Our Planet, Ourselves

By Jessie Dye

"One can lie about the body, but the body will not lie about itself." Thus spoke a character in the powerful James Baldwin novel, Another Country, a favorite of mine from college. This line keeps coming back to me now that I am facing a health problem that can only be resolved by a greatly modified, low fat, healthy local foods diet (can you believe it?) at the same time as our beautiful Earth is facing a health problem that can only be resolved by human choices. In the spirit of the great series on women's health, I title this blog "Our Planet, Ourselves".

It is so simple; it makes me want to cry. We are made and nurtured by the Creator to live on this good earth; the limits of our bodies are the same as the limits of our world. If we put toxics into the air and water we do the same to our bodies. If we care for our bodies and steward what we have, we support our health and happiness. If we care for the earth, the animals, and each other, our world flourishes with all the good gifts of the Creator. If we do neither, we can hide from ourselves. We can believe the spin of those who want us to consume our lives away; but the earth and our bodies will not lie. We face catastrophe.

So I can go on overindulging and live a painful, foreshortened, medically-invaded and diminished life span (not to put too fine a point on it!). Or I can make the hard choices right now to give up some comfortable indulgences (fat and alcohol) but feel much, much better. If I feel my feelings and grieve my losses, the actual joy of making the changes and identifying my true needs comes flooding in to me. And lo, I actually feel better. The farmer's market calls me and I will indulge in the fabulous fresh fruits and vegetables of the season; this illness is a gift in disguise for me in many ways.

I can't help but think the same applies to our cultural life. Does driving everywhere and buying junk really make us happy? Somehow my own psyche isn't comfortable when I know others are truly suffering from preventable causes, like desertification and systemic poverty. Would not our whole society feel more peace and joy if we truly support the common good? "Me first, at your expense" is not a Christian social teaching I learned, and it feels rotten to boot.

So there it is. I committed to eating a healthy, local, sustainable diet for 3 months and the hand of God reaches down and impels me to do it for the rest of my life. May our leaders commit to sustainable energy and food policies as well as equity for the poor, to be shown by Grace of God that honoring the true needs of our world is the healthier, more joyful way indeed.

Degradation and Forgiveness

By: Mikaila Gawryn
Earth Ministry Intern


If the contrast between silent, lush, mountain forest and dehydrated orange mine tailings wasn’t enough to startle me the white stone cross with mining steaks driven into its extremities surely was. I stood gazing at it, quietly humbled. I had wandered, on a whim, into the graveyard of the Holden Mine, which from 1937 to 1957 produced what is valued at over $500 million in copper, gold, zinc and silver.















As I walked the trail up to the tailings with MaryFrances Lignana, one of our Earth Ministry board members, I realized that I have had the privilege of growing up without seeing the environmental scars of industrial production. I use the word privilege intentionally because only a privileged few see the shiny new “products” created from mines like this one. I have not seen the consequences of a lifestyle dependant on industrial scale use of the environment. I definitely haven’t had to breath, drink or eat the consequences as many in our world do every day. Maybe going to the tailings that afternoon was partially due to my desire to see the harsher side of this industrial lifestyle.

What I found most astonishing was the close proximity of splendor and disfigurement. As we followed a creek up the mountainside, it turned from gurgling clear to chalky white, until the tanned rocks were covered by milky sediment that appeared indifferent to the flowing water. Tracing the creek up to its source led us to a rusty “Danger! Do Not Enter!” sign, and a stagnant pool of water emerging from the opening of the mine shaft. Yet, the fresh green trees and undergrowth extended uninterrupted framing the wide wooden beam entrance. The sounds of forest life could be heard through the thick hot silence of the open tailing plane. Rusting equipment seemed to blend into the dusty rock of the tailings, only yards away from creeping vines and leaves full from a wet spring. It was as if a deep wound had been gashed into the living flesh of the mountainside. The splendor of God’s creation was disfigured here.

















I can’t deny the benefits that industrial “resource” use has brought. Yet the damage done by such use is plain to see. It is these dichotomous situations in life that should lead me to prayer. All too often though, prayer is not where I go. Instead I thought to myself: How can we work against environmental degradation when destruction of the natural world is so systematically part of our society? How could I change these things? Any of these things?

In this mindset it is no surprise that I found the image of the cross startling. The white stones had been clearly visible from the entrance to mine the shaft, though I had to walk a few hundred feet to see the mining steaks driven into the ground. I had to walk closer to read the word underneath it: “forgiven”.

It was a good reminder of where my mind should have been. I shouldn’t have been thinking of what I could do, because when it comes down to it I am only human, and only one. The cross at the mine tailings reminded me of my tendency to despair in the face of degradation. Thankfully, I realized that I can do nothing on my own. We can do nothing on our own. As we live as witnesses to both the splendor and disfigurement of creation let us look to God for guidance and courage and let us lean upon the power of God for forgiveness.

