But ask the animals, and they will teach you; the
birds of the air, and they will tell you; Ask the plants of the earth,
and they will teach you; And the fish of the sea will inform you: Who
among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?
In God’s hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of every
human being.
Job 12:7-10
Our task must be to
free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all
living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty…The fairest thing
we can experience is the mysterious.
-Albert Einstein
Christians realize that their responsibility within creation and their duty toward nature and the Creator are an essential part of their faith
-Pope John Paul II
The earth’s treasures no longer serve to build God’s garden for all to live in, but they have been made to serve the powers of exploitation and destruction.
-Pope Benedict XVI, Homily at Inaugural Mass, 2005
Our understanding that
we are stewards of God’s creation, our solidarity with the poor, and our
respect for the common good make the issue of environmental justice
their responsibility of every person.
–Caritas
We encounter God when we encounter creation; its beauty is an expression of the beauty of God. Once we experience God within creation our treatment of the earth must automatically change. -James Profit S.J.
I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out. From now on, let those having wives act as not having them, those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning, those using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away. - 1Corinthians 7:29-31
For by the greatness of
the beauty, and of the creature, the creator of them may be seen, so as
to be known thereby.
-Wisdom 13:5
Nature is too thin a
screen; the glory of the omnipresent God bursts through everywhere.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
The world is given to all, and not only the rich.
-Saint Ambrose
Companion on the Journey, as we travel through this world, be with us always. Never let us take for granted the generosity of your spirit which provided us with this beautiful earth; our home. In all that we do and in all the ways we move from place to place, help us to live in humble gratitude and awareness of the greatness of your creation. In Your Holy Name we pray. Amen.
Pray in your own words in gratitude for the universe every day. Be thankful for every new form of life.
Grace after meals: We give Thee thanks for all Thy benefits, O Almighty God, who lives and reigns world without end. Amen. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
We ask business leaders and representatives of workers to make the protection of our common environment a central concern in their activities and to collaborate for the common good and the protection of the earth. Renewing the Earth – USCCB
Pope John Paul II in Centesimus Annus urged that in addition to protecting natural systems and other species, we "safeguard the moral conditions for an authentic ‘human ecology'" in urban planning, work environments, and family life (Centesimus Annus no. 38).
Faced with the widespread destruction of the environment, people everywhere are coming to understand that we cannot continue to use the goods of the earth as we have in the past. –Pope John Paul II, Message for the World Day of Peace, 1990
• Pick up litter around your neighborhood.
• Volunteer one day for Solv It
• Volunteer to work in a community garden
• Buy a couple of chickens for your backyard
• Grow your own vegetables and herbs (lettuce, tomatoes, rosemary, basil)
• Use biodegradable “Vegi Start”
• Buy fruit and produce at your local Farmer’s Market
• If you have a water feature in your garden inspect it for leaks regularly.
• Thinking of putting in a water feature? Make sure it re-circulates water rather than running off and get one with a pump powered with solar energy.
• Plant a tree. Trees soak up carbon dioxide and help keep the atmosphere clean. If you do not have a garden, use a pot on a balcony or near a window for a miniature tree.
• Recycle yard debris curbside
• Compost kitchen food wastes and yard waste in a compost bin. http://www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=553
• Make a worm bin to compost kitchen waste. http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Easywormbin.htm
• Plant native plants. http://www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=24309
• Use organic fertilizer
• Recycle clothing. Donate gently worn clothing that your children have outgrown or that sweater you received as a gift that isn’t quite your style to a local shelter, the school’s clothes closet, Goodwill, Salvation Army.
• Recycle plastic bags. Most grocery stores have a barrel where you can recycle plastic grocery and other plastic bags.
• Reuse your reusable plant containers
• Paint a room with low VOC paint or buy recycled paint.
http://www.metro-region.org/index.cfm/go/by.web/id/521
• Sign up to receive the bulletin by e-mail instead of getting a paper bulletin each week Send an email to StJuanDiego-subscribe@GoogleGroups.com to sign up.
• Use a reusable water bottle rather than buying bottled water. Bottled water produces up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste each year, which takes about 47 million gallons of oil to produce. And, the vast majority of plastic bottles end up in landfills. Bottled water also has a huge carbon footprint because it is so heavy to transport. So filter your tap water and drink up!
• Bring your own cup when ordering coffee at a coffee house.
• Purchase from and donate to Habitat Restore – This is a recycled building materials, household goods, furniture, windows, doors, lights and more re-sale center. http://www.pdxrestore.org/
• Telecommute from home
• Add a little water to the last bit of shampoo to use it all up
• Replace outside light bulbs with CFL bulbs
• Have an empty bucket by your kitchen sink and catch the water you usually throw down the drain—for example, pasta water, water from boiling vegetables—and pour the water on your plants and flowers. Even emptying the bucket on a sidewalk helps
• Use the backs of old documents when printing our PowerPoint presentations, drafts, or other documents that do not require “brand new” paper
• Use the backs of old documents for scrap paper instead of buying new notepads
• Use the library
• Switch to compact florescent bulbs and recycle them appropriately.
Recycle them at Home Depot.
CFLs last 12 times as long as incandescent bulbs. If every home in the US switched 5 bulbs to CFLs it would be the equivalent of taking 1 million cars off the roads for a full year.
• When buying TVs be aware that plasma TVs take twice as much energy as LCD.
• Computers: enable energy saving modes; recycle your computer when upgrading
• Do it on-line: use on-line banking, get bills on-line, and receive newspapers on-lin
• Telecommute rather than going to the office (when possible)
• Cook 2 meals in oven at the same time; save one for later in the week
• Calculate your carbon footprint www.earth-lab.com/carbonprofile or http://www.greenposting.org/index.php?page=Games
• Buy carbon offsets.
http://www.carbonfund.org/
• Purchase an energy efficient water heater.
Save $175 on a Marathon water heater,
http://www.portlandgeneral.com/Marathon
• Use “green” products for cleaning. http://www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=1400
• Break the habit of flipping the light switch on every time you enter a room (in broad daylight)
• Turn off lights whenever you leave a room.
It’s a misconception that you use extra electricity to turn on a light bulb.
http://www.green-energy-efficient-homes.com/turn-off-lights.html
• When an item is no longer of use to you, sell it or give it to charity rather than sending it to the dump
• Get rid of junk mail
(1) Go to www.abacusus.com or
www.catalogchoice.org to get ride of catalogs
(2) Call 888-5optout to get rid of junk mail
(3) Go to www.optoutprescreen.com to decline unsolicited credit card offers.
• Know what is considered hazardous waste and properly dispose of it.
http://www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=571
• Test your home for Radon gas.
http://www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/citguide.html
• Ask your children to “pare” down their toys periodically; give those gently used items to local charities or nonprofit groups.
• Repair your clothing.
• Dig up old bulbs, separate and replant. Don't buy more bulbs.
• Remodeling? Recycle your old fixtures by donating them to Habitat for Humanity.
• Buy your lumber at a Rebuilding Center.
• Determine which parts of your lawn require less water and then install a drip system to save water.
