LENN Summer 2018 Carbon Emissions from the Landfill
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Loretto Earth Network News ONE CRY Summer 2018 Vol. 26, No. 2 Women Religious and Sacred Lands oretto knows Bette Ann Jaster, State Capitol that calls on Governor OP as the co-founder, with Cuomo to favor solar over pipelines LCathy Mueller SL, of EarthLinks, and bomb trains bearing fossil fuels a ministry to the economically poor into a famously frack-free New York. in Denver that connects people and Dominicans of Hope have also joined nature through gardening, nature the WE ARE STILL IN CAMPAIGN. crafts, and contemplative visits to In service to Monarch butterflies, the mountains. Now, after serving her Bette Ann & company obtained term in leadership with Dominicans via grant, swamp milkweed plants of Hope, she is on staff as outreach needed by butterflies. Occasionally, liaison between the congregation’s someone is graced with the fleeting values and the public. sight of a Monarch on its seasonal flight to Canada or Mexico. In At Mariandale, the Center for this addition, local families also gathered interface, she maintains a display of Find Your Center at to build & “plant” 5 bluebird houses. all eight corporate stances, updating In keeping with Climate sensitivity, each with related current issues and Mariandale Mariandale is reducing lawn mowing, events for members of the public the food pantry in the Village. which helps to sequester carbon while who frequent the Center. She weaves Saturday evening’s liturgy has a social giving the pollinators a heyday in the community together through bee- and environmental justice focus. Twice dandelions. yard tours, labyrinth walks, planting & a year, in an Inter-faith effort, they turn harvesting vegetables with volunteers a dining room into overnight lodging On Mariandale’s land along the in the kitchen garden, managed by for 12-18 homeless people for a week, Hudson, surrounded by pink milkweed the Chef who then provides culinary providing 3 healthy meals. and lambs ear, the labyrinth and its delights for Center programs. surroundings provide a metaphor for Volunteers also tend raised beds She is active in ROAR (Religious community life. “Find your Center at in a cutting garden of flowers and Organizations Along the River) and Mariandale,” she says, “the winding herbs, the Hope Community Gardens. gives invited public talks. She labyrinth of life reorients our brains She calls her program, CO-OP for organizes Vigils, participates in and allows for momentary pauses EARTHSAKE, to express collaboration Actions opposed to the placement refreshing spirits, to turn and turn with the Dominican legacy and the of a fracked gas pipeline next to again and weave our way back into larger community. Every week they Indian Point nuclear power plant, the stream of life beyond our lovingly bring fresh vegetables and herbs to and the Walk the Talk Action at NY tended landscapes & inhabitants.” Brentwood CSJ’s Artful Collaboration for Earth ENN’s Spring 2018 issue noted the Brentwood CSJ’s solar array and revegetation project providing 63% of their campus’ energy needs. This land now provides multiple ecological benefits, including habitat for birds, Lpollinators and other small wildlife, soil carbon storage, and storm water retention. We celebrate the CSJ’s innovative collaboration with nonprofit organizations to create such a restorative benefit for Earth. Referencing the project as a case study, the collaboration is reaching out to share best practices, leverage lessons learned, maximize funding opportunities, and hopefully form a network of religious and service organizations across Long Island for expanding solar energy generation on their lands. Search “Brentwood CSJ solar” for more detail; scroll down to the second video for three minutes of life-changing inspiration! “Recognizing the Editor’s Note: violence against Libby Comeaux CoL the Earth Community that places our common home in dire jeoparty and oretto at the UN hosted your intensifies the suffering editor to attend the 2018 of people on the margins, LPermanent Forum, whose future generations and all theme was collective land rights for creation, we will sacrifice Indigenous Peoples, long-enduring custodians of Earth’s remaining to mitigate significantly reserves of carbon-sequestering our impact on climate old-growth forests, grasslands, and change and ecological river ecosystems. The Permanent Forum confronts bad actors and degradation.” encourages best practices, while the WE ARE STILL IN CAMPAIGN Adrian Dominicans Pope Francis reminds us that the and Loretto joins CATHOLICS ARE Cry of the Poor and the Cry of STILL IN (search “Catholic Climate 2016 General Chapter Earth are One Cry. We thank Anna Covenant”) toward September’s Maria Caldera, friend of Genesis Global Climate Summit. Our Loretto Farm, for her first-person account decision processes have brought of Lummi Nation’s traveling totem forth solar panels, LED bulbs, pole and Iliff Theology, friend of recycling practices, and restorative Coordinators Mary Luke Tobin, SL, for academic land management, as