Until my next post,

Mikaila


Sources
http://www.chelanvalley.com/mine_closing.htm

Holden, Home!

After a beautiful week at Holden Village, the staff of Earth Ministry is home.

Sixty-five members, friends, board members and staff of Earth Ministry came together last week for a wilderness retreat. This was officially the second retreat Earth Ministry has held at Holden Village and by far the largest. People came from as far away as Maryland and Wisconsin and they were as warm and friendly as our friends here in Washington.

The staff led five teaching sessions: Toxics and Environmental Health, Greening Congregations, Movement Prayer, Advocacy for all Creation, and a By the Waters Worship Service. Two of Earth Ministry's board members, Brian Naasz and Kevin O'Brien, led a series on the Ethics of Energy. In addition to the sessions provided by Earth Ministry staff and board, teaching staff from around the world were at Holden that week and provided incredible teaching that filled the heart, mind, and soul.

Recordings of all the teaching sessions should be available on Holden's website sometime in August. We hope you will check out Earth Ministry's offerings and we highly recommend the Bible study provided by Allen Storey (a methodist minister from South Africa) - he will blow you away!

In addition to a great time of learning, the staff enjoyed getting to know new members and friends as well as reuniting with old friends while hiking, eating, resting, making music, travelling, and playing. Holden is a unique intentional community and the mix of work and play makes for a dynamic time together. Thanks to all who made the long trek to Holden; you enriched our lives and our work.

You may be wondering, "will there be another retreat"? We have not committed to that yet, but we are seriously thinking about it. Stay tuned... In the meantime, you can enjoy the forthcoming blogs from the Earth Ministry staff as they personally reflect on their time at Holden.

Buy a Bus Pass

by Eric Pfaff

I have a short blog entry for you today, with the message: Buy a bus pass.



Of course, it is easy to say you will ride the bus. I have been telling others to do it for years now. But even with gas prices at easily over $4/gallon, I still found myself filling up my car's gas tank. Then, through Earth Ministry, I received my very first bus pass.

It's a lot easier on the mental pocketbook to swipe a card than shell out $1.25 in cash, and if you have already purchased a bus pass (especially the 1-month to 3-month long passes) then the less you use your pass, the more you overpaid for something (and the more you use your pass, the cheaper it gets per ride!).

Go here: http://buypass.metrokc.gov/

The more you ride, too, I have discovered, the easier it gets to navigate the bus system--imagine that! So don't let that scare you off. I know I have probably pointed to it before, but Trip Planner (link below) can tell you how to get anywhere by bus using the time you want to leave, or the time you want to arrive to your destination.

http://tripplanner.metrokc.gov/cgi-bin/itin_page.pl?resptype=U

Alright, this post ended up being longer than expected. Maybe it's because my co-workers are off gallivanting in the woods of Holden Village and I am holding down the fort here, with only the blog readers to keep me company. . . or maybe not.

Bye-bye, Bananas!

By Jessie Dye

The Cavendish banana is on the road to extinction, both world-wide and certainly in my home for the next three months. Before we review this prospect, let us first consider the fact that someone named a banana Cavendish.

Cavendish sounds too upper-class for this humble subsistence fruit of the world. It's the African equivalent of the potato of my Irish ancestors, a healthy sustainable food for the poorest people of many lands. My image of an upper-crust Cavendish banana appears as a fruit on only the best tables and would be consumed by such aristocracy as the founder of the Golden Retriever blood line, Sir Dudley Marjorybanks, Earl of Tweedymouth. Regardless of the ridiculous name, this type of banana is not local to North America, is fraught with environmental problems, and is facing extermination by blight similar to the potatoes of my above-references ancestors. Because it is the staple food of much of East Africa, this potential banana apocalypse may create a famine ten times the size of the one that famously eradicated half the population of Ireland in the 1800's.

As it turns out, 100 billion Cavendish bananas are eaten world-wide; our local Washington state apple is less popular by half. The ubiquitous golden fingered fruit, however, is no longer welcome in my home because we are only eating food produced within three hundred miles for the next three months.How can we complain? Rainier cherries are in the markets now, and there is no more glorious tree fruit. The strawberries are late this year, and more delicious than I can ever remember. The earliest apricots peeked out at Wallingford farmer's market last Wednesday and Asian pears, blueberries, raspberries, and our tiny local kiwis have yet to show their sweet faces. We have the best fruit in the world in our own back yard, Sir Cavendish bedamned!

