EarthCare Online Update - July/August 2005

EarthCare Online Update JULY/AUGUST 2005

"Caring for God's Creation" www.earthcareonline.org

"The earth is the LORD's, and the fullness thereof..." (Psalm 24:1, KJV)

AT CHURCH
Starting a church landscape gardening ministry
Chattanooga Interfaith Power & Light to hold a kickoff meeting this fall

For Kids
September 10, 2005 Crabtree Farms will offer
worm composting workshops for kids

The Steward Living in Covenant: A New Perspective on Old Testament Stories, by Ronald E. Vallet

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So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth. (Genesis 1:27-28, AMP)

And the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and guard and keep it. (Genesis 2:15, AMP)

EarthCare has recently added new links to its Creation Care Links page. We invite you to use the links to locate a wide variety of creation care information on the Web, including:

Nature Journaling as a Tool to Healing - Chattanooga
Monday, July 18, 2005. 5:30pm. Humphreys House in Reflection Riding Arboretum & Botanical Garden, 400 Garden Road, Chattanooga.
This program is part of Reflection Riding's series of "After Work Health & Healing" programs. Complimentary refreshments will be provided.
Registration: Free to the public. Registration required. Call (423) 821-9582 x200.

Cullowhee Conference: Native Plants in the Landscape - Cullowhee, NC
Wednesday-Saturday, July 20-23, 2005.
Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC.
More information: http://nativeplants.wcu.edu.

Alternative Energy Resources, Conservation, and the Environment:
60th Annual Meeting of the American Scientific Affiliation - Grantham, PA
Friday-Monday, August 5-8, 2005. Messiah College, Grantham, PA.
"The American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) is a fellowship of men and women in science and disciplines that relate to science who share a common fidelity to the Word of God and a commitment to integrity in the practice of science."
Information: www.asa3.org.

NO EarthCare Monthly Planning Meeting
The August planning meeting has been cancelled.
Our next meeting will be September 13, 2005.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection - Chattanooga
2nd Saturday of each month. 8am-noon.
Household Hazardous Waste Facility, 3925 North Hawthorne St., Chattanooga.
Information: Chattanooga Public Works (423) 698-9531.

Medicinal Power of Herbs and the Healing - Chattanooga
Monday, August 15, 2005. 5:30pm, Humphreys House in Reflection Riding Arboretum & Botanical Garden, 400 Garden Road, Chattanooga.
This program is part of Reflection Riding's series of "After Work Health & Healing" programs. Complimentary refreshments will be provided.
Registration: Free to the public. Registration required. Call (423) 821-9582 x200.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection - Dalton, GA
3rd Saturday of each month. 7am-2pm.
Household Hazardous Waste Facility, Old Dixie Landfill, Dalton
Information: Dalton City Landfill (706) 277-3389

Southern Energy & Environment Expo 2005 - Fletcher, NC
Friday-Sunday, August 26-28, 2005.
The Western North Carolina Agricultural Center, Fletcher, NC.
The annual S.E.E. Expo provides the general public an opportunity to see and learn about - first hand - the practical and presently available options for utilizing clean, renewable sources of energy, protecting our natural environment and working towards a sustainable economy for the region.

"Native Plant Alternatives to Invasive Species" Workshop - Chattanooga
Saturday, September 10, 2005. Register for either session: Session 1: 10-11am / Session 2: 11am-12noon. Crabtree Farms. 1000 E. 30th St., Chattanooga.

Join Jayne Cagle and learn about Native Plant Alternatives to Invasive Species. This is a great class to improve your landscape this fall. The class will include a slide presentation and a wealth of info materials about native plants. This is a good primer for the Reflection Riding plant sale the following weekend.
Cost: $10 a person.
Registration: Pre-registration is required. Register by phone 493.9155 x10 or email to sign-up.

Worm Composting for KIDS! - Chattanooga
Saturday, September 10, 2005. Ongoing between 10 and Noon.
Crabtree Farms. 1000 E. 30th St., Chattanooga.

Children will create their very own worm bin to take home and feed with kitchen scraps. The worm castings are excellent nutrients for house plants or garden. This is appropriate for all ages.
Registration: Pre-registration is required. Register by phone 493.9155 x10 or email to sign-up.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection - Chattanooga, TN
2nd Saturday of each month. 8am-noon.
Household Hazardous Waste Facility, 3925 North Hawthorne St., Chattanooga.
Information: Chattanooga Public Works (423) 698-9531.

