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Environmental Concerns Committee

Lenten “Food for Thought” from the Risen Savior Environmental Concerns Committee

February 23, 2022 By Grace Koleczek

Lent starts on March 2nd with Ash Wednesday. Our parish’s Environmental Concerns Committee invites all parishioners to participate in their Lenten Challenge, which is focused on the problem of food waste and how we can each be part of the solution. Each week, the committee is including an article in the Sunday bulletin with education, resources, and spiritual connections on how a focus on food waste can be part of YOUR Lenten practice. Check back here each week for the articles and links!

First Week of Lent: March 5-6

Traditionally, Lent in the Catholic Church focuses our attention on three things; Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving.  We can grow in our faith through fasting which can encompass many things, from abstaining from certain foods to making choices about how much and what we eat.  The Environmental Concerns Committee (ECC) would like you to focus this Lent on food waste in our modern society.  Our focus on food waste is symbolic of fasting.

You might be shocked to know that 30 to 40% of edible food in the world is thrown away every year, about 1.3 billion pounds or $161 million worth of food.* Furthermore, the environment suffers from wasted food thrown into landfills. If food goes to the landfill and rots, it produces methane—at approximately 28 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide, methane is a potent greenhouse gas.**  It’s also estimated that industrial countries like the US and northern Europe produce 150-200% more food than is needed by their people.  We trash one third of tillable land, wasting water and other natural resources to produce food that no one eats.***

The ECC at Risen Savior invites you to participate in our Lenten Challenge this year.  Every week, we will provide information about food waste and ways you as individuals or as a family can reduce food waste. Thankfully, there are plenty of actions we can take at the consumer level to make a significant difference which include: shopping smarter -buy what you will consume not more than you need; think smaller portions when you visit a restaurant (“all you can eat” invites waste); support businesses that donate to those in need, like Second Harvest; freeze food for another time; and composting or organic recycling to keep inedible scraps out of landfills. When we give thought to our food, we can all take small steps to curb our food waste.

This week, your challenge will be to watch the film, “Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story” either on You Tube or at an in-person showing at Risen Savior on March 7, 6:30-8:30 pm in the Bays. This powerful film helps us reflect on the abundance of food available to us and how it is wasted in our society as a result of marketing, production, manufacturing, distribution or consumer choices.  Let us bear in mind the miracle of the loaves and fishes where Jesus instructed his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.”  (John 6:12)

*https://www.usda.gov/foodwaste/faqs

** https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=APq-WBvtpqFWlgjoMssBWE1ZTsGTc8M66g:1644540128577&q=How+much+CO2+does+food+waste+produce&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiJybqxtfb1AhXCTQIHahYBA8Q1QJ6BAgxEAE&biw=1395&bih=1027&dpr=2

***Movie: “Just Eat it”

Second Week of Lent: March 12-13

First coined by Benjamin Franklin, “Waste not, want not,” is a maxim that reminds us that what we preserve today will help preserve us tomorrow.

According to the nonprofit organization Feeding America, Americans waste more than $218 billion each year on food, with dairy products being the food item we toss out the most. The average American family of 4 throws out food worth $1,600/year! More than 80% of Americans discard perfectly good food because they misunderstand expiration labels.

The FDA is trying to minimize food waste by providing guidance to manufacturers about how to write labels and guidance to consumers about how to interpret them properly.

A “Sell-By” date tells the store how long to display the product for sale for inventory management. It is NOT a safety date. Consumers misunderstand this label to mean the food is not safe to eat or good after that date, which is not true.

“Best by” or “Use by” dates are for the consumer. These indicate peak quality and freshness, but do not mean the food is unsafe to eat after that date. A food which doesn’t show signs of spoilage after the specified date can still be eaten. Remember that food manufacturers have an incentive for you to only consume products at their “peak quality” because then you will buy their products more often. (The only food that is federally required to have a true “expiration date” is infant formula!)

Some tips for proper storage of food can reduce food waste. 