And then there are the apples: sweet, tart, red, yellow, golden and green. All within hiking distance from my home town, coming to fruition during the crisp autumn season. The local foods challenge becomes difficult when the Rainiers and Bings have been plucked for the year and the last pears have fallen. But apples last all winter and give away their goodness throughout the darkest most miserable months. My family can afford eat avocados andCavendish bananas and asparagus from Peru when the winter rains come, but I don't want to anymore. The limits of the land and the season are becoming my personal limits. I don't want to pay Chiquita or Dole (or worse, Exxon and Mobil) when I can support Wenatchee famers and keep my foodprint small. By eating local apples, I don't contribute to poison in the bodies of the workers of Honduras who pick bananas with a pesticide lode toxic to them and to the volcanic soil of Central America. Not only that, but I know the farmer who raises the apples; my food dollar pays for his kid to go to WSU and study agriculture to strengthen the farms to produce the apples that grow so well here in Ecotopia.

When winter comes it won't kill my family to go without the Cavendish. It might kill the families of our brothers and sisters in East Africa. Genetic diversity is one antidote to the Cavendish crisis and our local farmers produce that 24/7. Buy Washington apples not long-haul bananas; it matters.

Holden, Ho!

By LeeAnne Beres

It’s the day before Independence Day, and all of us here at Team Earth Ministry are scurrying around, organizing ourselves for next week’s retreat at Holden Village. We’ll be leading a week-long creation-care gathering for 65 Earth Ministry members and friends, high in the mountains overlooking Lake Chelan in central Washington.

I have a confession to make. I’ve never been to Holden Village before.

In the faith community, that’s tantamount to saying you’ve never seen the Pacific Ocean. Run as a Lutheran ministry open to all, Holden Village has a mythical status – it’s an intentional community, a place of solitude, an outpost in the wilderness (literally and metaphorically), a learning center, a font for renewal, and much more.

Ask any Lutheran in the Northwest about Holden Village, and they’ll get a faraway look in their eyes and start talking about it like it’s the Promised Land. Daily Bible studies and Vespers worship services. Ice cream socials. Five class options a day taught by leading theologians, scientists, authors, activists, and artists. Hikes with stunning views of the lake. Arts, crafts, and music. Children’s programs for all ages. Great food.

And more than anything else, community. Holden Village is all about community – building it, nurturing it, and sharing it. It’s what I’m most looking forward to next week. I’ll be surrounded by an amazing group of Earth Ministry folks and a have chance to get to know each of them more personally. I’ll find out what calls them to care for God’s great gift of creation. I’ll hear about their families, their jobs, their hopes, their dreams, and their challenges.

Best of all, each of the 65 participants in this retreat will hear each other’s stories. We’ll work, learn, laugh and play together. We’ll form friendships and share ideas.

We’ll all come as individuals, but leave as a community strengthened by our common bond of Holden Village. A Promised Land indeed.

Three Months, 300 Miles Starts Today

By: Mikaila, Earth Ministry Intern

“Unseasonably anxious”, I noted to myself, “I am unseasonably anxious today, but why?” As a recent graduate summer is not predictably a time of high stress. Yet today marks the beginning of a very big project for us here at Earth Ministry. As Jessie Dye announced a few weeks back we are holding our very own Three Months, 300 Miles food challenge starting….today!!

If you’re like Jessie you’ve probably taken a food challenge of this sort. Thus today’s task may seem like the natural next step. But, as you already know, this challenge makes me…well anxious.

I have appreciated the fruit of regional food systems over the last few years, but never taken on a pantry makeover. Thankfully, I realized that many of you may be in the same position! With Regional Food Challenge Veteran Jessie Dye speaking for the more experienced participants I am ready to take my place as…

The Rookie

So here I am, prepared to talk about all of the obstacles and challenges of eating within 300 miles for three months for the first time.

I'd like to share some guidelines that I’ve set for myself:

- Start off slow: I will be working up to a full regional diet throughout the 3 months period which means I am not going to panic about that dusty can of condensed coconut milk in the back of my cupboard.

- Live the challenge with grace: I hope to see this as an opportunity to become more connected to regional food systems, and not a time to berate myself for the ways I “mess up”.

- Prepare for time, ahead of time: I anticipate the biggest challenge for me will be adjusting my expectation of how long it takes to go shopping. I will need to find local farmers markets and travel there for the first time as well as peruse for local products in stores. At first this will take more time, but I want to remember that it is an investment and will only get easier!

- Be available to YOU: Not sure where to start looking for regional cheese? Check out Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, located in Pike Place Market. Tell us about those difficult-to-find products and other obstacles and we’ll try to help you out!

As we enter July 1st and our first day of the Three Months, 300 Miles food challenge I am assigning myself some homework (forgive me…I seem to miss school already!) Feel free to take it on too, perhaps as a first step!

1) Find a farmers market near me with the 2008 Puget Sound Fresh Farm Guide.

2) Visit Sustainable Ballard’s website and see what great regional products they’ve already found.

