Greening Sacred Spaces Hamilton

Nourishing Hamilton: Food Faith and Our City

2012-02-03T10:47:00.000-08:00

Feb 2nd 2012

Hamilton Eat Local's February is Farm Month had a great kick off with Greening Sacred Spaces, 'Nourishing Hamilton: Food Faith and Our City' event at the Freeway Coffee House.

We screened 'Nourish Peterborough,' a documentary film that follows ten unique community groups from Peterborough who are advocating for food security and sovereignty. These are programs that have a substantial influence on many people's lives, though many of them go overlooked and/or underfunded. Nourish Peterborough provides a platform for these organizations, giving members, participants, volunteers and staff, a louder voice in the community.

The screening was followed by a panel discussion on nurturing the growing organic food movement in Hamilton.

Crystle Numan, from Environment Hamilton's Good Food Box Network and Neighbour to Neighbour's Building Better Futures talked about how advertisement and the media have us thinking that 'healthy' means blemish free, symmetrical, polished etc when in reality this means unhealthy pesticide use, or transportation over great distances.

Crystle has been involved with community gardening since starting Hill Street Community Garden (5 churches initiated this) in 2010.

Loretta Jaunzarins, pastor at Grace Lutheran church talked about how her church got involved with food security issues by starting a good food box program ( veggies and fruits at a very low cost, once a month and available to everyone who wants one). She's experimenting with straw bale gardening on church grounds and so far, good things are happening. She is also looking into growing fruit trees at the church.

Bill Wilcox, with Hamilton Victory Gardens ( a faith based initiative) spoke about the work he and his organization are doing to fight poverty in Hamilton. They have already secured sites to raise more garden beds across the city.

Bill talked about the Cuban example of urban agriculture and how much we can learn from these masters of simplicity.

Clare Wagner, Community Garden Program Coordinator at Green Venture showed us a map of community gardens in Hamilton. She talked about the need to collaborate with one another as community groups in order to get the best results.

we also heard from pig farmers Tanya and Mark Veenstra who shared with us photos of their ethically run farm (Boar and Chick farm).

We enjoyed organic chili at $2 a bowl and a very kind person from the audience brought a large bag of delicious apples that he shared with the crowd!

Otesha Play Morning Choices; Auditions

2012-01-20T08:58:00.000-08:00

Environment Hamilton Youth Group is organizing a play. It's the OTESHA play: Morning Choices.

Synopsis: Careless Consumer and Hopeful Hooligan are 2 average teenagers getting ready for school in their respective homes. Each teen goes through 6 sets of choices: water use in the bathroom,
clothes to wear, leisure time entertainment, buying coffee etc. Each set of choices have significant, tangible impacts on the Earth and its inhabitants.
Carless' choices have negative impacts. Hopeful's choices are a number of small, thoughtful efforts to consciously make choices that have positive impacts.
Mother Earth enters after each time Carless and Hopeful make a set of choices. She clarifies the situation and dispels myths with additional facts regarding each issue.

I have included the poster with the audition information and hope that you can encourage your youth to try out for some of these fun parts.
Auditions are February 2nd at Centenary United Church, 24 Main St W.
4-6pm.
This is open to grade 7-12

Please let others know about this opportunity as well! The play will be shown at that Bay Area science and engineering fair at the end of March. There will be a good 1,500 students who will see it! Maybe after this we can find other venues in which to perform it.

Nourishing Hamilton: Food, Faith and Our City

2012-01-19T09:25:00.000-08:00

A Greening Sacred Spaces/Canadian Organic Growers Event in partnership with Hamilton Eat Local's FEBRUARY IS FARM MONTH

Come out and for a screening of Nourish Peterborough followed by a panel discussion on nurturing the growing organic food movement in Hamilton.
About the film
Nourish Peterborough is a documentary film that follows ten unique community groups from Peterborough who are advocating for food security and sovereignty. These are programs that have a substantial influence on many people's lives, though many of them go overlooked and/or underfunded. Nourish Peterborough provides a platform for these organizations, giving members, participants, volunteers and staff, a louder voice in the community.

Panel discussion: Growing the organic food movement in Hamilton.
About the panelists:
Crystle Numan works with Environment Hamilton's Good Food Box Network and Neighbour to Neighbour's Building Better Futures. She has been involved with community gardening since starting Hill Street Community Garden in 2010.
Loretta Jaunzarins is pastor at Grace Lutheran church. She's experimenting with straw bale gardening on church grounds.
Bill Wilcox's vision is fight poverty in Hamilton. To do so, he wants to expand his program 'Hamilton Victory Gardens" across the city.

Clare Wagner is the Community Garden Program Coordinator, Green Venture.

When: Thursday February 2nd 2012
Where: Free Way Cafe (FRWY) 333 King Street East, Hamilton
Time: Doors open 6.30pm- 10pm

This event is free of charge. Everyone is welcome!

Contact Beatrice for more information
bekoko@faith-commongood.net
905 549 0900

Building Renewable Energy Co-operatives

2012-01-08T07:44:00.001-08:00

The Hamilton Halton Energy Awareness Team (HHEAT)

Presents
Building Renewable Energy Co-operatives
2012 Workshop Series

Overview of the co-op model/Technology and Site Selection.
You will learn about how the community renewable energy co-operative business model works and the basics of renewable energy installation technology and site selection..

Bill Thompson, Hamilton Coordinator Blue Green Canada.
Martin Ince, Project Developer, M.K. Ince and Associate Ltd, Renewable Energy and Environmental Consulting

Halton: Tuesday, January 24th 2012 Oakville Town Hall from 6.30-9.30 pm.

Hamilton: Wednesday, January 25th 2012 Laidlaw United Church from 6.30-9.30 pm

Happy New Year!

2012-01-04T06:28:00.000-08:00

This year, Greening Sacred Spaces/Environment Hamilton is planning all sorts of learning opportunities for people of faith to green their sacred spaces, their communities and live in more sustainable lifestyles.
Our resources are constantly being updated, and new partnerships are in the developing stages. For example, in the area of food, we are working towards helping make fresh food available to all people through the Good Food Box. The GFB is a non-profit fresh fruit and vegetable distribution program. It makes healthy fresh food affordable and accessible to everyone. For only $15 you receive a box of fresh quality produce worth $25 or more. The food is bought at wholesale prices, often from local farmers.The Hamilton Good Food Box Network delivers directly to various locations all over Hamilton. You could be a drop-off/pick up spot.
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Have you considered growing a vegetable garden at your place of worship? Many faith groups have and we can learn from them. In Hamilton, Bill Wilcox of the Hamilton Victory Gardens is doing wonders to help fight poverty. Bill spent many summers helping to organize and manage the West Highland Baptist Church’s “Victory Garden” – a ministry wherein fresh produce is grown and harvested by a group of volunteers, and then donated to the numerous food banks and soup kitchens in the Hamilton area.
Bill and his team have already created two new Victory Garden sites around Hamilton and has much to share with us on how to get started at your place of worship.
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In other GSS news, we are ever eager to see your places of worship conserve energy. That's why we will continue to guide and provide resources and contacts for your convenience. Renewable energy such as solar panels for those lucky faith groups facing south is another 'greening' possibility through the FIT program and through creating a co-operative. See the HHEAT project at Environment Hamilton to see how you can get involved.

Lastly, and maybe most importantly there's youth. If we are serious about greening our lives, we have to include young people in decision making and the work we do. That's why, this year it's the youth we want to focus on. Does your faith group have a youth group already? Are you a youth reading this? Are you interesting in engaging youth to environmental action? Contact Beatrice at

bekoko@faith-commongood.net
905 549 0900

We are back!

2011-11-23T07:35:00.000-08:00

Environment Hamilton and Faith and the Common Good are thrilled to announce that the Greening Sacred Spaces program has received funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to continue in Hamilton for the next three years.

While the bulk of the project funding is to support the current green teams within our Hamilton faith community network and adding some new ones each year as well as maintain the steering committee that we have established, we will be focusing particularly on sustainable food and youth. We will work with your faith group on capacity-building within your network and help support the work you are doing towards these ends.

Of course, the Greening Sacred Spaces project will continue to encourage and support working towards more energy efficiency and solar for your faith building and other themes that your community decides on (non-polluting transportation, non toxic cleaning products etc).

Please get in touch with Beatrice at bekoko@faith-commongood.net.

Greening Sacred Spaces Awards-2011

2011-06-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

Left: Representatives from the Eco Churches of West Hamilton (Eco-Wham) receive the Green Sacred Spaces Award 2011. Presenting the Award is Chief Energy Conservation Officer for Horizon Utilities Corp. Brian Smith. Bringing greetings from the City is Councilor McHattie.

Representatives from the Hill St. Garden Churches receive the Green Sacred Spaces Award 2011. Presenting the Award is Chief Energy Conservation Officer for Horizon Utilities Corp. Brian Smith. Bringing greetings from the City is Councilor McHattie.

It was a day to celebrate.
While outside the sun shone soothingly and early summer displayed it's brilliant colours in all it's glory, inside Westdale United Church another celebration was taking place in keeping with the mood outdoors and in honor of the environment.

After years of working hard to green their places of worship and their practices, two community faith collaborations received the much coveted Green Sacred Spaces Awards for 2011.

Started in 2006-2007 in Ottawa, the Green Sacred Spaces awards recognize faith communities who have made great efforts to reduce the environmental impact that they have on the earth.

The awards are chosen by the facilitators of the Greening Sacred Spaces program-itself is a practical program designed by the interfaith network- Faith and the Common Good. Chapters of Greening Sacred Spaces can be found all over Ontario and in Hamilton, the program is rolled out by Environment Hamilton.

Greening Sacred Spaces works with faith communities, helping them make their buildings more energy-efficient, and their members more environmentally aware.

This year, Eco Churches of West Hamilton (Eco-WHAM) and The Hill St. Garden Churches received the awards at a reception organized by Greening Sacred Spaces/Environment Hamilton.

Partnering with the group was Horizon Utilities Corporation. Chief Conservation Officer, Brian Smith of the utility company was on hand to present the awards.

In order to win the GSS Award, there are 3 stringent criteria that must be met and they are as follows:

1. Practical actions such as completing an energy retrofit, microfit or community garden;

2. Engagement in numerous local sustainability and energy conservation educational events 3. Involvement in outreach programs in the community at large; educating and engaging other faith communities to take actions in their communities and households at large.

10 GSS awards are granted in areas across Ontario where Greening Sacred Spaces programs are active (Hamilton, Waterloo Region, Wellington County, Toronto, Ottawa and Eastern Ontario and Peterborough).

In past years, Green Sacred Spaces awards have been presented to faith communities in Ottawa, Toronto, Peterborough and Waterloo Region. This year – for the first time – the GSS awards are being awarded in Hamilton.

Councillor Brian McHattie shared greetings from the City of Hamilton and the audience was rightly impressed by the presentations given by the award recipients.

The Eco Churches of West Hamilton (Eco-WHAM) Churches include Westdale United Church in Hamilton and Knox Presbyterian Church,Christian Life Assembly, St. Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church, St. James Anglican Church, St. Paul’s United Church in Dundas.

Their mission statement: To practice and advance ecological sustainability in keeping with Christian principles of stewardship.

The team meets regularly to learn, exchange ideas, plan public events, distribute newsletters, support local environmental events, and provide encouragement to like-minded community groups.
The congregations are doing energy audits, installing compact florescent lighting and LED lighting, weather-proofing, eco- film screenings, climate change action,eco-walks offering water and energy conservation workshops, using rain barrels, using programmable thermostats, green and blue carting, growing community gardens, using green cleaning products and more.

Since July 2008 they have produced newsletters for EcoWHam.

The entire collection can be found on the website: http://www.knoxdundas.com/newsletters.html

The Hill St. Garden Churches include First Hamilton Christian Reformed church, New City Church, St. John the Evangelist Anglican, Central Presbyterian and First Unitarian.

The garden has well over 40 different households utilizing the space. They built the raised beds in mid April 2010 with over 100 volunteers, including nearly all the gardeners, their friends & family, and volunteers from the partnering churches.

Besides the community garden the faith groups are doing energy upgrades, getting to worsEco Churches of West Hamilton (Eco-Wham)hip without vehicles, canning workshops, hosting meetings for the Green West Hamilton Group, using fair trade products, xeriscaping, hosting many green community events, putting up solar panels and retrofitting their buildings.

