The Archbishop of Canterbury has talked about the importance of protecting the environment in a New Year message to be placed on video-sharing site YouTube.
Dr Rowan Williams' message which says God "does not do waste", was filmed in Canterbury Cathedral and at a nearby recycling centre.
He says the tendency to waste could have implications on relationships.
The Queen also used the website to post her Christmas message for the first time this year.
Dr Williams warns the short-term exploitation of resources which produces a vast amount of waste has implications for other areas of life.
'Need for stability'
He said: "In a society where we think of so many things as disposable, where we expect to be constantly discarding last year's gadget and replacing it with this year's model - do we end up tempted to think of people and relationships as disposable?
"Are we so fixated on keeping up with change that we lose any sense of our need for stability?"
God, he said, "does not do waste" and does not regard human life as disposable.
"He doesn't regard anyone as a 'waste of space', as not worth his time - from the very beginnings of life to its end, whether they are successful, articulate, productive or not.
"And so a life that communicates a bit of what God is like is a life that doesn't give up, that doesn't settle down with a culture of waste and disposability - whether with people, or with things."
The Archbishop's message is being shown on BBC Two at 2030GMT on 31 December and again on BBC One at 1200GMT on New Year's Day.
^ Back to top | BBC Sport Home | BBC Homepage | Contact us | Help | ©
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~41~RS~)