3) Buy three regional products and share them with you!

Unseasonably anxious no more, I look forward to sharing this challenge with all of you!

Signing off until my next post,

The Rookie
Mikaila Gawryn
Earth Ministry Intern

Busting with Environmental Vigor

By Kaitlin Torgerson

This past weekend, I was able to leave Seattle and spend some much needed time in this beautiful creation. I took the ferry over to the Olympic peninsula, spending a few days at Olympic National Park and out to the coast for my first stroll along the Pacific Ocean(insert gasp of shock here). Without a cloud in the sky, I was able to jump into the waves, look at all sorts of creatures in the tide pools, and see a stunning sunset. It cleared my mind and helped me focus on some of the reasons I work at Earth Ministry—to protect these unique species and ensure sacred places like this one are here for generations to come.

Now today, I’m back in the office and wondering what to do with my re-found energy and focus. Maybe some of you are a little like me—you get inspired, rejuvenated, and maybe even a little more self-confident after a some good fresh air. I’m lucky that I could blog today to get out some of this creative creation energy. How are you letting your environmental vigor after this lovely weekend of sunshine? Are you finding yourself just itching to tell others about your love of this creation, but just can’t find a responsive audience?

If you haven’t found some sort of outlet yet, let me suggest one for you: Earth Ministry’s St. Francis Sermon Smack-Down. No gladiator jousting needed—just a love for creation care and a willingness to share a message. This sermon contest is open to anyone and everyone who wants to submit a sermon, homily, or message of faith in action related to care for God’s creation. Three finalists each will be selected in lay and clergy categories to give their sermons at Earth Ministry’s Celebration of St. Francis on October 4.

But wait!! Deadline for submission is only one month away, so get those heads thinking, pens writing, and keyboards clacking. For contest rules, prizes, and details please see Earth Ministry’s website.

Seriously, drag that laptop outside and don’t be shy. You’ve got nothing to lose. And no, saying you've never given a sermon is not a good enough reason and neither is saying you give them all the time.

Animals!

By Eric Pfaff

Buenos dias! There are two things I would like to share with you today. First, a link to magnificent pictures of golden sting rays migrating. And second, I would like to share some ideas on caring for chickens in the city, taken from the Seattle Tilth website.

Now I personally don't have chickens, primarily because I move every nine months when classes end. But as soon as I settle down, then chickens will come. In the name of bullet points, I leave you this:

• For most Seattle households, 3 chickens are allowed.
• Roosters make noise, and so do hens. Hens are quieter.
  
• Hens can lay about 180-320 eggs/year.
• Chickens can run around the yard, just protect them from predators!
  
• After the 2nd year of laying, egg production decreases.
• The chicken excrement can be used as compost.

If this interests you, find out more at the Seattle Tilth "Chicken FAQ."

Check here for more information on rules and regulations for owning animals in the City of Seattle (including bee-keeping, which is the new "in" thing).

Intern # 2 Enter Stage Right

Happy Summer!

My name is Mikaila Gawryn and although I'm new to the blog I've been around Earth Ministry for a while. Through school I've had the opportunity to work on a number of different projects with Earth Ministry and I am excited to be returning as an intern after finishing my degree in Environmental Studies at Seattle University. I am thrilled to be a part of this team and working on such important issues!

As a recent graduate it is safe to say that I'm in the process of rediscovering my non-academic interests. In keeping with the traditional bullets, here's the list so far:

• Food Issues: Sustainability, Equity, Enjoyability & Community!
• Simple living (and hopefully learning how to do this better!)
• Sabbath: Keeping it and learning about it.
• Empowerment: How does it happen? How can we make it happen?

In one of my last days at school I read a statement that shook me. Perhaps it is the time of transition that I'm currently in, or the reminiscing that transition often brings, but the words seemed to wake me up from something. Jose Ortega y Gasset said "Life is fired at us point blank". The imagery he evokes here is sharp and violent, except that it describes the giving of life instead of its end. It reminds me that so often the bad and the good, pain and mercy, injustice and redemption are experienced quiet closely to one another.

As I look at the pain and injustice in our world it is clear that peace for the earth is tied up with mercy and redemption of humanity. At the risk of sounding quite sentimental I am excited to be diving into where all of our futures converge.

Peace,

Mikaila
Earth Ministry Intern

Alternative Uses for Polycarbonate Water Bottles

By Beth Anderson, Outreach Associate

If you’re like me, you’ve probably responded to the recent news about bisphenol-A (BPA=a component of polycarbonate water bottles and the lining of various canned food containers) with some disappointment and a bunch of questions.

My main question is:
How can I safely reuse the polycarbonate bottles I already own so I don’t add them to the mountains of waste in our local landfills?

