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177 items

  • Religion and Environment Songs: Mitakuye Oyasin by Nahko and Medicine for the People

    Mitakuye Oyasin is a song by Nahko and Medicine for the People that relates to spirituality and nature. The phrase comes from the Lakota language and reflects the world view of interconnections held by the Lakota people of North America. The English translation is “we are all related.” The song lyrics start with being thankful for receiving great wisdom so that we as people can help all living things. The subsequent lyrics describe being thankful for all that we have been provided.

  • Care for Creation Check List

    This Care for Creation Check List is a conversation created by the nonprofit organization New Community Project. The Care for Creation Check List is meant to be read between two people or performed as a skit. One person reads the Genesis creation account while another person uses the list to gauge how other species are doing during the Age of Humans.

  • The Regeneration Project

    The Regeneration Project was created as the parent project of Interfaith Power&Light. It is meant to help deepen the connection between ecology and faith and to help people of faith recognize and fulfill their responsibility for the stewardship of creation. They do so through educational programs for clergy and congregations

  • Sisters of Earth: Hopes and Dreams

    How to Face the Mess We’re in without Going Crazy is the subtitle of Joanna Macy’s book Active Hope. The book was the inspiration for the Sisters of Earth gathering that took place July 12-15, 2018 at Mount Saint Joseph, home of the Sisters of Charity in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati was chosen as the location partly because of the ancestral inspiration of Sister of Charity Paula Gonzalez, who promoted solar power and sustainability projects and teachings throughout the Catholic world. This year, nearly 100 women from the United States and Canada gathered, in part, to remember Sister Paula and also to address concerns about the ecological/spiritual crises of our times by asking questions such as: Who are we? Where are we? How did we get here and what is possible? And — where do we go from here?

  • Faith in the Environment: The Religious Fight to Save Planet Earth

    An article discussing the interfaith panel “Ways of Knowing, Ways of Living: Exploring Faith and Conservation” at the 2022 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The author introduces the four panelists, their faiths, and their respective perspectives on encouraging intersections of faith and environmentalism, with Imam Saffet Abid Catovic representing Muslim faith, Jakir Manela representing Jewish faith, Michael Nephew representing Native American faiths, and Dr. Rachel Lamb representing (Evangelical) Christian faith.

  • The Great Global Cleanup

    This toolkit is intended to help guide people and groups on how to start and execute a cleanup project to restore communities.

    "Follow our simple guide to make the most out of your cleanup. If you need any help, reach out to us at info@earthday.org."

  • 3000-year-old solutions to modern problems | Lyla June | TEDxKC

    "In this profoundly hopeful talk, Diné musician, scholar, and cultural historian Lyla June outlines a series of timeless human success stories focusing on Native American food and land management techniques and strategies. Lyla June is an Indigenous musician, scholar and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages. Her dynamic, multi-genre presentation style has engaged audiences across the globe towards personal, collective and ecological healing. She blends studies in Human Ecology at Stanford, graduate work in Indigenous Pedagogy, and the traditional worldview she grew up with to inform her music, perspectives and solutions. Her current doctoral research focuses on Indigenous food systems revitalization. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community."

  • Sustainability Photo Contest

    This RESTORExchange photo contest is being brought back from the pre-COVID era, and with an added collaboration with the Sustainability Institute. It's based around the question "What does sustainability look like?" This can include sustainability in environmental justice, technology, energy, lifestyle and wellbeing, society and culture, economy and politics, and any other context where you see sustainability in action. We want to see your perspectives and show all the different places that sustainability is practiced! Winning photos will be decided by a panel of judges (yet to be determined), and the top four photos will win a prize! First place will receive $400, second place will receive $300, third place will receive $200, and an honorable mention will receive $100. Submissions will be accepted through March 15, 2023.

  • Faith Lifestyles to Beat Plastic Pollution

    "Dr. Iyad Abumoghli and Sarah Berg, Acting Director for the Center for Climate Justice and Faith at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, discuss the ways in which faith communities are uniquely positioned to combat the climate crisis.