we lean into Loretto Earth Network commitment to continued shared accountability. Fortunately, challenge. renewable energy is cheaper, more Beth Blissman CoL effective, and more imaginative Libby Comeaux CoL In The Great Work, Thomas Berry than ever before. Thank you to critiqued the basic political tension Roberta Hudlow, SL, for bringing Mary Ann Coyle SL - Emerita he saw between those who see the St. Louis Climate Summit Maureen Fiedler SL Earth as a resource for humans to to this issue, co-member Diane Mike Leard CoL exploit, and those who experience Fassel for inspiring us to integrate Maureen McCormack SL Earth as the very context of life – carbon sequestration into the matrix, mother. In LENN’s Spring basic rhythms of our lives, and co- Jessie Rathburn CoL issue, Miriam Therese MacGillis member Beth Blissman, of Loretto Nancy Wittwer SL cautioned us against dropping at the UN, for reporting how we can Marcus Hyde - Intern the new cosmology into our old set and meet our targets! cosmology, continuing to drive old- Earna Volk - Intern paradigm policy. We thank Vivian We are grateful that We Are Not Doremus, Loretto co-member, Alone. Our friends are working for her delightful prose style alongside and inspiring us. We and enticing review of American dove into some details with other Loretto Earth Network News Nations. Reading that book or congregations of religious women the sequel, American Character, and found a dance of ecology as A publication of the clarifies how deeply settler culture spiritual praxis, as policy activism, Loretto Community must confront old-paradigm and as specific accountability. thinking. As well, questions emerge Thanks to Regina Drey, SL, for Editor: Libby Comeaux CoL about the influence of bioregional keeping us connected with Loretto 1663 Steele St Apt 901 ecosystems on culture over schools, to co-member Jessie Denver, CO 80206 centuries. www.planetdrum.org Rathburn for her interview of Loretto Motherhouse neighbor Carolyn Email: [email protected] As we face another election Cromer, and thanks to LENN for www.lorettocommunity.org cycle, we find courage as mayors, opening my writing floodgates for governors, and civil society mobilize this issue! Layout: Nancy Wittwer SL Page 2 LENN Summer 2018 carbon emissions from the landfill Corinne Sanders OP, Sustainability Director that this practice saves. The finished By Libby Comeaux CoL compost is then used to further enrich being most helpful as well as serving the soils in the permaculture gardens. ver the years LEN News has alongside wonderful and talented co- An additional land practice is the featured articles on the Rights workers. reduction of mowing to just about 7 Oof Nature, one of whose acres. Years ago, they ceased the use proponents is the Center for Earth Working with the Director of Facilities of chemical fertilizer and herbicides. Jurisprudence founded by Patricia and Grounds is an especially When asked how we can significantly Siemen. Now that she is prioress of important relationship as they address reduce our carbon impact, she Adrian Dominicans, we thought to energy usage. They are able to replied that one area, major for interview Corinne Sanders, OP, their use various monitoring criteria from individuals, is how and what we eat. Sustainability Director. websites such as the EPA, the public The Motherhouse does a meatless utility company, and the TRANE Monday on campus, and they have In addition to the director of the Monitor System. The Congregation found that making it delicious really Justice and Peace office and the seeks to reduce greenhouse gas helps. The Chefs have risen to the director of the Permaculture office, emissions and sequester carbon using challenge. both of whom address the Integrity of best practice principles for energy Creation with collaborating volunteers, usage, food, land, transportation, Being intentional and strategic implies Corinne’s role was established to waste, and purchasing/supply chain measuring and monitoring. She be more strategic and intentional, oversight. Replacing old mechanical holds regular meetings for deepening especially with Motherhouse buildings systems with new ones that draw less members’ awareness and knowledge and the land on which they live. power, and finding ways to reduce of helpful individual practices and This stemmed from a 2016 Chapter surges at peak times, are two current how the congregation is progressing measure that used the term “sacrifice” projects. Institutional replacement of overall. Personal vehicle use, so far, to describe the congregation’s sacred light bulbs with LEDs, together with is managed mostly by individual obligation in the face of the Earth’s reminders to members to keep the choices, carpooling and reducing trips crisis. lights turned off except when needed, that could be combined, that sort of has shown significant reduction in thing. When asked what education and energy usage. They are exploring the experience prepared her for this role, suitability of self-generation plants for All in all, Corinne reminds us, the Corinne laughed while referencing her renewable energy.