Our local outdoor retail giant, REI, will take back any polycarbonate bottles purchased at their stores. That’s a generous gesture, given that the manufacturer hasn’t officially recalled the bottles and doesn’t reimburse REI for the returned items. However, currently REI has no use for the bottles, and so they go into the solid waste stream. (Note: In recycling, #7 is a catch-all category for plastics still awaiting a broadly accepted recycling technology. Until one is achieved, most recyclers discard #7 items.)

Here are a few creative ideas I’ve run across for REUSING polycarbonate bottles:

• Dry storage container: Kayakers, canoeists, and rafters can use their old water bottles to keep items dry, such as small notebooks, pens, maps, film canisters, memory cards for digital cameras, and cell phones.

• Lantern: For $19.95 you can buy a solar-powered LED LightCap200 from SolLight and turn any standard water bottle into a weatherproof lantern for the backyard, treehouse, boat, or wherever, no batteries required.

• First aid kit: Store small first aid supplies in a bottle to keep them dry. Items such as band aids, 2x2 and 3x3 pads, a small CPR shield, a roll of medical tape, alcohol prep pads, iodine pads, small tubes of creams, and small trauma shears can all fit into a wide-mouth water bottle.

Lastly, see this “How to Choose a Water Bottle” article for information about the variety of alternative bottles currently available.

Vacations of All Kinds

By Kaitlin Torgerson

I’m not certain, but I think summer might actually be here or at least on its way. Even though the chilly damp weather made me think otherwise this morning, my heart was still feeling the warmth and sunshine of the weekend (the warmth might have just been my sunburned nose; I forgot my sunscreen).

Perhaps some of you are planning upcoming vacations and days off from work this summer, giving yourself a much needed break. However, did you ever think to give your car a bit of a vacation as well? My guess is that with high gas prices, many people are looking for alternative transportation this summer.

Seattle Climate Action Now has launched a program to encourage people to pledge to “Give Your Car the Summer Off.” They are asking people to reduce their driving miles by 1000 miles and find other ways to visit those favorite summer attractions. In return, Seattle CAN gives you a coupon for discounts to different Seattle area businesses. Get 10% the Seattle aquarium or the Woodland Park Zoo. Check out the Burke Museum with two for one tickets. Read more about the pledge and see the other businesses that are granting discounts. Save money and the environment just by leaving your car at home this summer!

No-Bag Lady

By Jessie Dye

In the middle of the Pacific Ocean is a huge, swirling island of plastic the size of North America, the center of an enormous whirlpool called the North Pacific Gyre. It is where the residue of our overconsumption comes to rest, or rotate as the case may be. Deadly for whales, turtles, birds, and plankton, not to mention the future of humanity, it is the non-biodegradable garbage dump of the world. It depresses me, and I don’t want to contribute to it any more.

So, I’m giving up plastic bags, finally. For the last week I have refused all plastic bags offered to me as I went about my daily business (as if I needed these bags in the first place!). No lectures, no explanation of the Gyre in the center of the ocean, no patronizing or faux-enlightened attitude, just no bags for me. A simple, Miss Manners-style “no thank you, I really don’t need a bag” was sufficient. I put a vitamin bottle in my purse, carried groceries home in cloth carriers, and walked out with books under my arm and hardware in my hand. It made no difference in my life and at least ten plastic bags did not make their way to the north Pacific, twenty if you count double-bagging. Some grocery clerks applauded me; a pharmacist said she wished more people didn’t take bags. On several occasions the person behind me in line didn’t take a bag either, watching my example. It seemed to be catching; a lot of people don’t want all this excess packaging but can’t seem to stop it. I did, and I’m proud!

A delicate subject for those of us who have dogs is the need for poop bags on a regular basis. Ah, but only a few weeks ago on a hike I ran into a wonderful woman in Discovery Park who actually exercised a ministry of dog-poop bags. As she walked, she happily distributed bio-degradable bags to those of us out with our pals from the Canis Familiaras species, giving us a better option to protect the Gyre.

In the end, refusing excess baggage to reduce the size of the North Pacific island of garbage may be as futile as stocking up on canned soup in the event of nuclear war. It doesn’t matter; I am only responsible for my own choices and called to lift my own prophetic voice on behalf of God’s creation. Still, changing public policy makes a bigger difference in reducing trash and I am tickled pink at the wonderful leadership of Seattle Mayor Nichols who recently introduced a bill to our City Council to ban plastic bags and Styrofoam. It seems the entire countries of Australia and Austria do this, as well as many others whose names are not as alliterative. If they can do it, I can do it. And so can you. Just say, “No thank you, I really don’t care for a bag.”

