Brian McLaren writes a good article here regarding living a more sustainable lifestyle. I highly recommend it. (There’s a link in the side column as well)

He starts out by saying:

According to the World Wildlife Fund, each of us needs about 2.5 acres of arable land to be sustained with needed food. Then we need to add another two acres or so – enough land to sustain the plants and animals that keep our ecosystem balanced and fertile. So, each of the 6.7 billion human beings requires, at minimum, 4.45 acres of fertile land.

But the math stopped working in the latter part of the previous century. The fact is, we’re using about 5.44 acres per person on average, which exceeds the carrying capacity of our planet. And these numbers are skewed by our disproportionate ecological footprint as Americans – we require over 23 acres per person to sustain us at the standard of living to which we have become accustomed.

Perhaps we can be forgiven for developing this unsustainable lifestyle because we didn’t know what we were doing. But now, as the information becomes available – and increasingly incontrovertible – we have a new responsbility and opportunity. And here is my firm belief: whatever the pleasures that come from living an unsustainable, and therefore unwise, life, the pleasures of living a wise and sustainable life will be far greater. (More)

I wonder if we are on the road to being more sustainable. I know I have a long way to go. I wonder if perhaps Christians can begin to really make a difference in promoting this kind of lifestyle.