Eco-Act 21:08: Earth Day everyday

Official Earth Day art by Speto, acclaimed Brazilian street artist from São Paulo.

This year’s Earth Day (April 22nd) comes on the heels of the World Meteorological Organization’s 2020 Global Climate report, showing that 2020 was one of the hottest years on record and that the planet is on the verge of climate disaster if we don’t act now. It also comes amidst growing calls for the end of racialized police violence with the conviction of Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd and a relentless string of other Black and brown people killed by police — many of them being children and young adults. To reflect on racism and Creation healing, we invite you to reflect on indigenous scholar and farmer, Dr. Randy Woodley’s article: White Supremacy and the Fate of the Earth.

This year, Earth Day is being officially celebrated all over the globe by EarthDay.org on April 20-23. They have put together informative forums, campaigns, and other ways to engage and we invite you to check out some of these resources. In addition to tuning in live for their program, “Earth Day Live“ at 9 AM PST, you can watch their virtual summits at any time:

• Global Youth Summit: led by Earth Uprising, in collaboration with My Future My Voice, OneMillionOfUs and hundreds of youth climate activists.

• We Shall All Breathe: The Hip Hop Caucus and its partners will present the “We Shall Breathe” virtual summit. This digital event will examine climate and environmental justice, connecting the climate crisis to issues of pollution, poverty, police brutality, and the pandemic, all within a racial justice framework.

• Teach For the Planet: Join a group of gifted global educators and education activists to talk about the importance of climate change education and action today, for tomorrow’s change makers.

There are many more resources on their homepage including their admonition to us to celebrate Earth Day every day through their Restore Our Earth campaign, as well as history of the day (51 years in the making!) and a tool to find (mostly virtual) Earth Day events to tune into.

You can also check this Verge article for a variety of Earth Day celebrations and educational events: President Biden’s Leaders’ Summit on Climate Change (4/22-23), a virtual 5k (4/17-25), National Geographic’s Earth Day Eve Party (tonight!!), and many many more!!

On a closer-to-home scale, we encourage you to look into Earth Ministry’s broad array of events! There are some great opportunities to get involved in regional and state environmental actions. Let us know how you celebrated Earth Day, and what you’re committing to in the year ahead!

Eco-act 21-05: 51 billion tons

Our 2020 Eco-Faith posts focused primarily on actions that we as individuals can take to care for our physical world. In 2021 we will continue to occasionally offer a new idea for individual earth-friendly acts. But we’re also launching two new projects. We’ve been sowing the seeds for one of these in recent posts: Union Gardens, our socially-distanced community garden project that aims to grow a bit of food for ourselves—and a bit more that we as a community can share with Compass House, Lake Union Village and others. Now we’re waiting hopefully and continuing our preparations for the first sprouts in the coming weeks.

With Union Gardens underway, we introduce a second project area to think about: climate change, and specifically, what positive actions the Union community might take in support of our environment.

Climate change/global warming is seen by many as an existential threat to the quality of life—perhaps life itself—on planet earth, while a few may still deny or ignore the problem. Among those who acknowledge it, some feel climate change will be controlled through solar and wind initiatives, electric vehicles, the Paris Accord, and other efforts. Others, however, believe current efforts represent only a tiny fraction of what will be needed to avert catastrophic climate change.

avoiding climate disaster

a book review on Bill Gates’ new book

So how might Union as a community work on this confusing but critical issue? It seems that the necessary first step will be coming to a common definition and understanding of climate change. And to attempt to do this, we turn to a recently-published book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster*, written by Bill Gates. This informative, reader-friendly, realistic-yet-hopeful book presents a structure for understanding climate change and its causes, what tools are available now to address the problem, what additional steps must be taken—quickly—and what roles governments, private enterprise and individuals must play. We will draw on this book in several upcoming posts, and heartily recommend it.

