The congregations of LCWR Region 8 are committed to a common action to highlight LCWR’s resolution to focus on the intersection of racism, migration, and climate change.
Action
During Catholic Sisters Week, March 8-14, 2023, we invite – challenge – our Sisters and Associates and those in our ministries to refuse to use any single-use plastic beverage bottles (water, soda, juice, tea, alcoholic beverages, etc.).
Making the connections
As we make the connections, we recognize their link to the Laudato Si’ Action Platform, the spirituality of Integral Ecology, and our own congregational charisms. We offer the following two corporations by way of example. They are not the only ones to consider.
Racism
Coca Cola is the largest seller of soda and its name is often linked with building plants in poor neighborhoods, resulting in
- Unfair labor practices, lower pay, less promotions, and poor performance evaluations
- Groundwater depletion
- Pollution of local water ways
- Plastic pollution: litter, as well as microplastic pollution in our oceans, soils, bodies
Nestlé often chooses poor neighborhoods or countries for their water sources
- Taking over local water sources (streams or aquifers)
- Depleting local water sources that are often non-renewable (aquifers will not refill)
- Prohibiting natives from using their own drinking sources, requiring them to purchase their own water back in plastic bottles
Migration
People are forced to relocate due to
- Loss of drinking water
- Unfair labor practices
- Pollution of water, air, land
Climate change
The burning of fossil fuels is the number one cause of the climate crisis. As fossil fuel companies see the growth in renewable energy, their focus has turned to the production of plastic (a fossil fuel product) to maintain revenues.
- Continues to require the extraction of oil (most oil is now produced from fracking, which has a host of ecological problems)
- More oil is needed for the increased production of plastic
- Microplastics are major water, air, soil pollutants
- Microplastics are found in the bodies of plants and animals, including humans
