In this Issue
- Events
- Reflection
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Creation Care Insights
- Updated & Spotlight
- Snapshots
- Resources & Quick Links
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Field Trips
We’re starting to plan field trips related to Creation Care. Initial locations may include visits to a recycling facility, the Cedar River Watershed and a farm. Field trips will most likely start in the second half of the year, and they would be on weekends. If you have ideas for locations to visit or if you would like to help with organizing a field trip, please contact Carolyn White or Richard Hartung.
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Share Your Creation Care Story!
Share a story about actions you are taking to care for God’s creation. We’re starting to collect stories of what members of the Saint Mark’s community are doing, from saving water or eating something new to commuting differently and more, so we can inspire more people to take action. Stories can be written articles, short videos taken with your phone, photos, infographics or on other media. We’ll collate the stories and put them on our Creation Care page on the Saint Mark’s website. Learn more, including how to submit your story here, or email: [email protected]
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Creation Care Monthly Meeting
THIRD TUESDAYS OF THE MONTH, 6:30–8 P.M., via Zoom
Everyone is welcome to join the Saint Mark’s Creation Care Ministry meeting on the third Tuesday evening of every month from 6:30-8 p.m. via Zoom. Notes from past meetings can be found here under Ministry Meetings.
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Climate Conversations
SECOND THURSDAY OF EACH MONTH, 6:30–7:30 P.M. (new day and time), online via Zoom only
Join fellow parishioners to learn about practical ways to reduce your impact on the environment and to share your own ideas. Participants also share insights on how they take action to care for God’s creation and mitigate climate change. Our themes for the next several months are:
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JUNE 8: Practical Ideas to Use Renewable Energy. We’ll discuss practical solutions for solar panels in homes, accessing community solar, installing heat pumps, driving EVs and more.
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JULY 13: Changing our Daily Routines to Save the Planet. We’ll look at how to be more mindful of our impact and what we can do to have less effect on the climate.
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AUGUST 10: Stay Stylish with Climate-Friendly Clothing. We’ll discuss how to choose and care for our clothes better, from buying and washing to mending and donating.
Learn more here. Join us for Conversations on environmentally-friendly Zoom on the second Thursday every month.
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Creation Care Ministry Table in The Nave
LAST SUNDAY OF EVERY MONTH, AFTER MORNING SERVICES
The Creation Care Ministry hosts a table in the Nave on the last Sunday of each month to explain the Ministry to members of the congregation and to encourage people to participate in Creation Care activities. Please encourage parishioners to stop by, and please volunteer to assist if you have time. Please contact Marjorie Ringness at [email protected] if you’d like to sign up to help host the table.
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Creation Care Retreat–March 4, 2023
The Creation Care Ministry hosted another inspiring Saturday retreat at Diocesan House, this one focused on strategic planning. Twelve people attended the retreat, including both familiar and new faces. The Rev. Stephen Crippen led the group, with assistance from The Rev. Canon Jennifer King Daugherty, and used visualization tools to elicit ideas on actions for the next year. We brainstormed in small groups and with the whole group.
Two immediate action items were to offer a spiritual reflection at the beginning of our monthly meetings and to organize work parties to improve the health of the Saint Mark’s Greenbelt. The spiritual reflections launched at the March meeting. Planning for work parties for the Greenbelt will begin soon (see the article later in this newsletter). The plan is to have annual retreats.
—by Kathy Minsch
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Recent Climate Conversations
Recordings and copies of the presentations from past Climate Conversations sessions can be found here.
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New Summertime Traditions
Summertime conjures up good memories of years past and excitement about plans for a multitude of activities. Backyard barbecues with hamburgers and steaks. Sparklers and fireworks in the back yard for the Fourth of July, after a delicious dinner from the charcoal grill. A road trip in the car or travel by plane to a national park or historical site. S'mores around a campfire. An afternoon at a baseball game with hot dogs and beer. While each family does things differently, a combination of activities and expectations have long made summertime in America American.
