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Saving Buffalo Reef
This 11-minute video, by the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC), informs the viewer of the natural, cultural, and economic importance of Buffalo Reef. This reef is located off the Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan, in Lake Superior. Buffalo Reef is currently under ecological distress due to local mining activities. Current Tribal, State, Federal, and Academic efforts are underway to help restore this significant environmental feature, as documented in this video. -
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: -
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 -
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. -
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 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." -
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." -
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." -
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." -
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. -
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. -
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.