  1. Plan meals ahead and buy only what you need or can use in a reasonable amount of time.
  2. Use your freezer to store food for future use or to preserve food you cannot use right now.
  3. Make soups, smoothies or baked goods using fruits and vegetables that are past their prime.
  4. Have a “Use First” bin in your refrigerator to remind you to eat older items first.
  5. Refer to our handouts #1 and #2 below for other tips on how to store food for maximum benefit.

Handout # 1: Food Storage

Handout # 2: Track What You Toss

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”                                                                                          Malachi 3:10

Third Week of Lent: March 19-20

Lent is a time for us to reflect on our lives in many ways and repent for actions or thoughts that take us further away from God. We can reflect on the abundance of food available to us, and how we waste food without much thought. We can reflect on how all kinds of waste leads to the degradation of the environment and is preventable.  We can reflect on our blessings and be mindful of how our lifestyle impacts other humans and our planet.

This Sunday, the Knights of Columbus are sponsoring a pancake breakfast after each Mass.  Risen Savior has already taken many steps toward plastic reduction and recycling, especially during events where food is served.  For example, we provide compostable single use items (paper towels, napkins, plates, trash bags, hot and cold cups and eating utensils).  The kitchen composts food scraps after all events.  Risen Savior works with a Dakota County recycling incentive to increase recycling and decrease trash.

So, when you go downstairs for the pancake breakfast, please be mindful of the ways to discard all types of waste, and follow the signs to place all waste in the appropriate containers.  Members of the ECC will be available to guide you to the correct receptacles.  Do your part by helping to reduce and reclaim waste today. 

In his encyclical, Laudato Si, Pope Francis inspires us with these words;  “Education in environmental responsibility can encourage ways of acting which directly and significantly affect the world around us, such as avoiding the use of plastic and paper, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transport or car-pooling, planting trees, turning off unnecessary lights, or any number of other practices. All of these reflect a generous and worthy creativity which brings out the best in human beings. Reusing something instead of immediately discarding it, when done for the right reasons, can be an act of love which expresses our own dignity.” (#211)

Fourth Week of Lent: March 26-27

From Pope Francis in “Laudato Si:”

“We know that approximately a third of all food produced is discarded, and whenever food is thrown out it is as if it were stolen from the table of the poor”.

“We have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”

Catholic Social Teaching reminds us that we must strive for the common good, not just our personal good.  Are we aware of the abundance of food available to us and realize that not everyone shares in the abundance?  Waste of our precious resources is preventable, ignores those in need, and promotes further degradation of our planet.  During Lent, let us be mindful of the blessings we have and strive to share those blessings with those less fortunate.

 To that end, there are ways to plan for less food waste in your home.  See our handouts #3 and #4 for ways to inventory food you already have on hand and hints for meal planning to use what’s already available and making a list of what you actually need that week.  Having a well-thought-out grocery list also cuts shopping time, saves you money and eliminates impulse buys. 

Also, let us remember our needy brothers and sisters when we shop for our families this week.  Risen Savior has monthly “Food on the First” food drives for Dakota County “360” Communities.  You can bring food donations to church next weekend or write a check as a donation specifically for the food shelf. 

Risen Savior is a member of the InterFaith Creation Care South Metro organization, a coalition of churches that strives to protect God’s Creation.  Their mission statement says, “We believe in a world where humanity lives in balanced relationship with all of God’s creation, valuing and preserving our environment for the health and prosperity of future generations.  We accept the responsibility to be good stewards, recognizing that actions that benefit some have consequences for all.” Their website is at: https://iccsmtc.blogspot.com/p/church.html

Handout #3: “What’s in stock?”
Handout #4: Meal Planner
Fifth Week of Lent: April 2-3

Most of us are aware of the recycling efforts of our communities, and we try to avoid single use plastic items.  Did you know that food can also be recycled?  One-third of what is being thrown in the trash is food waste and could be composted instead.  That’s nearly nine pounds per household per week!  Instead of trashing it, turn food scraps into rich compost— a soil additive that increases the nutrients in soil, reduces erosion and decreases the need for chemical fertilizers. 

