Imagining Sustainability: Infrastructure Overhaul as an Opportunity for Societal Reinvention

In previous newsletters, I’ve written that the structure of modern society precludes sustainable living. To live sustainably in modern society, we must actively choose sustainability in every aspect of our lives, and in so doing go against the grain of the entirety of society. And even for those who make sustainability their life’s work, that is simply too much to ask. But for a moment today, let’s free our minds from what is and allow our imaginations to explore what could be: what if sustainable living was a given instead of something we had to actively choose? What if, in this new sustainable society, we reduced income disparity? Increased access to healthy, affordable food? Addressed driving factors of immigration?

We know we must overhaul our society’s infrastructure if we want to mitigate further environmental catastrophes. But this overhaul is the perfect opportunity to reinvent our society. While we reconstruct the literal structures of our society–our housing, roads, farms, power plants, cities, we also have the opportunity to reconstruct our social and economic structures.

The good news is, the possibilities that come with societal reinvention are not purely figments of our imagination.

Saguaro Christian ChurchJuly 25, 2025sustainability, solar energy

Taking the Win: Embracing the Passive Ways We Can Combat the Climate Crisis

Warbler’s Wisdom, a weekly column by Jocelyn Hartley, our Creation and Justice Fellow from Disciples Home Mission and Green Chalice

Sometimes a sustainable lifestyle can sound like an endless list of don’ts: don’t drive your gas car, don’t eat meat, don’t get your coffee in a plastic cup, don’t have a backyard pool in the desert. When sustainability is framed this way, it’s no wonder people are resistant to facing the climate crisis head on. After all, who wants to overhaul their lifestyle, knowing full well their actions won’t mean much unless a significant portion of the world population joins them?

But what if I told you there are ways to combat the climate crisis just by living your life exactly the way you do? I wouldn’t be lying entirely. Today I want to highlight two passive ways (one of which you are almost certainly already doing!) you can combat the climate crisis.

Saguaro Christian ChurchJune 13, 2025Warbler's Wisdom, sustainability, climate crisis