Creation Care
Creation Care Ministry
As Christians, we are asked to care for creation and to be good stewards of the Earth. Genesis 2:15 The Lord God took the man (and woman) and put them in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
Today, as the population grows and spreads across the Earth, we see an Earth under stress. Climate change, pollution, loss of habitats, endangered species and a disconnect from Nature are just some of the indications of this stress.
Guidelines for Personal Actions
Some specific Guidelines for Personal Actions can be found here, or click on the images below to enlarge them.
Don’t feel overwhelmed at the # of things we will be listing, just focus on finding one or a few that you can incorporate into your lifestyle. Each step forward does make a difference.
The Creation Care Ministry at Holy Spirit is beginning a pilot program to reuse/recycle a few items that are difficult, if not impossible, to recycle through normal programs. We have identified 3 items to begin our pilot program. We have ordered 3 stackable bins which will be placed in the Parish Hall. We anticipate starting this program in June so please start saving these items and bring with you to the Sunday service beginning on June 4.
The limitless energy of the sun will now power Holy Spirit Episcopal Church in Missoula. Its new solar array will meet its electrical needs, slash its monthly bill, and demonstrate the church’s commitment to caring for the earth.
Your carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases—including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, fluorinated gases and others—that you produce as you live your life. Once they are in the atmosphere the gasses create a “blanket” in the atmosphere that keeps heat from the earth from spreading out in space. This then raises the temperature of the earth - called Global Warming.
- Before buying an item you will seldom use, consider borrowing from a friend or relative instead.
- Don’t throw out clothes that are not worn out. Do we really need a new wardrobe every year?
- Repurpose old clothes into pet clothing.
- Turn old t-shirts into rugs, blankets. There are many ideas and instructions online.
- If clothes no longer fit your lifestyle or body, donate to thrift shops.
- Reducing the flow of items to the landfill is an important step we can all take.
Reducing the flow of items to the landfill is an important step we can all take.
Resources for Sustainable Living
The easiest goal to remember while shopping is that you only want to take home the items you went for - with as little packaging as possible. If you’re spending time when you get home unwrapping things and throwing away or recycling the packaging then it’s time to rethink.
Mindfully shopping can take some research. You can look for alternatives while you are shopping, or you can plan ahead. Take little steps. Try taking produce bags until it’s a habit, and then switch to buying safer cleaners. Eventually you’ll be caring for creation in many different ways.
As we look forward to spring, our thoughts turn to spring cleaning. This year we can focus on eco-friendly cleaning products. Agents with harsh or toxic chemicals, such as phosphates or chlorine, make their way into our soil and water and are a danger to our planet and other living things.
One challenge in finding eco-friendly cleaning agents is that many of them come in plastic containers, which is another problem.
It’s amazing how much time we spend in the kitchen. Food procurement, preparation, and clean up take a lot more time than actually eating!
Even in our bathrooms, there are many ways we can help preserve our planet by making different choices in this area of our lives. Not all of us are aware that not only are most floss containers made out of plastic, but most of the floss itself is plastic. How many trees are cut down to provide us with toilet paper? How many toxic chemicals from our cleaning agents find their way into the water table or local streams? How many plastic toothbrushes are floating in the ocean. There are alternatives.
Many of the modern conveniences found in the laundry room are anything but ecosystem friendly. We don’t have to go back to the day of pounding laundry on rocks in the nearest creek or handwringing laundry before hanging it out to dry but given that laundry seems to be the real never-ending story, any changes we can make in this area will have an impact. Please feel free to contact Karen Gartner, kwgartner@sbcglobal.net or Kate Laney, kate_laney@me.com with questions or more ideas.
Every spring, we are anxious to get outdoors and into our yards. Our yards are in many ways a micro-environment. Whether doing clean-up, planting, maintenance, or harvesting, there are many eco-friendly choices we can make to care for the insects, birds, plants, animals, water and soil. There is so much we can do in our outdoor space via wonderful opportunities to create biodiversity, respect all life, make wise choices in what we plant, what we use to nurture our plants, our soil, and to attract beneficial insects.
The garage is easy to overlook when you are finding ways to become more environmentally aware.
To wrap up our series of articles looking at what you can do in different areas of your personal space or lifestyle, we want to offer a consolidated list of resources we have used. This list is certainly not everything that is available out there. We encourage everyone to do a little browsing and see what you can discover. The possibilities of what we can do to help are almost endless. Rather than feeling discouraged at the enormity of the problem, we should feel empowered as there really is a lot we can do. Just pick one or a few that you can fit into your lifestyle or that meets your own passion for Creation Care. Every little bit really does help.
Glass Recycling
Would you like to join the Holy Spirit families recycling glass through the program Holy Spirit has started with Recycling Works? Glass is one of the easiest/best packaging materials to recycle, and this is the only program recycling glass in Missoula. To sign up for glass recycling, please contact Jim Wiley here.
How it works:
- The bins are located in the alley behind Holy Spirit (in the “north-south” alley which runs along the west side of the Church Office).
- The bins will be locked with a coded lock...so each of the users is given the code and can come and put in their glass whenever convenient for them. You will be given the code when you sign up and complete the next step.
- Each family will make a monthly payment through Pushpay, and Recycling Works will bill Holy Spirit on a quarterly basis. We now have three bins. Each family will pay $2.85/month through Pushpay. Please use Pushpay to contribute to this service; this will keep office work to a minimum. If you need help signing up for Pushpay or for the Holy Spirit App, please talk with Judy in the Church Office. Please set up a monthly recurring payment of $2.85 for Glass Recycling, starting the 1st of the next month (the month after you sign up). The $2.85 fee includes the processing fee so there is no need to add that.
- Glass is being picked up every other Monday.
Put in Bin:
- Wine Bottles
- Beer Bottles
- Spirit Bottles
- Clean Food Jars
- OK to leave labels on jars
Please DO NOT put in Bin:
- Caps / Corks / Lids
- Food residue
- Limes in Beer Bottles
- Window Glass / light bulb / etc.
- Any Glass Not for Food or Beverages
More Resources For You
-The Episcopal Church has many resources to help us. You can check out their Creation Care pages at https://episcopalchurch.org/creation-care and https://episcopalchurch.org/OGR/creation-care.
-A Burning Testament, by Terry Tempest Williams
-Where and what to recycle - a guide to recycling in Missoula