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  • "Theology in Support of Simplicity and Eco-Justice" in Simpler Living, Compassionate Life

    Simpler Living, Compassionate Life, is a book from Earth Ministries that consists of both essays and community guides regarding humanity’s relationship to our earthly home. This section, "Theology in Support of Simplicity and Eco-Justice," captures the Biblical and faith inspired foundation of the movement toward simplicity. It encourages those who are participants in a culture of over-consumption to reconsider their lifestyles and reverse the damage done to the gift that we have received.

  • "Social Structures and the Politics of Simplicity" in Simpler Living, Compassionate Life

    Simpler Living, Compassionate Life, is a book from Earth Ministries that consists of both essays and community guides regarding humanity’s relationship to our earthly home. This section, "Social Structures and the Politics of Simplicity," looks at systems in society that perpetuate and encourage over-consumption. From theology to capitalism to advertising, authors call out ways in which we have built our world for destruction. It focuses not only on personal choices, but the necessity of engaged politics and policy. For the full version Moriah Reichert's review of this section of the book, visit the link below.

  • Evangelical Environmental Network: The Last Straw

    Up to 12 billion tons of plastic trash end up in God’s oceans. Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN) maintains that trash is an affront to the glory of God. Trash eventually ends up someplace, and that someplace belongs to God. In order to put a stop to this waste, EEN has created The Last Straw Campaign Pledge. This pledge urges individuals to decline straws at restaurants and other food/beverage establishments, and avoid purchasing for home use. Additional steps of advocacy that one can take include asking local restaurants to only provide straws when customers request them and asking elected officials at the local and state levels to phase out the use of plastic straws, and single-use plastic.

  • Season of Creation Week 1: A Culture of Relationships That Heals our Throwaway Culture

    For each week of the Season of Creation, the World Council of Churches offers a resource for celebrating creation. The first week focuses on the throwaway culture that society has created and urges individuals to instead focus on just and sustainable practices. The document includes a call to prayer, a scripture reading, a hymn, and a responsive reflection.

  • Columbus Catholic School becomes Designated GreenSpot School

    The GreenSpot School designation indicates that a school has taken initiatives to educate their students and staff about sustainability, water issues, conserving energy, reducing waste, and green transportation. St. Mary School Catholic school has become the first in Columbus to earn this designation. They have implemented a recycling program, local garden, and composting, which qualified them to become a GreenSpot School. They have created a short video of students discussing their engagement and staff discussing the impact of becoming a GreenSpot School.

  • The Necessity of Environmental Concern

    A group of 20 Muslim youths worked to clean up an area in Columbus as a community service event. The event helped one Columbus-area Muslim leader realize that demonstrating concern for the environment is not a luxury, but a necessity. Many people prioritize a number of worldly things ahead of environmental care. Increasingly, faith groups are demonstrating that environmental concern and care needs urgent attention throughout the world.

  • Giving Back to the Community on Earth Day 2016

    This year on April 22 for Earth Day, many organizations are working in conjunction with Metro Parks Officials to clean up five parks within the Columbus area. Leaders hope to encourage involvement of congregations within local communities. A day of services can be a great teaching moment as well as an opportunity to give back.

  • Earth Day statement from ELCA presiding bishop

    The Reverend Elizabeth A. Eaton, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), issued an Earth Day statement on behalf of the ELCA. A salient excerpt from the statement is shown below:

    "The effects of the warming climate are felt in nearly every corner of the globe. These include increased migration, food insecurity due to changing agricultural landscapes, national security issues and health problems. As bad as it is for all creation, the most vulnerable people around the world are suffering the most. Yet they have contributed the least and, as noted in the United Nation's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,[iii] are ill equipped to adapt to or mitigate the effects of a changing climate to build resilient communities."

  • Climate Change

    The Presbyterian Church has put forth this video on care for creation, emphasizing that Christ has called us to go out into the world to care for creation and our fellow humans, especially the poor. The Union of Concerned Scientists has identified food, transportation, and energy as three key areas of focus to help stem climate change Congregations can help by implementing energy saving techniques, participate in recycling and composting waste, teaching children to grow food, and incorporating salient creation care concepts within educational settings.

  • Hazardous Waste, Race, and the Environment

    This statement was approved by the 207th General Assembly Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 1995. The predominant theme focuses on the impact that hazardous waste has on individuals who are suffering from poverty and minority groups. The final section provides suggestions for taking action.

  • Climate Change

    The World Council of Churches calls individuals to modify their consumer lifestyle for the greater good - to improve shared environmental conditions for all and with less negative impact among the poor. This excerpt provides a sense of urgency to act to reverse the threat of climate change:

    "The urgency of the threat of climate change requires our generation to take immediate action and go beyond simple declarations and statements. New alternative models of life are called for. We challenge all people to move towards a style of life that derives its quality from the attentive enjoyment of nature and human relationships, from mutual care, dependence, trust and solidarity instead of the illusions of individual autonomy and material wealth, from spirituality and feelings of community, connectedness and intimacy instead of one-dimensional self-centredness. We draw strength from insights gained from the rich, community- oriented and simple lifestyles of indigenous and other marginalized communities. We are conscious of the significant contribution these communities, with their low carbon economies, deliver to the stabilization of the climate. We recommend the creation of 'just, participatory, sustainable and sustaining communities' for mutual support and call upon the churches and authorities to join them on this journey with reflection and practical support."

