Women's Ministry: Earth Day Followup Ideas
At the Women’s Ministry program “It’s A Wonderful World” on Saturday, April 15, small groups gathered in the sanctuary after a number of readings, poems, and music, to discuss ways in which we as individuals might make a difference in protecting our precious Mother Earth. Among the ideas shared included the following:
Become a part of Buy Nothing, an online network of local gift economies that offer people a way to give and receive, share, lend, and express gratitude through connections formed between people who are real-life neighbors. Several attendees shared stories of their own and their family members’ use of such a benevolent network of caring people who choose to share rather than buy, buy, buy.
Select native plants to foster better growth and harmony when planting in our area. Reject non-native species that can become invasive and “squeeze out” room for the native varieties.
Practice composting as a means to eliminate excessive kitchen trash and create one’s own healthy fertilizer for garden plantings.
Consider “farming” your own composting critters, red wriggler worms. These worms cannot be released since they are not indigenous to our area but can be “cultivated” in in-home containers for processing waste.
Switch to soap sheets that are available on Amazon, Earth Breeze, and other online retailers for a more ecofriendly way to wash clothing, thereby eliminating large plastic jugs of laundry detergent.
Encourage Little River UCC to join Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions, an interfaith advocacy organization that works on behalf of diverse communities to address global warming and climate change that disproportionately affect lower income populations.
The discussions were lively, thoughtful, and challenging. There was consensus, however, that each of us can control the ways in which we interact with and impact our own surroundings and can make changes accordingly.
At the conclusion of the program attendees were invited to light a candle as a symbol of what they can do in their own lives to make a difference to our environment.
We are grateful to Craig Stapert, Ken Shackley, Bill Huddleston, and Steve Wheelock for making our program possible.