean, or complete the circle by purchasing a 6-pack of your favorite beverage in aluminum cans.
Aluminum is Recyclable Curbside
In Savannah, Pooler and Chatham County, aluminum and tin can be recycled in curbside containers. Curbside recycling is a much better alternative to the trash, and you don’t need to collect a minimum volume of material. Whether you have 1 can or dozens, you can toss them in your curbside recycle cart. But, if you use or collect a lot of cans, consider bringing them to SA Recycling where you can get money for your metal recycling.
What’s the Circular Economy, and Why Does it Matter to Georgians?
In a linear economy, resources are extracted to produce items. Items like beverages are sold in containers to consumers for a single use. Other products are intentionally designed for short life cycles to be discarded for newer models. This practice is called planned obsolescence. (Think about the washing machines that our parents and grandparents used for decades. Today, we feel lucky to get 5 years out of our Maytag or Whirpool.)
In a circular economy, products and their lifecycles are designed, produced and managed thoughtfully for a continuous lifecycle where resources are reused and repurposed indefinitely in more environmentally-conscious ways. In a circular economy, people use products for longer and waste much, much less. Our soils, wetlands, rivers and oceans receive fewer toxins from manufacturing processes and discarded waste. This means that plants, animals and humans live healthier lives.
Wondering about Bottle Bills?
Seven US states have bottle bills, otherwise known as container deposit legislation. When you buy carbonated beverages in a Bottle Bill state, you pay a deposit of 5 or 10 cents per can at checkout. (Glass or plastic bottles often have deposits too.) After you’ve consumed your beverage, you toss your cans in a bin in your kitchen or a bag in the mud room or a box in the garage. When the box is full of recyclables, you bring your cans and bottles back to the grocery store. You get your deposit back as cash in your pocket. Meanwhile the containers are recycled and stay out of landfills. Win. win. Georgia does not currently have a container deposit system.
Sometime around the summer of last year I started to get really interested in what happens to stuff after we throw it away. Previously, I hadn’t given a second thought to my used and discarded items after they landed in the trash. I think it was probably readingSmall is Beautifulthat triggered me, and afterward I couldn’t stop seeing wasted excess everywhere around me. One day it was more convenient to throw away my muddy sneakers than clean them. The next I was like, “Why would anyone put this beautiful, useful banana peel in the trash?!” and, “I have an extra twist tie and two rubber bands; can anyone use these?”
Where Does It Come From, and Where Does It Go?
What happens to the gunk I grind up in my garbage disposal? Where do the items in the green recycle bin actually wind up? How much of that junk in the landfill decomposes? What happens to the stuff that doesn’t?
I started thinking about how I acquire stuff; consume or use it; and then dispose of it. How many of my discarded goods wind up in landfills, or ditches, or highway exits, or oceans?
What Compost Can Teach Us
Some of my friends know that I am a backyard composter. Prior to this new habit of course everything went in the rubbish bin to be taken away to someplace where it becomes someone else’s concern.
Now I have a pail in my kitchen. When it’s full, I take it out to my tumbler where my apple cores, coffee grounds, empty paper towel rolls, and carrot tops join their brethren in a steamy stew of goodness. The soldier fly larvae, worms, lizards and frogs feast and are merry.
In a few months I have a beautiful, nutrient-rich humus, and my garden eats it right up. In the fall, I hope to harvest my broccoli, potatoes, and artichokes. My family will be nourished by their gifts. The parts that we can’t use go back in my pail, and the cycle continues. It is a perfect design.
Trash Wasn’t Part of the Plan
God didn’t make trash. To say it another way, nothing in creation was meant to be disposable. Moreover, nothing in creation is redundant. It all has a purpose. As David sang: “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” Psalm 24:1. The Lord created light and dark, the land and sea, the plants and fishes, all the living creatures, and people.
On the 7th day, He could have created landfills, but in His wisdom, He rested instead.
Everything we have is a gift. Humans, with all of our vast intellect and complex scientific apparatus, cannot create anything new. Every piece of matter that exists on this green earth was there from the beginning.
We are just stewards with a choice: we can can care for it, or abuse it.
Everything has a purpose.
This applies to people too, of course.
A Business Lesson
In my professional life, I was fortunate to work for many years for a small business. My coworkers and I generally considered each other to be valuable humans.
At one point early in my career, my family experienced a significant crisis. I was unable to contribute at my normal level due to increased personal demands. My boss and coworkers stepped in, picked up the slack and supported me in my time of need. When things returned to a balance in my life, I was fiercely determined to give back to the organization that given to me. I hope I returned the value. And at various points, I was blessed to be able to support other co-workers in a similar way during their own times of hardship. It was a beautiful, imperfect cycle.
When the company was sold, I experienced what it was like when the cycle breaks. The new ownership did not know any of us by name or face or whether we had families or pets. And they excelled at maximizing efficiency, “leveraging” resources, and discarding what was no longer valuable.
They tossed the rubbish to be taken away someplace where it became someone else’s concern. From my perspective, it seemed that the value of people and things was calculated by the same formula. Tt was only by the grace of God that I was at a point in my life where I might pass the test and stay out of the rubbish bin. Regardless of whether I made the cut or not this time around, I realized that I was considered disposable.