Greetings from the Intern

by Eric Pfaff
Good morning! I'm new to Earth Ministry, and will be here through early August when I will head back to Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma to finish degrees in English and Environmental Studies. Since numerous past entries include bullet points, mine will too:

• I am a vegetarian.
• I have just started riding the bus and biking on my commute from Bellevue to Ballard (and back).
• I will post eight times during my internship--let me know what you're interested in reading about. I am personally interested in: the health of the Puget Sound, animals, composting, raising chickens in the city, eating sustainably, "alternative" modes of transportation, and environmental literature. If you have something in particular you want to know more about, comment!

Maybe you've noticed this, too, but there's been a strong upwelling of environmental awareness--whether it's the new fad, or lifestyle shifts in our culture--people are taking note. For instance, on the New York Times website, the top emailed stories have been one reducing meat consumption and one on gardening (links below). While you might know "meat is bad" and "buses are good," these articles can give you real tips on being successful in changing your lifestyle. And, if you've been a vegan for thirty years, think about emailing it to a friend who eats fifty pounds of beef a week. You could even email your friends a link to this blog: http://earthministry.blogspot.com/

It's an easy way to let your friends and family know what they can do to be more sustainable. Also, if you've read a good news (or website) article recently, leave a comment with the link so that others can pass it on!

NYTimes article on gardening.
NYTimes article on eating less meat.

"Only by sharing our deeper thoughts
and feelings do we communicate
to, and inspire in others, a love
And respect for the earth."

- Joseph Bharat Cornell

Ask Deanna: Green Parking Lots

by Deanna Matzen

Here at Earth Ministry, part of my job is to receive and route general information emails that come into emoffice@earthministry.org. The best part of that task is researching answers to all of the interesting questions I get. I've decided that a good use of my blog posts is to share the answers I come up. Not only does that allow Earth Ministry to share information, but it also allows our readers to share their experience and insight.

Today's question comes from Glenn and is about Green Parking Lots. Glenn wrote us saying,

I attended the Green event at SPU last month and found it very stimulating. But, my congregation wants to know how to have a green parking lot. Do you have any information or leads on this topic?

This is such an interesting question because for all the materials and resources we offer, we have no specific information on Green Parking Lots. Yet, most churches have parking lots, and large ones at that. Luckily, I found some good information on the subject and I'll include links at the end of my blog.

But first, a review of why parking lots are a problem.

1. The accumulation of contaminants from car tires, car engines, and chemical applications such as pesticides and herbicides are washed into nearby streams causing pollution that is damaging to living organisms.
   
2. As water hits asphalt, it is unable to penetrate the surface and therefore runs very quickly into nearby streams, or into storm drains and then into streams, causing a rapid rise in water height. Such rapid changes are in contrast to the slow and steady change in stream volume during rain storms in forests or other natural areas. Fish and bugs living in streams are adapted to slow changes. The unnaturally rapid changes can adversely affect the health of these critters.
3. Without tree cover, most parking lots get really hot and causes several problems including: 1) increased air pollution; and 2) increased temperature of water entering streams, which is detrimental to fish and bugs.

Basically, there are two issues: temperature and run-off.

The simplest way to green your parking lot is to PLANT TREES. Trees provide shade to cool asphalt, reduce rainfall, and their roots can capture runoff and slow its journey to the nearest stream while filtering contaminants.

A more complicated solution is to switch form asphalt to an alternative paver/surface that allows water to penetrate into the soil or that doesn't heat up as much, such as concrete. Another complicated solution is to build bioretention ponds. These two options require a lot more planning, work and money, but would probably have the greatest impact on your local environment.

For more information on green parking lots, see the following resources.

• Green Parking Fact Sheet from the Storm Water Authority
• A comprehensive report on green parking lots from the EPA
• Asphalt vs Concrete

If you have a question about greening that you'd like help with, email Deanna at emoffice@earthministry.org or post a comment to this blog.

The Irreplaceable Campaign

By Kaitlin Torgerson

I was first introduced to conservation work and creation care during my early elementary school years. My family spent good portions of our summers camping in Minnesota’s State Parks. My parents, always seeking extra educational moments, made sure that we attended the park’s naturalist programming. It was at these talks that I first learned about the wildlife around me and our human impact on their habitat.

Today, we know more than ever about our human effects on climate and wildlife habitat. The more we learn, the more we understand the immediacy of protecting the wildlife that are starting to feel the repercussions of climate change. More and more we hear about the future of the polar bear, but climate change will alter the habitats and ecosystems of all species, including the Pacific Salmon and Gray Whales in our backyards.

The Irreplaceable Campaign recognizes the need to protect all of God’s creation. This partnership of faith, science, justice, and art groups have come together with the common goal of educating policymakers and the public about the impacts of global warming. Through the use of stunning photography, a traveling photo exhibit is making its way across the country and will be exhibited at the Burke Museum from July 11-August 10. These images are striking and moving as we recognize the need to protect these imperiled species.

