Green Sacred Spaces Awards 2012.

You're invited!

Come Celebrate with Us!

The Green Sacred Spaces Award recognizes the contributions that faith communities have made toward making our environment more sustainable. 

 2012 Award recipients are  Melrose United Church and Grace Lutheran Church.

 Join us on Monday, May 28th from 7 to 9pm 

 Melrose United Church. 86 Homewood Avenue, Hamilton.

Alanna Mitchell Came to Town-April 25th

East Plains United Church, Burlington.

Hamilton/Burlington KAIROS and Greening Sacred Spaces/Environment Hamilton

presented 'Signs of Hope in the Carbon Crisis: An Evening with Alanna Mitchell.'

Alanna Mitchell, author of Sea Sick: the hidden crisis of global ocean change is an environmental journalist who has travelled the world talking to scientists about the oceans.

All life—whether on land or in the sea— depends on the oceans for two things:

— Oxygen. Most of Earth’s oxygen is produced by phytoplankton in the sea. These humble, one-celled organisms, rather than the spectacular rain forests, are the true lungs of the planet.

— Climate control. Our climate is regulated by the ocean’s currents, winds, and water-cycle activity.

Alanna Mitchell shared about how she joined the crews of leading scientists in nine of the global ocean’s hotspots to see firsthand what is really happening around the world. 
She talked about the impact of coral reef bleaching, the puzzle of the oxygen-less dead zones such as the one in the Gulf of Mexico, and the devastating implications of the changing Ph balance of the sea.  
Alanna delved into the traumatic experience of coming to terms with how sick our oceans are. Encased in a minuscule vessel with one other passenger (lying head to toe side by side), at the bottom of the Ocean, having an 'accident' where she ended up wetting the vessel and then having to clean it up, she had an epiphany. 
If you foul your nest, you have to clean it up. And so it goes with the Earth, our home. Hope, that mysterious force that keeps us going when all the odds are against us, preparing ourselves for the unexpected, flooded down on her and she says, 'the transformation to hope happened because I wanted to hope."

About her book:

Sea Sick is the first book to examine the current state of the world’s oceans —the great unexamined ecological crisis of the planet—and the fact that we are altering everything about them; temperature, salinity, acidity, ice cover, volume, circulation, and, of course, the life within them.
http://www.cookeagency.ca/books/mitchell-a_seasick.htm

We had an audience of  100 people.

Even More Fun at the Nourishing Hamilton Fair!

Fun at the Fair! April 15th Grace Lutheran Church.

Nourishing Hamilton Fair: Food, Faith and Justice

Food for ethical thought

http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/705860--food-for-ethical-thought

Garden lovers traced the origins of local food Sunday — down to the roots.

Intercultural organization Faith and the Common Good paired with Environment Hamilton to host the Nourishing Hamilton Fair: Food, Faith and Justice at Grace Lutheran Church.

The afternoon event featured 10 booths with information about local green groups such as Earth Day Hamilton-Burlington, Hamilton Victory Gardens and Hamilton Community Garden Network.

There were many issues associated with food they hoped to raise awareness around, Greening Sacred Spaces project animator Beatrice Ekwa Ekoko said. “It’s an aspect of justice, really. If you don’t have space or money, how are you going to get food?” she said.

“Fair trade is another aspect — thinking about where the food is coming from. That’s important, too.”

Faith and the Common Good’s Greening Sacred Spaces program provides faith groups with practical ways of being more sustainable places of worship.

Sean Hurley, 51, moved to Hamilton two months ago and came to the fair because his wife has a garden and was interested in learning more about food issues.

“I think the core of any economy is food and if we don’t look after how we get our food, we’ll lose control of our own economies, essentially,” he said. “We’ll become dependent on imported food. … In the end, we lose the ability to even afford to feed ourselves.”

Sara Collyer, operations manager of the Neighbour 2 Neighbour Centre, spoke to participants about the organization’s community gardens at places of worship, a school and at a residence on the Mountain used to supply their food bank or neighbours in need.

“Traditionally, emergency food (wasn’t) the healthiest food so we feel by doing this we are able to provide healthy food to people who come to use our services,” Collyer said, adding they had 30,000 pounds of fresh vegetables last year.

Jim Sweetman, vice-chair of the Waste Reduction Task Force, was also present, distributing information on the city’s green bin program and material on recycling. The Dundas resident has been composting in his own back yard for the past two years and encouraged others to try it in addition to using the green bin.

“This city is definitely progressive and ahead of most communities in Ontario, but there’s still more we can be doing and keep pushing,” Sweetman said.

Tracy Hochheimer, 50, agreed. Hochheimer said she and her husband have their own garden, but have a lot of shade in their back yard and need more land to grow on. “Look at all the land that’s not being used. Food could be grown there.”

dawong@thespec.com

905-526-2468 | @WongatTheSpec

Must See Film: Powerful!

Great turnout for this event.  A good 100 plus individuals showed up to hear and view this film about how to be part of a clean energy future and learn from the European examples.

Good Food Box

The Hamilton Good Food Box is seeking new 'pick up sites.'

The Good Food Box is a non-profit fresh fruit and vegetable distribution program. It makes healthy fresh food affordable and accessible to everyone. The Hamilton Good Food Box Network delivers directly to various locations all over Hamilton.

For only $15you receive a box of fresh quality produce worth $25 or more. We buy food at wholesale prices, often from local farmers.We understand that with busy schedules convenience is key so we’ve set up hubs across the city. Pick ups take place the third Wednesday of every month.

We're looking for new pick up hubs. If your faith group is interested, please contact Beatrice and she will put you in touch with the coordinators.

Learn more about the Good Food Box here:

http://environmenthamilton.org/view/page/good_food_box