In Dakota County, it’s free and easy to start composting food waste.  Refer to our handouts # 5 and #6 (linked below) to get started on composting food waste in your household.  Or, go to www.dakotacounty.us and search “organics” to get a free kit to start composting food waste at home.  In the Commons this weekend, you can play a “Spin the Wheel” game about food waste.  There will be prizes!  Also, pick up a free container cling to use at home to let everyone in the house know what’s compostable and what’s not. 

From Pope Francis in “Laudato Si:”

“(Concern for others and the natural environment attunes us to) the moral imperative of assessing the impact of our every action and personal decision on the world around us. If we can overcome individualism, we will truly be able to develop a different lifestyle and bring about significant changes in society. An awareness of the gravity of today’s cultural and ecological crisis must be translated into new habits.”

Handout #5: Organics (composting) in Dakota County
Handout #6: Organics drop-off sites and Tips for getting started
Palm Sunday: April 9-10

Care for Creation & Earth Day

March 15, 2021 By Grace Koleczek

Over the month leading up to Earth Day (April 22), you’re invited to pray for, learn about, and take action to care for creation! Click the gray headings below for our suggestions on what to focus on each week.

Join us in prayer, song, and reflection as we celebrate our Common Home!

Our Environmental Concerns Committee is excited to share that our butterfly and shade gardens have been designated a St. Kateri Habitat! Watch the video above for a virtual tour of the gardens, and click here for our feature on the St. Kateri Conservation Center’s habitat tours.

Members of our Environmental Concerns Committee gathered on April 24th to pray and install the St. Kateri Habitat sign.

For more information about our Risen Savior Environmental Concerns Committee, click here.

For more information about Earth Day, which is a global effort and movement across cultures and religions, click here.

March 21-27: Focus on Food

Pray: Pick at least one day this week to try this prayer practice. Each time you eat or drink something, bring to mind the journey your food or drink took to make it to you—perhaps a journey of being planted and nurtured, harvested, packaged, shipped, and purchased. Imagine all the people and resources involved in bringing your food and drink to you. Give thanks for all those who contributed to sustaining you through food and drink. Bring to mind all those who go without food or drink. Ask God to be with them and to show you how you can witness God’s love to them.

Learn: How are issues of food, hunger, and care for creation connected? Consider learning about the food systems in our country and/or globally. Some places to start are Bread for the World (bread.org) or Catholic Charities Twin Cities 30 minute documentary “Food Justice” (https://www.cctwincities.org/food-justice-documentary-putting-a-face-to-hunger/) You might also check out Earth Day’s resources “Foodprints for the Future”.

Act: This week, track how much food you end up discarding. At the end of the week, make a plan for your next week’s groceries so that you can reduce the amount you discard. You might consider donating non-perishable food items to our Lenten Donation Drive for those who experience food insecurity and hunger.

March 28-April 3: The Perils of Plastic

Pray: Pick a time each day this week to incorporate the following prayer, “You Cry Out with Sorrow,” into your daily routine. “God you made our Mother Earth, who cries out with sorrow. May the wonder of your creation be revealed to us: Water that gives life, not destruction; Crops sown, not destroyed; Pure air to breathe, not polluted; Renew in us a respect for the magic of—A tiny seed, A flowing waterfall, A hovering skylark. Restore us to closeness with you, call us to change for you, and may your spirit cry out within us always. Amen.” [By Mary Clark/CAFOD]

Learn: Plastic that doesn’t go directly to landfill often ends up in the recycling bin, where we like to imagine that it will be recreated into something new. In reality, on average less than 10% of plastic actually gets recycled – and even this small amount is hampered by the fact that it is cheaper to make new plastic with cheap oil than it is to collect, separate and process old plastic for recycling. To learn more about this issue, consider checking out these resources:

  • Watch this 1 hour PBS program “The Plastic Problem”
  • Read this brief article from National Geographic “The World’s Plastic Pollution Crisis Explained”
  • Watch this recorded 1 hour webinar from Catholic Climate Covenant “Reducing Plastic Waste and Moving Beyond a Throwaway Culture”
  • Watch this 12 minute TedTalk by Van Jones “The Economic Injustice of Plastic”
  • Talk about what you’ve learned with your family, friends, and neighbors!