Meanwhile, in the highest offices of government, I watched our commander-in-chief exploit individuals and resources and cast them aside when they ceased to be profitable. I thought, this behavior is unacceptable. If this is what is rewarded and considered successful, what will become of us?
Am I Any Different?
And I realized with horror that I was not on a very different path from what I had called unacceptable in others. I had liked to think I was generally a kind and compassionate person. But I knew I traded kindness and compassion for profit and convenience far more often than I wanted to admit.
If I Treat Little Things Carelessly, When Push Comes to Shove, Will I Treat Big Things Differently?
“Whoever can be trusted with small things can also be trusted with big things. Whoever is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in big things too. If you cannot be trusted with worldly riches, you will not be trusted with the true riches.” Luke 16:10-14
I regularly buy items for the cheaper price, throwing away an opportunity to use my purchases to help someone thrive. I mistreat things and then dispose of them when it’s inconvenient restore their value. When I negotiate a contract, my goal is to pay the least amount possible. I would happily accept a deal that was lopsided in my favor. I’ve dumped grease down my disposal, thinking my little bit won’t make a difference in the city slew. I tell an acquaintance whose car is in the shop, “good luck with that,” while mine sits idly in the garage. I’ve chosen to hurry past my elderly neighbor, throwing away a moment I could have used to celebrate and honor her value. Daily, I consume things that are produced by means of violence and destruction, and then I toss the empty container.
If I, as a consumer and citizen, act this way how can I expect businesses and governments to act differently.
Ignorance is Bliss, But It’s Expensive
It’s easy to consume thoughtlessly and discard the leftovers when I don’t see where my stuff comes from and where it goes when I’m done with it. And it’s easy to justify that my bit doesn’t matter in the big picture. Except it does. Every little bit matters. And nothing was created to be trash.
Zero Waste
If things (and people) are treated respectfully and used according to their purpose at every point along their lifecycle, the system as designed works beautifully with no waste.
The pessimist in me wonders if it is possible to make radical, conscientious decisions without being taken advantage of. I think the answer is probably no. But as Mother Theresa said “do it anyway.”
Is it possible to actually live this way and still earn a living? I suspect it’s gonna take some faith. But my friend Matthew said, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”
So where do I go from here? I make a hundred poor and thoughtless decisions every day. I pray for forgiveness and grace to make one fewer today than I did yesterday.
Lately, I am thinking about my roles and responsibilities as a person who consumes.
Among the things I have consumed so far today are: shampoo, conditioner, soap, toilet paper, Kleenex, water, coffee, dishwasher detergent, gas for my daughter’s carpool drive to and from school, more coffee, refrigerated leftovers, energy for my lights, computer, and air conditioning, and a Westbrook sour beer. Like many people in the Western World, I regularly buy and use lots of things: food, shelter, clothing, energy, goods and services.
I’ve rarely wondered about where the things come from, or where they go after I discard them. That is not my responsibility, right? My responsibility is to be fair to the person who gave or sold it to me (i.e. don’t steal it), and to dispose of it in a legal and compliant manner (i.e. don’t throw it in a ditch).
But now I wonder if maybe that kind of thinking is what’s got us into a bit of a pickle — what with the climate crisis, and the sweatshops, and the toxic food chain, and the social injustices.
Below, I will dig into my consumer thought process.
How do I make purchasing decisions?
I buy what is cheap and convenient. Or alternately, what is luxurious and elevates my status. I discard what is no longer convenient, and I do it in the most expedient manner available.
When I want chicken for dinner, I either: A) go to a restaurant and order it from the menu or B) go to the grocery store and buy a cellophane-wrapped, slippery, pinkish, teardrop-shaped thing. In either case, the product I consume (and feed to my family) bears no resemblance to a bird and is far too enormous to have come from a healthy one.
If I’m out and about and thirsty, I might buy a bottle of water. I drink it and toss it in a garbage bin or, – if one is handy – a recycling receptacle. In general, if I have something to get rid of, I put it in a dumpster and it becomes someone else’s job to figure out what to do with it.
The other day, I was grocery shopping for a friend who was ill. I wanted to give her a little something to brighten her day. But I didn’t want to spend a lot of money. So I bought an item of seasonal decor for $4.88. When I got home, I saw the sticker on the back said “Guangzhou Youth Arts & Crafts Co.” Call me cynical, but, whereas the clever CEO of Walmart makes $22,000,000 million per year, I doubt any youth from Guangzhou are benefitting appreciably from my $4.88.
Today, I am thinking maybe I should be taking more personal responsibility for the things I acquire and the things I dispose of.
Where does it come from?
When I acquire something, I’ve started asking more questions. Who made it? How was it made? What is it made of? What was involved in its journey before it got to me? Who profits from my purchase? Is this an “honorable harvest” (read Braiding Sweetgrass if you haven’t.)
Where does it go?
When I’m done with something, there are more questions to be asked. Who handles it? Where does it go? What does it become?