EarthCare Monthly Planning Meeting
2nd Tuesday of each month. 6:30pm.
Chattanooga State (follow the signs or contact us for info.).
Information: Jerry Faulkner .

Reflection Riding Fall Open House and Native Plant Sale - Chattanooga
Saturday, September 17, 2005. 9am-5pm.
Sunday, September 18, 1pm-5pm.
Humphreys House in Reflection Riding Arboretum & Botanical Garden, 400 Garden Road, Chattanooga.
Cost: Free admission.

Family Adventure Weekend - Tremont - Townsend, TN
Friday supper through Sunday lunch, September 23-25, 2005.
Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, 9275 Tremont Road, Townsend, TN.
Run away from home and bring the family with you! The weekend will include hikes, crafts, games, waterfalls, beautiful views, campfires and plenty of time to enjoy being with the ones you love. The Institute will provide discovery and adventure and do all the cooking!
Cost: $300 for family of four ages 6 and up ($70 each additional person), includes all meals, lodging, materials, and instruction.
Registration and more information: www.gsmit.org.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection - Dalton, GA
3rd Saturday of each month. 7am-2pm.
Household Hazardous Waste Facility, Old Dixie Landfill, Dalton.
Information: Dalton City Landfill or (706) 277-3389.

New Community Project Learning Tours - based out of Elgin, IL
Ecuadorian Amazon: January 10-22, 2006
El Salvador/Honduras: February/March, 2006 (dates to be announced)
Guatemala: May 15-27, 2006
Cancer Alley, Louisiana: May 2006
Honduras: July 10-20, 2006
Denali National Park/Kenai Fjords National Park: August 10-19, 2006
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: August 20-29, 2006
The New Community Project is a Christian Anabaptist ministry that promotes "peace through justice, care for creation, and experiential learning." The NCP's work includes sponsoring learning tours to places where God's people and/or God's creation are struggling. The goals for the tours are (1) to gain understanding of the challenges facing our neighbors and God's earth, (2) to grow personally and spiritually, (3) to show support for global neighbors, (4) to build community with other participants and with those they visit, and (5) to return home better equipped to be a voice for justice and peace in our world. For more information or to register for one of NCP's tours, visit www.newcommunityproject.org.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT)

Composting turns kitchen and yard waste into rich nutrients for your garden. Whether you live on a farm or grow just a few plants, you can build compost to enrich your garden. In addition to providing nutrients for plants, there are several other benefits of composting. They include erosion prevention, moisture retention, and landfill waste reduction. To create compost all you need to do is to combine organic waste in your choice of a pile or a bin that you purchase or build. Add your vegetable and fruit waste as needed, along with grass clippings or leaves, if you have them, and turn the contents occasionally. For more detailed information about composting, please continue reading...

The first step to composting is to determine the type bin that is best for your situation. When making the decision, consider the following:

If you wish to build your own bin, there are several websites that offer instructions, or check your local library or bookstore for books. Following are a few websites that offer compost bin plans:

Keep Dalton/Whitfield Beautiful, Inc. is currently selling backyard composters to benefit local clean up and beautification programs. Each composter is being sold for $50.00 each. For more information visit Keep Dalton/Whitfield Beautiful's page.

Add:
• Vegetable and fruit scraps, except those that have been cooked in fat
• Grass clippings and leaves
(Check with your municipality regarding local composting requirements.)

Avoid:
• Meat, dairy products, or food cooked in oil
• Diseased plants or leaves
• Invasive weeds and plants
• Plants that have gone to seed
• Human or pet waste

Compost. Organic Gardening Magazine and Rodale Books, eds. Rodale Books, 2001. 112p.

Let It Rot!: The Gardener's Guide to Composting, by Stu Campbell. Storey Publishing, 1998. 160p.

Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System, by Mary Applehof. Flower Press, 1997. 162p. Reading level: ages 9-12.

Worms Eat Our Garbage: Classroom Activities for a Better Environment, by Mary Appelhof, Mary Frances Fenton, and Barbara Loss Harris. Flower Press, 1993. 214p. Reading level: ages 9-12.

Summer is a great time for churches to begin planning and preparing for autumn gardening projects. By implementing just a few simple ideas, churches can use gardening in their service to God and others.

- Give us opportunities build relationships with each other and the church's communities.

3) Develop a simple plan for adding some more of God's beauty to the church grounds.

Build or purchase a worm composter. (See the ideas and resources in the composting article just above.)

When selecting tools to purchase, choose tools that are the least polluting and that may be repaired instead of replaced.

- Get a good book about native plants in your region. Select a few plants you would like to try.