Act: Spend a day taking note of every time you use plastic (for example, drinking from a disposable straw, using plastic wrap to cover leftovers, brushing your teeth with a plastic toothbrush, etc). Look through your plastic use log: Are there any items you can eliminate from your daily use? Swap plastic water bottles, silverware, to-go containers, straws, & shopping bags for reusable ones. Next time you need a new toothbrush, consider a bamboo one, which can decompose unlike plastic ones. Avoid products with excessive packaging. Choose more biodegradable/recyclable materials like glass, paper, cardboard, and metal. Here is a great resource from Dakota County on reducing and reusing. And here is a PDF guide to what waste items go where, and which items are actually recyclable in Dakota County.

April 4-10: The Web of Life and Integral Ecology

Pray: Dedicate 10 minutes this week to read and reflect on Genesis 2: 4-15. God entrusts humankind with caring for creation; open your heart to how God invites you to this mission. You might end your reflection with the prayer from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops called “Prayer to Care for Our Common Home.”

Learn: What is meant by an “integral ecology?” This term conveys how all of creation—humanity included—is connected and interdependent. The choices we make and have available are impacted by and also have an impact on the world around us. As Pope Francis writes, “All creatures are connected, each must be cherished with love and respect, for all of us as living creatures are dependent on one another…All creatures are moving forward with us and through us towards a common point of arrival, which is God” (Laudato Si’, 91). Below are some resources to consider learning more from!

  • Chapter 4 of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudatio Si’. (Click this link then go to pages 103-120). You can also learn about the themes of this chapter in this 15-minutes video from Daniel Horan, OFM:
  • Check out this 5 minute video and short article from EcoCatholic, “What is Integral Ecology?”
  • Read this brief St. Anthony Messenger article “Let’s Stop Fighting Over Climate Change” for connections between spirituality and care for creation.
  • Search from a multitude of topics to learn about our local environment on the Three Rivers Park District Podcast “The Wandering Naturalist.“

Act: How are you being invited to live more attuned to the ways you are dependent on and also responsible for the care for our common home? Consider picking one or more actions here: volunteering with a county park or environmental protection group (such as Friends of the Mississippi River, Great River Greening, or Three Rivers Park District) in restoration efforts; planting native plants in our yards; or learning about how to protect pollinators like bees and butterflies.

April 11-17: Simplicity and Countering the “Throwaway Culture”

Pray: Have you ever thought about how what you consume, purchase, and throw away relates to your faith life? Try spending a few minutes holding that question in your heart as you pray the “Prayer for Simplicity,” below or found as a prayer card here.

Lighten my load, Lord. Help me to keep in balance the things I desire with those I truly need. May I give generously to those whose needs are far more pressing than my own. Lighten my mind, Lord. Help me to relinquish my opinions and judgments. By widening my worldview, may I come to a greater appreciation of the diversity of your people. Lighten my heart, Lord. Help me to release any toxic emotions that constrict my love and limit my compassion. Let gratitude, kindness, and delight in life arise in me like the sweetest song. In imitation of your devoted servant, St. Francis of Assisi, may I come to embrace simplicity as a sacred way to live. Amen.

Learn: Pope Francis has spoken extensively on how our worldview is one of convenience, where everything is seen as disposable, replaceable or temporary. This impacts how we relate to the earth AND one another. Check out this brief article “Pope Francis’s Guide to Avoiding ‘Throwaway Culture‘” to learn more.

