GREEN TEAM Thought of the Day…To idle or not to idle - That is the question
This article recently came over the wires and the Green Team thought we would share it, just to raise awareness on the idling issue in London. A member of the Council of Canadians, London, compiled the figures. Quote:
“ We used the calculations provided to us in this study (idling times are completely in line with Tim Horton’s own study (3 to 4.5 minutes) and with the national average of 3.84 seconds) to produce a very conservative number for the total number of emissions, etc., produced in London drive-thrus.
London has 156 drive-thrus – so we have based our amounts on (29 x 5) 145 as opposed to 156 to keep our results conservative.
Here are the results: (City of London only)
• Idling time: 108,797,760 minutes.
• Fuel Wasted: 2,175,925 liters of fuel wasted.
• Emissions: 590 tons of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.
• To offset this amount of pollutants in one year we would need to plant 29,220 trees.
• Fuel wasted – enough for an average car to circle the globe 425 times.
And this is ONLY London based on only 150 drive-thrus. Imagine the result from all cities in Ontario, in Canada in North America in the world. For more info on this study (data) please contact councilofcanadians.london@sympatico.ca.”
So, from the Green Team, if you would like to save money and spare the environment, please watch those idling times.
The Green Team is also currently looking at opportunities to reduce utility expenses around the church. For the next Budget process, we will be preparing a list of simple energy saving suggestions - such as putting shrink wrap plastic over the single pane windows in the parish hall, and some new door sweeps where we can currently actually see daylight under the doors (not good for heat or mice). We will keep you posted.
From the Green Team about Water
Daily Scripture:
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22: 1-2)
By faith we understand God to be deeply, mysteriously, and unceasingly involved in what
happens in all creation. God showers care upon sparrows and lilies (Mat 6:26-30), and brings “rain on a land where no one lives, on the desert, which is empty of human life” (Job 38:26).
From the ELCA Statement “Caring for Creation.”
Fact: It takes 2.5 billion gallons of water to support 4.7 million people, calculated at the minimum water use requirement recognized by the United Nations. However, this same amount—2.5 billion gallons per day—is the amount of water used to irrigate the world’s golf courses!
Commitment:
Immediate- When brushing your teeth and washing your face today, turn off the faucet! Gallons of water can be saved if we take the time to conserve the water we aren’t using while brushing our teeth! Commit yourself to turning off the faucet as much as possible.
Long Term- Lawns can waste incredible amounts of water. Consider watering your lawn as little as possible, if at all. If you must water your lawn, water only at dawn or at dusk to prevent extra evaporation. Consider using a rainwater collection system to water plants and trees in the future.
Daily Prayer:
God, your voice echoes over the waters. Allow us to appreciate and treasure the resources you have created. Our thirst is on for you, teach us to see your world as you see it. Amen
Sharing our Journeys… Stewardship of the Earth (April/May2009)
“And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” Genesis 9:12-13.
On January 27th I had the opportunity to attend a very interesting presentation by two Ursuline Sisters (Sister Ann and Sister May) who have been extremely instrumental in the building of their new completely ecologically built home in Chatham named Villa Angela (named for their founder Angela Merici). The Sisters (virtually) walked us through their building and told us about all the ecological products they used in the building of this beautiful place. Everything in the building from heating systems, building products,
furnishings, aesthetics have been carefully considered and are all environmentally friendly. They used shingles recycled from tires, the floors that are a beautiful mixture of cork and other natural products look like marble. Although they were unable to use solar heating, there are windows everywhere to bring in natural light. For their heating systems they use pipes buried in the ground (geo thermal technology) to take advantage of the warmth underground which is pumped up into the building. They use “grey water” in toilets (water from laundry, dishwashing, etc and which, by the way, doesn’t look grey). They have green
spaces and trees for cooling the building in the summer. This building carries one of the highest standards of ecological buildings there is in Canada and for this they received a government grant. There is only one other building in Southwest Ontario with the same certification and it is Sisters of St. Joseph’s here in London.
These Sisters have had an amazing vision for this. They recognize that their Order is dwindling, so, instead of building large and being burdened by upkeep in years to come, they purposely built small, so that they could downsize easily into it. They also divided their property and built a row of townhouses for some of the Sisters. Because these houses are severed from the main property, in future years when they are no longer needed, they can easily sell this portion of their land.
