BYOP

I have been a canvas bag lady for quite awhile, so I decided to take the next step. Since I drive a car on errands (yes, a hybrid) I can carry my own carry-out container easily. It is a start on Bring Your Own Pot; shown here with a family-sized roast chicken.

The best part was the reaction of my fellow Gira Polli patrons as I hugged my blue soup pot in line, they seemed to think it a good, if humorous, idea. Minimal waste, and I still didn't have to cook. Sounds like win-win to me.

Cell Phone Recycling

Changing or replacing your cellphone? Ecocell offers a way to replace them, get some bash back and keep them out of landfills and have them recycled!

Greening CDSP Meeting - Lent Special

Dear Greeners!

The people quarreled with Moses, and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?" 17:3 But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?" (Ex 17:2-4)

Water is a rare and costly substance in many regions, including the U.S. West. Global Warming further threatens water supply throughout the world. What are the ways in which faithful people can contribute to better, more just, and sustainable water distribution? Let's consider what we in particular can do here at CDSP. During one of our previous meetings, we had talked about a Lenten Season to invite CDSPers to consider issues of drought and water.
I know this isn't a great time to call a meeting, but as we realize that Lent will be upon us as soon as we come back from January Break, we better get going.

Hence, we are calling a meeting, on Tuesday December 18th, for lunch, noon to 1:30. (Place: Somewhere in Shires, welcome to bring your lunch with you) PLEASE RSVP whether you can make it.

On the docket will be:
1) Report from MG:
- brief report from AAR/SBL project "Sustainable Theological
Education" (connections were made, the network keeps growing)
- possibility to cooperate with other Episcopal Seminaries on Greening
Efforts (spearheaded right now by Willis Jenkins from Yale, and MG)

2) Focus on Water Issues During Lenten Season at CDSP
- Create a Lenten bible study guide for small groups (looking at the readings in Lent? Other texts? See attachment on a review of texts from sunday readings that might be good)
- Put together an exhibit for the refectory (possible topics: maps of water in the western U.S., Berkeley, Bay Area, aquifiers, bottled water, privatization of water, melting of ice and snowpacks, ecological and human problems resulting from it, water in the bible and Christian tradition, water saints?)
- Collecting resources for preachers, liturgies in Lent focusing on desert, water, dry bones, ashes, dust, baptism, etc.
- Evening with Marian Ronan from ABSW (has worked a lot on water issues in churches in the Bay Area)

PLEASE prepare for this particular meeting, which will focus on focusing Lent at CDSP around Water Issues by reading the following website resource from webofcreation.org so we
can all start from a common place.
http://webofcreation.org/Earth%20Problems/water.htm

If you have time, also take a look at this neat resource from the European Christian Environmental Network, Time for God's Creation http://www.ecen.org/cms/uploads/0702atfgc-en.pdf

Hope to see you there!

Green Seminaries at the American Academy of Religion

The weekend before Thanksgiving I represented GreeningCDSP at the Sustainable Theological Education Forum that met during the annual meetings of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature. There is a fledgling group called Green Seminary Initiative that has now just over 20 members (including CDSP). Representatives met to share stories, plan future initiatives, set priorities, and so forth. The site is part of the "Web of Creation" collecting resources for transforming faith and society. Check out also Green Faith Initiative, which started in New Jersey, and is now beginning to throw around for transregional connections. It was encouraging to see how many professors and students turned out for the events in San Diego, this year's location of the annual meetings. Their knowledge, passion and commitment was inspiring and palpable, and I will keep CDSPers updated and informed on what transpires as this all develops. John Cobb, Sallie McFague, Rosemary Radford Ruether, and Mary Evelyn Tucker, Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, Heather Eaton, and many other movers and shakers in the ecotheology 'scene' were there. A new generation is emerging. We need many more to make a difference!

Doing the Dishes

Have you been eating out of paper plates and drinking out of paper cups? Well, the faculty, students, and staff at CDSP have been slowly moving away from using paper products. In fact, as you walk around campus and into classrooms and the refectory, you'll see that many folks are using ceramic mugs and re-usable containers, as well as proper glasses and dinnerware.