As a practical learning piece this week re-think the slogan “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” To be an even more mindful steward of creation, consider these updated 6 R’s of Sustainability, which are ideally considering in the following order:

(1) Refuse: Refuse single-use items, such as plastic drinking straws. Refuse what you don’t need–such as impulse buys or the latest phone if yours still works!

(2) Reduce: Reduce to spend your resources on what you don’t actually need. Have you been meaning to go through your attic or closet this spring? If you get rid of unwanted items, check where you can donate or recycle them before putting them in the trash. (See this searchable guide from Dakota County for a start!)

(3) Repair: Before tossing a broken item, see if you can learn how to repair it, or ask around to see if friends or family members can help. Dakota County also has a free “Fix-It Clinic” and archived how-to videos on fixing commonly broken items.

(4) Reuse: Choose reusable items instead of disposable ones. You can find sustainably made reusable items like metal straws, water bottles, picnic sets, etc. OR make your own items, like cloth towels instead of paper towels, etc.

(5) Recycle: Recycle items that can be recycled. Here is a guide to Dakota County Recycling.

(6) Rot: Instead of tossing food scraps into the trash to end up in a landfill, choose to compost these materials! Dakota County has free organics drop-off. You can also learn how to at-home compost.

Act: When you go to purchase something—big or small—this week, ask yourself if this is a need or want. Is it something that will end up in a landfill? Can you put the 6 R’s of Sustainability into practice? You might also challenge yourself to pick one type of item you often need, such as personal care items or electronics. Research how you can buy local and buy quality; avoid fast fashion or poor-quality purchases. This will reduce the carbon spent on transporting/producing goods, as well as the need to frequently replace items

April 18-24: Water

Pray: In the Easter Season, we recall the waters of our baptismal promises. This week, every time you use or encounter water, recall your connection to water not only through baptism but in the ways you depend on water for everyday use and enjoyment. Reflect prayerfully on this excerpt from Carolyn McWatters’ reflection Gift of Water: “All of life emerged from water, and our bodies are largely composed of it, so [when I interact with water,] I am actually experiencing a visceral connection to that from which I came…Water is the Creator’s gift for the entire world to share…Water provides us with a window into the depths of God and the life God desires for us.” Find the entire reflection here.

Learn: Water connects everything around us. It covers about 71% of the Earth’s surface and is found in the ground underneath our feet, in the air that we breathe and in the clouds over our heads. As one of the most important nutrients on our planet, water is necessary for all life. It encourages plant growth, provides a home for many organisms and supports the functioning of our bodies. Unfortunately, of the world’s total water supply, over 96% is saline water found in oceans, while only 2.5% is fresh water. Because much of this 2.5% is trapped in glaciers or polluted, only about 0.007% of all water is left to support the world’s rapidly growing population. While freshwater is renewable, our population is using water so fast that nature can’t keep up with demand. Many parts of the world already have dangerously short supplies of water.

Learn more about the precious gift of water and how your actions impact it. Some starting places are to

  • calculate your water footprint and learn tips to reduce it,
  • visit the EPA’s WaterSense website, or
  • view PBS’s “H20: The Molecule that Made Us” (note: you need a PBS subscription to view this series BUT you can view short clips of it by clicking the previous link and scrolling down the page.)

Act: Examine your water use!

  • Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth.
  • Consider reducing the number of showers you take and/or reducing the amount of time you spend in the shower.
  • Instead of pre-rinsing dishes, fill a small basin, place it in your sink to pre-soak dishes before washing OR don’t pre-rinse at all.
  • Only wash laundry items when necessary; you can get more than 1 wear out of most clothing items!
  • If you already are a pro at these things, consider collecting water in a rain barrel for all outdoor water needs and/or installing low-flow shower heads or toilets in your home.

Contact: Grace Koleczek, Adult Faith Formation & Social Justice Coordinator, grace.koleczek@risensavior.org, (952) 698-1724.

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