Watch on your own, discuss with us! 

Creation Care film discussions July 15th and July 28th, 2024

You’re invited to two film “screenings” followed by Zoom discussions with other Peace members and friends from other Westside Interfaith Network congregations, facilitated by the Creation Care Team. Information about how to join the zoom discussions will be sent out via email.

Monday, 7/15, from 7:00-8:00pm — Cooked: Survival by Zip Code

    (film available for viewing prior to this discussion by special arrangement for 3 days only – from Friday 7/12 through Sunday 7/14)

Bullfrog Film’s Cooked: Survival by Zip Code delves into the story of the worst heat disaster in U.S. history in 1995 in Chicago, when 739 residents—mostly elderly and black—died over the course of one week. The film links the deadly heat wave’s devastation back to the man made disaster of structural racism, shining a light on the issues of poverty, race, class, and education that underlie how natural disasters take lives. We have a license to view this film July 12-14, so watch your email for the link and password.  Make sure to schedule time to watch at home one of those three days and then join us for a Zoom discussion Monday evening, July 15th.

Sunday, 7/28 from 7:00-8:00pm —The Plastics Problem

     (film available for online viewing prior to this discussion – anytime via the link below)

The problem is simply stated: by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans. It’s an environmental crisis that’s been in the making for nearly 70 years. Plastic pollution is now considered one of the largest environmental threats facing humans and animals globally.

In “The Plastic Problem: PBS NewsHour Presents”, Amna Nawaz and her PBS NewsHour colleagues look at this now ubiquitous material and how it’s impacting the world, why it’s become so prevalent, what’s being done to mitigate its use, and what potential alternatives or solutions are out there. This hour-long program travels from Boston to Seattle, Costa Rica to Easter Island to bring the global scale of the problem to light.

View the story at your leisure at https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-plastic-problem then join us on Zoom to discuss the feature on Sunday, July 28th.

———————————————————————————-

Links for the licensed viewing of the first film, and for the Zoom discussions, will only be available via email from Pastor Erik and/or Kathleen Keyes, using the usual email distribution list for all congregation members. If you are a member of Peace Lutheran Church Seattle and are not receiving email from Pastor Erik or our office manager Kathleen Keyes (such as weekly Bulletins, Peace Notes, and notices of special events), you are invited to please call or email the office, or use our web contact form to be placed on the email mailing list, or to update your email address for these notifications.

For more information:
– About Creation Care at Peace Lutheran Church
– About our Creation Care Team

Thank you for all you are doing to care for creation! 

WELCOME TO PEACE and to our three week celebration of the SEASON OF CREATION!  

Our themes and liturgy during this year’s Season of Creation are inspired by Barbara Mahany’s The Book of Nature: The Astonishing Beauty of God’s First Sacred Text. She writes: “Ancient peoples read the Book of Nature as the first sacred text, the text of all of creation, inscribed and unfurled by a God present always and everywhere.” God has “infused the natural world with symbol and meaning, and if only we read what’s there in the trees and the storms and the stars and the hives, we might more fully comprehend the Creator.”

We hold the second sacred text, the Bible, to be inspired — that is “God-breathed.” The Book of Nature and the Book of Scripture provide us with inspiration which illuminates both. Our Lutheran sacramental tradition celebrates the coming together of these great streams of tradition: Water from the Earth, infused with God’s word of promise, becomes the source of our life in Christ. Field ripened grain and grapes, infused with Christ’s promise to be present, nurture God’s people.

Over these three weeks we explored three themes inspired by Barbara’s book: Water’s Edge/Salish Sea—Wind & Weather—Celestial Spheres 

Our Week One theme: Water’s Edge, coincided with minus tides that were in Seattle last weekend.  Following worship we went to Lincoln Park Beach where we joined naturalists from the Seattle Aquarium in exploring the tide flats.  Here’s the Worship Guide for Week One: Creation 1B Book of Nature 6.9.24 bulletin FINAL

And here’s the Live Stream Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub6mWlKg4Sg&t=7s

On Week Two: Wind and Weather author  BARBARA MAHANY joined us both during and following worship, beaming in from the Midwest to share thoughts about the book of nature.  The Worship Guide for Week Two can be downloaded here: Creation 2B Book of Nature 6.16.24 bulletin FINAL  The Livestream recording can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ouzaL6fWFM&t=8s

Our theme for Week Three was Celestial Spheres.  Recalling the famous color photo of Earth taken by Astronaut Bill Anders from the Apollo 8 spacecraft, (Earthrise, below) we were reminded of our home planet’s beauty and fragility – a swirling blue marble floating against the dark background of space.  To watch the Live Stream Recording, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfwZ276TZCs

We at Peace have often used a Lenten fast to reduce our environmental impact starting with our carbon fast in 2018. This year, we’re gearing up our year-long Replacing Plastics Campaign with a Lenten focus on using fewer plastics.