In the faculty lounge and the staff lounge of Shires Hall, we've kept plates and glasses and mugs and silverware available. Each one would contribute a mug here and a plate there, just to make sure that there's something available. Most recently, though, professor Nancy Eswein donated a entire set for use in the faculty lounge (purchased from Ikea, where all things can be found). We send a great big thank you to Nancy for her generous gift. *THANK YOU*

Moving away from paper plates and cups takes a little bit of time because you'll have to use serving ware that requires you to do the dishes. But, it's worth it. Stay away from those large, over-sized dishwashing machines that use too much water, and load up the dirty dishes if you do use one. Try soap that's good to your hands. Don't forget to conserve water when you wash dishes, and use cloth to dry dishes. Or, even better, use a dish rack to air dry.

Wash away!

One plant at a time

The following Death Strip Plants & Materials were purchased by the Greening Project members. If you would like to offset these costs by donating to the Deathstrip Makeover Fund, please email us or contact Nancy Eswein.

(12) Phormium tenax “Morticia”- New Zealand flax hybrid at $8 each ($96)
(3) Elaegaus angustifolia – Russian Olive at $8 each ($24)
(9) Cistus hybridus – Rock Rose at $7 each ($63)
(3) Calycanthus occidentalis – Spice Bush at $10 each ($30)
(24) Polystichum munitum – Sword Fern at $8 each ($192)
(12) Correa pulchella “Mission Bells” – Austrailian fuschia at $8 each($96)
(6) Ceanothus “Julia Phelps” at $7 each ($42)
(15) Arctostaphyllos “uva-ursi” – Bear Berry at $7.50 each ($112)
(6) Vaccinium ovatum – Huckleberry at $10 each ($60)
(12) Liriope muscari – Grape hyacinth at $10 each($120)
(15) Rubus calycinoides – Native ground cover at $8 each ($120)
(6) Zauschneria speciosum – California fuchsia at $8 each ($48)
(6) Organic Compost at $10 each ($60)
(1) Pittosporum at $7.50 each ($7.50)
(8) Grasses at $5 each ($40)
(1) Smoke Tree at $15 each ($15)
(3) Buddleia – butterfly bush at $12 each ($36)

TOTAL: $1160

Deathstrip Makeover: Before & After

BEFORE MAKEOVER

AFTER MAKEOVER

Deathstrips Makeover: Planting Day Photos Slideshow I

These photos can't fully capture all the hard work that we've put into re-doing Deathstrips I and II (aka Mini-Deathstrip), and undoubtedly, these photos don't capture all the faces of folks who have sweated, shoveled, poked, dug, troweled, what have you, in order to accomplish this wonderful feat. A huge thank you and applause to one and all for our most excellent work! *APPLAUSE*

If you would like to download PDPs (Planting Day Photos), email us.

Blue bin it!

Here at CDSP, we've always made a point to recycle. We have recycling bins on both the first and the second floor, and the faculty and staff have made efforts to keep recycling receptacles in their individual offices. We recycle packing materials from our kitchens, and we also have two metal bins in the hallway of Shires Hall for other recyclables. (How tragic that we are able to name and count exactly how few recycling bins we have available on campus. We need more, to remind ourselves that we should all do our best to reduce, reuse, recycle.)

However, several months ago Marion Grau (Assoc. Professor of Theology) purchased and donated 31 blue recycling bins which were then placed inside all the classroom spaces and in the offices in Shires Hall. They're a waste of more money you say? Well, they serve as a visual reminder of how we need to take concrete steps to recycle. You need not purchase brand new bins; and old printer paper box, or an old envelopes box would do just as well. The idea is to have a designated space to remind ourselves that we can and should take little green steps to make positive change.

As you wander the halls going from class to class, think about what other ways you can green the earth by cleaning up and recycling.

The Greening Project applauds MG for her generous and timely contribution. *Applause*




Now, it's YOUR turn. We don't mean that you have to buy recycling bins for the school, but think creatively about how you can change the environment of where you live, work, and play.

Go blue!

Deathstrip Makeover: PLANTING DAY

It's Hallowe'en, and we're attacking the Deathstrip! At 10:00 a.m. today, we will tackle the ugly space of desiccated earth just north of Shires Hall, between the building and the sidewalk.



