Capitalism is another significant obstacle to sustainability. Companies focus on profit to gain wealth and fuel growth. Many companies’ profits rely on selling products. Making products that are disposable or irreparable that quickly become obsolete or unstylish means that companies sell more products to make more profit. We can resist the pull of capitalism by declining to buy single-use items, repairing possessions when they break and resisting the latest trends and fashions so that we aren’t always purchasing the latest thing.
Consumerism is a significant obstacle to sustainability. Especially in the U.S., we exist in an economy and a culture that is constantly providing new things while also telling us “More is better.” For the next month, before buying something new, ask yourself the question, “Do I really need that?” Keep track of how many times the answer is “no.” See if you can get in the habit of reducing your consumerism.
The clothing we wear has an unseen price on the lives of workers and the environment.
In the effort to produce clothes more cheaply and quickly, companies often turn to workers in underdeveloped nations, where they are paid unfair wages and may work in slave-like conditions that contribute to the cycle of poverty. In garment factories, children may be put to work at any or all stages of the supply chain, from the production of cotton, to the yarn spinning, to the final cuts and sewing stages.
Clothing production also creates a significant environmental impact. There is a massive amount of waste created as newer fashion trends push older ones into landfills. Modern textiles also rely heavily on petrochemical products that come from many of the same oil and gas companies driving greenhouse gas emissions. Today, in fact, fashion accounts for up to 10% of global carbon dioxide output—more than international flights and shipping combined, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. It also accounts for a fifth of the 300 million tons of plastic produced globally each year.
Green tip: Buy secondhand clothing to keep textiles out of landfills and reduce the demand for plastics in fashion. If everyone bought one secondhand item of clothing a year instead of new clothing, this would be the greenhouse gas emissions equivalent of taking ½ million cars off the road.
By Jason Giovannettone, Climate and Sustainability Director
As we enter the month of May, I hope that you have enjoyed your time outdoors, including gardening. One important aspect of gardening that I have learned is to add native plants to my yard.
There are many benefits to incorporating native plants. Because they are accustomed to the local climate and the potential predators that may feed on them, native plants are generally easier to grow and tend to be more resistant to our deer, rabbits, and other wildlife. Even better, they are beneficial to a host of wildlife, especially birds. Many native trees, shrubs, and flowers will support a large number of caterpillars. In fact, native plants support about 35 times as many caterpillars as non-native plants on average. Did you know that an adult chickadee bird needs to catch approximately 100 to 150 caterpillars to feed a single baby bird? As such, these birds search for places where they can find enough caterpillars. Planting native plants is a great way to fulfill this need and attract many birds to your yard. Native trees that are especially good at supporting caterpillars include oak, cherry, willow, birch, and poplar. Other types of caterpillar-friendly native plants are goldenrods and asters. Additional information on this topic can be found in the following video.
Plant a native tree or shrub on your property or request that whoever is responsible for the grounds of your facility do so. Local nurseries typically have sections devoted to native plants. Also, some states may have a coupon you can use to support native plants (e.g., Maryland –https://dnr.maryland.gov/forests/Pages/MarylandersPlantTrees/Print-Your-Coupon.aspx).
We know that for many, one tip a week is a good pace for living more sustainably. But if you get on a roll and want to explore a larger variety of options here are two helpful tools to check out:
Sister Elaine Lopez Pacheco, RSM, recommends My Ecological Footprint. This extensive checklist, created by Christine Rochester, was inspired by the Green Women Leadership Training, a program of www.HealthyWomenHealthyEarth.org.
The Catholic Climate Covenant guides the U.S. Church’s response to climate change by educating, giving public witness, and offering resources. Their Abundant Living Worksheet provides an inventory for personal and community growth.
By Sister Edia Lopez
After two powerful hurricanes, ETA and IOTA, struck Central America in 2020, Sisters of Mercy in Panama moved to support the disaster victims and help with their immediate needs.
However, after experiencing the disaster and the flooding caused by the storms, we wondered what hope there was for Mother Earth.
By Sister Anna Regina Gakuhi
The St. Joseph Mercy Hospital herbal garden was the Sisters of Mercy Associates’ original idea. They invited me to join them because I work in the hospital and have a passion for farming.
The reason for this herbal garden was to have the staff take care of it and enjoy the produce. I organize and involve the staff in weeding, trimming, watering and harvesting. We often discuss the use of the herbs we are tending. I notice that some staff are passionate about caring for the herbs and have brought some from their own gardens to add to our shared hospital garden. Others have asked for cuttings to start their own.
