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  • Engaged Organizations: Orita's Cross Freedom School

    The mission of Orita's Cross Freedom School is to cultivate student's natural sense of curiosity and skills to become agents of change within their community. They are a solution-oriented group, addressing pressing societal issues such as racism, gentrification, gender inequality, and the prison industrial complex. Some ways that the school promotes learning through doing includes civic engagement demonstrations, mentoring, and cultural awareness programs.

  • Engaged Organizations: Black Church Food Security Network

    The Black Church Food Security Network strives to provide fresh produce to historically Africa American churches within the Baltimore Metro area. Their popup farm stands provide convenience to the public as they are able to set up during times when congregation members typically gather. Ideally, members will either start their own gardens on site or expand ones that they currently maintain. Often, the farmers or urban growers will offer to lead bible studies and include food security issues as part of the sessions.

  • Engaged Organizations: National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Programs

    The National Council of Churches (NCC) discuss their work through their eco-justice programs on their website:

    "The National Council of Churches has been a prophetic voice for justice and peace for its entire existence. In recent years, the NCC has been involved in a diverse range of issues such as poverty alleviation, protecting the environment, racial justice, and responding to the particular concerns of women. The NCC continues to remain engaged in these areas; however the primary program work in some cases has been spun off to new organizations that continue to bring the ecumenical community together to struggle for justice."

  • Engaged Organizations: Web of Creation

    The Web of Creation website discuss their organization aim and services that they provide:

    "The Web of Creation was established to foster the movement for personal and social transformation to a just and sustainable world from religious perspectives. To that end, the information at this site will:

    -Connect you with ideas, resources and strategies for doing eco-justice
    -Inform, inspire, encourage, educate you about eco-justice
    -Support you in your efforts to live, work and pray in ways that promote eco-justice

    The Web of Creation has also been developed to provide information and connections for theology students interested in environmental ministry."

  • Living the Laudato Si'

    Pope Francis encourages all people to take to heart what is written in the Laudato Si' encyclical. The Catholic Multicultural Center in Madison, Wisconsin has strived to live out the message of Laudato Si' even prior its release. This community seeks to live as stewards of the environment and care for their less fortunate neighbors. Some examples of how they are achieving their goals include installing solar panels to cut costs and reinvest the money in charitable programs and running a local food garden. Members of this community have also helped to install rain gardens and find innovative ways of serving their neighbors. These activities help to bring people closer together as well as care for the planet.

  • OSU Prepares to Host Earthkeeping Summit on Sept. 24, 2016

    On Saturday, September 24, 2016 The School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR) will co-host the 2016 Earthkeeping Summit with Ohio Interfaith Power and Light, the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, and multiple community and university partners. The Summit provides resources and inspiration for the creation care work of Ohio faith communities, and will be held at the Nationwide 4-H Center on OSU’s Columbus campus. Keynote speaker, Dr. Melanie L. Harris of Texas Christian University, will address the Summit’s themes of hope and renewal in environmental justice work, and panels and workshops will follow to highlight current examples of creation care work across Ohio faith communities.

  • Seven Congregations of Dominican Women Collaborate to Offer Sept. 10 Earth Stewardship Program in Columbus

    The Dominican Alliance Eco-Justice Committee is offering "Falling in Love with Earth Again" from 9:00am-3:00pm on Saturday, September 10 at the Martin de Porress Center in Columbus, OH. In the words of the organizers, the program will provide various avenues to “remind us of who we are as a part of this living Earth and renew our embodied human selves. Spend time with others pondering, celebrating, and creating your loving connection with Earth.”

  • Columbus YMCA Youth Engage in 4-H Urban Gardening Program for Cultural Exchange with Youth in Accra, Ghana

    This summer, dozens of Columbus North YMCA youth participated in 4-H urban gardening programs as part of an urban agriculture exchange program with 4-H and YMCA youth from Accra, Ghana. In response, in May of 2017, three Ghanaian youth and an advisor will travel to Columbus to share their urban agriculture experiences at the annual Ohio Future Farmers of America (FFA) conference at the Ohio State Fairgrounds. Please click the link below to read more:

  • Fasting for Climate Justice

    Fasting for Climate Justice is a resource from Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM ) on the practice of fasting for climate action through two initiatives: meatless Fridays and monthly fasting. The GCCM encourages abstinence from meat on Fridays as a way to reduce one’s negative impact on global climate change. The GCCM also promotes fasting for the climate which takes place the first day of each month.