The UN’s Environment Programme calls plastics pollution the “second most ominous threat to the global environment, after climate change.” We produce 407 million tons of plastic each year globally, which is 30% more than the weight of all humanity. Less than 10% of all that plastic gets recycled. The rest ends up in our environment. Plastic is killing marine life as it enters food chains or entangles animals. Plastic particles can be found in soil, water, air, our atmosphere, and even human breast milk.

“The more plastic we make, the more we find it in our bodies — we are polluting ourselves,” Monica Medina, head of the Wildlife Conservation Society, commented in a Nov. 27, 2023, Washington Post opinion piece.

A technological marvel that has revolutionized medicine along with how we eat, clean our homes, and organize our days, plastic is also a major contributor to climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Plastic is responsible for 3.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, largely because it is mostly made with fossil fuels.

We must stop constantly adding more plastic to our environment. To help us all do that, we invite you to accept our Replacing Plastics For Lent Challenge.

Every week beginning Feb. 11, we’ll share an activity for the week in the Sunday bulletin, on our website and in our Facebook posts to help your household use fewer plastics and seek more sustainable alternatives. We ask you to share the weekly challenge with friends and family to encourage an ever-widening community to use fewer plastics for the sake of all creation. And in the spirit of sharing, here’s the entire Challenge at a glance. Please join us!

Feb. 11 Replacing Plastics For Lent Challenge – Week 1 Assess. The first step in using fewer plastics is to evaluate your plastic usage. Since most plastics are single-use packaging and only about 5% of the plastic we put in the recycling is actually recycled, it’s important to understand just how much we use individually. This week, set aside every piece of plastic you would normally throw away or put in recycling in a separate place. At the end of the week take 2 minutes to look through your plastic use to get an idea of what habits are leading to your plastic consumption. Make a note of which categories contribute the most to your plastic waste.

Feb. 18 Replacing Plastics For Lent Challenge – Week 2 Refuse plastics. We have choices other than plastics more often than it might seem. In restaurants, refuse plastic straws and other disposable plastics for take-outs. Bring your own mug to the coffee shop. Avoid all products that contain microbeads, those tiny plastic balls found in some facial scrubs and toothpastes that find their way into our water systems and into the creatures living in the Salish Sea.

Feb. 25 Replacing Plastics For Lent Challenge – Week 3  Replace plastic beverage bottles. Buy refillable water bottles and give them to every family member. Buy drinks in cans instead of plastic bottles (aluminum is almost endlessly recyclable!). Buy milk in recyclable cardboard cartons or glass bottles.

Mar. 3   Replacing Plastics For Lent Challenge – Week 4 Replace plastic shopping and produce bags with reusable totes and produce bags for grocery shopping. Even better, shop at the Farmers Market to avoid plastics and support local farmers. Cloth bags can go in with your regular laundry and you use them over and over.

Mar. 10   Replacing Plastics For Lent Challenge – Week 5  Stock your pantry without plastics — When you have the choice of buying sauces or vegetables and such at the store in a plastic jar or a can, opt for the can. Bring your own containers to buy bulk coffee, beans, rice, lentils, and even spices! Just have the container measured and marked for weight by the cashier before you fill it.

Mar. 17  Replacing Plastics For Lent Challenge – Week 6 Make a “Replacing Plastics” household plan. Using your notes from your Week 1 Assessment, and the experience you’ve gained during Lent, consider how you can build upon the changes you’ve made these past few weeks and keep replacing plastics in your home.

Learn more about single-use plastics at https://www.earthday.org/fact-sheet-single-use-plastics/.

For more information:
– About Creation Care at Peace Lutheran Church
– About our Creation Care Team

WELCOME TO PEACE!  WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN US.

Today as we mark the Baptism of our Lord we also pay attention to the stewardship of water on Earth—particularly the oceans, the “life engine” for our planet home.  The use and disposal of plastics have emerged in recent decades as a major threat to the health of Earth’s oceans, their creatures and habitats, and to the health of our own species as well.  A major focus of our ministry of Creation Care in 2024 will include exploring this issue and inviting us to reform our use of plastics. Our baptismal vocation includes not only stewarding our lives but caring for the watersheds which supply us with the water that fills our fonts and for the oceans to which all rivers flow.