Showing great leadership, hard work and perseverance, our award winners the Eco Churches of West Hamilton and the Hill St. Garden Faith group are making a difference in the communities where they live. We will be watching these faith communities as they continue to inspire and lead by example.

Greening Sacred Spaces Awards-2011

2011-06-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

Eco Churches of West Hamilton (Eco-WHAM) and The Hill St. Garden Faith Groups win

Green Sacred Spaces Awards 2011

Hamilton– On Tuesday June 14th, Eco-Churches of West Hamilton and The Hill St. Garden Faith Groups will be presented with Green Sacred Spaces (GSS) Awards held at Westdale United Church.

Greening Sacred Spaces Award partner Horizon Utilities Corporation, will be presenting the award on June 14th joined by representatives from Greening Sacred Spaces/Environment Hamilton. Brian Smith, Chief Conservation Officer for Horizon Utilities will give a short presentation sharing his cutting edge knowledge and information on the latest programs.

Award winners will give short presentations on the greening that they have been doing in their places of worship.

The Green Sacred Spaces Award recognizes the contributions that faith communities have made toward making our environment more sustainable. In order to win the GSS Award, there are 3 stringent criteria that must be met and they are as follows:

1. Practical actions such as completing an energy retrofit, microfit or community garden; 2. Engagement in numerous local sustainability and energy conservation educational events 3. Involvement in outreach programs in the community at large; educating and engaging other faith communities to take actions in their communities and households at large.

Greening Sacred Spaces works with faith communities to create environmentally-friendly places of worship, and to educate members of their community about environmental issues. Currently the GSS Network comprises more than 130 faith communities in Hamilton area. Network members are invited to quarterly training meetings, have access to free downloadable resources, receive information about energy-efficiency and energy audits, funding opportunities and upcoming environmental events.

10 GSS awards are granted in areas across Ontario where Greening Sacred Spaces programs are active (Hamilton, Waterloo Region, Wellington County, Toronto, Ottawa and Eastern Ontario and Peterborough).

Event takes place at Westdale United Church. All welcome!

99 North Oval,

Hamilton

1-2.30pm

For more information contact:

Beatrice Ekwa Ekoko 905 549 0900 and 905 529 7408

email bekoko@faith-commongood.net

-30-

Background Information for 2011 GSS Hamilton Area Award Winners

Eco Churches Of West Hamilton (EcoWHam)

Some 3 years ago several churches in the Dundas area and neighbouring West Hamilton came together to pool resources to become more effective in bringing the message of environmental responsibility to their constituent congregations.

A team drawn from participating Anglican, Catholic, Presbyterian, and 2 United Church congregations meets regularly to learn, exchange ideas, plan public events, distribute newsletters, support local environmental events, and provide encouragement to like-minded community groups. The congregations are doing energy audits, installing compact florescent lighting and LED lighting, weather-proofing, eco- film screenings, climate change action, offering water and energy conservation workshops, using rain barrels, using programmable thermostats, green and blue carting, growing community gardens, using green cleaning products and more. One member of Eco-WHAM (Westdale United) will be installing solar panels.

Worship at Eco WHAM includes constant environmental messages. Their mission statement: To practice and advance ecological sustainability in keeping with Christian principles of stewardship.

Eco-WHAM congregants are encouraged to take the environmental message home through e-newsletters.

Since July 2008 they have produced newsletters for EcoWHam.

The entire collection can be found on the website: http://www.knoxdundas.com/newsletters.html

Participating Churches

Christian Life Assembly, Dundas

Knox Presbyterian Church, Dundas

St. Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church, Dundas

St. James Anglican Church, Dundas

St. Paul’s United Church, Dundas

Westdale United Church, Hamilton

The Hill St. Community Garden Faith Groups

They have over 40 different households in the garden. They built the raised beds in mid April 2010 with over 100 volunteers, including nearly all the gardeners, their friends & family, and volunteers from the partnering churches.

The HSCG has been very blessed by the partnership of these churches, the approx. $8000 in gift-in-kind donations received to built the gardens and the shed, a grant, the many volunteers who have put their backs into it, and the fantastic group of gardeners. The gardeners all live within walking distance of the garden, and about half are affiliated with the partnering churches. It is a very diverse group of singles, couple & families with very different lifestyles,

incomes, and backgrounds.

http://www.hillstreetgarden.org/

Besides the community garden the faith groups are doing energy upgrades, getting to worship without vehicles, canning workshops, hosting meetings for the Green West Hamilton Group, using fair trade products, xeriscaping, hosting many green community events, putting up solar panels and retrofitting their buildings.

Churches include:

First Hamilton Christian Reformed church

New City Church

St. John the Evangelist Anglican

Central Presbyterian

First Unitarian

More Non Toxic Cleaning Products

2011-04-07T06:19:00.000-07:00

We delivered a workshop on making your own cleaning products this past Tuesday April 5th at St Luke's Roman Catholic Church on Mount Albion road.
40 women from the Women Catholic League learned a little about the history of toxic cleaning products and also got a chance to make their very own all purpose cleaner (see below for receipe).

Many common household cleaners contain alcohol, ammonia, bleach, formaldehyde and lye,
substances that can cause nausea, headaches, dizziness, vomiting, inflammation and burning of
the eyes and throat.
Some of these ingredients have been linked to neurological, liver and kidney damage, asthma and cancer.There are hundreds of homegrown recipes for green cleaning; here are some of the basic
ingredients you can find in your kitchen or bathroom.

Basic Ingredients
Any of these ingredients can be safely mixed together. Experiment and find out what works best
for you. Store mixtures in spray bottles and label them.

White Vinegar: Mix with water and you can clean windows, any glass, countertops and tile.

Distilled white vinegar is an acidic liquid. It contains acetic acid which kills viruses, germs,
bacteria and mold and so it is a natural disinfectant. It also dissolves tough mineral deposits and
stains like those found in sinks, toilets and tubs.

A 50/50 mix of vinegar and water in a repurposed spray bottle is a great way to clean glass,
cutting boards and other surfaces -- but don't use it on marble or other polished stone, as it can
leave an indelible mark. It's also useful as a deodorizing green cleaner for mildewed bathroom
surfaces; the smell of vinegar dissipates quickly, leaving a clean, fresh bathroom behind. And
vinegar diluted with hot water can clean most hardwood floors quickly and easily.

Baking Soda: Mixed with water this becomes an all purpose cleaner. Scour sinks, tubs and even
sprinkle over carpets as a deodorizer.

Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, is an abrasive cleaner and deodorizer with dozens of
uses. It scours sinks, pots, pans, tile surfaces, stainless steel, fiberglass and more. It may take
more "elbow grease" to scrub with baking soda than with bleach-based commercial scrubs, but
it's a safe green cleaner. Because it's an alkaline, baking soda reacts with acids like lemon juice
or vinegar; use this to your advantage if your drain needs unclogging -- pour some baking soda
down the drain, add a few splashes of vinegar, then cover the drain to let the foaming action push
out the clog. If your carpet needs deodorizing, sprinkle baking soda on it before vacuuming.

Salt: great as an abrasive for cleaning pots and pans.

Lemon Juice: use as bleach in laundry and on kitchen surfaces. Combine with vinegar and water
and you have a nice de-clogger.

Lemon juice and fresh cut lemons are a good way to clean with a strong acid that leaves a fresh
scent behind. Cut a lemon in half and rub it on a barbecue grill, or dip in salt to remove stains
from metal surfaces like copper and brass. Use to clean cutting boards. It also breaks up soap
residue and mineral deposits from hard water. A natural deodorizer and green cleaner, use it
anywhere you need an acid that smells better than vinegar.

Olive oil: Mix with vinegar and use as furniture polish.

Plain olive oil is great for cleaning and polishing wood surfaces, though you can use a cheaper
grade than what's used for cooking. Most green cleaning recipes call for some combination of
olive oil and lemon or vinegar (yes, you're cleaning with salad dressing -- for a floor you could
eat off). The ratio of vinegar, oil and water will vary depending on the type of wood and the
finish you have on top of it. For wood floors, try 1/4 cup of vinegar in 1 gallon of hot water. For

wood furniture, start with 1 cup vinegar with 1 teaspoon oil. For both recipes, "adjust to taste."

Washing Soda Washing soda, or sodium carbonate, is a somewhat caustic green cleaner -- wear
gloves if you're using this to scour out the stains and mildew in your shower, sink or other wet
tiled places. This powerhouse green cleaner can beat up just about any household crud you can
throw at it -- it cuts through grease and oils, it pulverizes waxes like lipstick, and can even strip
the wax off wood surfaces. It also removes stains, disinfects, and boosts the cleaning power of
laundry and dishwashing soaps. Look for it in the detergent aisle of most grocery stores.

Castille Soap: There are times when you just need a foaming cleanser, and all-natural castile
soap, made from vegetables like olives, coconuts, palm, hemp or other plant-based ingredients,
does the trick. Diluted, it's an ideal green cleaner for wood surfaces, and can double as a body
cleanser and shampoo for you and your whole family -- even your pet!

Borax: Another strong alkaline, borax is an all-purpose green cleaner and disinfectant that cuts
through grease, removes rust stains, whitens and deodorizes. It makes detergents more effective
and is a favorite additive to laundry soaps and dishwashing liquid.

Tea tree oil: Some folks swear by tea tree oil -- just a few drops -- as an additive to plain water
to deodorize and wipe out mildew and fungus. Ordinary table salt can help to scour out oven
residue, and remove iron-based stains like red wine, blood and chocolate. Reuse old cotton
clothing as cleaning rags, since few fabrics are more absorptive. You can store these homemade
cleaners in old spray bottles, but make sure they're labeled and carefully stored away from kids
and pets, since even green cleaners aren't safe to ingest.

Baking Soda or Washing Soda?

Baking soda and washing soda are both natural odor removers. Washing soda is basically double
strength baking soda, it has a very high pH, and is in the caustic/alkaline category. You need to
use gloves when using it. Most foul odors occur due to what is a strong acid, or a strong base.
Washing and baking soda, neutralizes the offender, due to its inherent chemical properties. This
is not masking the odor, it is eliminating it.

All Purpose Cleaner

You can use it in the kitchen for your stove top, counters, tile, wall fridge etc.

A good idea is to write the ingredients on the spray bottle first so that you will not need to keep
repeating every time you make the cleaner.

You will need

2 cups hot water from the faucet- then mark it on the bottle with an indelible marker

2 tablespoons of white vinegar

½ teaspoon of borax (similar to baking soda-get from grocery store).

½ teaspoon- Washing soda crystals (used for laundry- arm and hammer)

½ teaspoon of liquid castile soap.

Tea tree oil- 20 drops (anti bacterial, anti viral)
Lid on- shake it up and you are ready to go!

Will keep under you sink for at least 6 months.