As the exhibit travels across the country, the campaign is gathering signatures for a “Call to Care.” This letter asks policymakers to protect these plants and animals and to take serious action to save them. Please see our website to read and sign this important letter.

The closer we get to the exhibit’s arrival, think about getting your church to take a trip out to see the exhibit after worship or on a Saturday morning. Gather an outing for your vacation Bible school to see this beautiful photography and learn about these plants and animals. Host a table at coffee hour to have people sign the Call to Care letter. Please feel free to contact me, Kaitlin, at Earth Ministry (206-632-2426 or Kaitlin@earthministry.org) for questions or to get materials for your church. To get a taste of the exhibit and to learn more about species in the Northwest that will feel these impacts of climate change, check out the Irreplaceable Campaign's website.

The greater knowledge we obtain, the more we talk to our neighbors, and the faithfulness of which we communicate our values, will help to influence our policymakers to protect all of this great creation.

Irreplaceable Campaign Photo Exhibit
July 11-August 10
Burke Museum-University of Washington campus
Corner of 17th Ave. NE and NE 45th St.
Time: 10AM-5PM daily

Practice Resurrection

By LeeAnne Beres

These are the last words of Wendell Berry’s famous poem, Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front, a poem that never fails to stir my soul. Berry challenges us to “every day do something that won't compute” – to embrace with joy all that makes us truly human, truly children of God. Resurrection is the great gift and hope of being Christian, and to practice it daily takes courage, faith, and most of all, practice.

To practice resurrection is a challenge, and to be successful we have to work at it over and over again. Like learning to ride a bike, play the piano, or sort out our recycling, garbage, and compost, we need to consciously choose to put time and effort into living into the promise of a risen Lord. This is why we need church – we need a faith community to support and nurture us as we try, fail, pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and try again. The process and path is as important as the goal. So my friends, thank you for being part of the Earth Ministry community. Together we will continue to practice resurrection, and plant sequoias.

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front
by Wendell Berry

…So, friends, every day do something that won't compute.

Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing.

Take all that you have and be poor.

Love someone who does not deserve it.

Denounce the government and embrace the flag.

Hope to live in that free republic for which it stands.

Give your approval to all you cannot understand.

Praise ignorance,

for what man has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.

Invest in the millennium.

Plant sequoias.

Say that your main crop is the forest that you did not plant,

that you will not live to harvest.

Say that the leaves are harvested when they have rotted into the mold.

Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.

Put your faith in the two inches of humus that will build under the trees

every thousand years.

Listen to carrion--put your ear close,

and hear the faint chattering of the songs that are to come.

Expect the end of the world.

Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable.

Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.

So long as women do not go cheap for power,

please women more than men.

Ask yourself: Will this satisfy a woman satisfied to bear a child?

Will this disturb the sleep of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.

Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head in her lap.

Swear allegiance to what is nighest your thoughts.

As soon as the generals and politicos can predict the motions

of your mind, lose it.

Leave it as a sign to mark the false trail, the way you didn't go.

Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary,

some in the wrong direction.

Practice resurrection.

Connecting Mind, Body, Spirit, and the Natural World Through Movement

As a graduate student exploring the realm of spirituality, I am intensely interested in interconnectedness. And in these last days of the spring academic quarter, I find that most things in my life are connected to the end of the school year—this blog entry is no exception!

In one of my courses this term, we have been looking at various methods of decision-making or discernment. Each of the paths we’ve studied incorporates some form of spiritual practice and a reliance on information from one’s body and felt senses in addition to the information one receives from the rational mind.

I could go into much detail about specific forms of discernment, but that is not my goal here. Instead, I would like to share one the practices that our class has been using to center ourselves at the beginning of our time together.

The practice of Shibashi (also known as a form of Tai Chi or Qigong/Chi Kung) draws on the wisdom of the natural world, and practitioners use the simple movements to promote healing and a balanced perspective.

When I first saw a description of Shibashi, I was struck by the poetic and evocative names of the eighteen movements:

Waving hands by the lake,
Expanding heart on mountain,
Painting a rainbow,
Parting the clouds,
Floating silk in the air,
Rowing a boat in the middle of the lake,
Presenting a peach to the sage,
Gazing at the moon,
Wind rustles lotus leaves,
Hands in the clouds,
Scooping the sea and viewing the sky,
Rolling the waves,
Dove spreads its wings,
Dragon emerging from the sea,
Flying wild goose,
Windmills turning in the breeze,
Bouncing the ball in the sunshine,
Nature’s fragrance drifts up.

As I enter into the practice of Shibashi, I connect my own human experiences to those of my fellow beings in the natural world—How does a wave feel as it crashes to shore and then rolls back out into the sea? What would it feel like for a dove to spread its wings or for a wild goose to fly in formation with its flock? Even if I practice indoors, I can imagine the touch of the rustling wind, the warm sunshine, and the cool water of the ocean.