  • Evangelical Environmental Network: Trump Budget would harm National Parks and the Protection of God’s Other Creatures

    The president of the Evangelical Environmental Network, Rev. Mitch Hescox, made a statement saying that the budget proposed by the Trump administration is a “devils bargain,” which would harm national parks and the protection of God’s creatures.

    “The Trump Administration’s budget, if implemented, would be an abdication of our stewardship of our public lands, which are entrusted to each generation to pass on to their children.”

  • Becoming a CreatureKind Institution

    “Having compassion for others begs the question of who ‘the others’ are. The animals whom we farm are sentient beings and individuals in their own right, even when they are crowded together in barren cages or windowless sheds. They are surely – in their billions – ‘others’ who deserve and desperately need our compassion. I wish CreatureKind great influence in bringing compassion to these fellow-beings of ours.”

    – Joyce D’Silva, Ambassador Emeritus,
    Compassion in World Farming

    CreatureKind is a Christian animal welfare group that works to help institutions improve their practice as it impacts farmed animals, with benefits for humans, animals, and the environment. Becoming a CreatureKind institution means committing to a cycle of reviewing current sourcing, setting goals for improved practice, and acting on them, together with engaging your community about the program. The program have two major goals: reduce consumption of animal products and obtain remaining animal products from higher welfare.

  • CreatureKind Church Course

    CreaturKind has created a 6-week course to help Christians think about what their faith means for animals. The course is free and is meant to assist churches in learning about animal welfare and how to care for animals faithfully. They aim to encourage Christians to consider what they believe about God’s creatures and how they might move toward living out those beliefs as members of the body of Christ.

  • Food Security: Dream of Feeding Hundreds Comes True

    Brother Paul Kennedy, a member of the Dominican Order, grew up in Cincinnati with a dream of running a restaurant. Today, he is fulfilling that dream in an unexpected way. Every weekday, he is in charge of feeding the physical and spiritual hunger of more than 300 people at the Holy Family Soup Kitchen in Columbus. Brother Paul offers that, “What always was important to me about the restaurant business was the chance to communicate with people as much as the chance to feed them. But regardless of what I did, every job I’ve had in the past was focused on service to people. Here at the soup kitchen, I get the chance to do the kind of work I wanted to while growing up, while at the same time getting to know the people we serve and developing a rapport with them.”

  • The Midwest Regional Sustainability Summit

    The 2017 Midwest Regional Summit welcomes stakeholders throughout the Ohio Valley region and adjoining areas to exchange their practices, have thoughtful discussions, and celebrate the environmental work that is going on throughout the Midwest. This year’s summit will look focus on the issue of equity and its relationship to sustainability. Green Umbrella is partnering with the City of Cincinnati Office of Environment and Sustainability and the Department of Economic Inclusion, the Brueggeman Center for Dialogue at Xavier University, Hamilton County Planning and Development and the Greater Cincinnati Green Business Council to present a daylong conference to share the ideas and practices in environmental sustainability at the Midwest Regional Sustainability Summit. The keynote speaker, Van Jones, is a globally recognized, award-winning leader in the green economy along with being experienced in linking the economy, the environment and social justice. He is also the best-selling author of a book on green jobs, The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems.

  • Engaged Organization: The Dream Corps

    The Dream Corps is a social justice organization, designed to reach across racial, social, and partisan lines to create a future with freedom and dignity for all. The founder, Van Jones, is scheduled as the keynote speaker at the Midwest Regional Sustainability Summit held in June in Cincinnati. They support economic, environmental, and criminal justice leaders in order to tackle America’s social justice challenges. Their slogan is “21st-century jobs, not jail." Initiatives include #YESWECODE, #CUT50, and Green for All.