We celebrate Christ’s presence in the Sacrament of the Table each week at Peace.  Christ, our Host, meets us in this meal of grace and offers himself,  fully embodied, in the bread and wine.  He invites all to come and meet him in this Holy Meal.

RECONCILING IN CHRIST AFFIRMATION OF WELCOME

Christ calls us to reconciliation and wholeness, in a world that can be filled with alienation and brokenness.  In faithfulness to the Gospel and to our Lutheran heritage, we answer Christ’s call to be agents of healing and safety, particularly for people who have been marginalized by our society.

As a Christian community, we invite all people to join us as we work to better understand the meaning of grace for our lives. We welcome people of all sexual orientations and gender identities into the life and mission of our congregation.

To tune into the Live Stream broadcast of this service at 10:30am, click HERE.

The Worship Guide can be downloaded here: Epiphany 1B 1.7.24 bulletin

Some information…and an invitation
WHAT’S THE BEEF?  by Janet Cruse, Creation Care Team of Peace Lutheran Church

A few years ago, my family typically enjoyed an entrée of red meat several times a week.  Even though we still enjoy the flavor of beef, we now feel compelled to lean towards other sources of protein.  Why? What’s “the beef” with beef?

Emissions:  According to many sources, including Clean Water Action, industrially grown and processed beef takes a huge toll on our environment.  Cows have a ruminant digestive system that makes them expel damaging methane gas from both ends (think burps). Grain-fed cows require growing enormous quantities of corn, oats & barley which—along with the manure from feedlots—can pollute water with nitrogen and phosphorus.  Processing the meat releases even more emissions.   Some studies indicate, though, that cows fed on native grasses and processed locally have less of a footprint and might even help sequester carbon. In Sweden red algae seaweed is showing some promise as methane-reducing cow feed.

Still, beef is consistently identified as the meat with the highest carbon footprint by far, as shown on charts that compare it to other foods’ equivalence in such things as serving, protein, or weight.  For example:

You can add your food choices to this interactive graph by clicking here and scrolling down the page.

Mitigation:  The ELCA Climate Crises Social  Statement calls upon us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through a variety of strategies, including dietary and other personal lifestyle changes.  Our PLC Creation Care Team (CCT) promotes plant-based eating and has demonstrated that plant-based food can be varied, delicious and satisfying.  Free take-out plant-based food samples will be distributed at the PLC Bazaar on November 19!

An Invitation: I invite you to join my family in reducing our food footprint by making dietary changes in a manner that works for you.  Here are some actions to start you on your way:

• Calculate your Food Footprint. Here are a couple online tools: Ecological Footprint Calculator and What is Your Foodprint? – Quiz
• Meatless Monday: A scheduled day prompts us to find and prepare meatless meals. Just a few weeks in and we’ve already gone beyond Meatless Monday with no regrets!
• Reduce Red Meat: While all meats top the charts on environmental damage, replacing beef with chicken or pork can cut your dietary carbon footprint in half (CSPinet).  If buying beef, choose organic grass-fed and ethically-produced cuts (Good Meat Project).
• Consider a Different Diet: A typical vegan diet has the lowest estimated average carbon footprint (3.0 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalents per 2,000 calories), followed by vegetarian (5.1), pescatarian (7.3), omnivore (9.8), paleo (11.6), and keto (12.8). (CSPinet)
• Get your Protein: We can get all of our needed amino acids (protein building blocks) by eating a variety of plant-based foods throughout the day (NYTimes).  Nuts have been in the news for their high water needs, but here is a positive take on their relative value.
• Eat Local: Try out local Farmers Markets, Urban Farms, CSA farm boxes and learn how to support local farmers and workers at the grocery store.
• Choose Organic: Organically-produced food improves soil and water quality, prohibits synthetic fertilizer and pesticides, and improves conditions for farm workers and livestock (Mayo Clinic and Farmworker Justice)
• Eliminate Food Waste: Eating smaller portions, using up all our stored food and enjoying leftovers can help prevent food waste. Doing so can increase food security, foster productivity and economic efficiency, promote resource and energy conservation, and address climate change. (EPA)
• Use and Promote Regenerative Agriculture: Regenerative agriculture is a holistic land-management practice that uses the power of photosynthesis in plants to sequester carbon in the soil. Click here to create your Climate Victory Garden!