The problem

Greenhouse gases are added to the world’s atmosphere every year at the rate of 51 billion tons,** give or take, and cause the earth to warm, which in turn causes or will cause a variety of problems for humans—and everything else: rising sea levels, extreme weather, drought, crop failure, wildfires, poor air quality, famine, mass migration, economic distress, political unrest, …. And because greenhouse gases (aka, carbon dioxide or GHG) remain in the atmosphere for centuries, simply reducing the rate of yearly addition will not stop global warming. The analogy that Bill uses is that merely reducing the flow of water into a filling bathtub will not avoid an eventual overflow. Turning off the flow is essential.

GHG sources

Greenhouse gases are created by virtually everything humans do. In his book, Bill organizes GHG sources into five groups and provides estimates for the portion of annual emissions each represents:*

• Manufacturing 31%

• Electricity 27%

• Agriculture 19%

• Transportation 16%

• HVAC 7%

Tackling the problem

Because pretty much everything we do creates greenhouse gases, and because driving GHG emissions to zero is critical, tackling global warming is a uniquely difficult problem: basically, we have to change EVERYTHING, more or less AT THE SAME TIME. And if that isn’t daunting enough, GHG emissions must be eliminated in economically and morally just ways that allow the world’s poor and emerging countries to benefit along with us. As Bill notes, “We need to accomplish something gigantic we have never done before, much faster than we have ever done anything similar…. But don’t despair. We can do this.”*** Let’s see if we can find a way for the Union community to help.

*How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, the Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need, Bill Gates

** Ibid., page 3

*** Ibid., page 5

Eco-Act 021: Simplicity

Over the course of the last six months, most of us have had to think about organizing our lives differently.

Whether our calendars have been full or empty on Zoom or in other physically distanced social settings, for the most part we’ve become less busy. Working from home — and really doing everything from home — has made for a slower pace of life in a lot of ways. Less commute time, more time with those we live with (for better or worse…mostly for better we think!!), more time to be present to each moment in the form of a meal without scrolling or a prayerful morning cup of coffee. There’s a certain re-balancing and peace that has been found in this period of reorienting and reframing.

This time at home has also made it evident that we don’t really need all the stuff that we’ve accumulated. Clothes, junk drawers, shoes, and furniture have been cleaned out (for some, multiple times). We’ve down-sized our stuff and passed it on to find a loving home elsewhere. Hopefully, by trying Ridwell, donating to your local Goodwill, or even redistributing your goods to some community organizations (see our current list here), we have also reduced waste. The circular economy does seem to be alive and well as more of us are at home.

emptying

to find life

Though the last six months have been difficult, there have been some bright spots…living simply being one of them! Though somewhat of an inevitable in quarantine, this principle is one thing that has also been held as one of the positives that many of us hope will stick around after COVID is over. And it’s got spiritual significance too. From the desert mothers and fathers, to St. Francis of Assisi, to even the Amish today, there is precedence for Christians to empty of themselves (kenōsis…see Phil. 2:7) of their “own power and desire on behalf of the other” — very Christ-like and incarnational indeed (Introducing Eco-Theology, 194). We would argue too, that we become more ourselves — more of who God calls us to be — when there are less clutter and distractions, and more love for God and our Beloved Community.

Here are some ideas to practice more simplicity:

• Reflect — breathe and contemplate this Richard Rohr reflection on Wendell Berry…also, check out Fr. Rohr’s series on Simplicity here.

• Relationality is key — in this time of physical distance, check in on neighbors, friends, and family that you haven’t connected with in a while. Phone calls and snail mail are encouraged!

• Take a sabbath — including from screens!

• De-clutter — go through your stuff and find items new homes.

• Support your neighborhood — frequent your local school, butcher, coffee shop, gas station, etc…and invest in relationships there.

• Mindful movement — take a walk outside or do some gentle stretches to simply be present to all that is around you.

So what are some ways you’ve been living more simply, especially in these last six months? We’d love to hear in the comments below!