CDSP faculty, staff, students, and spouses will be armed and ready with trowels, shovels, spades, gloves, and whatever gardening tools we have on hand, ready to do battle to win over for ourselves a greener, more luscious, more visually appealing, environmentally safe "garden".



The dry, brown earth will be planted with lush green plants which the Greening Project (selected & coordinated by Planting Day Guru Nancy Eswein) has purchased up front for the Makeover. If you want to "sponsor" a plant or a small plot of dirt on the Deathstrip in support of our Makeover project, contact us and we will be happy to find a match for you!


We begin at 10 a.m. no matter rain or shine, cold or warm weather, so come over and join us! Or, if you're too far away, revisit our blog and we'll keep you updated.

Would you drink a Garlic flavored latte to save the Planet?

I found this uplifting article in Popular Science's October issue. It states,"Belching...farm animals account for about 16% of worldwide emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas that's 20 times as harmful as carbon dioxide. To find ways to help curb global warming, a group led by scientists at the University of Aberystwth has embarked on a three-year effort to reduce cow and sheep flatulence by altering the ruminants' diet. The secret ingredient: garlic.
Turns out the bad-breath-causing clove eases the animals' digestive process by killing the microbes that produce methane. When the researchers ran garlic-spiked feed through as artificial cow stomach, its daily emissions dropped by as much as 50%. They are now investigating whether spicing up the cow chow will taint the taste of milk and meat."

Carbon off-set programs

What's the deal with carbon off-set programs, e.g., "greenbook" on facebook? Are they really worthwhile, or are they simply ways for us high energy consumers to feel better about our consumption without actually changing our behavior? What's the collective wisdom on this?


Richard Burden
Church Divinity School of the Pacific
Berkeley, CA 94709

Killer Coke?

This is a response to Matt's comment ( sorry, but like email strings the response comes first)

I learned about the shadow side of coke on a Witness for Peace delegation to Chiapas last January. The site killercoke.org can give you more information about the Coke corporation. While it may not seem like a green issue; it interfaces with water rights, human rights and health issues.

Do we need coke here?

"Hello Greening CDSP. I'm Matt Knoll-Williams and I've been following your work. I have a question for you.

Has there been any discussion outside of the blog about the presence of Coke on campus? I hamhandedly brought the issue up two years ago at the CDSP community council and what I learned is that most people are not aware of Coke's horrible environmental and human rights records. I believe that Celtic Cross stocks the two Coke machines on campus so Vic may know if are under contract to stock Coke products in those machines. Perhaps all it would take for change is for one of us to print up some copies of reports on Coke (The Ecologist had a great article a few years back, I'm sure any corporate watch group would have plenty of reports) and bring them to a Celtic Cross meeting and/or the community council.

mail

I found this article on the web and am taking this on as my new personal "greening" task.

Reduce the Clutter in Your Mailbox
June 26th, 2007 by wayneluke


Paperless Bills
Many banks offer online bill payment these days. You can sign up for e-bills from most utilities. This keeps the paper from the bills out of your mailbox and out of the recycle bin (shredded of course).
I use Bank of America and they offer this for free with standard checking. Other banks might have a small fee. However, you save on stamps and writing checks when paying your bills. It only takes a few minutes to setup and it greatly reduces your bill paying chores. I also signed up for online bank statements so they don’t send that to me either.

Prescreened Offers
We’ve all gotten them. Credit card offers with the fake plastic card, mortgage offers, car loans, etc… You can get off these lists and cut down on this waste. It will also help protect your credit as well by lowering the potential for your identity to be stolen. Reduce JunkmailWhether in your inbox or your mailbox, it is annoying. Junkmail in the mailbox also impacts the environment. You can opt out of a majority of it by calling the companies that send you those unused catalogs and other offers. Always ask where they bought your information from. If you would rather pay someone else to do it for you, look at Green Dimes. For $36 a year, they will get you off mailing lists and plant trees around the world to offset environmental issues.
Wayne Luke

Harnessing the sun

I live in a house, so it was fairly easy to add a clothesline on the southside. I'll confess, the hard part is training myself to use it, and not toss everything in the dryer. I am getting better at putting the items that take forever to dry - like towels and jeans - in the sun. Do you have a place where you could add a line?

