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Pope Francis and Environmental Leaders Forge Vision for Global Action

Environmental leaders, activists and advocates gathered with Pope Francis for a two-day Vatican-organized conference with hopes to emerge with a shared vision for protecting our planet. The conference was inspired by the third anniversary of the Pope’s encyclical and was attended by political and religious leaders, scientists, economists and heads of civil society organizations. Inspired by the call for unity and action in the encyclical, UN Environment also introduced their Interfaith Rain-forest Initiative at the conference.

WCC Executive Committee: global biodiversity crisis reaches urgent level

This article from the World Council of Churches discusses the current biodiversity crisis. The majority of land surfaces and ocean areas are significantly modified, and over 85% of the wetlands are gone. The following excerpt notes how this subsequently affects the poor and vulnerable:

"The statement notes that, increasingly, the drive for relentless expansion built into dominant economic systems are endangering the survival of many of God’s creatures. 'Ultimately our significant and adverse impacts on ecology will impact humanity’s own future,' the statement reads. 'Already they are destroying the very basis of sustenance of our income-poor, vulnerable and Indigenous sisters and brothers, who contribute least to the ecological damage for which human beings are collectively responsible.'"

Interfaith Rainforest Initiative

From the organization's website: "The Interfaith Rainforest Initiative is an international, multi-faith alliance that aims to bring moral urgency and faith-based leadership to global efforts to end tropical deforestation. It is a platform for religious leaders to work hand-in-hand with indigenous peoples, governments, civil society and business on actions that protect rainforests and safeguard those that serve as their guardians." The initiative focuses on raising awareness, mobilizing action, and influencing policy.

Congregational Profile: St Francis of Assisi parish Creation Care Team, Columbus, OH

When St. Francis of Assisi’s Creation Care Team volunteered to take responsibility for caring for the church’s flower and vegetable gardens in the summer of 2018 it faced a challenge: how to dispose of yard waste in a responsible manner. The parish did not have resources to hire a vendor to appropriately dispose of leaves and garden debris and hauling it away in our private cars while possible would take extra time. The Team members did know though that we did not want to continue to toss the yard waste in the trash, which is what had previously been done.

Luckily a solution was at hand: a new member of our parish and our Creation Care Team—Todd Marti-- serves as one of the “garden stewards” at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church’s community garden at Mill Run. Todd volunteered to haul away the yard waste from St. Francis and add it to the compost bins at the community garden. So St. Francis’ yard waste helps grow food that when harvested feeds hungry families through Neighbors (SON) Ministries’ Hilliard Free Lunch Summer Camp for Kids program, the Hilltop, Mid-Ohio Food Bank, and through Faith Mission-- a win for all involved.

Engaged Organizations: Stratford Ecological Center

The Stratford Ecological Center is an organic farm and nature preserve that provides education sessions, tours, and hiking trails to the public. They also offer various workshops and classes on an ongoing basis.

Trinity Catholic Elementary School 4th and 5th graders participation each year in a 5-day environmental camp "Messages of the Earth" at the Stratford Ecological Center.

Engaged Organizations: Kenyon College Brown Family Environmental Center

The Brown Environmental Center at Kenyon College offers both self-guided and educational sessions that showcase their diverse range of natural habitats that are maintained at the center.

St. Vincent de Paul in Mt. Vernon, Ohio makes annual trips for their K-6 students.

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.

Toledo Grows: Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Community Supported Agriculture is run by grassroots organization Toledo Grows. Benefits of being a CSA shareholder include receiving weekly shares of quality, fresh farm products. Shareholders also can choose between a full share (portioned for a family of 3-4 for the week) or a half share (portioned for 1 or 2).

Members support local farmers using sustainable growing methods—no harmful chemicals; receive a variety of vegetables and herbs, including many “staples” such as carrots, lettuce, peppers, onions, etc.—whatever is ready that week; experience new vegetables; and receive recipes and tips on cooking them.

Profile: Todd Marti

Todd Marti, a parishioner at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Columbus, serves as a “garden steward” for the community garden located on the grounds of the Upper Arlington Lutheran Church at Mill Run. Todd’s garden stewardship is a clear reflection of his care for creation and his fellow man. Each year vegetables are planted on two-thirds of the 12,500 square feet garden. When the tomatoes, beets, squash, lettuce and other vegetables are harvested they are donated to the Hilliard Free Lunch Summer Camp for Kids, and Mid-Ohio Food Bank partner pantries. On average 10,000 pounds of produce is harvested and donated annually. Over the life of the garden 130,000 plus pounds of produce have been donated. The recipient of the Franklin Park conservatory Growing to Green Gardener of the Year Award in 2012, Todd utilizes innovative gardening practices such as companion planting and sequencing of multiple crops to enhance output. The garden helps preserve God’s creation by composting food waste and coffee grounds from local coffee shops and restaurants. Yard waste is also composed including that generated by St. Francis of Assisi from its flower and vegetable gardens.

When he is not working in the community garden—which he is every Saturday from spring until mid-November--or recruiting volunteers to help with weeding, planting and harvesting, Todd can be found at his day job as an Assistant Attorney General for State of Ohio.

Ohio Department of Natural Resources

link to website

Christians and Endangered Species

Throughout time, it has often been difficult to reconcile concepts from both biology and theology. This article focuses on the critical impact of endangered species with regard to various Christian religions. Citing biblical text, especially the story of Noah’s Ark, many religions have deemed the preserving and caring for all living creatures to be of utmost importance.

Tu' B'Shvat: The Green of Judaism

Tu B’Shvat: The Greening of Judaism is a handout from Interfaith Family. It offers a brief overview of Tu B’Shvat and different activities to celebrate the holiday. It also offers examples of how to be caretakers of the earth. To read the entire handout, click below.

Ethiopia’s Church Forests

The beautiful forests of Ethiopia are rapidly disappearing due to human activity. However, the forests around the Ethiopian churches remain intact and teeming with diverse life. Dr. Margaret D. Lowman, known as Canopy Meg, has teamed up with one of these churches to study and survey the wildlife, mostly insects in the area. The children of the church community are being engaged to become the next generation of stewards in order to ensure that the forests and creatures are preserved. Project leaders also aim to help build walls in order to keep these forest areas more protected from human development.

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.

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