  • Economic globalization and ecology

    In this message, the World Council of Churches (WCC) focuses on how economic globalization affects the environment, with a specific focus on economic justice. The following excerpt provides a succinct summary of what WCC strives to achieve in this area:

    "In this context of growing inequality, concentration of power, social exclusion and ecological destruction, people are longing for life with dignity in just and sustainable communities. If that goal is to be attained we need to work for equity as basic fairness that also extends to other life forms, respect for diversity as recognition of the complementary of, for example, cultures species, religious traditions, accountability as a way of being responsible towards one another and Earth itself, participation as the optimal inclusion of all involved, sufficiency as a commitment to meet the basic needs of all, and subsidiarity as determining the most appropriate level for decision-making, supporting the downwards distribution of power."

  • Affluenza Documentary (1997)

    A one-hour PBS documentary which analogizes materialism and consumption to an epidemic. The term 'affluenza' is a combination of 'affluence' and 'influenza.' This an educational and socially critical piece that discusses the harmful affects of overconsumption, and provides ways to 'treat' it.

  • Resources for Affluenza

    This is a PBS website dedicated to providing information and resources on overconsumption. It also provides a quiz to asses your consumption quotient, and tips for reducing consumptive behaviors. Lastly, this website has a Teacher's Guide for grades 5-12. This was created in relation to the PBS documentary, Affluenza.

  • Sustainable Weddings in Columbus

    Weddings are typically large events to celebrate the union of two people. Regardless of how beautiful the celebration is, weddings can still generate a lot of waste. In fact, the average wedding can generate 500 pounds of trash. Recently, there has been a movement to have local sustainable weddings that cut environmental impacts significantly.

  • Laudato Si’ in Columbus: Bishop Campbell Regales OSU Students with Historical Overview of Catholic Tradition

    Bishop Campbell spoke to OSU students about Laudato Si', specifically regarding how Catholic tradition develops the context for it.

    "Bishop Campbell highlighted four themes in his talk, including how Catholicism has considered nature for 2,000 years, a Catholic imagination of nature, historical trends of alienation from nature in the Western world, and a discussion of how sin – light and shadow of the world together – plays a role in our ecological situation."

    Please click on the link below to view the entire article.

  • All Creation Gives God Praise: An Earth Day Webinar

    "Every year, Catholic Climate Covenant produces a one-hour educational program. This year [2019] we are focusing on the issue of protecting biodiversity to complement the Earth Day Network's 'Protect Our Species' campaign. In the webinar we explore why the Earth day Network chose the theme of 'Protecting Our Species' and all the wonderful resources and toolkits that they have available for your use. We also delve into the Covenant's Earth Day program and how you can facilitate a program in your parish, school, or religious community."

  • The Case for Animal Spirituality - Part 1: Conceptual Challenges, Methodological Considerations, and the Question of Animal Consciousness

    This article, written by Paul Cunningham, explores the case for nonhuman animal spirituality. Spirituality goes beyond language, reflective consciousness, or conceptual thought. Animal spirituality and participation in religious phenomena are growing areas of research at the intersection of animal studies and religious studies, this article is a small but emerging discussion of this subfield.

  • The Place of Pets in Our Lives: Some Christian and Buddhist Perspectives

    This chapter from the student-written book “Emerging Perspectives on Religion and Environmental Values in America” explores the impact of animals and pets on our environmental values. The author discusses their own experiences with pets as well as religious texts and perspectives as they relate to animals. Below is the first paragraph of the chapter to introduce the discussion.

    "If you ask a person to tell you about their favorite pet they’ve had, no matter how long it has been since it lived, their faces will most likely light up with joy as they tell you a humorous or heartwarming story about 'the best cat' or 'the best dog in the world!' Love and appreciation for our pets seems to be a relatively universal trait that, for many of us, is also interconnected with our religious or moral values and feelings toward nature."

  • Laudate Deum

    "Eight years have passed since I published the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’, when I wanted to share with all of you, my brothers and sisters of our suffering planet, my heartfelt concerns about the care of our common home. Yet, with the passage of time, I have realized that our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point. In addition to this possibility, it is indubitable that the impact of climate change will increasingly prejudice the lives and families of many persons. We will feel its effects in the areas of healthcare, sources of employment, access to resources, housing, forced migrations, etc.

    This is a global social issue and one intimately related to the dignity of human life. The Bishops of the United States have expressed very well this social meaning of our concern about climate change, which goes beyond a merely ecological approach, because 'our care for one another and our care for the earth are intimately bound together. Climate change is one of the principal challenges facing society and the global community. The effects of climate change are borne by the most vulnerable people, whether at home or around the world'. In a few words, the Bishops assembled for the Synod for Amazonia said the same thing: 'Attacks on nature have consequences for people’s lives'. And to express bluntly that this is no longer a secondary or ideological question, but a drama that harms us all, the African bishops stated that climate change makes manifest 'a tragic and striking example of structural sin'.