Going Green at Laidlaw

2011-03-31T14:47:00.000-07:00

Speed Greening: Greening Sacred Spaces 101

2011-03-25T10:29:00.000-07:00

By Charlene Mohammed-Volunteer
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to speed-date? There is no time to waste in the speed-dating world and if you don't like someone, you just have move on. This can be fun, but it can be psychologically conflicting to just move on to another person. On Sunday March 13^th, Environment Hamilton and Greening Sacred Spaces managed to take all of the good parts of speed-dating and threw it all into a beautiful gathering with speakers from six organizations that told us what they're doing to “green-up” places of worship around Hamilton. The speakers each had their own booth, in which people who attended could visit and hear about their project implementations. There was a time-limit to visit each booth and a special Tibetan bell would ring when it was time to move on to the next speaker. As well, there was only enough time to visit the three booths that really took your fancy, so there was no time to beat around the bush with this form of speed-dating! This was a great way to learn because with the limited amount of time, each speaker could only share the truly important parts of their projects while being able to maintain the listener's attention. This was a very personal form of presenting because there would be a very small group of people gathered around a speaker in each “round”.
      To start the day, we had the good fortune of having a heart-opening prayer, along with a short video that expressed what a few churches in Hamilton are doing to be greener. This video focussed on the idea of implementing solar electric technologies. Then when the speed-greening began, it was possible to hear more on energy efficiency and energy audits with Will Klassen from Green Venture. If one felt that one needed to “date” some more with the topic of energy saving in mind, one could have moved down to Graham Flint, an electrical engineer and entrepreneur, who spoke about renewable energy Technologies.
      If you then felt that you were all “energized-out” and were starting to get hungry, you could then try to date Loretta Jaunzarins, pastor of the Grace Lutheran Church, and Kevin McLeod, pastor of Faith Lutheran. They would try to win your heart with their Good Food Box Program, in which they were very successful at doing. The project provides nutritious and primarily local (except for the exotic fruit and veggies that can't be grown in our precious cold climate) fruit and vegetables to Hamiltonians for a very low cost. There is a wide variety of fruit and vegetables provided in the food boxes, so it is very easy to find your liking and to get a colourful assortment of nutrients! This is a great way to promote eating well and locally!
      You could then have the honour of speed-greening with Sue Carson, a member of the St. James Anglican church. If you were lucky, she would have talked to you about starting a green team or eco-group at your place of worship. This would be very special because her church is actually receiving the greening sacred spaces award this year!
      Last, but certainly not least, you could then speed green with Jim Sweetman from the waste reduction task force in Hamilton, in which you would have heard about the fantastic idea of implementing green bins in faith spaces.
      It was a beautiful day filled with joy and valuable knowledge. We all got our secret desire to speed-date out of us, but now we all have a secret desire to speed green some more! Thank you to all of the wonderful speakers that came out and shared their projects with us and thank you, Hamiltonians, for making it happen. It couldn't have been done without you! Spring is here...time for life to begin and change to be implemented. Let's make this change a green one!

Aboriginal Wisdom Speakers

2011-03-12T14:52:00.000-08:00

Aboriginal Wisdom Speakers-March 06 2011
By Charlene Mohammed, Volunteer

Sage cleansing, indigenous chanting, and making connections with beautiful strangers. This and
much more was how fifty Hamiltonians spent their sunny Sunday afternoon last week at a gathering
with three Aboriginal speakers at the First Unitarian Church. We had the honour of hearing teachings
about sacred beliefs found within their culture, as we gathered together in a circle. Forming a circle with
face-to-face contact, which is typical in aboriginal culture, automatically gave each person a sense of
connection, openness and equality. It was an opportunity to open up our hearts and share whatever we
felt was necessary.

These teachings included learning about the four sacred medicines that coincide with the four
directions and colours of the medicine wheel, including tobacco (east), mother earth’s hair /sweet grass
(south), sage (west), and cedar (north). Each of these medicines has special healing powers and symbolic
meanings. Mind, body, spirit and emotion are what humans are made up of, in which the medicine
wheel acknowledges. If there is sickness or sadness within, there is an imbalance in one of the divisions
of the wheel. This idea applies to nature as well. In aboriginal culture, unity and equality is seen within
all of creation, as nature is our counterpart. All elements on the planet are organs of mother earth and
through these elements she responds to our actions, just as we respond to hers.

Two things were key in this teaching. The first is that love is a miracle drug that is found within
our spirits, however in order to release that miracle, we have to conquer the negativity that can
bombard our bodies from time to time. The second is that all of the answers are found within. Take a
moment and listen to your heart and you will feel the best feeling that you have ever felt in your life.
That feeling is truth.

Prior to this gathering, most of the people at this event were strangers. After this gathering,
these fifty people found an intimate connection with one another. Being drawn to the same place at the
same time was certainly not a coincidence. There was a tingling in the air after fears were released and
hearts were opened, as a sense of unity and purity was captured and contained within the circle. These
good vibrations will have to continually be released in the rest of the year at more gatherings like this
with Greening Sacred Spaces and Environment Hamilton. 2011 is time for change! Let’s work together to
make it happen Hamilton!

Natural Cleaning Products

2011-03-12T14:41:00.000-08:00

By Sally Mandani-Volunteer

On Tuesday, March 1, 2011, Greening Sacred Spaces went up the mountain in Hamilton,

Ontario to Regina Mundi Roman Catholic Church to advocate toxic free cleaning products. These

cleaning products were not harmful to the environment or to the individual using them. Two

volunteers, Leanne and Sally helped Beatrice from Environment Hamilton: Greening Sacred Spaces,

inform and educate the members of Regina Mundi on the history of cleaning products, and the harmful

chemicals that can be found in most of them. Beatrice and her volunteers put together a soft scrub and

an all purpose cleaner using a few natural and safe ingredients. Everyone was encouraged to take

samples home along with instructions on how to make them. The members were very interested, and

would include some personal tips they had on ways to reduce toxins in everyday cleaning. The group,

which consisted of all women, were extremely helpful and enjoyable to be with. We shared many

laughs, tips and opinions on safe ingredients to use around the home to save the environment, our

health, and our pockets.

All purpose cleaner:

Mix ½ cup of vinegar, ¼ cup baking soda, and 2 liters of water all together in a bucket. Easy as

1-2-3! Buy plastic bottles to store the remaining cleaner for future use.

Weatherproofing Party

2011-03-12T14:30:00.000-08:00

February 15th 2011
Dave Braden shared about how to make your faith home more energy efficient-do it yourself style.
Melrose United Church In Hamilton

Seed Songs Workshop Series

2011-01-14T09:25:00.000-08:00

Come and learn Iroquois Seed Songs to give thanks for the seeds

Sing songs when planting and harvesting to give thanks to the Creator for giving us food for our physical and spiritual well-being

Bring your Rattle and learn some Iroquois Seed Songs.

Dates: Thursday February 10, 17 & 24, 2011

Time: 6:00 - 8:00 pmLocation: De dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre, 678 Main Street East, Hamilton

Space is limited. To REGISTER please call Cat Cayuga at 9205.544.4320 Ext. 230 or email c.cayuga@aboriginalhealthcentre.com

Pumpkin Puree Canning Workshop: You loved it!

2010-12-10T04:58:00.000-08:00

Dec 2nd-

We gathered together (15 of us) at Westdale United Church to cut up pumpkin and make puree.
What fun! Thanks to Loueen for the donation of the pumpkin as well as the kitchen space. Thanks to Jan for helping us run the workshop!

Greening Sacred Spaces 101 comes to Halton

2010-11-13T08:01:00.000-08:00

Greening Sacred Spaces/Environment Hamilton

and

Interfaith Development Education Association (IDEA) Burlington, KAIROS Ecumenical Justice Initiatives (Burlington Chapter) and East Plains United Church

present

Greening Sacred Spaces 101

By the end of the workshop, participants will feel a sense of renewed commitment, support, and focus for greening their sacred space and community.

Come out to this 3 hour long, interactive workshop to learn about :

green team development and action (starting and maintaining one)
greening your building (energy efficiency and solar).

Hear from local community members and spiritual leaders who are already actively greening their faith homes and get inspired!

Light refreshments will be served.

When: Sunday, November 21st, 2010

Where: East Plains United Church
375 Plains rd East North side at Dovercourt Ave

Time: 1-4pm

For more information, contact Beatrice Ekwa Ekoko, Project Facilitator

bekoko@faith-commongood.net
905 549 0900

SOLAR CELEBRATION-October 31st

2010-11-13T07:58:00.001-08:00

Photos will be uploaded soon!

Energy and Resources Audit/Solar assessment workshop

2010-10-25T18:13:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 16, 2010

“Energy and Resource Assessments for Faith Buildings” Including “How to Make Solar Power Work for Your Faith Building”

Presented by Green Venture, in cooperation with Environment Hamilton at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church 1107 MAIN ST W., HAMILTON

Green Venture’s Energy Services team demonstrated the following:

1. A Walkthrough Energy Audit for Grace Lutheran church and adjoined hall

2. A Solar Assessment of Grace Lutheran, in potential preparation for solar photovoltaics and a FIT application

The workshop will consist of the following:
1. A walk through of the building, conducted by Green venture’s Certified Energy Advisor and institutional/commercial audit specialist, Will Klassen, reporting the various upgrades already made by the church and areas for improvement.
2. A presentation of the findings, in a slide show format.

3. A solar assessment walk through, conducted by Green Venture’s Certified Energy Advisor and solar specialist, Ken Baigent.

4. A presentation of the solar findings in a slide show format. 5. Q&A

Canning with Kids

2010-10-25T18:03:00.000-07:00

October 14th, 2010

Canning with Kehila Jewish Community Day School

What I did this weekend

2010-10-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

Saturday 02: KAIROS Walking We Make the Way
I gave two workshops at the KAIROS conference at St Mary Retreat in Ancaster. They were based on the Green Rule (Do unto the Earth as we would have it do unto us). We made our own posters based on the Christian teachings to be as stewards of the earth and to take care of creation.

On Sunday, I was invited to give a sermon at Melrose United Church in Hamilton. It was really fun.
My presentation was based on Horton the Elephants message; that in order to save a world we need everybody ("no matter how small!") on board!

Canning Workshops

2010-09-28T16:34:00.000-07:00

We continue to offer canning workshops at various faith group locations. So far, we've offered 3 workshops (sour cherry jam and preserved pears) and have plans for two more in the upcoming month. Stay tuned!

Food and Faith

2010-09-03T12:03:00.000-07:00

Greening Sacred Spaces/Environment Hamilton and Hughson St. Baptist Church present

FOOD AND FAITH

Food as a moral movement. Growing veggies on faith home grounds Grace Lutheran's straw bale project, Highland Baptist Community Garden, Westdale United etc. Growing food in community -Hill St. Park community garden (faith group collaborative). Eating locally (Environment Hamilton). Gardens for newcomers (Hughson St Baptist church). Good Food Box. Fruit tree picking project. Canning and preserving, (Environment Hamilton). Sacred Heart's farmer's market and more!

Come out and learn from community leaders about what area faith communities are doing to help create food security for all people.

Visit booths and displays, enjoy light refreshments. All welcome!

When? Wednesday September 22nd
Where? Hughson St Baptist Church
383 Hughson Street N. Hamilton

Event starts at 7pm-9pm
Contact Beatrice Ekwa Ekoko at for more information or to register

Get to Worship Without Your Car

2010-09-03T11:54:00.000-07:00

Worship Without Your Car: Get To Your Faith Centre A Greener Way

Traveling green is an important way we can be stewards of our planet.

Over the weekend of September 17, 18, 19th, Greening Sacred Spaces Hamilton invites people of all faiths to travel to worship that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on foot, by bike, by public transit or carpool.

Your faith group will be competing against other Hamilton faith groups for a chance to win a prize for your place of worship.
The groups with the highest percentage of participants get the prizes.

Be part of the fun while promoting active transportation. Register your place of worship to participate and promote active transportation by emailing Beatrice at bekoko@faith-commongood.net or by calling Environment Hamilton at 905 549 0900.
Once you register participants from your group can join your team.

Let’s celebrate 'a greener way to worship' together!

Challenge requirement-We will need to know the number of people who attended the service and the number of people who took the challenge in order to calculate a percentage.

Great prizes:
Green Venture has contributed the following as prizes:

Green Raincatcher 400,
a certificate for a 10% discount on a Green Venture commercial/institutional energy audit
4 x $25 coupons towards a Green Venture residential Ontario Home Energy Savings Program energy audit.

We are seeking donations of more prizes so if you have any leads please send them on to me!!

Fund-raising Vegetable garden tour

2010-08-12T05:47:00.000-07:00

Sunday August 29th 10am to 4pm-This fund raiser for Project Harvest, a food sustainability project in Guatemala includes environmental and social justice concerns with local food and gardening all in one.
It's a must see.
Contact Rita for details at ruby101@sympatico.ca

No More Making Nice

2010-08-07T08:52:00.000-07:00

We’re Hot as Hell and We’re Not Going to Take It Any More
Three Steps to Establish a Politics of Global Warming
By Bill McKibben

Try to fit these facts together:

* According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the planet has just come through the warmest decade, the warmest 12 months, the warmest six months, and the warmest April, May, and June on record.

* A “staggering” new study from Canadian researchers has shown that warmer seawater has reduced phytoplankton, the base of the marine food chain, by 40% since 1950.

* Nine nations have so far set their all-time temperature records in 2010, including Russia (111 degrees), Niger (118), Sudan (121), Saudi Arabia and Iraq (126 apiece), and Pakistan, which also set the new all-time Asia record in May: a hair under 130 degrees. I can turn my oven to 130 degrees.

