Environmental Stewardship at Christ Church

A Prayer for Knowledge of God’s Creation

Almighty and everlasting God, you made the universe with all its marvelous order, its atoms, worlds, and galaxies, and the infinite complexity of living creatures: Grant that, as we probe the mysteries of your creation, we may come to know you more truly, and more surely fulfill our role in your eternal purpose; in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

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For more information contact Jim and Christine Cannon. Click here to send Jim and Christine an email.

This Lent Cut Carbon, Not Chocolate

On Ash Wednesday Christians will be invited to begin observance of a holy Lent…by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. (BCP, 265)  The Christ Church Environmental Stewardship Ministry team hopes you will consider making a carbon fast a part of your daily Lenten devotions by focusing each week on a particular theme of environmental change and awareness. You may do the suggested actions under each theme daily as you are able or choose one for each day, several for the week, or try to adopt them all. Through these small changes during Lent we hope to become more aware of our wastefulness, our dependence on God, and our need to become better stewards of God’s creation.

Week 1, February 17–20: Transportation

God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. Genesis 1:31

Pray for the earth, for the air we breathe, for innovators who will transform the way we commute, and for the will to choose environmentally conscious transportation.

Take public transportation, walk, or bike to a location instead of driving. If possible, make the decision not to drive at all.

Set up a carpool for work or church. If any of your neighbors need a ride to the grocery store, offer one to them.

Turn your car off when waiting for someone—idling is worse than starting a car again.

Drive fuel efficiently— look ahead, be prepared to brake slowly, and accelerate more slowly than you normally do.

Check your tire pressure and make sure to inflate all tires properly.

Plan ahead to combine errands instead of making multiple car trips.

Purchase renewable energy offsets for your 2010 auto and airline travel carbon emissions at www.carbonfund.org.

Conduct a meeting by phone or email instead of driving to a designated location.

Week 2, February 21–27: Electrical Appliances

Yours is the day, yours also the night; you established the luminaries and the sun. You have fixed all the bounds of the earth; you made summer and winter. Psalm 74:16-17

Pray for mindfulness of electricity use, gratitude for the resources we have, our wise and sparing use of them, and  for those without.

Unplug electrical appliances, such as phone chargers and nightlights, when not in use. Reduce your phantom load: place coffee makers, toasters, DVD players, TVs, and others on a surge protector. Turn it off when leaving home.

Turn off lights when you leave a room.

Commit to replacing at least half of the light bulbs in your home with energy efficient ones.

Remove one light bulb from your home for all of Lent.

Consider switching to energy star appliances (ceiling fans, computer/laptop).

Turn off TVs and radios when you leave or are not watching or listening to them.

Try one day of silence in your home: no TV, no radio, no computer use, no dishwashers, no vacuum cleaners.

Week 3, February 28–March 6: Water Usage

…the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Genesis 1:2

Give thanksgiving for water, pray for sufficient clean water for all, pray to remind ourselves not only to reduce our water usage, but also to find new ways to conserve it and share it.

Take a military shower once this week—turn the water off while soaping.

Turn the water off when you’re brushing your teeth or washing your face; don’t leave the faucet running.

Use a Brita water filter instead of buying bottled water for your home. Also, use reusable aluminum bottles to take water to work, the gym, and elsewhere.

Wash laundry in cold water instead of using the warm or hot cycles.

Fix all drips and leaks in and around your home.

Save cooking water to water plants.

Take your car to a drive-through car wash where water is recycled instead of washing your car yourself.

Use the low flush setting on your toilet.

Replace your current shower head with a water-saving one.

Week 4, March 7–13: Food Consumption

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:9–10

Give thanksgiving for the food we eat, pray for sufficient food for all; pray not only to reduce our food waste, but also to find new ways to share with others, and pray to be conscientious of where our food comes from and the effect of wasteful eating on the environment.

Give up meat two days this week.

Bring a mug to work and to the coffee shop.

Purchase only locally grown ingredients for one dinner this week.

Commit to eating homemade lunches this week instead of going out.

Replace a food item you enjoy with one that is fair trade or organic (e.g., Bishop’s Blend coffee from Episcopal Relief & Development http://www.erd.org/BishopsBlend/).

Take reusable bags to the grocery store.

Invite friends to a home-cooked meal.

Skip a meal this week and reflect on the effects of world hunger and wastefulness.

Avoid purchasing products with lots of packaging; buy in bulk.

Week 5, March 14–March 20: Home Energy

Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:33–34

Give thanksgiving for shelter, pray for those without it, help us to be responsible in our use of the tools that make our lives easier, help us to be mindful of the impact our energy use has on the environment.

Run the dishwasher and the washing machine only when you have full loads.

Get more than one wearing from your clothes—don’t wash after just one use.

Replace the furnace/air filters in your home.

Adjust the thermostat down  by a few degrees when you leave home to use less heat in the winter and less air conditioning in the summer.

Close the curtains to keep heat in.

Weatherize your home: properly insulate and take care of drafts.

Check with power and gas companies for greener alternatives.

Air-dry dishes instead of using the dry option on your dishwasher.

Line-dry one load of laundry this week.

Week 6, March 21–27: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Take care, or you will be seduced into turning away, serving other gods and worshipping them, for then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain and the land will yield no fruit; then you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you. Deuteronomy 11:16-17

Pray for forgiveness for our wastefulness; pray for those who are adversely affected by our waste; pray for the will to change our habits and be satisfied with enough so that there is more for others.

Recycle Brita water filters through Preserve (www.preserveproducts.com).

Buy Preserve recycled toothbrushes (Trader Joe’s) and recycle when done.

Make the commitment to recycle this week.

Buy recycled paper products, e.g., paper towels, toilet paper, and printer paper.

Use cloth napkins instead of paper towels.

Use scrap paper instead of sticky notes.

Try composting this week.

Reduce junk mail by contacting the Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service (www.DMAchoice.org).

Subscribe to online periodicals instead of paper copies.

Print fewer copies of documents at work or don’t print at all if you can avoid doing so.

Week 7, March 28–April 3: Advocacy

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Revelation 21:1-2

Pray for our leaders to make wise and just decisions; pray for us to have the courage and energy to speak out when we would rather keep silent; and pray for God to aid us in implementing change.

Contact Senators Webb (202) 224-4024 and Warner (202) 224-2023 and ask that they support legislation to protect the environment (try to point to specific issues).

Subscribe to e-mail alerts about environmental action in our area from Chesapeake Bay Climate Action Network (www.chesapeakeclimate.org).

Visit the Rainforest Site (www.therainforestsite.com) and click once per day to help save some rainforest.

Play games at www.freepoverty.com and www.freerice.com to donate water and rice to underprivileged people.

Organize a group of friends to see a thought-provoking movie such as An Inconvenient Truth or Coal Country.

Add an environmentally focused book to your book club or reading list, such as The World Without Us by Alan Weisman or Garbage Land by Elizabeth Royte.

Find out when there will be a cleanup day of a local river or park and participate in it.

Write a letter to your city council asking its members to fully fund Metro.