Sister May admitted that where there are 100 women, there are 100 opinions. When they started this project they were in their old building. The old building either needed massive renovations or start new all over again. They did a cost analysis of renovating the old building versus building new and being ecological leaders in the community. It became apparent that renovating the old building didn’t make sense so they sold it, bought this new piece of property and started over. They even came in under budget! Sister May said that for a long time they educated, educated and offered more education to members of their
community to help them understand the beauty of the project. They had their struggles along the way and learning about all the technology was both interesting and at times a headache, but the end result is magnificent. All the details are there - beautiful stained glass, their cross atop the building sits on an iron forged sculpture of the earth made by forgers in Thamesville. They installed many of their beloved artifacts from their old building, like their beautiful stained glass doors that led into their old chapel and their bell that for years called the Sisters to worship. The Ursuline’s are a teaching Order and they now use their building to teach young people how to build ecologically.
It was very impressive. Both Sisters also commented that some of the financial savings with the new technology was immediate and very noticeable. Other savings will take a little longer. These two elderly women, hold such love for the future of the world in which they currently live. They are selfless and generous in their passion. It made me wonder about St. Anne’s vision in terms of the possibilities for our own church community, property, and our parish hall which could be made into something beautiful, in keeping with our promise, our own covenant with God, that while He would look after us, we would, in turn, for Him, look after this garden earth and all the creatures on it.
Offered in light and peace - Susan Genest
It’s easy being green
Greetings from the Green Team. Being Green is easy and healthy. It makes sense to try to reduce the number of chemicals we use in our homes. Here are some helpful suggestions for making your world a little more gentle:
If you are trying to reduce the number of chemicals you are using around the home, there are several environmentally safe cleaning systems on the market now. One of them is the E-cloth Cleaning System which is a terrific way to clean all hard surfaces by only using water. When dampened with just water (no chemical cleaners or polishes), E-cloths clean surfaces such as glass, plastics, ceramics, tiles, stainless steel, chrome, wood and laminate. When used dry, E-cloths have a natural positive charge that attracts dust. The cloths are available from Jill’s Table on King Street and the Quarter Master Store on Wortley and are a great alternative to other cloths such as Swiffer that have chemicals on them and are thrown away after being used.
Many people claim that if we would not want to EAT a cosmetic product then we probably shouldn’t be using them on our bodies either. Avoid using cosmetic/grooming products that contain parabens. According to Julie Gabriel in ‘The Green Beauty Guide’, paraben preservatives are in many products including baby care products. Parabens penetrate the skin and accumulate in living tissue, such as in the breasts. In the body they mimic our own hormones and can have an endocrine disrupting action.” Parabens have been found in breast tumors and breast milk. There are many paraben free cosmetic products, shampoos, etc. on the market; Avalon Organics, Weleda and Burt’s Bees are readily available to name a few.
Try using natural oil products like pure organic almond oil or organic fair trade coconut oil for winter dry skin. If your scalp is really dry and itchy and you would like to get away from some of those medicated shampoos, try massaging coconut oil into your hair and scalp overnight. Using coconut oil this way is a natural way to put oils back into the scalp. When in the jar, coconut oil is hard, so spoon some out, rub it between your hands to make it more liquid and rub it into your scalp. Leave it on for at least an hour or overnight and wash your hair in the morning. It will nourish your scalp and your hair. Use it as often as you like, or as needed. Unless you are allergic to coconut, coconut oil is safe to use (if you have a nut allergy, you may not be able to use almond oil). These oils are easy to find at most grocery stores or health food stores. Remember, coconut oil is high in cholesterol, so if you cook with it, use it sparingly.
2nd Annual EnviroChallenge Day to be held May 2, 2009 at Huron Church Camp
A very sunny and hot April 19th, 2008 saw the first-ever Diocese of Huron EnviroChallenge Day take place. This event, a partnership initiative between the Children and Youth Ministry Working Group, the EnviroAction Committee and Huron Church Camp, invited young people between 11 and 15 years to celebrate God’s awesome creation by engaging in fun earth day activities.
Running concurrently with this young people’s event, which took place in the beautiful surroundings of Huron Church Camp, was a parallel programme for adults.
More information on 2009’s EnviroChallenge Day will appear in the next newsletter, but with St. Anne’s having an active Green Team in place, perhaps this year some of our own youth or adults might be interested in attending… The Diocesan website (www.diohuron.org) will be an excellent resource for information, as will John or Scott, both of whom led sessions at the 2008 event and are planning to lead again in 2009.
A Word from St. Anne’s Eco-Pals: Leaping For A Green Friendly Future
Susan of the Green Team says that if you take “1 part vinegar and 3 parts water” and spray it on the crabgrass that grows in driveway cracks you will take care of those noxious weeds. Vinegar which is acetic acid is used in many commercial weed control products.
It's likely that many parishioners have already adopted the habit of taking their own coffee mug with them to their various activities during the week. The Green Team is encouraging you to do likewise for our Tea/Coffee time in the parish hall after service and inviting others to take up this environmentally-friendly habit. Let's keep the Styrofoam out of our landfills!