  • The People’s March

    In addition to the People’s Pilgrimage, the People's March was another religious based event that took place during COP-21. The People’s March, was an organized demonstration in major cities around the world. For those who could not attend the convention in Paris, marches were held around the world to demonstrate solidarity for environmental stewardship and justice. Many people who participated in this march in Paris were also members of the People’s Pilgrimage. However, in Paris there was also conflict due to lingering tensions from the November 13th terrorist attack.

  • United Church of Christ – Environmental Ministries

    The United Church of Christ has taken an active role in environmental stewardship. They have made multiple statements about various aspects of the environment. This link provided by Environmental Ministries discusses various critical environmental justice issues. If you are looking for ideas on how to live more Eco-friendly in your own life, or simply searching for a great set of resources, check them out!

  • The Supreme Court and The Clean Power Plan

    The Clean Power Plan was designed to allow states the greatest flexibility in implementation, attempting benefiting the health of individuals by improving the quality of the air for everyone. The Supreme Court has ruled to stay the implementation of the Clean Power Plan (5-4 ruling). Many churches and faiths have banded together to express their dissatisfaction with this decision. A predominant tenet of most religious organizations is their concern with protecting the health and well-being of vulnerable communities and God’s Creation.

  • 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.

  • Decolonizing Thanksgiving

    "As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in the United States, it’s great to think about all the things we can be grateful for. It is good to have a time to pause and reflect, to participate in the seasonality of gratitude for the year’s bountiful harvest, and to gather with family and friends. (We’ll ignore the über-consumerism of the day following Thanksgiving…)

    Many of us probably know by now, however, that the story many of us learned in school about the first Thanksgiving is rather inaccurate at best, and racist and paternalistic in many ways, with a focus on the Manifest Destiny idea of the divine mandate for Europeans to conquer the “New World” in the name of Christ and country.

    A few questions come to mind (at least my mind), for those of us with European-American roots, such as:

    Should we even celebrate Thanksgiving, since it’s so tainted with colonialism?
    What might it look like to “decolonize” our own understandings and our culture?
    How can we do this work in a way that encourages our own folks to partner, rather than making them (our White brethren) feel further ostracized, but while also speaking real truth?
    What can we do this Thanksgiving to begin to reconcile relationships damaged in the colonial era, both human to human and human to this land?"

  • Checking on the Chickens With the Next Generation

    "Checking on the chickens with the next generation. We built the coop from recycled materials, the chickens eat much of our food waste, provide eggs, and encourage us to think about the cycle of our consumption and how we can be more sustainable. We want our son to approach his entire life this way, and these chickens will be his responsibility as soon as able. We live in the city of Columbus so we try to bring a different lifestyle to city living."
    Taken by Grace Freeman. Submitted to the Sustainability Photo Contest.

  • EPN Signature Earth Day Event - Monday, April 22, 2024: Eat This Earth Day! Ohio's Native Plants for Food

    "Ohio State’s Environmental Professionals Network, in collaboration with the Chadwick Arboretum and Learning Gardens and native plant enthusiasts from across the state, proudly invite you to eat and drink from Ohio’s native plants this Earth Day! Discover through your senses, the edible flora of the Buckeye State. Over long periods of history, through the tastes, smells, and eyes of diverse native wildlife and human cultures, both ancient and present, these plants have sustained life."

    This event will take place on Earth Day, April 22, 2024 from 4:45 pm to 7:30 pm. Admission is free and the event will be held at the Fawcett Center in Columbus, Ohio. Food and drinks will be provided.

  • Prescott Community Compost Project

  • Eat Close To The Ground!

    "Eat Close To The Ground!" Taken by Linda Sterling. Submitted to the RESTORExchange Sustainability Photo Contest.

  • Exploring Fresh Produce in a Chinese Wet Market

    "Exploring Fresh Produce in a Chinese Wet Market: The diverse array of vegetables is what I long for the most about my homeland China, and there is no better place to shop for vegetables than wet markets, where produce is locally sourced. This is what sustainability looks like for me––where people eat green and shop locally. The photo features a typical vegetable stall at Tuandao Market in Qingdao, my partner’s hometown, where we savored last year’s summer together." Taken by Mianmian Fei. Submitted to the RESTORExchange Sustainability Photo Contest.