While even just the mention of these traditions often brings back warm memories from years ago, few of us may have thought about the climate impact of these traditions. As carbon emissions grow and climate change causes increasingly worrisome weather catastrophes, though, it may be time to look at the climate impact of our traditions and pause for a rethink.
Let’s start with that backyard barbecue. Producing a hamburger takes about 450 gallons of water and results in about 90 pounds of carbon emissions, about the same as a three-hour shower and a 90-mile drive. A one-pound steak causes about 40 pounds of carbon emissions. And traditional charcoal, which is produced by cutting down trees and burning them in kilns, releases about 11 pounds of carbon emissions per hour. If each of the 38 million owners of charcoal grills in the US fires up their barbecue for just one hour on the Fourth of July, they will collectively release more than 427 million pounds of carbon dioxide on that day alone.
Along with releasing carbon dioxide, fireworks cause health problems. Fireworks use black powder, also known as gunpowder, which is made from carbon or charcoal, sulfur and potassium nitrate. Studies have shown a drastic drop in air quality at the first rocket’s red glare and bomb bursting in air. "If you happen to be downwind from a big fireworks event, it is very hazardous," according to Paul Walsh, Meteorologist and General Manager of BreezoMeter.com, as "fireworks also release fine particulate matter, which includes something called heavy metals, which is really bad to breathe in."
And that long trip for your vacation has an impact too. Let’s say you decide to drive to Yosemite National Park in California, 893 miles from Seattle, rather than flying to Boston. While the impact differs depending on whether you’re driving a Hyundai or a Hummer, emissions average about 0.7 pounds per mile. You’d release 1,250 pounds going back and forth. If you decide to have a campfire to cook dinner and s'mores, emissions from burning wood include carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and benzene.
So, what can we do? It turns out that small changes can make a big difference.
Take that barbecue, for instance. Switching from beef to chicken can reduce carbon emissions by about 75%. Tofu, mushrooms and eggplant are great on the grill. And using an electric grill rather than charcoal or gas reduces carbon emissions tremendously. Alternatives to fireworks include blowing bubbles or creating a laser light or drone show. And consider driving 106 miles to North Cascades National Park, rather than to Yosemite, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1,000 pounds.
Changes like these can easily seem too idealistic. Altering long-standing cultural practices and traditions can feel impossible. If we look at the Bible, though, we can learn from individuals who propelled change when catastrophe loomed.
When Noah faced a calamity, he and his family made radical changes. In Genesis 6, we read that “God said to Noah, ‘I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out…' Noah did everything just as God commanded him.”
When Egypt faced the potential catastrophe of a famine, Joseph changed the entire culture of how Egypt produced and stored food. As Genesis 41 says, “Joseph went out from Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout Egypt. During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea.”
Noah, Joseph and other leaders in the Bible upended traditions and may well have faced disbelief or criticism as they prepared for a coming catastrophic event. They overcame culture, ridicule and more to do what was right and literally saved humanity from disaster. These decisions can be difficult, but this path can lead to growth and renewal both for the planet and for us as individuals. As God says to Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 29, "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me, I will hear you." In other words, as one commentator reflecting on this passage has written, “while change can be hard, we can grow in our faith when we learn to embrace it. When we trust God's plan, He transforms us each and every day as His followers.”
Just as leaders throughout the Bible have done, we too should embrace change and shift our traditions to care for creation and avert a catastrophe. Starting new summertime traditions can create new memories and help us to care for creation at the same time.
—by Richard Hartung
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Recycling Insights from the March Climate Conversation
Olivia Kirby from Recology shared excellent information about recycling at our Climate Conversation in March. Highlights included:
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Plastic window in envelopes: They’re allowed in Seattle and not in some other cities, so be sure to check with your recycling provider if you live outside Seattle.
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3-inch rule: If plastic or other materials are under 3 inches long, such as bottle caps and can lids, they cannot be recycled.