Worth looking into for our restrooms and dorms?

Toilet Lid Sink

With each flush of your commode, clean water that would otherwise go straight down the toilet is first routed up through a chrome gooseneck spigot to dispense pure water for hand washing. The Toilet Lid Sink installs easily without tools, is attractive for any bathroom and is a great space saver. Shuts off automatically. Porcelain-like white plastic replaces your existing tank top and adjusts to fit standard toilets up to 8.5in wide and 18-22in long. Built-in soap dish. Overhang varies up to 1.5in.

For more information: http://www.gaiam.com/retail/product/02-0334

From the Gaiam Real Goods Resource Guide Fall 2007

'Break the Bottled Water Habit': Take the Pledge...

The Center for a New American Dream invites you to take the pledge to kick the bottled water habit. Here in the Bay Area we have excellent water, that you can filter and carbonate yourself at home, so, sign that pledge and resist exotic bottled waters that have been shipped halfway around the world. Whatever health benefit you think you're getting is more than reversed by the energy waste and emissions of transporting water from Italy, Germany, Fiji and elsewhere!

Green Tip for the Day

Transparent logic: Glass bottles are among the easiest items to recycle. Doing this not only saves resources (1.2 tons of sand, ash, and limestone and 36 gallons of oil for every ton of glass recycled), but also cuts energy use -- recycling just one bottle saves enough energy to power a television for 90 minutes.

- Tip # 315, taken from 1,001 Ways to Save the Earth

Put your money where your mouth is!

Beware: not all bank accounts are equal. While some banks' investment portfolios might include, for example, the arms industry and tobacco firms and give indirect support to oppressive regimes, others avoid such investments and favor companies with good environmental and humanitarian records. So switch your account to an ethical bank, and let your previous one know why you chose to move on.

- Tip #315, taken from 1,001 Ways to Save the Earth

TREES: Theological Roundtable on Ecological Ethics and Spirituality

the Greening Project @ CDSP would like to introduce to some of you newcomers the TREES at the GTU. Here is the first announcement from the group:

TREES, a student-based, inter-religious organization at the Graduate Theological Union seeks to raise awareness of the issues that surround the ecological demise of the earth. By raising environmental awareness, we hope to provide a grassroots catalyst for change towards a more sustainable way of life for all life on the planet.

TREES Meeting: Tuesday, October 2nd, 5:30 p.m.
D'Autremont Dining Room at Pacific School of Religion
Contact Rachel Medema with any questions: rachel@hardtoexplain.net

Some possible plans for this year:

+"Green" themed Earl Lectures - January 2008 - TREES workshops
+Informal hike October 13 to the top of Mt. Tam and visit to the SFTS organic community garden
+Inviting Evangelical Environmental Network for Panel Discussion or Lecture
+Visit to the Institute for Buddhist Studies Green Buildings in Berkeley
+Gathering a group to go to Full Belly Farm Harvest Festival – a local organic and fair labor farm
+Coordinating worship at various schools on ecological themes and opportunities for other lectures and panels, visits and programs!

Highlights from the last few years include Greening Congregations workshops, forums on Judaism and Ecology, lecture by Dr. Matthew Sleeth - Evangelical Environmentalist, lecture on Buddhism and Ecology, a movie and discussion series on Water and Justice issues, discussions with local farmers, efforts to improve access to organic foods in the GTU school cafeterias, International Earth Day chapel and many other events and activities.

About TREES
In a time when we are faced with mass ecological destruction, social injustice, environmental racism, and mass economic inequity, we as human beings cannot continue to promote systems, institutions, and ways of life that further these global ills. Thus, TREES promotes ecological and relational understandings of reality that are more in tune with findings in sciences like ecology, cosmology, evolution, and genetics. Likewise we promote understandings of reality that are informed by the ecological insights found in many of the world's religions.

We understand that we humans are a part of creation, not its master. For too long we have denied our deep kinship with the rest of our planetary home. We must realize again that the sacred is present in the living earth, and we must recommit ourselves to living in harmony with that sacred presence.