* And then, in late July, the U.S. Senate decided to do exactly nothing about climate change. They didn’t do less than they could have -- they did nothing, preserving a perfect two-decade bipartisan record of no action. Senate majority leader Harry Reid decided not even to schedule a vote on legislation that would have capped carbon emissions.

I wrote the first book for a general audience on global warming back in 1989, and I’ve spent the subsequent 21 years working on the issue. I’m a mild-mannered guy, a Methodist Sunday School teacher. Not quick to anger. So what I want to say is: this is fucked up. The time has come to get mad, and then to get busy.

For many years, the lobbying fight for climate legislation on Capitol Hill has been led by a collection of the most corporate and moderate environmental groups, outfits like the Environmental Defense Fund. We owe them a great debt, and not just for their hard work. We owe them a debt because they did everything the way you’re supposed to: they wore nice clothes, lobbied tirelessly, and compromised at every turn.

By the time they were done, they had a bill that only capped carbon emissions from electric utilities (not factories or cars) and was so laden with gifts for industry that if you listened closely you could actually hear the oinking. They bent over backwards like Soviet gymnasts. Senator John Kerry, the legislator they worked most closely with, issued this rallying cry as the final negotiations began: "We believe we have compromised significantly, and we're prepared to compromise further.”

And even that was not enough. They were left out to dry by everyone -- not just Reid, not just the Republicans. Even President Obama wouldn’t lend a hand, investing not a penny of his political capital in the fight.

The result: total defeat, no moral victories.

Now What?

So now we know what we didn’t before: making nice doesn’t work. It was worth a try, and I’m completely serious when I say I’m grateful they made the effort, but it didn’t even come close to working. So we better try something else.

Step one involves actually talking about global warming. For years now, the accepted wisdom in the best green circles was: talk about anything else -- energy independence, oil security, beating the Chinese to renewable technology. I was at a session convened by the White House early in the Obama administration where some polling guru solemnly explained that “green jobs” polled better than “cutting carbon.”

No, really? In the end, though, all these focus-group favorites are secondary. The task at hand is keeping the planet from melting. We need everyone -- beginning with the president -- to start explaining that basic fact at every turn.

It is the heat, and also the humidity. Since warm air holds more water than cold, the atmosphere is about 5% moister than it was 40 years ago, which explains the freak downpours that seem to happen someplace on this continent every few days.

It is the carbon -- that’s why the seas are turning acid, a point Obama could have made with ease while standing on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. “It’s bad that it’s black out there,” he might have said, “but even if that oil had made it safely ashore and been burned in our cars, it would still be wrecking the oceans.” Energy independence is nice, but you need a planet to be energy independent on.

Mysteriously enough, this seems to be a particularly hard point for smart people to grasp. Even in the wake of the disastrous Senate non-vote, the Nature Conservancy’s climate expert told New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, “We have to take climate change out of the atmosphere, bring it down to earth, and show how it matters in people’s everyday lives.” Translation: ordinary average people can’t possibly recognize the real stakes here, so let’s put it in language they can understand, which is about their most immediate interests. It’s both untrue, as I’ll show below, and incredibly patronizing. It is, however, exactly what we’ve been doing for a decade and clearly, It Does Not Work.

Step two, we have to ask for what we actually need, not what we calculate we might possibly be able to get. If we’re going to slow global warming in the very short time available to us, then we don’t actually need an incredibly complicated legislative scheme that gives door prizes to every interested industry and turns the whole operation over to Goldman Sachs to run. We need a stiff price on carbon, set by the scientific understanding that we can’t still be burning black rocks a couple of decades hence. That undoubtedly means upending the future business plans of Exxon and BP, Peabody Coal and Duke Energy, not to speak of everyone else who’s made a fortune by treating the atmosphere as an open sewer for the byproducts of their main business.

Instead they should pay through the nose for that sewer, and here’s the crucial thing: most of the money raised in the process should be returned directly to American pockets. The monthly check sent to Americans would help fortify us against the rise in energy costs, and we’d still be getting the price signal at the pump to stop driving that SUV and start insulating the house. We also need to make real federal investments in energy research and development, to help drive down the price of alternatives -- the Breakthrough Institute points out, quite rightly, that we’re crazy to spend more of our tax dollars on research into new drone aircraft and Mars orbiters than we do on photovoltaics.

Yes, these things are politically hard, but they’re not impossible. A politician who really cared could certainly use, say, the platform offered by the White House to sell a plan that taxed BP and actually gave the money to ordinary Americans. (So far they haven’t even used the platform offered by the White House to reinstall the rooftop solar panels that Jimmy Carter put there in the 1970s and Ronald Reagan took down in his term.)

Asking for what you need doesn’t mean you’ll get all of it. Compromise still happens. But as David Brower, the greatest environmentalist of the late twentieth century, explained amid the fight to save the Grand Canyon: “We are to hold fast to what we believe is right, fight for it, and find allies and adduce all possible arguments for our cause. If we cannot find enough vigor in us or them to win, then let someone else propose the compromise. We thereupon work hard to coax it our way. We become a nucleus around which the strongest force can build and function.”

Which leads to the third step in this process. If we’re going to get any of this done, we’re going to need a movement, the one thing we haven’t had. For 20 years environmentalists have operated on the notion that we’d get action if we simply had scientists explain to politicians and CEOs that our current ways were ending the Holocene, the current geological epoch. That turns out, quite conclusively, not to work. We need to be able to explain that their current ways will end something they actually care about, i.e. their careers. And since we’ll never have the cash to compete with Exxon, we better work in the currencies we can muster: bodies, spirit, passion.

Movement Time

As Tom Friedman put it in a strong column the day after the Senate punt, the problem was that the public “never got mobilized.” Is it possible to get people out in the streets demanding action about climate change? Last year, with almost no money, our scruffy little outfit, 350.org, managed to organize what Foreign Policy called the “largest ever coordinated global rally of any kind” on any issue -- 5,200 demonstrations in 181 countries, 2,000 of them in the U.S.A.

People were rallying not just about climate change, but around a remarkably wonky scientific data point, 350 parts per million carbon dioxide, which NASA’s James Hansen and his colleagues have demonstrated is the most we can have in the atmosphere if we want a planet “similar to the one on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted.” Which, come to think of it, we do. And the “we,” in this case, was not rich white folks. If you look at the 25,000 pictures in our Flickr account, you’ll see that most of them were poor, black, brown, Asian, and young -- because that’s what most of the world is. No need for vice-presidents of big conservation groups to patronize them: shrimpers in Louisiana and women in burqas and priests in Orthodox churches and slumdwellers in Mombasa turned out to be completely capable of understanding the threat to the future.

Those demonstrations were just a start (one we should have made long ago). We’re following up in October -- on 10-10-10 -- with a Global Work Party. All around the country and the world people will be putting up solar panels and digging community gardens and laying out bike paths. Not because we can stop climate change one bike path at a time, but because we need to make a sharp political point to our leaders: we’re getting to work, what about you?

We need to shame them, starting now. And we need everyone working together. This movement is starting to emerge on many fronts. In September, for instance, opponents of mountaintop removal are converging on DC to demand an end to the coal trade. That same month, Tim DeChristopher goes on trial in Salt Lake City for monkey-wrenching oil and gas auctions by submitting phony bids. (Naomi Klein and Terry Tempest Williams have called for folks to gather at the courthouse.)

The big environmental groups are starting to wake up, too. The Sierra Club has a dynamic new leader, Mike Brune, who’s working hard with stalwarts like Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. (Note to enviro groups: working together is fun and useful). Churches are getting involved, as well as mosques and synagogues. Kids are leading the fight, all over the world -- they have to live on this planet for another 70 years or so, and they have every right to be pissed off.

But no one will come out to fight for watered down and weak legislation. That’s not how it works. You don’t get a movement unless you take the other two steps I’ve described.

And in any event it won’t work overnight. We’re not going to get the Senate to act next week, or maybe even next year. It took a decade after the Montgomery bus boycott to get the Voting Rights Act. But if there hadn’t been a movement, then the Voting Rights Act would have passed in… never. We may need to get arrested. We definitely need art, and music, and disciplined, nonviolent, but very real anger.

Mostly, we need to tell the truth, resolutely and constantly. Fossil fuel is wrecking the one earth we’ve got. It’s not going to go away because we ask politely. If we want a world that works, we’re going to have to raise our voices.

Bill McKibben is founder of 350.org and the author, most recently, of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet. Earlier this year the Boston Globe called him “probably the country’s leading environmentalist” and Time described him as “the planet’s best green journalist.” He’s a scholar in residence at Middlebury College. To hear him discuss why the public needs to lead the fight against global warming in Timothy MacBain's latest TomCast audio interview, click here or, to download it to your iPod, here.

Copyright 2010 Bill McKibben

[Note: the demise of climate change legislation in the US may mean none in Canada either, since the Harper government has repeatedly stated that it will do the same as the US.]

Sour Cherry Jam making Workshop

2010-07-08T07:17:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Fruit Tree Picking Project and hosted by St John the Evangelist Anglican Church on Charlton and Locke St.

The jam sorta worked-kinda turned out as syrup but hey! Tastes pretty good.

Starting An Eco-Faith Group in your Community

2010-06-04T11:37:00.001-07:00

Monday 31st May
We hosted a workshop about starting an eco-churches/faith group in your neighbourhood.
This event took place at the St John The Evangelist Anglican church on Charlton and Locke.
Lots of faith groups in the neighbourhood.
Speakers were Greg Reader (True City) and Sue Carson (Eco-Churches of West Hamilton).
There where representatives from 9 different faith groups.

Eco-Meditation Walk

2010-05-25T07:38:00.000-07:00

I had no idea what to expect when I organized an eco-meditation walk with a Zen Buddhist Sister-Sister Tinh.

But cradled by the soft warm breezes of a late spring evening, in the heart of Valley land, the light of the day- green and mysterious, we found ourselves, hand clasping thumb either in front or behind our backs, our gaze on the ground before us, taking very small, very slow steps while we allowed ourselves to focus on the present-meditation the returning of wandering thoughts back to the moment.

All the time, we made full use of our senses; we breathed in the smells around us, we listened to the sounds the forest made, we felt the air on our skins.

Crows called, twigs snapped, our feet crunched on the gravel path, the green hung at the edges of our sight, the smell of lilacs and then horse manure and then freshly mowed grass. The sounds of people passing by and children giggling at the strange procession we were twenty odd people walking along in single file.

When we paused in our walk, it was to look up and let our minds hold what our eyes first grasped. How vibrant the colours looks around us now. My eyes fell upon a rock at my feet solid, grounding and non-obtrusive. Next a mosquito on my hand caught my eye. I let it be. Unwanted things we normally shun kept drawing my attention:the dandelion, the purple loose strive, the garlic mustard weeds. Invasive species-how to they all fit into the grand scheme of things I wondered and then let the thought go.; reaching instead to hold and embrace the world as it was before me; warts and all.

UPCOMING EVENTS

2010-05-10T06:10:00.000-07:00

Blue Heron Zen Buddhist Centre and Greening Sacred Spaces/Environment Hamilton

invite you to

An Eco-Meditation Walk

Our guide will be Sister Tinh Quang of the Blue Heron Centre

-------------- Wednesday May 19th, 2010 -------------

Meet at the front gates of the Dundas Conservation Authority at 7pm
Parking is $6 per vehicle, entrance on foot is $3 per person

Walk lasts about an hour.

This is event is open to all people.

Contact Project Manager, Beatrice Ekwa Ekoko at

bekoko@faith-commongood.net

905 549 0900

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Interested in

Starting an eco-churches group in your neighbourhood?

St John The Evangelist Anglican Church and Greening Sacred Spaces, Hamilton invite you to attend a workshop on Monday May 31st to get your questions answered.

Time:7pm-8.30pm
Place: St John the Evangelist, 320 Charlton Ave W at Locke St. in Hamilton

Guest Speakers

Greg Reader of True City Hamilton (churches together for the good of the city).

Sue Carson of Eco Churches of West Hamilton (Eco-WHAM)

an ecumenical network of faith groups located in the West Hamilton area, serving Ancaster, Copetown, Dundas, Greensville, Westdale and West Hamilton.

Going Solar:answers for faith communities, businesses and homeowners.