    This GTUx Lecture will specifically focus on actions that can be taken to combat plastic pollution — an area in which faith-based organizations are positioned to be significant catalyzers through educating, activating and inspiring their communities; developing capacity for sustainable practices; advocating policymakers and mobilizing the private sector; and collaborating with their community partners to advance change."

  • Marianist Environmental Education Center

    "The Marianist Environmental Education Center (MEEC) is an environmental education community in the Catholic tradition. In Mary's hope-filled spirit, we preserve and act in communion with the land and educate other communities in sustainability through ecology-based simple living, social justice and spirituality."

  • Evolution of the Collective Unconscious

    "The collective unconscious is made up of experiential knowledge, symbols, and imagery that humans are naturally born with (no tabula rasa) and are rooted in ancestral experience and shared by all persons in all cultures. After millennia of evolution, the current collective unconscious of humanity would seem to include human exceptionalism, patriarchal hegemony, short-terminism, delusions of grandeur, illusions of unending growth, and the idolatry of technology. As the planet becomes overloaded with industrial civilization, our collective mindset seems to be unwilling to think long-term and face the realities of ecological overshoot. It remains to be seen whether our collective mindset can evolve to voluntarily refocus human agency toward contraction of the human enterprise, simplification of lifestyles, and peaceful resolution of conflicts before it is too late to prevent a chaotic collapse of industrial civilization."

  • Why Conservative Christians Don’t Believe in Climate Change

    "American Christians have become increasingly polarized on issues of climate change and environmental regulation. In recent years, mainline Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church have made explicit declarations of support for global climate action. Prominent Southern Baptists and other evangelical Protestants, on the other hand, have issued statements that are strikingly similar to the talking points of secular climate skeptics, and have attempted to stamp out 'green' efforts within their own ranks. An analysis of resolutions and campaigns by evangelicals over the past 40 years shows that anti-environmentalism within conservative Christianity stems from fears that 'stewardship' of God's creation is drifting toward
    neo-pagan nature worship, and from apocalyptic beliefs about 'end times' that make it pointless to worry about global warming. As the climate crisis deepens, the moral authority of Christian leaders and organizations may play a decisive role in swaying public policy toward (or away from) action to mitigate global warming."

  • Taoist monks find new role as environmentalists

    This article details the efforts of Taoist leaders in China to incorporate sustainability in Taoist temples and promote a culture of environmentalism. Since 2006, the Daoist Ecological Protection Network has gained the support of 120 temples who have converted to the use of solar panels and biofuels. Taoist monks noticed many people to be ignorant towards their environmental impact, living a life of hyper-materialism. Monks wanted to help educate society about the actions that can be taken to ameliorate environmental issues both at the temples and in daily life. This pursuit is driven by a fundamental belief in Taoism to live in harmony with nature, a value that could have large impacts on society if adopted.

  • Turning Around Our Relationship with Earth is a Teshuvah Project 

    The author recounts an unsettling encounter with a utility worker who downplayed the environmental harm of her gas leak. From here, she explains the true negative impacts of methane emissions on both people and the climate, and encourages us to act in a way that "turns around our relationship with Earth". She connects this with the Jewish tradition of Teshuvah, the time in between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kuppur meant for repentance.

  • Al-Mizan: Covenant for the Earth

    "The Covenant presents an Islamic outlook on the environment in a bid to strengthen local, regional, and international actions to combat the triple planetary crises defined by the United Nations as climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. It is a global endeavour to engage Muslims from all levels of society in the development and adoption of this call...
    Al-Mizan - A Covenant for the Earth is a restatement of the principles governing the protection of nature in a form that meets current challenges. It examines the ethics behind the social patterning of human existence and enquires into how they could be brought to life today working in harmony with the heartbeat of the natural world."

  • Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore

    This resource contains a series of vignettes following Elizabeth Rush as she meets people all around American who have been affected in some way by global sea rising, as well as some of her own personal experiences. She gives voice to those otherwise not heard, and shares eye opening testimonials from those who experience the effects firsthand.

  • Plant With Purpose

    Plant With Purpose works to restore forests by planting trees in the most devastated and vulnerable parts of the world. They do this because they view the issues of global poverty and environmental damage as interconnected.

