Giving Up: Could Lent be reinvented as the new eco-challenge?
Dry January. Veganuary. Stoptober. Movember. Is it time for Eco-Lent?
Easter Sunday marks the end of the 40-day period of Lent. A period when some people traditionally choose to give up some of their vices, conveniences, little pleasures – to focus the mind on bigger things.
Chocolate. Alcohol. Sugar. Caffeine. Or – as my friend John did one Lent – any food beginning with ‘B’ (a LOT harder than it sounds.)
But ‘giving stuff up’ is also becoming more prevalent for many people in a completely different context… trying to live a more sustainable, more circular life, we are trying to do our bit to give up some of the unsustainable nasties. Taking individual action in small but meaningful in ways. How we commute. What we buy. Where we vacation.
So why don’t we reinvent Lent – the original ‘giving up’ catalyst – and make it all about 40 days of environmental awareness? To direct our attention onto more pressing issues? Giving up petrol. Giving up flights. Giving up plastic. Giving up fast fashion. Giving up beef.
Hopefully, this is not too controversial, now that Christianity in UK is officially in the minority… reinventing traditions is what helped Christianity get established in the first place.
In 2018, the excellent TreeHugger produced a list of 12 things we could all give up for Lent.
We think they were on to something. So, we are bringing that list back to the top of your attention…
https://www.treehugger.com/ideas-observing-eco-minded-lent-4857200
As Lent comes to an end in a frenzied blur of chocolate and egg-hunts, we have 10 months to get the campaign ready for Lent 2024… We need a client, a budget, a catchy name for it and a hashtag, a handful of Influencers… so if you want to get involved in ‘reinventing Lent’, give us a shout!
After all, we’ll have to give up so much without action. Economic stability, food security...a liveable future. We may as well be fasting in a desert.
