We are not to exploit, waste, or abuse the resources of God\u27s world, but care for them and use them to serve God and humankind. 
Posting about becoming environmentally conscientious from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.
http://inallthings.org/institutional-stewardship-and-ecology

Nederhoff, Arlan

English

Dordt College

Digital Collections @ Dordt Staff Work 10-28-2015 Institutional Stewardship and Ecology Arlan Nederhoff Dordt College, arlan.nederhoff@dordt.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/staff_work  Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Environmental Design Commons Recommended Citation Nederhoff, A. (2015). Institutional Stewardship and Ecology. Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/staff_work/17 This Blog Post is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Collections @ Dordt. It has been accepted for inclusion in Staff Work by an authorized administrator of Digital Collections @ Dordt. For more information, please contact ingrid.mulder@dordt.edu. Institutional Stewardship and Ecology Abstract "We are not to exploit, waste, or abuse the resources of God's world, but care for them and use them to serve God and humankind." Posting about becoming environmentally conscientious from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world. http://inallthings.org/institutional-stewardship-and-ecology/ Keywords In All Things, creation, Dordt College, Christian stewardship, ecology Disciplines Christianity | Environmental Design Comments In All Things is a publication of the Andreas Center for Reformed Scholarship and Service at Dordt College. This blog post is available at Digital Collections @ Dordt: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/staff_work/17 Institutional Stewardship and Ecology inallthings.org /institutional-stewardship-and-ecology/Arlan NederhoffThe book of Genesis starts with the creation story and the declaration that God saw everything that he hadmade and it was very good. After creating man and woman, “God blessed them and said to them, Befruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds ofthe air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Genesis 1:28 is commonly referred to asthe cultural mandate or the creation mandate. We are God’s representatives in this fallen world, stewardsof God’s creation.To me, one key to living in obedience with the creation mandate is the concept of stewardship. When I lookup steward in my dictionary, the first definition listed talks about one who manages another’s property,finances, or other affairs. In Matthew 24 and 25, Jesus tells the story of a man who trusts his servants withhis possessions before taking a trip. When the man returns, two of his servants are commended forinvesting wisely and are given more responsibility. The third is punished for using the resources unwiselyby burying them in the ground. We are not to exploit, waste, or abuse the resources of God’s world, butcare for them and use them to serve God and humankind. While the effects of sin will never allow us toperfectly obey the creation mandate, how can we become more obedient to the creation mandate, andwhat does living in accordance with the creation mandate mean, not just individually but institutionally?How can an institution be a good steward? Institutions regularly make decisions that have significant costand environmental implications, such as determining the type of heating and cooling system to use in anew or remodeled building. Institutions can also encourage students, customers, and employees tochange some daily practices.None of these decisions can be made in a vacuum. Being a good steward involves trying to use well thevarious gifts and ‘properties’ we have been given by our Creator, be they monetary, ecological,geographical, or otherwise. Balancing the best use of these various elements is not easy. For example,when my institution, Dordt College, opened the Kuyper Apartments in the fall of 2010, we wanted to beboth environmentally conscientious and fiscally responsible when planning for the project. We asked thedesigning engineers we were working with about the feasibility of installing a geo-thermal heating andcooling system in the building. A geo-thermal system reduces the amount of fossil fuels needed to heat andcool a building by using the earth’s constant temperature to help heat and cool the building. A calculationknown as a payback analysis was performed by the engineers. This calculation determines the period oftime needed to recover the higher initial installation cost incurred by using a geo-thermal system by thelower annual operating cost of the geo-thermal system. The calculation projected a breakeven point in 5 to7 years. Dordt proceeded with the installation of the geo-thermal system based on the relatively shortpayback needed to recoup the initial cost.However, when Dordt began construction on a new Science Building in 2013 and asked the engineer toagain consider using a geo-thermal system to heat and cool this building, the calculation yielded a muchdifferent result. Energy prices had dropped since the construction of Kuyper Apartments and therefore thepayback calculation indicated that the higher installation cost of a geo-thermal system could not be offsetby the lower annual operating cost of the system. Instead, the engineer proposed the use of an ice storagesystem, which uses a chiller to make ice during the night. The ice is then used to cool the building the nextday instead of operating the chiller. An ice storage system saves money and is environmentally friendly intwo ways. First, the size of the chiller needed to cool the building is smaller since the ice is used to coolduring the hottest part of the day, thereby saving initial manufacturing and installation costs. Second, byshifting the peak load, the college saves utility cost and the utility company delays construction of a newpower plant, thereby reducing the environmental impact of the utility company. In both of these instances,we sought a balance between being environmentally conscientious and being fiscally responsible.However, the changes an institution can make to be more ecologically sensitive are not confined to majorbuilding projects. Implementation of tray-less dining on Dordt’s campus this fall didn’t require engineers toevaluate systems or make payback calculations. The only thing that had to change in order to implementtray-less dining was human behavior. Sometimes this change can be much more difficult to make. I’mhappy to say that students returned for the fall semester and adapted to the change without an issue, andour local environment is now enjoying the benefits of tray-less dining: reduced food waste, reduced waterusage, and lower energy usage.What are steps that you can take, in your personal life and in the life of the institutions of which you are apart (e.g., your workplace, your church, etc.), to be environmentally conscientious? Some changes may belarge and require time to evaluate options, but others (like taking less food so there’s less to throw away)may only require a change in your daily routine. Please share what you’ve done in the comments below,so that others can learn about creative ways that we can all be better stewards of, benefit, and glorifyGod’s creation.

Institutional Stewardship and Ecology

https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1016&context=staff_work

Institutional Stewardship and Ecology

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