2010-04-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

April 25th-
While outside the weather was damp,windy and wet, inside Laidlaw Memorial United church, everyone was having sunny thoughts over coffee, sandwiches and sweet treats.

Going Solar: answers for faith communities, homeowners and businesses drew together a huge crowd of well over 100, with people arriving not only from Hamilton, Burlington and Dundas but as far as Brantford, Brampton, Dunnville Scarbourough, Oakville and Cayuga.

Four speakers gave presentations.
Kristina Inrig, Provincial Program Director of Faith & the Common Good's Greening Sacred Spaces project gave a general overview of solar, the green energy act and incentives to going solar.
Rick Salay of the Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Toronto talked about the Solar project at this church and the debenture program they have going on to help with funding the project.

Dan Cole, director of Direct Current Renewable Energy Systems in Brantford talked about his Initiative for faith and 'not for profit' groups and coop buying in bulk. His company is the one putting the solar panels on Laidlaw this month.

Paul Charbonneau, President of Energy Advocate in Toronto wrapped it up by filling in the gaps and basically concluded with words that left the audience thinking: "solar is natural. Oil and coal are the actual alternatives!"

A panel discussion followed where the audience got a chance to get their questions answered.

April 17th- Energy Conservation Workshop

2010-04-26T07:48:00.000-07:00

Up to 25 people from St Ann's RC parish on Sherman learned about energy conservation in the home. The group learned about simple energy saving tips they could apply right away as well as plan for larger projects at a later date.

We broke into two groups to study the energy conservation planners and make our commitments to make changes in the up and coming weeks.

We watched a film on energy conservation, pulled out energy saving devices such as cloth pegs, a power bar, an energy meter and slippers and sweaters!!

Attendants got a chance to view Horizon Utilities' programmable thermostat and learn about the peaksaver program that can help relief the grid of it's burden on those especially hot days when all the air conditioners are running full blast.

Attendants left with freebies that included the LED flashlights, resource materials and free energy saving kits.

If you are interested in having the Greening Sacred Spaces and Green Venture team come out to your place of worship-please contact me, Beatrice 905 549 0900

Going Solar:answers for faith communities, businesses and homeowners.

2010-04-26T07:31:00.000-07:00

April 25th-
While outside the weather was damp,windy and wet, inside Laidlaw Memorial United church, everyone was having sunny thoughts.
Going Solar: answers for faith communities, homeowners and businesses drew together a huge crowd of well over 100, with people coming not only from Hamilton, Burlington and Dundas but as far as Brantford, Brampton, Dunnville Scarbourough, Oakville and Cayuga.
four speakers gave presentations: Kristina Inrig, Provincial Program Director of Faith & the Common Good's Greening Sacred Spaces project gave a general overview of solar, the green energy act and incentives to going solar.
Rick Salay of the Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Toronto talked about the Solar project at this church and the debenture program they have going on to help with funding the project.

Dan Cole, director of Direct Current Renewable Energy Systems in Brantford talked about his Initiative for faith and 'not for profit' groups and coop buying in bulk. His company is the one putting the solar panels on Laidlaw this month.

Paul Charbonneau, President of Energy Advocate in Toronto wrapped it up by filling in the gaps and basically concluded with words that left the audience thinking: "solar is natural. Oil and coal are the actual alternatives!"

A panel discussion followed where the audience got a chance to get their questions answered.

Going Solar:answers for faith communities, businesses and homeowners.

2010-04-15T11:36:00.000-07:00

Greening Sacred Spaces/Environment Hamilton and Laidlaw Memorial United Church

invite you to
Going Solar: answers for faith communities, businesses and homeowners.

Date: Sunday April 25th, 2010
Time: 1-4pm

Location: Laidlaw Memorial United Church where solar panels are in the process of being installed.
155 Ottawa St North (at Cannon St.).

Guest Speakers:

Kristina Inrig, Provincial Program Director of Faith & the Common Good's Greening Sacred Spaces project

Paul Charbonneau, President of Energy Advocate

Rick Salay, Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Toronto

Dan Cole, director of Direct Current Renewable Energy Systems.
Contact Project Facilitator, Beatrice Ekwa Ekoko for more information or to register.

bekoko@faith-commongood.net
905 549 0900

LaidLaw United Church Tour

2010-03-17T14:47:00.000-07:00

March 17th 2010

Today's morning tour of Laidlaw Memorial United Church saw a crowd of over 35 people coming from Hamilton (including Ancaster, Dundas, Stoney Creek) and as far as Dunville, Burlington and even London Ontario!

They were here to learn about the energy conservation measures and deficit slashing that Laidlaw has accomplished in under 6 years; bringing their budget deficit from $54,000 down to $8,000.

From installing a 7-day electronic set back thermostat,turning off the pilot lights when not in use, starting up Breakfast and Brooms (where people eat then clean the church), turning off the water heater in the summer to moving the heat ducts from the ceiling to the floor, setting up a convection current and making the gym warmer and using less fuel right up to getting ready to install solar panels on the new roof, people learned that the process was and continues to be a communal effort, a familly thing with everyone working together.

Rev Doug Moore thinks of his congregation as being part of a household "just doing what a household does."

See last post for more on how Laidlaw saves energy and 'wastes not!'

Greening Sacred Spaces Awards Night

2010-03-08T16:25:00.000-08:00

Sunday March 7, 2010 Eastminster United Church, Toronto
The Green Awakening Network and Greening Sacred Spaces Greening Our Faith Communities: Annual Leader's Forum
was a fantastic success.
What I came away with from the interfaith panel discussion that followed the workshops was that what we are developing is trust between the faiths.
What a powerful concept:imagine what the world would look like if we could trust one another!

I presented the awards For the Hamilton area.

Below is an edited version of my presentation:
We had two faith communities that started their 'greening journey' in two very different ways. One that set out intentionally on the 'noble path' and the other that didn't even realize they were on it.

St James Anglican Church Dundas

About 4, 5 years ago St James Anglican Church was, to quote a member of that church,
“doing nothing” with regards to greening.

Then, the clergy started to think about eco -action and taking the necessary first small steps towards living out the teachings of their faith. What really got things going in the Niagara Diocese (a group of 85 churches, of which St. James is one) was the youth who said, “This is our future. Let's do something about it.”
Independently the Youth Representatives of the Niagara Diocese put forward a motion at the 2007 Synod to ask that every Anglican church in the diocese be accountable for the amount of GHG it was emitting.

St James is now a shining example of a church that's implementing the accreditation program for the whole Niagara Diocese coming out of that first initiative.

St James is one of 5 churches that passed the bronze level of this accreditation programme. They are currently working towards the silver level.
St James has had a walk-through audit and as a result, has taken many practical energy conservation measures. They have held 2 celebration feasts of delicious locally produced food; they have installed a bike rack to encourage getting to worship by active transportation instead of driving, they offer regular recycling/composing/green bin education to the community at large.

Groups using the church are being given the Blue box talk to encourage correct use.
They have helped develop a green cleaning products guide that FCG has adapted.

St James is a very active member of the newly formed Eco-Churches of West Hamilton and they are heavily involved with climate change activism. The world wide events in October, leading up to the Copenhagen talks in Nov saw it's members taking to the streets, writing letters to the government and educating people about the need to take action on climate change.

Laidlaw Memorial United Church.

The Reverend at this church, Rev Doug Moore admits that they didn’t start off trying to be green. They started off with a budget deficit. The story begins with the pipe organ.

Some of the members thought that turning down the heat in the Sanctuary during the week might help the deficit, but there was the pipe organ to consider. They'd been told that the pipe organ had to be at 65 degrees all winter to be preserved.
After much talk they came to the decision to invest a little over a hundred dollars in a 7-day electronic set back thermostat. They set it up to be warm when people were going to be there, and cool when people were not going to be there. By the time a year had passed, the heat bill was $1000 less. The organ was fine. And for your information,six years later, the organ is still fine, better, perhaps, for the leathers not getting all dried out from the heat in the winter.
Rev Moore notes, “Our Congregational culture was changing. We didn’t know we were getting greener, but we knew something was happening.”

From there, ever practical, more ways to save money started coming up. The pilot lights on the kitchen stove could be turned off until someone needed to use the stove (that saves $250 in gas each year), and the water heater turned down for the summer. Changing the furnace filters helps make the furnaces more efficient.
When they needed to save even more money, they decided they would eat breakfast together on a Saturday morning, and work together to clean and maintain the Church, making cleaning every body's responsibility. Breakfast and Brooms was the result of that effort...

Ideas just kept coming. Someone heard of a deal on Compact Florescent Lights. Everybody gathered their extra coupons, and they bought enough to replace seventy bulbs in the Church, now saving $50 a month on the hydro bill.
Someone else heard about free upgrades to the existing florescent lighting in the Church to T-8’s (high efficiency fluorescent lights), and the Utility Company did $1000 worth of free upgrades.
When the Church School wanted to decorate the sanctuary for Thanksgiving they made the effort to not get in cars, but to buy local, and went to the local Farmer’s market, and decorated with the vegetables they bought there.

In the Office, they started cutting down on photo copies and paper. Cleaning now involves fewer chemicals, and more elbow grease. When people kept cranking up the heat in the gym because they were cold, and when everybody saw the heat bill going up, they talked to their heating contractor, who moved the heat ducts from the ceiling to the floor, setting up a convection current, and making the gym warmer and using less fuel.

In conclusion, Rev Moore tells us, “It just made sense for us to start thinking, all of us, together, about how to save money, and being green was saving us money, and time, and increasing the cooperation and affection we had for each other.
The more we got to know each other, the more our Worship became a deeper celebration. Helping each other be respectful of God’s creation, and enjoying each other’s company gave us a sense of friendship that allowed us to celebrate God’s provision for us, and believe our little world might be saved, after all."
Laidlaw United has recently received $$ to install solar panels this spring and generate green energy that they will be used to feed into the grid.
They are offering a tour of their church march 17th and the following month, we will be hosting a solar forum for faith groups, businesses and home owners all!

Why have an energy audit?

2010-03-05T10:55:00.001-08:00

Whether you are a temple, church, or gurdwara, an energy audit is as important to any long-term capital plan as a thorough building condition assessment.

The major benefit of energy audits is that they allow for the development of an "energy savings plan."

The energy savings plan contributes to the implementation of a capital plan by providing funding from reduced utility bills (in the form of money not spent on utilities) and, to a lesser extent, government subsidies and grants. This augments other sources of funding including reserves and investments and is used to cover the costs of implementing a capital plan.

Including energy audits in capital planning also allows for a holistic approach to planning by incorporating energy efficiency decisions into long-term maintenance programs, equipment acquisitions, and renovations or improvements. It's true it costs to get the audit and to do the renovations, but the long term cost of doing nothing is probably more.
Consider it part of the commitment to living faithfully, living green.

* Green Venture is a not- for- profit organization with years of experience in conducting energy audits. They offer free estimates (provide them with square footage and annual heating costs).

*If you are a Union Gas customer, now's the time to get an audit! Union Gas will pay up to 50% of your energy audit costs. Don't miss out on this opportunity while it lasts.

Tour

2010-03-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

*Laidlaw Memorial United Church Tour: Energy Conservation Methods in Action*

On Wednesday March 17th at 10am Laidlaw United Church will host a guided tour of the church to demonstrate how simple energy conservation action has *drastically* reduced energy bills.

Come out and learn how they've done it.

Tour guide is the Reverend Doug Moore who is not only passionate about
living sustainably and saving $$ but also about his church and his
community.

All welcome!

155 Ottawa Street North (corner of Ottawa and Cannon).

Fee? Free!

2010-03-01T11:49:00.000-08:00

Prayer Room 24/7: Continious Prayer

2010-03-01T11:46:00.000-08:00

Prayer Room 24/7: Continious Prayer

2010-03-01T09:43:00.000-08:00

This past week, True City hosted a fabulous 'Celebration'event Philphott Memorial Church in down town Hamilton and what really interested me was the prayer room.
It was a space that contained prayer stations: Listening station,Worship station, Neighbourhood station, New arrivals station, Living rock (street youth) and Native stations, Global station, Mental health station and Environmental Station.

I was deeply moved by much of what I saw. An interactive opportunity, people were invited to contribute their thoughts, art etc. At the Environmental Station, there were many useful tips/thoughts/ideas left by people who had stopped to pray there.
One of them was "We must humbly learn from the Environmentalists."

