At home, material things need to be made up: We have to keep our surroundings clean and the environment functional and conducive to a happy, harmonious, and healthy living. This requires work and the participation of everyone: That is why there are assignments allotted to each one in a well-ordered and properly run home.

It also requires the attitude of good stewardship.

First and foremost, we have to acquire the material goods we need for life within a family. It is for this reason, among other reasons, that we have to work hard and well. Those who already can earn some bread need to apply themselves, with talent, dedication, and diligence to the tasks they can devote themselves to, and through which they can earn the wherewithal to obtain all the necessary material goods for the family.

We then need to put on the attitude of good stewards. We have to consume and make use of the material goods we have at hand. We look at them as means, essentially as instruments in our hands for us to use to secure our material welfare and promote an environment conducive to advancement in all the non-material facets of life – the cultural and educational, the professional and social, the spiritual and also the physical health and well-being of everyone at home.

As good stewards, however, we take responsibility for their proper use. Thus, we take it upon ourselves to prolong the usefulness of all material instruments we have. We observe sobriety in consumption. We cut down waste. We never indulge in excess: We spend on what we need, even if sometimes we end up owing (i.e. borrowing) for getting what we need. We never allow ourselves, however, to become frivolous and irresponsible with our spending and consumption, always taking into account the need over the long term for some savings with which to meet contingencies and to build a nest egg to pass on to the next generation, which needs help to move up to a higher level and quality of life.

Also as good stewards, we never confuse ends with means. Material goods are there as means for us to use; we can never put them on a pedestal such that they become our idols. We never make their importance absolute: If for some reasons or by some twist of fate, we have to do without them for a while, we keep on with life without losing our dignity nor compromising our core values. In other words, while we give due importance to them, we also recognize that there are more important ends for which we work and live.

Within the family, it is natural to stress the concept of stewardship over material goods and the wider physical environment around us. We have to work hard in order to acquire the use of them. That is why we study, apply our knowledge of science, and use technology to get nature to suit our human purposes. But as we use the material resources that we put under our control, we never forget the creative design behind them and our responsibility of allowing them to renew themselves so they would continue to be available – preferably on an improved condition – for use by all succeeding generations of men and women who inhabit our world.

Nurturing a “green mind set” in relation to the environment is a task for every home and every family.