For more information:
– About Creation Care at Peace Lutheran Church
– About our Creation Care Team

Saturday, October 14, 2023, 9:00am

The Creation Care Team will be hosting a planting of pollinator-friendly plants on the Peace church grounds.

We are planting a native pollinator garden, or two, at Peace on Sat., Oct. 14th starting at 9am.

You can help create this important part of the Peace Pollinator Project by donating healthy native plants and/or your labor!

We hope to see the seeds we plant with these initial efforts grow into a neighborhood pollinator pathway, a pesticide-free corridor of native plants that provide nutrition and habitat for pollinating insects and birds.

Pollinators—including  over 4000 species of bees native to the US—enable us to feed ourselves, so their survival is crucial. But their populations are in sharp decline because of pesticide use and loss of habitat. Want to help?

Put Oct. 14th on your calendar.

You can learn more about pollinator pathways and how you can create one in your own backyard at https://www.pollinator-pathway.org/about.

And remember to leave your leaves this fall! The caterpillars need them.

For more information:
– About Creation Care at Peace Lutheran Church
– About our Creation Care Team

Some information…and an invitation                       

How toxic are your clothes?

By Marian Christjaener of the Creation Care Team of Peace Lutheran Church

My family reminded me often that I was rather persnickety about what clothes I would wear even as a preschooler. They had to be non-itchy, and they had to feature the color black. One photo from that time reveals a scrunched-up face as an offending collar was “attacking” my neck, while another photo shows a very pleased expression because black was prominent in my fancy dress.

These days, my clothing choices are guided more by what their fabric is doing to the environment. While I am not tossing out everything in my closet, I try to pay attention to the contents and the manufacturing process of the clothes that I purchase. When you put on a piece of clothing, have you considered the entire process that occurs before, during, and after it is part of your wardrobe?

Extraction of raw materials – Synthetic fibers such as polyester, nylon, acrylic, and elastane (Lycra and Spandex) are petroleum-based, which can more than double the carbon footprint of a piece of clothing that is comparable to one made with cotton. However, regular cotton is treated with pesticides and fertilizers that degrade the soil and contaminate water, and even organic cotton needs a great amount of water during its growing season.

Manufacturing – The chemicals used to produce wrinkle-free, stain-resistant, waterproof, and odor-resistant clothing include PFCs, fire retardants, and formaldehyde. Natural fabric that is sourced from tree pulp is also often heavily treated with chemicals in order to soften it. These and the dyes used to color our clothes cause further damage to our environment.

Distribution – By the time a new item of clothing has reached you, it has been packaged (often in plastic), probably transported in container ships from overseas, and then trucked to a distribution center from which it will take another trip to a store or be loaded onto a van that delivers it to your house.

Consumption – Whenever petroleum-based clothing goes into your washing machine, microplastics and other pollutants eventually end up in our waterways. Microplastics have been found in the deepest parts of the ocean (and in the fish we consume) as well as in snow near the top of Mt. Everest.

Disposal – Many fabrics are a blend of synthetic and natural materials, which means that they will most likely not biodegrade. This is also true of clothing that is made from recycled water bottles. And, unfortunately, many of the clothes that are donated to charities end up in landfills (such as the one in the Atacama Desert in Chile) where they release greenhouse gases and leach toxins into the soil and the water.

Taken in its entirety, the fashion industry is reported to be the second highest source of pollution to air, ground, and water, and it is responsible for 8–10% of the world’s carbon emissions. So, what can you do about the harm caused by your clothing?

• Wash your clothes less frequently and wait until you have a full load. A full load results in less friction and, thus, less shedding of microfibers.
• Use filters for your washing machine or purchase specially-made bags that “capture” microfibers.
• Avoid fast fashion that entices consumers into thinking that they need the “latest and greatest” trends of cheap clothing that cycles quickly through stores and online sources.
• If you have favorite brands, ask the companies about everything that takes place in their supply chain, including how workers are treated.
• Buy used clothing or participate in clothing swaps.
• Look for these certification labels: bluesign, Oeko-Tek, and GOTS. These labels generally ensure less environmental impact and more sustainable practices by the textile manufacturers.
• Shop for clothing made from eco-fabrics such as hemp, flax, and TENCEL; while the production of clothing from these fabrics can also be energy intensive, the fabrics themselves are natural.

GA_TextilesReport_Final_0.pdf (greenamerica.org)

Can fashion ever be sustainable? – BBC Future

For more information:
– About Creation Care at Peace Lutheran Church
– About our Creation Care Team