Yes, we should learn from the environmentalists.We should to emulate their commitment, their sense of justice, their fervor to see this world return to what it was once before-a glorious, mysterious, beautiful world.

But I also believe that there is much to learn from people of faith.
This will be the subject of another post but for now I will briefly say what I have learned from people of faith:
There is compassion for the ones that no one cares about. There is hospitality towards others. There is community and relationships and trust. Can we use these qualities to be better environmentalists in our own communities?

Creating a just, green future through a green economy

2010-02-14T16:28:00.000-08:00

February 13, 2010

How do we move forward in tough economic times in a way that respects the planet and ensures a fair, living wage for local workers? This was the topic of a 'breakfast speakers series' held at Melrose United Church this past Saturday.
The speaker was Environment Hamilton's executive director, Dr. Lynda Lukasik. Lukasik believes that a focus on greening our local economy provides a viable solution to economic re-envisioning for the future.
The project was launched last month and interested people are invited to join the discussion.

For more information about EH's GOLE (Greening Our Local Economy)Project, visit:
http://environmenthamilton.org/view/page/bluegreentransformation

Greening Sacred Spaces Awards

2010-02-05T07:45:00.000-08:00

The Green Sacred Space Awards were developed in 2006-07 by the Ottawa Steering Committee of Faith & the Common Good under the leadership of John Dorner. We thank the Ecology and Theology Working Group of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa whose earlier work helped us establish the frame of reference and criteria for the awards.
The GSS award is an affirmation of the commitment to environmental stewardship as shown by a given faith community through five actions in each of three areas: spirituality and worship; sacred space activities that promote a healthy environment; and outreach to the wider community in support of environmental action.

In the Hamilton region, these awards are to presented to St James Anglican Church in Dundas and Laidlaw Memorial United Church, Hamilton

St James Anglican, Dundas:
St James has had a walkthrough audit, they have held 2 eat local feasts, they have bought a bike rack, they offer regular recycling/composing/green bin use education to the community at large. They are part of the newly formed Eco-Churches of West Hamilton and they are heavily involved with climate change action (350, Copenhagen). The have helped develop a green cleaning products guide that FCG have adapted.

Laidlaw Memorial United Church. This church has been greening their sacred space for over 5 years now with significant results. They are actively seeking to install solar panels this year and generate green energy that they will also use to feed into the grid. They will be offering a tour or the church this month as well as hosting the Greening Sacred Spaces Solar Conference in April.
This year the awards presentation takes place in Toronto:

There will be five practical workshops to equip you for the task ahead, and an interfaith panel including Mardi Tindal to inspire and encourage you. Greening Sacred Spaces will be introducing their new solar energy program for religious buildings, and making their annual awards for the Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo and Toronto areas during a shared meal. Mardi Tindal will also be the preacher at Eastminster's morning service.

The Green Awakening Network and Greening Sacred Spaces present:Greening Our Faith Communities:Annual Leaders Forum

Sunday March 7^th 2010 Interfaith Eco-Worship 10:30 amWorkshops, Interfaith Panel, Vegan Meal 12.45pm to 7pm at Eastminster United Church

310 Danforth Ave, Toronto

Creating a just, green future through a green economy

2010-02-04T17:15:00.000-08:00

Melrose Breakfast presents:

Creating a just, green future through a green economy with Environment Hamilton's Dr. Lynda Lukasik

How do we move forward in tough economic times in a way that respects the planet and ensures a fair, living wage for
local workers? Environment Hamilton believes that a focus on greening our local economy provides a viable solution.
Come out to learn more, share your ideas and consider getting involved in EH's GOLE (Greening Our
Local Economy)Project.

February 13th -
Breakfast starts at 9am
Speaker starts at 9:20

Melrose United Church
86 Homewood Avenue
Hamilton

Suggested donation is $10 per person

Praying for sunshine

2010-02-02T10:08:00.000-08:00

Solar panels to help church sell electricity

February 01, 2010

Eric McGuinness
The Hamilton Spectator
(Feb 1, 2010)

Rev. Doug Moore's Laidlaw Memorial United Church congregation is praying for sunshine.

The Ottawa Street North church is one of the first in Ontario to apply to sell electricity generated by rooftop solar panels.

Its application went in as soon as the province's MicroFIT renewable energy incentive program launched in October.

Now Moore's trying to persuade the Hamilton Conference of the United Church to loan him the money needed to replace a leaky roof and install the power panels.

An initial 10-kilowatt system could bring in nearly $10,000 a year.

Moore says Laidlaw is built like a Masonic hall, on an east-west axis, so the south-facing, sloping roof supported by riveted steel beams is perfect for a solar installation.

"They drool," he says, "all the solar people drool. We've had three of them come around."

But he wants to own the system, "so all the money isn't sucked out of this community. Whatever comes off this roof is going right back into east Hamilton."

They aren't big spenders down on Ottawa North. Moore and the church council run the place on a $115,000 annual budget that includes his full-time salary. Frugal is the word he uses.

They rent their parking lot to the funeral home next door and run bingo games and penny sales to raise money. Compact fluorescent bulbs just in the sanctuary cut the hydro bill $30 a month. New thermostats save more.

In years past, when the church decided to install air conditioning, it went in the attic, because cool air drops naturally. It costs just $50 a month to run. A gas shut-off valve saves the $250 a month it once cost to run five pilot lights on a big kitchen stove.

"The whole green thing is not new to this congregation," says Moore.

Despite their thrift, the need for a new roof is a crisis, one Moore hopes to turn into an opportunity with the solar project.

The idea was born at last summer's Winona Peach Festival where Dan Cole of Brantford had a booth promoting Power for Faith and Healing, his effort to bring churches and nonprofit groups together to share information and form a buying pool to get a discount on solar panels.

Says Moore, "I need $85,000 to fix the roof and I can't get that out of the 80 people here on Sunday morning."

With a loan, he figures he can afford to install panels with a capacity of 10 kW, just enough to pay for the project over 20 years, but there's room for another 20 kW he dreams of adding.

He invites other churches to work with Cole, "because if we all come together, the price will come down." And he has recruited a project manager to prepare a business case for the loan, saying some in the United Church worry about investing in buildings they might have to close because of dwindling attendance.

Moore says, "If we flop, we'll have a church everybody will want to buy, making $10,000 a year from the parking lot and $10,000 from the roof."

Laidlaw's office number is 905-544-6536. For more on Cole's venture, go to directcurrent.ca.

emcguinness@thespec.com

905-526-4650

Hundreds attend mosque open house

2010-01-31T06:33:00.000-08:00

Gary Yokoyama, The Hamilton Spectator

The Muslim community hosted an open house at the Hamilton M ...

January 31, 2010

Wade Hemsworth

The goodwill of hundreds of neighbours has helped to heal the pain caused by an ugly act of hatred.

Less than a month after a firebomb went through the window of their school, worshippers at the Hamilton Mountain Mosque threw open the doors to the public Saturday.

The busy open house proved to be affirming for Hamilton’s Muslims and educational for their non-Muslim neighbours.

At least 300 visitors packed the mosque and its attached school on Stonechurch Road, east of Upper Ottawa Street.

There, amid hand-shaking and laughter, they enjoyed halal snacks, asked questions about Islamic practices and beliefs and took stocking-foot tours of the mosque and Islamic School of Hamilton, located together on the site of a former racquet club.

http://thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/715118

Union Gas will pay up to 30% of your energy audit cost for your faith building

2010-01-08T09:08:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone and a very happy new year to you all!
I have some exciting news. Faith buildings are considered commerical buildings by Union Gas so if you are a costumer of Union Gas and decide to have an energy audit done on your faith building,they will pay up to 30% of the cost. This is huge.
Green Venture is at the ready to do the audit.

Having an energy audit done provides you with some basic information about current energy use in your building and the potential for more efficient usage. Its the best way to know where your building stands and how to save money in the long run.
Once you have the audit done you can quailify for retrofit grants from the government. This is a win-win situation.

Lastly, Union Gas has a program in place where faith groups can receive free energy saving devices such as the kitchen and bathroom aerators to save water, the free programable thermostats etc.
Please look at the website and please direct any questions to me and i can provide you with further contacts. Their website is www.uniongas.com

Green Faith Article

2009-12-18T09:25:00.000-08:00

http://www.hamiltonmagazine.com/sitepages/?aid=1405&cn=Features&an=FEATURE%20|%20Green%20Faith

Walk for the Climate

2009-12-18T06:53:00.000-08:00

Article by Hamilton 350 Organizer Betsy Agar

December 11th-Some one hundred people braved sub-zero temperatures in Hamilton, Ontario on Friday night for a candlelit walk, drawing attention to the urgent need for real action on climate change.

Coinciding with the monthly James North Art Crawl, a diverse group of people (age five to eighty-five) carried a diverse group of candles (mason jars, tealights, beer mugs, scented candles, skip the battery ones, and a few camping lanterns) down James Street from York to Barton. The wind blew out the candles but not the message:

Hamiltonians want Canada to commit to real climate action policy during the ongoing Copenhagen negotiations. We want fair, ambitious, and binding targets to reverse our contributions to climate change.

The walk, organized by the Hamilton faction of the 350.org group, stopped off for a warm-up in Christ's Church Cathedral. Local KAIROS members and Hamilton Churches are also part of the campaign to draw attention to dangerous climate change, and on Sunday rang their bells 350 times.

Most recently, the Premiers of two of Canada's largest provinces publicly declared their opposition to our Prime Minister's lack of commitment. This is significant because our provinces can be our greatest Lobbyists, and can make many of their own decisions regarding energy and environment and economy.

We are with you, even if our Prime Minister is not!

------

The Kairos website reports over 150 churches committed to ringing their bells that day.
In Hamilton and area, St James Anglican in Dundas, MacNeill Baptist in Westdale and St Luke’s Anglican in Burlington, Appleby United Church in Burlington, East Plains United Church in Burlington, and Emmanuel United Church on the mountain in Hamilton.

Hamilton 350 Committee

The coalition of a dozen local community groups is part of a global movement campaigning for a reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to 350 parts per million – a level of the greenhouse gas which that leading climate scientists believe will avoid the worst impacts of global climate change. Atmospheric levels are currently at 387 parts per million and rising.

There are multiple other ways you can continue to make your voices heard. You can sign the Avaaz petition being delivered on Friday to Prime Minister Harper. Sign the petition, then forward it to everyone you know: http://www.avaaz.org/en/harper_enough_is_enough.

You call also phone a Member of Parliament. Call Parliament at 1-866-599-4999 now. Ask to be put through to a member of parliament in your area (or a leading government representative such as Ministers Prentice, Flaherty and Raitt) to demand action to help save Copenhagen. Calling an MP is easy; watch a Sierra Youth Coalition member call Parliament from Copenhagen.

Please let us know if you’d like to help with the work of the Hamilton 350 Committee. Just respond to this email.

Solar Energy For Faith Groups

2009-12-11T11:56:00.000-08:00

Church offers opportunity to invest in solar energy

Acutely conscious of the urgent need to address global warming, the Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist Congregation is making renewable energy its business by installing a 20 kW solar photovoltaic array on the rooftop of its church. The electricity produced will feed into Toronto’s power grid for a generous, long-term price, helping to protect the planet while generating a profit. The public is being offered the opportunity to invest in the solar system by purchasing debentures that will pay five per cent interest annually for 20 years. For more information on the terms and conditions of the debentures, go to www.nuuc.ca/solarpanels.htm.

Walk for the Climate

2009-12-10T07:03:00.000-08:00

*A candlelight walk on James Street North*
starting from the City Centre at York and James in support of real
action on climate change
(Coinciding with the monthly James North Art Crawl)
*7pm- December 11th*
*Take action on climate change. Send a message to Copenhagen**

We must quickly lower the atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases to no
more than 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide. Please join us in
Hamilton’s contribution to the world-wide actions taking place mid-way
through the negotiations in Copenhagen on a new global climate treaty.
Contact , Beatrice at 905 549 0900 for more information

Grow Green: your faith community and you

2009-12-04T07:23:00.000-08:00

How do you build sustainability action amongst members of your faith community? This was the topic of a networking meeting this past November 17th put on by Greening Sacred Spaces at Stanley Street Baptist Church.
With four speakers presenting the audience heard much to think about.
The evening kicked of with Environment Hamilton's Brenda Johnson who due to her efforts helped a Hamilton school reduce their waste from 94 bags down to 4 per month, explained that getting the janitor in your institution on board ('convincing the custodian') means including him or her in decision making. She also pointed out the importance on getting the kids involved as that sense of 'ownership' is a catalyst for promoting action.
Johnson insists that you take small steps; "Pick one thing otherwise you get overwhelmed,"she says.
Creating partnerships, pairing up with an event already going on, encouraging groups that rent from the faith community to be part of the greening efforts were other helpful tidbits of advice she offered.