Eco-Act 020: Combatting future fires and smoke, now

Most people see the link between climate change and the dangerous, tragic wildfires that have engulfed the West Coast this season. The King County Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP) specifically names the increased potential for wildfires, along with heavier rains, hotter summers, reduced snowpack, increased flooding and rising sea levels, as climate change features that will impact all of us. Denying this or failing to act aggressively now all but guarantees disastrous consequences for our individual and collective futures.

Fortunately, the SCAP deals with climate change reality on three fronts: reducing greenhouse gases; working for equity across diverse neighborhoods; and realistically preparing for climate change impacts. The plan lays out specific government actions for doing so, including policy changes, tighter regulations, community engagement initiatives, and capital investments. But what can we as individuals do? How can we support the larger-scale efforts undertaken by the government, and for that matter, private business?

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which is shrouded by thick haze from wildfires in Washington and Oregon. (Ellen M. Banner / The Seattle Times).

We can start by carefully reviewing our current efforts to see if we’ve missed any opportunities, and then step up our game wherever and whenever possible. To aid this review, we can think through one or more frameworks:

• Daily/regular routines — methodical recycling, careful water use, and avoiding food waste, for example … is there any room for improvement in these or other areas? How about minimizing the plastic in our lives, and properly disposing of what’s unavoidable?

• Occasional, bigger-ticket expenditures — for upcoming major home improvements, can energy-efficient windows, EnergyStar appliances, and reclaimed wood, or “wood” made from plastic, be used? Can electric or solar power replace fossil fuel in the plan? Might the next vehicle be electric?

• Reduce-reuse-recycle — actually, is that next vehicle necessary at all? Can we drive less by biking, walking, taking public transport (when that’s safer again), and by combining multiple errands into a single trip? How about donating, swapping, or repurposing containers, fabrics, furniture, tools, books, … any opportunities here? Eliminating e-waste is another vital action.

• Avoid, reduce, replace, remove/sequester—this framework appears in the SCAP, and the frameworks above cover most of the same ground. What pops up in the SCAP scheme, however, is reforestation efforts and carbon sequestering, which we might contribute to through volunteer tree-planting projects and composting.

  • Other forestry work includes the movement to learn from Native peoples’ land management practices such as controlled burning, as well as allowing Native folks’ access to their land if it’s been taken away. Here are some WA Native perspectives from a Crosscut article from 2019, otherwise come chat about this with Kitchen Table Conversations on Tuesday nights!

Many or all the actions noted above and more have been covered in other of our Eco-Faith blog posts. What’s a little frustrating about all of them—and human-scale acts in general—is that they all feel so small, so futile, so laughably undersized compared to fires that consume millions of wooded acres, and smoke visible from space, blanketing whole states. How are we supposed to find hope and a sense of purpose in our tiny gestures? One way is to remember that we do not perform these acts alone. We merge them with the acts of a community that includes everyone touched by the fires and smoke, everyone capable of empathy, everyone concerned for our environment, and our neighbors first/most impacted by climate change (people who are unhoused, BIPOC communities, folks incarcerated, farmworkers). Our small individual actions on behalf of the environment become community acts of faith.

small acts

are communal

Collectively, could these actions yield a fire-and-smoke-free 2021? Not likely. But our actions performed intentionally and consistently in community, and in conjunction with government and business, might begin a process of correction and restoration. We need to do what we can, with hope. And really, whoever seriously thought that five loaves and two fish could feed five thousand people?

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Both art collages are by Miriam / @vientoxsol on Instagram (link to post by clicking on the photo). The second collage depicts a CDCR prisoner firefighter, flames, and butterflies. In the wake of the fires in CA, the state has been severely understaffed as a large number of their crews come from CA prisons that are currently battling COVID-19. As these crews are only paid $2-5 per day, many have called for rightful pay. Recently, CA Gov. Gavin Newsom overturned a law that barred prison firefighters from joining CALFIRE, even though they had direct experience in the field.

The top collage depicts the hands of farmworkers surrounded by tomato plants, flames, and butterflies. Farmworkers work throughout the seasons and have continued working even with fires nearby and smoke dampening air quality in CA and the PNW. Learn more from United Farm Workers.