    The reflection and information that we can gather from these past eight years allow us to clarify and complete what we were able to state some time ago. For this reason, and because the situation is now even more pressing, I have wished to share these pages with you."

  • EPN Breakfast: Yellowstone to Yukon: Enhancing Rocky Mountain animal migration through remote sensing and international collaboration

    "Caribou, grizzly bears, bison, and many more megafauna and countless bird species rely upon a major migration corridor of western North America spanning the Yellowstone-to-Yukon (Y2Y) region. Y2Y extends more than 3,400 kilometers from the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in the western United States to the Arctic Circle in the Yukon Territory of Canada. These species are impacted by roads and other human infrastructure developed throughout the corridor.

    Enter the Room to Roam: Y2Y Wildlife Movements (Room2Roam) project. Room2Roam is funded through the NASA Ecological Forecasting Program and is accelerating data analysis and coordination to improve wildlife management efforts across borders. With coordination from Ohio State’s Dr. Gil Bohrer and representatives of seven agencies and conservation groups from First Nations, Canadian provinces and territories, and American states, launched this project from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, in 2022...
    With support from Ohio State's Translational Data Analytics Institute (TDAI), join this EPN event to learn more about this incredible research and partnership endeavor, and its implications for land and resource managers in Ohio and beyond."

    The event will take place on 2/13/2024 from 7:15 a.m. to noon at Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4H Center.

    The cost is $25 for non-students, $5 for students, and free for virtual participants.

  • From the Ground Up: An Adult Outdoor Education Program
    AKA Our Deen is Green! for Adults

    "We are happy to announce that applications are now being accepted for From the Ground Up: An Adult Outdoor Education Program (aka Our Deen is Green! for adults). This special program, funded by a grant from the National Park Service Chesapeake Gateways Office, will begin after Ramadan, in late April 2024, and continue into spring of 2025. It is a unique opportunity to become immersed in the various facets of ecology, environmental science, sustainability and stewardship. It will include monthly classes, mostly in-person and outdoors in parks and wildlife sanctuaries in DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia, focused on specific aspects of and issues pertaining to our local region, the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

    Classes will be led by local subject matter experts and include a variety of topics, including local plants and animals, the interconnectedness of our watershed, the challenges it’s facing, and what we can do to help. Specific classes will include:

    · An introduction to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
    · Local herps: reptiles and amphibians
    · Monitoring stream health with benthic macroinvertebrates
    · Stream restoration and invasive plant removal
    · The importance of native plants and pollinator gardens
    · Watershed education through an interfaith lens
    · Native trees
    · Soil health
    · Environmental justice
    · Local birds and “bugs”
    · Solar power and clean energy
    · Sustainable living
    · Water-quality monitoring
    · And more!

    We are looking for 10-15 strongly committed local residents who are interested in learning about our local watershed, its needs, and what they can do to help it. Participants will be encouraged to create a long-term project or plan of action describing something they will do to support the watershed and/or encourage their families or communities to pay more attention to environmental issues.

    Program participants must be able to commit to the majority of the monthly classes. All in-person classes will take place on weekends and last 2 to 4 hours. (We will do our best to help provide transportation if necessary.)

    This entire program is being offered free of charge thanks to a National Park Service Chesapeake Gateways grant. The National Park Service Chesapeake Gateways Office (NPS Chesapeake Gateways) offers competitive grant opportunities to advance the Chesapeake Bay Initiative Act of 1998 within the full 41-million-acre Chesapeake Bay watershed. Chesapeake Gateways grants bring out familiar, untold, under-appreciated, or yet to be uncovered narratives and promote resilient communities & landscapes through tourism, sustainability, conservation & local economies throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

    The program begins after Ramadan, with the introductory class set for April 21st! Applications are due by March 8th. Access the application form below. Please reach out to us at contact@greenmuslims.org with any questions."

  • Old Growth

    "This photograph shows my view of old growth redwood trees located in the Redwoods National Park. Enjoying nature is an important aspect of sustainability in that it reminds us of our inherent connection to nature, its beauty, and importance." Taken by Kelsey Wolf. Submitted to the Sustainability Photo Contest.

  • A Walk with Sustainability…and the Bolivian Llamas

    "In this picture, I am working alongside two rural Bolivian community members (and a llama), collaborating on the design of a water system. The community had no running water, phone service only on hills, cut plastic liter bottles in half for gutters, and still gave me soups and meals as a welcoming and thankfulness. Their kindness, harmony with the land around them, and joy radiated, deeply resonating with my idea of how to live a sustainable, happy life. Sustainability is not buying a reusable water bottle…every 3 months because a new, better, more cool version is here. It is living in gratitude and simplicity with the people and nature around you." Taken by Megan Oleksik. Submitted to the RESTORExchange Sustainability Contest.

  • Bristlecone Pines

    Third Place Winner of the Sustainability Photo Contest.

    "Bristlecone pines live hundreds if not 1000 years. They live in one of the most unforgiving landscapes on Earth and yet survive."
    Taken by Harrison Frenken. Submitted to the RESTORExchange Sustainability Photo Contest.