Although our garden may be small, its impact is large. We are taking care of Mother Earth as our herbs are naturally grown.
Green Tip
Get to know whomever manages the property of your workplace, school, church community or other communal space. Offer to support their efforts to maintain the lawn and gardens and enter into dialogue about environmentally sustainable practices.
By Jason Giovannettone, Climate and Sustainability Director
Planting season is underway. Prior to moving into our current home a few years ago, I did not know a lot about planting flowers, let alone the various benefits that might come with planting one type of flower over another other. That changed about two years ago when I got involved with a native plant giveaway sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation at my local church. I brought home milkweed and several other native plants. With very little care other than regular watering, these plants grew substantially over the summer. The milkweed, for example, produced over 100 purple flowers from one stem by late summer and into fall. This one stem multiplied into 13 large stems the following spring, which I would estimate produced over 500 flowers.
Milkweed is a great native plant; it is easy to grow and maintain and it supports the monarch butterfly population and other types of butterflies are highly dependent on it as a source of food and as a place on which to lay their eggs during their long migrations. Did you know that it takes 4 generations of monarch butterflies to complete a full migration? They travel from central Mexico to their summer breeding range in the northern US and back to Mexico. Sustaining so many monarchs during this migration requires milkweed and other native flowering plants. Both urban and agricultural land development have led to substantial losses of habitat that supports these plants, resulting in an approximate 90% drop in monarch populations since the 1990s. Please watch the following video for more details regarding monarch migrations and issues related to their demise.
Green Tips
Become more aware of the issues surrounding the loss of monarch butterflies and their native habitats. Learn about what is currently being done to reverse these trends. The Mercy Monarch Milkweed Project, which is where I obtained some of the information above, is a great place to begin: https://mercyecology.org/monarch-milkweed-project.
During the months of April and May, there tend to be various native plant giveaways, which often include milkweed. Please try to take advantage of such giveaways or support a local nursery through the purchase of native plants such as milkweed.
One way to skip waste when you are eating out is by refusing a plastic straw. Because of their size, straws can inflict damage on the noses, eyes, throats and digestive tracts of animals.
Even more present in the environment than plastic straws are single-use containers. Avoid adding to this waste when you eat out by bringing your own container for leftovers. You’ll reduce the number of containers that are thrown away, and you won’t be wasting that yummy food!
Special thanks to Mercy Associate Carol Conway for suggesting these ideas!
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 1.3 billion tons (2,600,000,000,000 pounds) of food are lost or wasted every year. At the same time, almost two billion people are malnourished or go hungry. The food sector accounts for about 22% of greenhouse gas emissions, mainly because of the conversion of forests to farm land. While we may think of food waste and loss just in terms of the food itself, large amounts of energy (for fertilizer production and transportation) and water are also wasted.
Food loss and food waste are often used interchangeably but they do not mean the same thing. Food loss refers to food lost in the earlier stages of production including harvest, storage and transportation. Food waste, on the other hand, refers to foods that are edible but are thrown out by supermarkets or consumers.
Green tip: While reducing food loss is a systemic issue, reducing food waste is up to each of us. Commit to adopting at least one ofthese 15 steps for reducing food waste suggested by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
By Jason Giovannettone, Climate and Sustainability Director
To reduce our consumption and usage of plastic, it is important to eliminate the need for the plastic bottle. One of the most common reasons we consume plastic bottles is to increase our consumption of “healthy” and “clean” water. Then when we are finished we can just recycle the bottle. It seems like a win-win situation: we are able to consume clean water with little or no waste. This is actually not the case. In order to get some sense of what actually takes place in the life cycle of a water bottle and the environmental issues that are involved, please watch the following video.
Green Tip
Abstain from drinking bottled water and other beverages bottled in plastic, including soda, and juice; for now, milk can be an exception. Glasses, cups, and reusable bottles, along with an effective filtration system for your tap water, are great alternatives.
This Lent, fast from single use bottled water. While bottled water can be useful in emergency situations, the proliferation of single use plastic bottles for routine hydration is an ecological catastrophe. In 2018, 1.3 BILLION plastic water bottles were used EACH DAY. That’s over 470 billion bottles for the year.
Eliminating single use plastic bottles reduces the amount of plastic waste in the ecosystem. It also decreases the use of fossil fuels required to transport water in bottles. Consider filling a reusable bottle with tap or locally filtered water for hydration on the go.