I encourage you to explore a practice that nurtures your unique place in the interconnectedness of Creation!

To see a video of an individual practicing all eighteen Shibashi movements, click here. As you’re watching, keep in mind that each movement is repeated three times.

Local Food: The Chickens of Kauai

“Nothing that came to Hawaii arrived here easily,” says James Michener in his great fictional history, Hawaii. Except for the chickens, that is.

I had the good fortune recently of being invited by a dear friend, a travel agent, to share a week long trip to Kauai that she had won in an industry contest. Given that Seattle enjoyed the coldest, most miserable spring on record it was a real treat, despite the my guilt about our enormous carbon footprint (subject of a future blog). We hiked the Nepali Coast trail, traversed the gorgeous rim of Waimea Canyon, and picked our way along many a rocky seacoast. We kayaked the Wailua River and toured the National Tropical Botanical Gardens. It was fabulous. Everywhere there were chickens.

The chickens are important because Hawaii seems to lack local food. I’m planning to spend July through September eating food produced within 300 miles of my home in our glorious and abundant Pacific Northwestern climate. If I lived on Kauai, that distance would include pretty much the whole island, not to mention a great deal of ocean. And yet, sadly, there’s not much local food on offer and the seas are depleted. My friend at I shopped at several grocery stores along the route to stock our luxury condo (guilt alert). I planned to find good, regional food as I would do at home. How hard could this be? Hard, actually.

All the dairy food came from Wisconsin, New Hampshire, or California. Okay, dairy isn’t a tropical kind of food and I can understand importing cheese from the upper Midwest. I did my best and chose Tillamook Cheddar, not exactly local to the Sandwich Islands but from a 3oo-mile radius of Seattle anyway. Every vegetable I could find was grown in central valley of California; this supports my Cousin Barbara’s family ranch in Stockton but not the families of Lihue. Can’t these people raise spinach?

Then there were some real insults. The Maui potato chips were manufactured in Pleasanton, California. The strawberries and blueberries and most other fruit flew in from Mexico. Hardest of all, a carton of orange/pineapple juice I picked up was stamped Florida! The honest truth is that the only local food I could find was 99 cent mangoes (69 cents at Top Banana in Ballard) and 59-cent a pound pineapples.

Michener says the “boat plants”, the food staples that the Polynesians brought with them from Bora Bora included taro, a sturdy root that grows easily in the climate and feeds the hungry. For a thousand years the staple taro was grown by the Hawaiians until it was replaced briefly by the rice fields of the Asian immigrants. Those fields now support beef cattle. The Polynesians also brought the chickens who went native immediately.

“What about farmers’ markets?” you ask. There is one every weekday on this small island, called Sunshine Markets. Being a huge fan of such events, I dragged my friend to the Saturday market in the little town of Waimea. This turned out to involve six tiny stalls in a dirt parking lot of a school, with six cars backed up and tiny Asian women selling their produce on card tables. Of course, their leeks and tomatoes and papayas brought us great joy (especially the papayas), but the stock of the entire market might feed my boys and their friends for ten days if I stretch it.

In five years, when gas is $7.00 a gallon and only the super-rich can be tourists in Hawaii, the California-raised Safeway food will be prohibitive to the average Hawaiian. They are going to have to eat those chickens. The little Asian women will emerge as the power-house producers that they are. Taro and its fascinating derivative, poi, will come back in fashion. I was worried about the lovely people of Kauai not having local food to eat as we reach peak oil because the carbon footprint of groceries in Hawaii is huge. My prediction is, however, that the ancient Polynesians are going to keep on giving and those boat plants and animals will save the day.

In 2020, dinner will be chicken, poi, farmer’s market leeks and Chinese broccoli in papaya sauce. It’ll be great, especially the papaya sauce.

Make a Choice, Change the World

Last week, I blogged about the online series entitled, Extreme Consumerism. In the final part of the series, the author offers some Consumer tips for making a difference. I thought I'd share with you a few highlights and maybe you'll find a new way to make a difference that you hadn't tried before:

• Cook food in a more energy-efficient microwave or toaster oven, instead of your conventional oven, to reduce energy use and your bills.
  


• Swap out red meat for eggs or chicken one day a week to reduce your carbon footprint and save some money. Why stop there...give up red meat entirely...or give up meat all together...or become a vegan!


• Go to CatalogChoice.org and request that your name be removed from catalog mailing lists. You’ll save trees and reduce your temptation to pull out the credit card.


• Instead of heading to the mall the next time you need an item of clothing, look online to see if there is an American-made equivalent for a reasonable price.


• Save money and the planet by visiting l