Denise Neutel of Meadowlands Christian Reformed Church talked about the need to stay relevant to the community, to keep connected, maintain communication, using websites, list serv and email.

Again, the message was to really allow and encourage people to "do their thing," developing, in this way, that sense of commitment necessary to sustain sustainability.

Next came a delightful presentation by Chandal Kilgour and Dave da Silva from Cathedral High School's eco team.

The team started up when a dynamic teacher addressed the students personally about getting involved with creation protection.

There's a buzz going around now and everyone wants to be a part of it. Why? Because it is relevant and meaningful. And it's fun. From putting on a fashion show using recycled clothing to growing herbs,planting a garden and showing eco-films, these activities are speared headed by the students themselves.

Jody Van Dorp from Redeemer College wrapped up the evening by talking about the importance of leading by extension, "living it out for them."

Being told "you should" is not something that sits well with Dorp nor for most people. Rather, it is modeling why we care that works better for motivating long lasting stewardship.

Dorp suggests that we "spread love of God through Nature" by getting people outside more. "This creates love of Nature, " she enthuses.

After all, if you don't know it, don't love it, why would you fight to protect it?

Impact of religions will have 'deeper roots' than Copenhagen

2009-11-06T07:09:00.000-08:00

Ecologist

31st October, 2009

Archbishop speaks of the lasting impact of a religious movement to tackle climate change ahead of major summit of religious leaders

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has spoken out about the crucial role of the world's religions in tackling climate change ahead of a major summit of faith leaders.

Speaking at Lambeth Palace this week, the Archbishop said religions held the 'moral vision' and that ultimately their impact would have 'deeper roots' than anything achievable at the Copenhagen summit.

His comments come as leaders from nine of the world's major faiths - Baha'ism, Christianity, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Dhintoism and Sikhism - gather at a major summit in Windsor next week to announce commitments to tackling climate change.

Faith commitments

Among the practical measures being announced is a commitment by The Northern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania to plant 8.5 million trees, and by Sikhs to source sustainable fuel for India's Sikh gurdwaras, or temples, which cater for 30 million people every day.

Leaders will also announce a new Islamic eco label for goods and services, eco-tourism packages for pilgrimages (still the world's biggest tourism events) and the turning of Shabbat into an environmental celebration of avoiding consumption.

Biggest civil movement

The event, being organised by the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC), has been described as 'the biggest civil society movement on climate change in history,' by the UN.

Faith communities own between 7-8 per cent of the habitable land surface of the planet, run (or are involved in) half the world's schools and control more than 7 per cent of international financial investments.

UN Assistant Secretary-General Ola Kjorven said with more than 85 per cent of the world's population adhering to a religion the commitments made at the Windsor summit had the potential to be, 'the biggest mobilisation of people and communities that we have ever seen on this issue.'

Useful links
Full list of commitments being made
Windsor 2009 summit

350 Hamilton

2009-10-25T15:08:00.000-07:00

What a tremendous success! The faith community joined community groups in Hamilton to demonstrate their concerns about global climate change.
St James Anglican United Church rang their bells 350 times to summon people to action (in solidarity with 6 other Hamilton churches).
I held a GSS workshop at Christ Church in support of the 350 events; our volunteer screened The Power of Community at Centenary United.

Raffi: Kids for Saving the Earth -Promise Song

2009-10-21T11:30:00.001-07:00

Kids for Saving Earth -Promise Song

2009-10-21T11:08:00.000-07:00

Kids for saving earth: Promise Song

The Earth is my home.
I promise to keep it healthy and beautiful.
I will love the land, the air, the water and all living creatures.
I will be a defender of my planet.
United with friends. I will save the Earth.

Chorus:
United with friends. I promise to keep it.
United with friends. I will love the land.
United with friends. I'll be a defender.
I will save the Earth.

eco churches of west hamilton walk!

2009-10-18T18:18:00.000-07:00

ECO WALK-October 18th
Members of the newly formed Eco Churches of West Hamilton (eco-WHAM) met yesterday in down town Dundas for a peaceful walk to raise awareness about the need for immediate action on climate change and global warming. The walk started at Christian Life Assembly,proceeded to St James Anglican Church onto St Augustine's RC church and ended at Knox Presbyterian. At each stop, prayers and messages of stewardship from each faith community's teachings were shared with the participant. Refreshments were served and people had a chance to read pamphlets and sign Kyoto Plus petitions and the Target 350 banner.

Words of Wisdom

2009-10-17T05:08:00.000-07:00

Prayers of Meditation

Something new is upon us,
and yet nothing is ever new.

We are alive in a fearsome time,
and we have been given new things to fear.

We've been delivered huge blows but also
huge opportunities to reinforce or reinvent our will,
depending on where we look for honor and how we name our enemies.

The easiest thing is to think of returning the blows.
But there are other things we must think about as well, other dangers we face.

A careless way of sauntering across the earth and breaking open its treasures,
a terrible dependency on sucking out the world's best juices
for ourselves—these may also be our enemies.

The changes we dread most may contain our salvation.
small wonder - barbara kingsolver - 2002

I ended my GSS workshop with these words from Barbara Kingsolver at the Day of Encouragement event at Redeemer University College. It was the Christian Reformed Church's 50th Annual event, pulling in churches from across the nation.

Ring Them Bells!

2009-10-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

Gooooooo Hamilton! Who said our city was apathetic when it comes to climate change action? They're wrong. Read the article below by our Don Mclean of Environment Hamilton. Greening Sacred Spaces is proud of the hand we had in helping to mobilize Hamilton faith groups to action for the 24th October;World Climate Day of Action.
All through the planning of this day's events,we've had consistent faith representation-as many as seven leaders at a time. We're proud of you!

Bells of warning for planet

By DON MCLEAN, COMMUNITY COLUMNIST

Columns
Oct 16, 2009
Large Medium Small Print This Article Tell a friend Church bells ringing across Hamilton Mountain this month are calling to more than the Christian faithful. They are warning us all of the growing climatic dangers that confront the world’s governments trying to construct a post-Kyoto agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The ringing is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 24 — the day when Hamiltonians will gather in Gore Park to participate in a global day of action on climate change.

It’s one of over 1,700 actions taking place that day in 140 countries, and will include a 3 p. m. walk to the federal building at Bay and York to deliver a message to Canada’s climate treaty negotiators.

The bells of a half dozen Mountain Anglican churches will ring out 350 times in total to mark the safe level of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere: 350 parts per million. Unfortunately, the level has already exceeded 385 and is climbing by two or three parts per million every year.

That puts us currently about 40 per cent higher than pre-industrial levels. The negative results are already painfully evident in extreme storm events and rapidly melting glaciers and polar ice caps that are disappearing far faster than expected. The two “100-year” storms that flooded over 7,000 Hamilton homes this summer appear to be one small part of a worsening global climatic crisis.

Last month, the United Nations reported that greenhouse gas emissions have been going up, not down. In the 1990s they increased by 1.1 per cent a year, but since 2000 the rate of increase has climbed to 3.5 percent annually — higher than even the worst-case scenario contemplated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that combines the efforts of climate scientists from every UN country.

The Oct. 24 events in Gore Park have a dozen sponsoring organizations, and include musical performances, displays and hands-on activities from noon to 3 p. m. There are also workshops, presentations and film showings starting at 1 p. m. in multiple downtown locations (register between noon and 1 o’clock in Gore Park at King and Hughson). The walk to the federal building starts at 3 p. m. See www.Hamilton350.com for full info.

The city has declared October to be climate change action month. Other activities include a high school environmental conference at Mohawk and an Oct. 18 “Eco-Walk” linking together four Dundas churches.

Mike Nickerson is one of the featured speakers at the Oct. 24 action. The author of “Life, Money and Illusion: Living on Earth as If We Want to Stay,” is also speaking at a school, two churches and a Dundas town hall meeting that weekend.

Don McLean is a director of Environment Hamilton and a volunteer with CATCH (Citizens at City Hall). He teaches environmental studies.

The Community Columnist is a regular feature of the Mountain News. If you would like to write in this space, call editor Gord Bowes at 905-523-5800 ext. 335 to discuss your idea.

Completed Energy Audit: A presentation

2009-10-11T06:17:00.000-07:00

October 10th,2009

This Saturday (after a delicious breakfast), Melrose United Church along with GSS Hamilton invited faith group leaders to attend a presentation highlighting the results of the building's complete energy audit.

Participants learned about the auditing process, the cost and the benefits of having an energy audit for their own faith homes.

The audit was conducted by Green Venture with a partial grant from Faith and the Common Good.
About 25 people attended the event.

Emmanuel United BBQ

2009-09-27T16:01:00.001-07:00

Saturday September 26th;
More faith communities should hold these kinds of events! Emmanuel United Church held a barbecue yesterday afternoon which despite the rain, was well attended. It was an opportunity for the faith group to show case resources and groups doing 'good work' in the community. I was there representing Environment Hamilton and of course Greening Sacred Spaces. Energy saving kits were given out as well as 'Eat local' maps and 'Passport to Hamilton' maps.

Indians add green touch to religious festivals

2009-09-18T07:45:00.000-07:00

Date: 07-Sep-09
Country: INDIA
Author: REUTERS

Few events can rival the ancient rituals and riotous color of India's religious festivals. This year, the months-long
celebration season is also becoming eco-friendly. Alarmed by the high levels of pollution caused by firecrackers, toxic
paints and idols made of non-recyclable material, schools, environmentalists and some states are encouraging "greener"
celebrations.

In Mumbai, where the 10-day festival for the elephant-headed Ganesha (the Hindu deity of prosperity) is underway with
giant, colored idols and noisy street parties, radio and TV stations are airing environmental messages and school
children are learning to make eco-friendly idols.

The statues, made of brightly painted plaster of Paris, are usually immersed in the sea or a lake after a lively
procession that can sometimes take half a day to navigate the choked streets, and which ultimately leaves dismembered
idols strewn along the shore.

But a growing number of Indians are opting for smaller clay idols which they immerse in water at home.

"An idol that doesn't dissolve in the sea is just a tragic end for something you have worshipped for so many days," said
Abhijit Karandikar, a creative director at an advertising agency. "More people are realizing they can be more
eco-friendly in our festivals. It's something that's in our control."

© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved

Can This!

2009-09-14T19:06:00.000-07:00

September 14th 2009

St Augustine's Parish Centre, Dundas

Greening Sacred Spaces and The Hamilton Fruit Tree Project (projects of Environment Hamilton), along with Dundas Ontario in Transition (DO-iT) teamed up yesterday afternoon to offer a canning workshop. We learned how to preserve fresh pears. The kitchen was bristling with energy and much knowledge: we soon discovered that there are many ways to can!

We enjoyed ourselves immensely (all 19 of us) and look forward to the next workshop (St Paul's Anglican Church in Westdale).

Convincing The Custodian

2009-09-11T11:55:00.000-07:00

Convincing the custodian to 'go green' is a problem for many faith groups with environmental teams.
How do you get the janitor to use natural products when he has been using bleach for 25 years?
What is the way to convince the care taker that her work load will be all that lighter if she got on board with recycling?
This was one of the themes that came up at a meeting with the leadership of 8 faith communities in Hamilton this pass month.
Another all time issue is that preaching to the converted aside, how do we encourage members of our faith groups to get with the picture and get green?

You can look forward to a workshop that will be examining these concerns and giving you ideas and ways to tackle them.
In November (the date is still to be decided upon) we will be holding a workshop at Stanley St Baptist Church in Hamilton.
This is of course an interfaith event and all are welcome so please check in again for an update.