  • Living Minimally

    "The image shows my crew's pitched tents on a beautiful summer day in Indian, Alaska. We were firefighters living mostly out of our tents for the summer. Conservation work and living minimally were ways I practiced sustainability in my life and connected to nature." Taken by Kelsey Wolf. Submitted to the Sustainability Photo Contest.

  • Prescott Community Compost Project

  • Keeping Our Campus Clean

    "This picture was taken on my college campus in Missouri. If you’re looking at the photo and you think you see trash bags, then you would be correct. We were doing a nature walk around campus and collecting any trash or recycling that has made its way onto campus. Our grounds team does an amazing job at keeping our campus clean but because of how close neighboring houses are, sometimes trash blows into our little creek. This creek is home to a turtle who likes to pop his head out every once in a while and startle you. There are also quite a lot of different bugs in this area that like to stay near the water!" Taken by Erin Frink. Submitted to the RESTORExchange Sustainability Photo Contest.

  • Engaged Organizations: General Board of Global Ministries

    General Board of Global Ministries discuss their vision and span of their work on their website. Their areas of impact run the gamut for a multitude of environmental and social justice issues:

    "Connection is at the core of our work. Global Ministries connects The United Methodist Church, its people and congregations to partner with others engaged in God’s global work, which takes place in a variety of settings, countries and cultures.

    Global Ministries works through missionaries and partners in more than 60 countries around the world. "

  • Overview of grant application process for The Bee Cause Project

    This link provides the document that serves as a resource to apply for The Bee Cause Project. The Bee Cause Project provides support for obtaining various bee hive options for K-12 schools.

    Staff and students from St. Joseph Montessori School, Columbus, Ohio, worked together to apply for one of the grants offered. The students prepared a power point presentation about the bee hives. They also added their signatures on letters of support for their application to their local planning and zoning commission in order to build their bee yard.

  • Engaged Organizations: The Shalom Center

    The Shalom Center discusses their three major program priorities on their website:

    "(1) Addressing the Global Climate Crisis, especially drawing on Jewish and other religious teachings about shaping a sustainable society; coping with the problems created by unacccountable concentrations of corporate and government power in making change difficult; and working on these issues with special concern for those most vulnerable and most hurt as the climate crisis unfolds.

    (2) Addressing unjust and destructive concentrations of political and economic power in the hyper-wealthy and in giant global corporations — power that corrupts democracy, including elections, and delivers enormous “benefits” to those who wield the power while depriving the poor, the aged, the sick, Black and Latino and Native communities, much of the middle class, and large numbers of women of ways to meet their individual and social needs.

    (3) Peacemaking, especially among the Abrahamic communities both within the USA and in the broader Middle East, where violence is especially intense and where it engages intense emotions in the overlapping circles of the Jewish community, the other Abrahamic communities, and the American public generally."

  • Engaged Organizations: Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development

    The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD) discusses their mission on their website:

    "The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD) reveals the connection between religion and ecology and mobilizes faith communities to act. ICSD works on a global basis, with current engagement in Africa, the Middle East, North America, and Europe.

    In 2020, ICSD’s work focuses on The Seminary Faith and Ecology Project. We are also continuing with The Faith Inspired Renewable Energy Project. ICSD also provides thought-leadership to faith-based communities and beyond through our writing, speaking, teaching and advocacy. Our collection of reports, articles, course and syllabus collections, blog, and other resources provide a unique access point for leaders and followers of faith-based communities alike to explore the connections between their tradition and contemporary environmental issues."

  • Engaged Organizations: EcoSikh

    EcoSikh began as an initiative of the United Nations Development Program https://www.undp.org/ and the Alliance of Religions and Conservation http://www.arcworld.org/. EcosSikh discusses their mission on their website:

    "EcoSikh connects Sikh values, beliefs, and institutions to the most important environmental issues facing our world. We draw on the rich tradition of the Sikh Gurus and the Khalsa Panth to shape the behavior and outlook of Sikhs and the world, ensuring that our deep reverence for all creation remains a central part of the Sikh way of life."

    The organization's main program is Sikh Environment Day, which includes a green pilgrimage network and a campaign to make gurdwaras more sustainable.