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Recology Store: Recology stores, around Seattle, accept hard-to-recycle items and sell goods made of recyclables.
You can watch the recording here for more ideas and insights.
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UPDATES & SPOTLIGHT ON ACTIONS FOR IMPACT |
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20s/30s Participate in Duwamish Alive!
On Saturday, 15 April, a group of 20s/30s from Saint Mark's participated in Duwamish Alive!, a collective effort of many organizations working to improve the health and vitality of the Duwamish River Watershed. The Saint Mark's group partnered with the DNDA-Nature Consortium to clear out 13,000 square feet of invasive Himalayan blackberry plants in the Pigeon Point Park area. Here are photos of the before and after from the work. Afterward, the group visited St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church to walk the labyrinth, and then visited the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center.
–by Emily Meeks
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Dig Deeper: A 20s/30s Initiative for Food Justice
Dig Deeper is a food justice initiative made possible by a recent grant from The Episcopal Church’s Young Adult and Campus Ministry to Saint Mark’s Cathedral. Saint Mark’s is partnering with the Diocese of Olympia and Nurturing Roots Farm to create opportunities for young adults to participate in the work of food justice in the ways we grow, harvest, share, and repurpose food and advocate for a more just food system. Read more here. By Emily Meeks
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Saint Mark’s Greenbelt
Have you wondered about the forest surrounding the south parking lot? The Saint Mark’s Greenbelt is managed under a Conservation Agreement, signed in 1996 by the City of Seattle and Saint Mark’s Cathedral. While Saint Mark’s owns the land, the City is responsible for maintaining, enhancing and restoring the forest. The city’s Green Seattle Partnership assigned two trained volunteer forest stewards to do this work, alongside church and neighborhood volunteers, over the years. These stewards kept working away during the 3-year pandemic shutdown and also planted 400 plants this past winter. They are eager to host work parties to remove the persistent invasive plants, starting this summer and continuing with planting in the fall. The stewards, one of whom is Robert Hayden, a longtime member of Saint Mark’s, led tours during Cathedral Day (see photo above). Please contact Kathy Minsch if you are interested in participating in Greenbelt work parties.
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Leffler Garden Planting
After a productive work party by Service Corps and Saint Mark's volunteers on April 15, the garden is planted with new vegetable starts and seeds, in addition to all the overwintering crops and the perennial flowers that Keiko Maruyama has nurtured for the last few years. The sprinkler system that Tyler Morse installed, with the help of Nancy George, is running again after a timer battery replacement. Norman LeMoine constructed a new compost bin using salvaged lumber and an abandoned small shed, with the help of two Service Corps members. Along with a smaller worm breeder tub, it should provide ample compost for future planting and top-dressing needs.
Many thanks to all who have helped to make the garden come alive, and especially to Keiko for the fabulous work she put in to reestablish it during the COVID years.
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Carbon Tracker Insight
The Carbon Tracker for the Saint Mark’s community has excellent insights about how to care for creation, and some are specifically for summer. Here’s one idea: A hot summer day can zap up to 70 percent of the moisture in the soil due to evaporation. Much of that can stay firmly in the ground if you use a good layer of mulch. Mulch can be made of wood chips, grass clippings, shredded leaves, compost or other materials. A layer of 3–8 inches, depending on your garden’s needs, can lower watering needs substantially and also hinder weeds by blocking the light they need to grow. Adding compost to your soil is another way to increase the water-holding capacity of your soil, retain water and lower watering needs. Add at least one inch of compost each year. (The photo above shows the Leffler garden compost bin.) See more ideas from the Carbon Tracker here.
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Cathedral Day Smoothie Bike Hosted by Nurturing Roots Farm |
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Rogation Day Procession, May 17, 2023 |
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Climate Documentaries on PBS
U.N. Course on Sustainable Lifestyles
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Saint Mark’s Cathedral acknowledges that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People, who are still here, and we honor with gratitude the land itself and the life of all the Coast Salish tribes. [Learn more]
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