Summer Camp Kids Learn about Energy Conservation

2009-08-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

On Tuesday, August 18th, Environment Hamilton went to visit with the St. Augustine's youth camp in Dundas.
Student interns Jordan Bowman and Alessandra Gage led an interactive presentation about saving energy and helping the environment, in addition to running some activities and a seed planting session where children were able to plant local vegetables and herbs at the Church. Campers learned about how to save energy in their everyday lives and why it's important to eat locally grown produce. After the presentation and activities, everyone left with Passport to Hamilton maps, Fox 40 whistles, and energy saving night lights.

Celebration of Local Foods

2009-08-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

www.dundasstarnews.com/news/article/185057

Eating locally produced food is an act of stewardship. That's the message attendees heard (and ate) at Greening Sacred Spaces Hamilton's 'Celebration of local food' brunch that took place at St James Anglican church last weekend.

A project of Environment Hamilton and Faith &the Common Good, the event was a reminder of the call to protect and honour the Earth and the bounty which it produces-a call that resounds across all faiths and religions world wide. The relationship between food and the sacred is recognized in many philosophies.
"Currently, our eating practices cause environmental degradation, destroy habit and livelihood and cause untold suffering to animals. Water, air and land are polluted because of the way we do business as usual," said Rebecca Birtch one of the key organizers of the event.

Today, in a time where the decisions we make about how we relate to and treat the Earth and the life on it will impact directly and inexorably the future well being of our planet, eating locally produced food is a significant step in the right direction.

Over pancakes, sausages, muffins and blueberries participants were made aware of the hunger that resides in the very heart of our community and the measures that are being taken by some local groups to help alleviate a worsening situation.

Bill Wilcox of West Highland Baptist Church demonstrated that growing a beautiful vegetable garden on church grounds and giving the produce to the hungry is a good use of space and he challenged others to do the same.
Karen Burson spoke eloquently about the need for healthy food for children to grow properly; Environment Hamilton's eat local project is involved with building effective and equitable food systems through institutional purchasing.

Tapestry Bistro's Sam Robertson impressed upon listeners Hamilton's amazing amount of resources already in place for procuring locally grown food.

"We must get to a level of green house gases that provides safety for our planet," spokesman Don Mclean of Environment Hamilton reiterated, wrapping up the event.

Mclean's invitation for participants to join the world-wide 'Day of climate action' on October 24th (an event that is part of the 350.org campaign to get levels of carbon in the atmosphere down to a safe level of 350 parts per millions) was also a call to action to all attendees.

For more information about the 350.org campaign and Hamilton's involvement please call Environment Hamilton at 905 549 0900.

Breakfast of Local Foods Celebration

2009-07-28T15:48:00.000-07:00

Greening Sacred Spaces Hamilton and St James Anglican Church

present

A Celebration of Local Food

Join as for a tasty brunch of locally produced foods. Local food consumption is a vital form of stewardship and creation care. Learn how you can make eating locally a part of your everyday lifestyle from seasoned speakers in the movement. This is an opportunity for members of the Hamilton and area faith groups to network together and to share in the bounty of our community.

Speakers: Don Mclean and Karen Burson of Environment Hamilton; Don will talk about getting to a level of greenhouse gases that provides safety for our planet and how that connects to what we eat. Karen will talk about building effective, equitable local food systems through various forms of institutional purchasing. Also chef Sam Robertson of Tapestry Bistro will speak about resources in Hamilton that allow you to eat locally. Bill Wilcox of West Highland Baptist church will be talking about growing food on church grounds to feed the hungry.

When: The morning of Saturday August 8th 2009

Where: St James Anglican Church, 137 Melville St, Dundas

Time: 10-12am

cost: $12 per person

To order tickets email Beatrice or call Environment Hamilton at 905 549 0900

Worship Without Your Car

2009-07-18T07:02:00.000-07:00

BRIEFS

(Jul 18, 2009)

Going to church? Leave the car at home

Prizes are being offered to Hamilton churches with the most congregants who walk, cycle, take the bus or carpool to worship this weekend.

As part of its Greening Sacred Places Hamilton program, Environment Hamilton is partnering with Faith and the Common Good to urge faith communities to participate in the July 17 to 19 Worship Without Your Car: Get to Your Faith Centre A Greener Way initiative, supported by the Trillium Foundation.

For further information, phone Environment Hamilton at 905-549-0900 or e-mail bekoko@faith-commongood.net.

http://thespec.com/article/602302

Worship Without Your Car

2009-07-17T18:39:00.000-07:00

Church crowd urged to bike this weekend
Environment Hamilton urges faith communities to leave cars at home

Gord Bowes, News Staff, Hamilton Mountain News, Jul 17, 2009

Everyone heading to their place of worship this weekend is being asked to go green.

Faith groups across the city are being asked to encourage their congregations to pedal, walk, bus or car pool as part of Greening Sacred Spaces, an effort to get faith groups in the city to move toward sustainability.

Prizes will be awarded for the group with the highest percentage of participants during the July 17-19 Worship Without Your Car: Get To Your Faith Centre A Greener Way initiative, a joint project of Faith and the Common Good and Environment Hamilton.

“This is one of the ways we felt would be fun to get faith groups involved,” says Beatrice Ekwa Ekoko, Greening Sacred Spaces project facilitator.

“We’re just trying to find ways to encourage people to leave the car at home.”

Ms. Ekoko says she had heard about the idea being implemented in other cities and thought it could work locally.

It also makes for a good prelude to the Pedal for the Planet initiative, a cross-country environmental awareness tour which will stop at Fifty Point Conservation Area on Aug. 31.

As of Monday, 12 faith communities had signed up, including Church of the Resurrection, Barton Stone Church United and Emmanuel United Church, Meadowlands Fellowship Christian Reformed and Bethany Gospel Chapel.

“I was hoping to just have five, so I’m quite happy people are getting on to this,” says Ms. Ekoko.

She says she already considers the initiative a success by having more than one dozen faith communities signed up, but an even bigger success would be to get 20 per cent of a congregation to use an alternate means of transportation this weekend.

[Caption: Stephen Murray, pastor at Church of the Resurrection, is encouraging his congregation to take part in this weekend’s “Worship without your car” event organized by Environment Hamilton and Faith and the Common Good. Rev. Murray rides about 15 kilometres each day.

http://www.hamiltonmountainnews.com/news/article/182136

Worship Without Your Car

2009-07-13T05:37:00.000-07:00

Worship Without Your Car: Get To Your Faith Centre A Greener Way

Traveling green is an important way we can be stewards of our planet.
Over the weekend of July 17th, 18th and 19th, Greening Sacred Spaces Hamilton invites people of all faiths to travel to worship that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on foot, by bike, by public transit or carpool.
Faith groups will be competing against each other for a chance to win a prize for their place of worship.

The groups with the highest percentage of participants get the prizes.

A joint project of Faith & the Common Good and Environment Hamilton with generous support of the Trillium Foundation.

Worship without your car event is supported by the City of Hamilton Alternative Transportation.

Climate Action For the People of Faith

2009-07-05T08:02:00.000-07:00

As noted on the Faith page at 350 website (www.350.org Click on PEOPLE and click on Faith), "350 represents more than just a scientific benchmark for a safe climate – there are also deeply moral and spiritual reasons for getting the world back below 350 ppm CO2. Social justice, creation care, stewardship, earth community, beloved community – there are many ways we can name and express our moral and spiritual perspectives on this issue. We invite people of all faiths and all traditions to join with us action for 350."
All it takes to get started is to attend Environment Hamilton's meeting on Monday July 13. In particular, you'll learn about ideas your faith group can use between now and Oct. 24 to inspire the participation of its members. You may even wish to share a few ideas of your own.

The location of the meeting is the boardroom of Environment Hamilton at 1130 Barton Street East, Suite 207. That's located across the street from the Centre Mall near Ottawa Street (just east of the Beer Store - but on the other side of the street). It's a two storey fairly new red brick building with adjacent parking lot, also accessible by the HSR's Barton 2 service.

We truly look forward to meeting you on Mon., July 13 at 7:00 p.m.

Check out this page at 350.org

The Sound of 350 from 350 Faith on Vimeo.

James Lovelock: Climate change could cut world population to 1 billion.

2009-06-19T11:48:00.000-07:00

What is it with Preeminent Thinkers and intensely bleak public lectures? Two weeks ago Earth Institute economist Jeffrey Sachs, in an address at the Asia Society in New York, argued that climate change cannot be averted without massive use of unproven carbon-capture and sequestration technology and that China will provide little to no political help in curbing emissions.

On Monday night at Seattle’s Town Hall, British scientist James Lovelock gave a prediction of the effects of climate change that was even more dire. Efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions are just fine, he said. They just won’t amount to much.

“Our main task, should the earth continue to heat, is to adapt and learn how to survive,” he said. “We’re unlikely to become extinct by global heating, but we may be cut back to one billion people or less.”

That’s approximately a seventh the world’s current population.

Lovelock, who turns 90 next month, made his name in the early 1970s by putting forth the Gaia Hypothesis that the Earth’s physical and biological processes are self-regulating and sustaining, not sentient but in some sense a cohesive “being.” I’m not up-to-speed on Gaia’s complex influence on the scientific establishment, but it’s been ridiculed and dismissed as more metaphysics than science, yet also influential among biologists and ecologists.

In more recent books—The Revenge of Gaia and The Vanishing Face of Gaia—Lovelock has turned his attention to “global heating,” his preferred term because “warming” sounds too benign. He alluded to what Gaia has to say about global heating, though he never really spelled it out.

“The Earth does not just accept climate change passively,” he said. “It responds to what we’re doing to it, and that response is far more frightening than what we’re doing.”

Despite the futility of trying to avoid all of the effects of global heating, Lovelock recommended a few measures. He said nuclear and solar thermal power were the only sensible clean energy responses, and that the U.S. might learn from France about safe handling and disposal of nuclear waste. That rankled a number of audience members who pointed out the problem-riddled waste handling project at the Hanford Nuclear Site in eastern Washington.

Lovelock also seemed open to trying a number of geoengineering climate fixes. One man asked him about injecting aerosols into the upper atmosphere to reflect solar heat away from the Earth.

Lovelock compared such approaches to dialysis for failing kidneys. “It will buy you time, but it’s not a cure,” he said. “Then again, if your kidneys fail, you never refuse dialysis.”

Jonathan Hiskes is a Grist staff writer.

Food and Water for Our Planet

2009-05-26T12:08:00.000-07:00

Westdale United Church,May 24th- A small but eager group attended the Food And Water For Our Planet event Sunday evening. We learned how to use faith grounds to feed the hungry and construct our own rain barrels.

Westdale United Church has been running a vegetable garden since 1992. The produce goes directly to Wesley Centre Kitchen to feed the hungry.
Coordinators, Loueen Madill and her son Stephen gave a presentation followed by a tour of the garden (tomatoes and green peppers).
Writer and environmentalist, Sean Burak demonstrated how to construct our own rain barrels. Sean is passionate about water conservation and is generous about donating his time to give workshops on rain barrel making. He donated this one to the Westdale Untied Church community. He also sells excellent ready made rain barrels.

Crieff Hills Church Secretary Event

2009-05-13T06:44:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 12th, May-
Marina Fensham of Central Presbyterian Church and owner of thinkGiraffe Environmental Designinvited me to speak about the Greening Sacred Spaces program to an audience of 20 church secretaries. It was a very good idea since many secretaries are the ones who know theins and outs of running the church-they buy the cleaning products, the know who does what etc.
The presentation was warmly received and the participants said they learned a lot. So did I!

Greening Sacred Spaces Launch

2009-04-21T07:42:00.000-07:00

On Monday April 20th, Environment Hamilton launched Greening Sacred Spaces, a joint project between Environment Hamilton and Faith and the Common Good, funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.The launch took place at the Anshe Temple Shalom.

Greening Sacred Spaces is a practical program developed by Faith & the Common Good to assist faith communities in taking concrete actions to create a more sustainable and energy efficient place of worship and to educate members of the community about ecological issues.

In celebration of Earth Day, we 'cleaned up' our act and had a demonstration of cleaning products that are safe for planet Earth. Participants were invited to make their own cleaning products from simple, harmless ingredients you can find around the kitchen.

Participants numbered a solid 30 representing Hamilton area Faith groups.