This exquisite, generous world was created as a perfect circular system. And for many millions of years, things have gone along swimmingly in their circular way…The seed grows. The fruit is produced. The fruit is consumed. The “recycled” seed is replanted. The seed grows. And so on. We all benefit when we respect this beautiful design and participate responsibly within it.
What would change if I knew the answers to where it came from and where it goes?
Let’s look a little more closely at that seasonal decoration – a faux wood pumpkin – I bought from Walmart for $4.88 for an example. If I had taken the time to find out where this product came from, I would have been a little sickened by the marketing tactic in the company name: “Guangzhou Youth Arts and Crafts.” This seems to me to be a sneaky way to put lipstick on the fact that the item was made by children in China.
Having since researched the Guangzhou Youth Arts and Crafts Co, this company doesn’t share any information about the way their young workers are treated or how the profits from their child labor are managed.
And what about the journey this product took to get from Guangzhou, China to Pooler, GA? How much pollution was created during the voyage across the ocean? Was the pumpkin worth it? And I haven’t even touched yet the question of what in the world the pumpkin was made of or what harm came to the environment in its manufacture.
It’s easy to get a little lost in this rabbit hole, and start asking lots of other questions too. Like, what’s the appeal of a fake pumpkin anyway?
Is it because somewhere inside, I am grieving the fact that I am so divorced from the natural rhythm of the earth and her seasons that I chose a synthetic approximation which ironically caused further damage to the healthy relationship that I am trying to mimic between humans and nature?
If I had given all of these things a minute of thought, I think I would have left the fake pumpkin at Walmart, and walked myself over to Polk’s Market to purchase some of their gorgeous, warty gourds which actually came out of the earth, here in Georgia.
The fact that I didn’t think of this before I made my purchase is indication that I have a long way to go to become a responsible consumer, but I hope I am making progress. More on “where does it go” later.
In challenging times, how do some organizations manage to pull together and foster a supportive environment while others succumb to apathy, angst, or dysfunction? Author and theologian C.S. Lewis wrote,
Pain is God’s “megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
We’ve endured a collective suffering over the last year like many of us have never experienced before in our lifetimes — and for some, it’s been a wake-up call. No one looks forward to difficult times, but Oprah Winfrey’s advice is solid: “Turn your wounds into wisdom.”
There is no 3-step formula for success. Choosing how to respond to difficulty is what E. F Schumacher described as a divergent problem. The beauty of humanity is that we all arrive at our own solution. Nevertheless, here are some reflections that may help build resiliency and lead to healthy growth in the face of difficulty.
Strive for Transparency and Truth
Unfortunately, discovering truth is easier said than done. We’ve all experienced situations where truth seems uncertain. Or, we’ve been in conflicts where we felt were were unequivocally “right.” Almost certainly our opposition felt the same. What can we do? In a 2017 Psychology Today article, Marcia Reynolds, Psy.D writes, “To counteract your brain’s tendency to construct ‘truth’ out of comfort, convenience, and confusion, you can access your Reflective Intelligence to try to sort through your filters. This isn’t easy, but if you are courageous enough to accept a different reality, you might be able to see what else could be true.” She goes on to challenge readers to question the fears and assumptions that may lead us to accept unsubstantiated opinions.
Over the past year, I’ve found myself asking a lot of questions and questioning a lot of assumptions. I’m taking a hard look at choices I’ve made because they are comfortable, easy. or profitable. In these confusing times, let’s commit to choose truth even if it is difficult, costly, or inconvenient. When we face times of adversity, some good questions to ask might be:
What do we really want? What values do we hold dear?
How (and who) do we hope to serve? What are we helping them accomplish?
What things keep us from doing it well?
What things help us do it better?
What blind spots do we need to correct?
Be Humble
Answering hard questions together requires us to be humble and accept that we need other perspectives in order to see clearly and fully. Let’s avoid an attitude of “putting people in their place.” Instead favor of an environment where all are respected regardless of differences in title or background. Seek out environments where people can win together, not of at the expense of each other…where people share the burden of each others’ setbacks and the joy of each others’ successes.
We all need a course correction from time to time. Importantly, we must be willing to surround ourselves with people who will call us out when we’re headed in the wrong direction and help us get back on track.
“There’s nothing about humility that makes it incompatible with strength and courage. Quite the opposite,” writes Jeff Hyman in a Forbes article entitled Why Humble Leaders Make the Best Leaders. Hyman goes on to say, “When things go wrong, humble leaders admit to their mistakes and take responsibility. When things go right, they shine the spotlight on others.”
Recognize the Good
In difficult times, many of us dwell on what’s wrong. It is important to face and fix our errors, but we are also wise to pay attention to what’s going right. Positive reinforcement is a powerful tool.
When we recognize the good around us, we remind ourselves of our values. Let’s also prioritize inclusion and celebrate how each of us contributes to a heathy whole. Let’s open our eyes to recognize what is good, appreciate it in others, and strive to emulate it ourselves.
There is so much abundance. It is over-the-top. It is extravagant. 
I realized with awe and wonder – this is God’s economy. This is the very good way He designed His creation to work. He made the seed. He caused it to grow. He blessed it and made it exceedingly abundant. It is enough for me, for the bees, for the birds, and for many others. 
