“As individuals, as institutions, as a people we need a change of heart to preserve and protect the planet for our children and for generations yet unborn.”
[Renewing the Earth, U.S. Catholic Bishops, 1991]
Our Incarnation Green Team was established in the spring of 2011 and has as its goal the “greening” of our parish facilities and parishioner homes so that we might be better stewards of God’s creation and more aware of how our actions towards the earth affect our brothers and sisters around the world.
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Lent 2012
In The Footsteps of Jesus: Care for God’s Creation
We encourage you to incorporate efforts at environmental stewardship–prayer, study, action–into your Lenten observance. Click below for the flyers for each week, all of which include further resources.
Week of 3/4: Simplicity and Consumption
Week of 3/25: Energy
Week of 4/1: Transportation
Easter: Gratitude and Generosity
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Ideas for other efforts and actions (in addition to those below) are always welcome! We would also love to have more participation in the Green Team, which meets, on average, every other month. Should you have expertise in any area related to the environment (i.e. if you’re an engineer, landscaper, ecologist, or have a lot of knowledge or experience) and are willing to be an as-needed consultant, please let us know.
Currently, our Green Team is working on developing a comprehensive plan that offers short- and long-term possibilities for increasing our responsible stewardship of our earth. This plan will be offered to parish leadership and implemented over time. The Green Team is also planning and strategizing for the community garden in its first full season of 2012.
To get involved now:
- Bring your items to be recycled and place them in the orange dumpster by the playground (recycling guide/guía de reciclaje)
- Volunteer your time to help with the garden when efforts begin in the spring of 2012
- Collect your compostable materials (compost guide/guía de compost) and deposit them in the bins behind the church for use in our garden
- Donate your old reusable dishes to be used at parish functions
- Attend workshops, events, and speakers to increase your knowledge about and commitment to greener, more responsible practices
- Advocate to state and national legislators; stand up for the environment and speak out about actions that degrade nature (click on the “Legislative Advocacy” link to the left; joining the Virginia Catholic Conference or NETWORK Catholic Lobby will allow you to stay abreast on environmental developments and actions)
- Work to make your lifestyle and home simpler, more sustainable, and more environmentally responsible (click here for the website of LEAP, a local organization here to help with such actions, or check out Catholic Coalition on Climate Change)
Efforts completed, in progress, and planned include the following:
- A single-stream recycling dumpster from Van Der Linde that is for the use of the parish and parish families
- Community garden space to make use of our beautiful parish grounds and to provide assistance to the Parish Food Ministry
- Recycling receptacles around the parish facilities
- Prayer services and reflection opportunities related to God’s creation
- Reducing our energy and water usage through education and through devices that help to limit use of such resources
- Using washable dishes and cutlery as much as possible and, when not possible, using biodegradable disposable dishes for parish functions
- Reduce consumption of bottled water and drinks
- Revamping the way our HVAC system runs and programming thermostats around the building to minimize heating and cooling uses
- Availability of compost bins for parish families to place their food waste (used to fertilize the community garden)
- Speakers and education events surrounding climate change, environmental justice, and caring for God’s creation
- Encourage parishioners to make their homes and lifestyles more environmentally responsible, in line with the call of their faith to steward the gifts of our planet, and connect them with resources that make this process easier
- Hold a “Walk to Jerusalem” where parish families are encouraged to track the miles they travel via alternative transportation and work toward reaching the particular mileage goal
- Use of eco-friendly cleaning products
- Legislative advocacy efforts related to protection of the environment
- A weekend “Green Festival” with activities, speakers, and booths to help parish families learn more about options available in going green
- Moving toward more eco-friendly products and practices (i.e. CFL/LED lightbulbs, biodegradable garbage bags, hand dryers over paper towels, encouraging staff to turn off all office systems at night, etc.)