The Three Levels of our Mission
We fulfill our mission by focusing on three different interrelated levels of human existence: the Educational/Philosophical, Institutional/Physical-Structural, and Communal/Bioregional.

The Educational/Philosophical component of our mission includes forums sponsored by TREES on pertinent environmental issues, coordination of relevant courses within the GTU curricula, planning for a large conference on the "greening" of higher education, literature in the form of a newsletter, paper, and journal, and our web site. This component is the "consciousness raising" effort of our group.

The Institutional/Physical-Structural component of our mission involves efforts to get participating GTU schools to perform environmental audits and then to move toward more sustainable methods of consumption and waste management, including using renewable sources of energy. This component focuses on connecting our ecological ways of thinking with ecological ways of living.

Finally, the Communal/Bioregional component of our mission involves providing outreach and educational materials to specific communities to suggest ways in which they, as a religious community, might respond positively to the environmental crisis. Our goal is to provide information to local religious communities that will include religion-specific, denomination-specific, and bioregion-specific information for religious leaders and communities that want to help mend the creation of which we are a part.

Ongoing Activities
To serve as a source of environmental education within the GTU community. To support members of the GTU community in their personal and social actions toward a way of life that promotes ecological sustainability and socioeconomic justice.
To distribute materials to faith communities for study, religious education, and worship, that explore the connection between spirituality and ecology.
To aid GTU schools in the "physical greening" of their buildings by helping them move toward using renewable resources of energy and energy efficiency, and by helping them move toward sustainable waste-management practices.

Visit TREES to read about other activities and initiatives that you can join.

Recycle... at what price?

Today I faced one of those reoccurring, minor choices about what to do with packaging. We joined a wine club on our last trip to Napa ( yes, yes, after the wine tasting). Our first shipment came today, in a solid box with some very sturdy styrofoam packing. Should I take the easy way out and toss it in my trash can, send it on it's way to land fill? On a lark, I decided to call the shipping company. After they got over their surprise, they said they would be glad to take it back and would reuse the styrofoam insert. Since I am set up to ship from home with a small postal scale, I weighed the empty package (13 oz) and printed a shipping label from usps.com. It cost $4.60. The postman will pick it up at my door for free. All in all, it took very little effort, and though it cost more than I hoped, I feel good about it. Am I going too far?

Unplug from Overconsumption

UNPLUG 2007

October 13th Give Mother Earth a Rest!



The "Unplug America" campaign was introduced by Indigenous Peoples in 1992 and is an invitation to all people to show our love and respect for our
Mother Earth by challenging our country's unhealthy lifestyle. Here in the U.S. our continued over-consumption of fossil fuels depletes water resources, pollutes the land and air, and causes health problems throughout Turtle Island and the world. Furthermore, it contributes to climate change which is impacting people throughout the world right now!

October 13th is a day to unplug - turn off the TV and radio, shut off the taps, and leave the fossil-fuel burning vehicle at home! Instead take a walk with friends and family, tell stories, do something artistic, and say a prayer for Mother Earth and our communities. It is only one day but is a first step in reducing our carbon footprint, reflecting on how much we actually consume, exploring consumer choices and ways of life that are more healthy and sustainable, and acting for future generations.

Go here to sign the pledge!

Swap instead of buying new

Craig's List is a great resource in the Bay Area for offering your own stuff and finding stuff you need. Berkley Parents' Network is another one for primarily kid-related items but it also has other resources.

Remember that sometimes not buying something is better than buying an organic or fair trade item.

From "Little Green Moves" student discussion board last spring

A Celtic Prayer

I'd like to offer a prayer to sustain our work:

When it seemed there was no hope
I have seen your light in the eyes of a child.
When it seemed there was no joy
I have heard your delight in the voice of a friend.
When it seemed that life was stale
I have smelled the freshness of sunlight on my skin.
When all seemed emptiness
I have touched your presence in the hand of a stranger.
When the future seemed barren
I have tasted life's moisture on the lips of another.
Thanks be to you, O God,
for your embodied presence
that I may love you and care for you in all things.

From Celtic Benediction by J. Philip Newell
JO

New Project?

Our pond needs some help. The pipes and baskets are showing! Please send us your suggestions, comments or creative ideas to help improve our pond.