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

Some Information … and an Invitation:  Throw away our Throwaway Culture!

by John Fueger of the Creation Care Team at Peace Lutheran Church

My wife has a subscription to a magazine titled Yes!, a nonprofit publication that focuses on solutions journalism. As time was fleeting to write this article, she offered me a copy of Yes! from Summer, 2021 that focuses on solving the plastic crisis. The issue is a fascinating read, from a comic-book type article “How to Get Rid of Throwaway Culture” to an in-depth article, “Don’t Let Consumerism Co-opt the Zero-Waste Concept,” that questions why consumers bear the burden of single-use packaging disposal rather than manufacturers.

Due to my interest in the magazine, my thoughts for the article that you’re reading now quickly shifted from detailing the impact of microplastics on the environment and providing links to personal plastic usage calculators to what each of us can do to change the throwaway culture.

What’s Happening?

As my wife reminds me, there is no such thing as “away.” However, I think my notion of “away” was impacted by a science fiction television show I watched on a simple black and white television as a child, Space: 1999. The starting premise of that show was that humankind was producing so much nuclear waste that we were sending it to the moon. That premise doesn’t sound as far-fetched today as it did in 1975 after what humanity has collectively done to our planet. But I digress….

Yes! author Sarah Lazarovic cites a World War II credo “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!” to reduce waste. She goes further to develop what she terms the Buyerarchy of Needs (apologies were given to Maslow). That hierarchy begins with the simple concept of using what you already have, which very much resonated with me. She goes on to state, “We’ve been marketed to death with ideas of maximalist abundance. Instead of the most you can get, think about the least you can get by with.” Taking this type of advice to heart in today’s culture is a difficult challenge at best. We are constantly inundated with email and targeted advertising directly or indirectly promoting consumption. That continuing consumption feeds throwaway culture. What if we at least assessed our consumption through the lens of this hierarchy? Would our purchase decisions be changed or perhaps at least delayed?

I would also add one initial step to the Buyerarchy of Needs: Wait a day or two before moving forward to address perceived needs. I find that waiting a few days once I’ve made a decision that I need something allows me to better reflect on that perceived need and, in some cases, allow myself to realize that I don’t need the item at all.

What Can I Do?

When you need something or it’s time to make a purchase, consider the Buyerarchy Of Needs.

Use Lazarovic’s No-Throwaway Checklist to change your habits. Consider adding a new item each week or month to swap or reuse or mend.

• I will swap or borrow at least ____________ things instead of buying them.
• I will switch to reusable ____________ and ____________.
• I will finally fix / mend that ____________ instead of buying a new one.

Play A Game!

Place a small jar for each member of your family in a convenient place. Every time someone throws away an item that could have been reused, repurposed, or replaced with a longer-lasting alternative, they have to throw a penny (or more!) in their jar. After a week, count the coins. Unlike regular banking, the one with the fewest coins wins!

Be Creative!

Make art or a useful item from items you’d normally toss; there are lots of ideas online, like this: Trash to Treasure: 40 Creative Recycled and Repurposed Artworks | Inspirationfeed

Changing a throwaway mindset is a powerful thing all of us can do for the environment and ourselves … for God’s good creation.

https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/solving-plastic/2021/05/10/how-to-get-rid-of-throwaway-culture

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

Saturday, May 6th, 2023

1:00 pm

at the West Seattle Nursery

Come to the Peace Pollinator Project Seminar with native plants expert Kyle Henegar and learn how to use native pollinator plants at your house to support the birds, bees and beetles we need to make our landscapes thrive and feed us all.

Bring friends!

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

The RainWise program hosting a Garden Celebration at Peace Lutheran Church!

Come learn about RainWise and meet contractors  on April 22^nd from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

We are so excited for this event for our neighbors in Sunrise Heights, Westwood, Fauntleroy, and Arbor Heights! This event is produced by the RainWise Program and features garden experts of all sorts and will benefit all Seattle residents with an interest in gardening.

You will:

• be able to talk to an array of gardening, rainwater catchment and composting experts,
• go on a garden tour to see a RainWise rain garden in action,
• get resources from Noxious Weeds, Natural Yard Care, Adopt-a-Street, National Wildlife Federation,
• explore funding opportunities for rain gardens, cisterns, and other green infrastructure solutions,
• talk with homeowners who have been through the RainWise installation process, and
• meet with different RainWise contractors and have the chance to ask questions specific to your homes.

There will be activities for kids and refreshments available!

Register at https://raingardencelebration.eventbrite.com. See you there!

About RainWise Rebates: With every storm, rain carries pollutants off our roofs, driveways, and other hard surfaces to local creeks, Lake Washington, and Puget Sound. Rain gardens and cisterns can help control this stormwater, but we need your help! In selected areas of Seattle, the City of Seattle and King County will pay up to 100 percent of the cost of installing rain gardens and cisterns on homeowners’ properties.

We recommend you check your eligibility for a RainWise rebate at https://700milliongallons.org/rainwise/eligibility.

—- More details below ———————————————————————————————————————–

RainWise, a partnership between King County Wastewater Treatment Division and Seattle Public Utilities, has a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

The West Seattle neighborhoods around Sunrise Heights, Westwood, Fauntleroy, and Arbor Heights are eligible for RainWise rebates – again!

In 2013, King County joined the RainWise program, and parts of West Seattle became eligible for rebates that pay for rain gardens and cisterns on private properties. By capturing the rain that falls on roofs, these installations help keep stormwater out of the sewer system and prevent overflows at the Barton Pump Station near the Fauntleroy ferry dock. After five years in the program, almost 150 properties put in rain gardens and cisterns that manage the equivalent of rain falling on five acres of roofs. In addition, 15 blocks of highly engineered roadside rain gardens were put in to let rain washing down streets and sidewalks to soak into the ground. All of this has really helped but as we look to a future of heavy rains and atmospheric rivers, we would love more help to manage the rain in this area.

How does RainWise help? During heavy rains, the sheer volume of polluted stormwater can cause our combined sewers to overflow. This negatively impacts human health and the health of marine life, such as salmon and orcas. We can reduce this water pollution by installing green stormwater infrastructure solutions, such as rain gardens and cisterns. This is where RainWise comes in.

What is RainWise? RainWise is a rebate program jointly run by King County Wastewater Treatment Division and Seattle Public Utilities. RainWise rebates help property owners manage the rain by installing cisterns and/or rain gardens on their private property. This not only helps reduce stormwater pollution, but mitigates flooding, adds attractive landscaping, and can provide water for summer irrigation.

You can check your eligibility for rebates at 700milliongallons.org/rainwise/eligibility. And, for addresses not eligible for RainWise, Green Stormwater Mini-Grants are available as well at 12000raingardens.org/gsi-mini-grants.

To learn more, please attend our upcoming RainWise Garden Celebration at Peace Lutheran Church where you can talk to various RainWise, sustainability, and garden experts to learn about the program. There will be tours of Peace Lutheran’s RainWise installation, refreshments, and activities. This is a family-friendly event!

Saturday, April 22nd, 10 am – 1 pm

Peace Lutheran Church, 8316 39th Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98136. Register at https://raingardencelebration.eventbrite.com

Not eligible? Feel free to reach out to us! We are happy to help provide you with resources. Check out 12000raingardens.org/about-rain-gardens/incentives to see what other programs are available to you.

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