- Take a church trip to participate in a nature walk, gardening workshop, or native plant sale.
(In the Chattanooga area, nature walks and/or workshops are offered at Reflection Riding, Tennessee River Gorge Trust, and Crabtree Farms.)

Schedule a gardening day along with a time to give thanks to God. Include outdoor worship and a church picnic.

As the plants begin to spread, plan to share native plants with the church community and the church's neighbors.

On June 30, the Chattanooga chapter of the Tennessee Interfaith Power & Light (TIPL) held its start-up meeting. At the meeting, participants began discussion about how communities of faith in the Chattanooga area can work together toward more harmonious living in creation. Due to the initial meeting's being scheduled in the summer when many people were on vacation, the TIPL has decided to host a larger kickoff meeting this fall. In the autumn kickoff, participants will learn more about how faith-based organizations can reduce energy consumption, lower operating costs, and use non-polluting, renewable energy. Participants will also consider future directions of TIPL and how grant money could be used.

The purpose of Tennessee Interfaith Power and Light is to seek to "involve communities of faith as faithful stewards of God's creation by promoting and implementing energy conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy and related sustainable practices in order to help provide a sustainable future for the world."

As soon as the final date for the Chattanooga Interfaith Power & Light kickoff is announced we will let you know.

September 10, 2005 Crabtree Farms will offer worm composting workshops for kids

Crabtree Farms, located at 1000 E. 30th Street in Chattanooga, will be offering "Worm Composting for KIDS!" The workshops will be ongoing between 10am and noon, Saturday, September 10, 2005.

Come and learn how to build your own worm composting bin. In the workshops, Children will create their very own worm bin to take home and feed with kitchen scraps. Worm castings can provide excellent nutrients for house or garden plants.

The workshop is appropriate for all ages. Pre-registration is required. To register call (493) 9155 x10 or send an email to info@crabtreefarms.org. For more information about Crabtree Farms visit www.crabtreefarms.org.

Vallet, Ronald E. The Steward Living in Covenant: A New Perspective on Old Testament Stories. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001. 251p.

Vallet's The Steward Living in Covenant is part of the series called Faith's Horizons, a small series that the publisher promises will continue to grow. This book is the second publication on stewardship by Ronald Vallet, who serves the American Baptist Churches of New York State as minister for stewardship and mission support. In the first volume, Stepping Stones of the Steward: A Faith Journey Through Jesus' Parables, the author addressed the role of the individual as a steward of the gospel and of God's creation. In the current volume, he focuses on the Old Testament and begins with the recognition that how the generations alive today behave and what we do may well determine if there is a next generation.

Vallet talks about God's "purpose-filled creative activity" and God's willingness to consult with and share power with humanity, pointing out that we have not done all that well in fulfilling our responsibility to God. Calling on the work of biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann, Vallet points out that following the biblical flood God established covenant not just with humans but with all creation. It is on the theme of covenant, and how we have kept or failed to keep covenant, that Vallet then develops and balances the majority of the remainder of his thoughts.

As a Quaker who adheres to the central doctrines of Quaker faith and intentionally practices a life defined, in part, by the Testimony on Simplicity, I was extremely pleased to see that Vallet frequently addresses the problems caused by consumerism. Vallet maintains that Christians are called to live in "alternative community" in covenant with God, as stewards of God's creation, and in opposition to the materialism of the surrounding culture. The Steward Living in Covenant provides glimpses of stewardship in its full meaning and includes material for use in congregational context such as choral readings and scripturally-centered dramas.

I realize that this is not a theological text but I would like to have seen more from the author on the theological missteps that have led Christianity down pathways in pursuit of pleasure and power and the abuse of the Creation in defiance of God.

The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.
(Numbers 6:24-26, NKJV)

EarthCare Online Update is a free email newsletter published by EarthCare, Inc. Published approximately six times a year, the newsletter focuses on Christians' call to care for the earth, news of EarthCare activities, and resources to assist with daily aspects of creation care.

Please note that the views expressed in resources listed in the Update are not necessarily those of EarthCare. In the Update we attempt to include a variety of books, websites, etc. in order to facilitate readers' education and exploration of ideas regarding the care of God's creation. It is our hope and prayer that before embracing new beliefs or practices, readers will examine them in context of the teachings of the Bible and God's personal call in their lives.

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EarthCare, Inc. is a non-profit Christian organization that exists to promote creation stewardship within the Christian community. For more information about EarthCare, caring for God's creation, and links to other creation care resources, please see our website www.earthcareonline.org.

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