Environmental Guild
The Environmental Guild leads the community of St. David’s towards awareness of our responsibility as stewards of God’s creation through service, education, and sustainable practices.
God’s breathing life into humankind and providing a fruitful earth for our well-being was accompanied by the mandate for us to till and “keep” God’s creation. Gen. 2:15. This mandate implies that we have a loving, caring, and “keeping” relationship with all of God’s creation, including each other, in much the same way that God keeps us.
Likewise, Christ taught us to cultivate loving and compassionate relationships, with God and with each other. He instructed us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Now more than ever, our love must extend not only to the neighbors we encounter today and in our own geographic community, but also to those across the globe and downstream from us in time. What kind of world do we want to bequeath to our children, grandchildren, and more distant descendants? What about our duty to love our neighbors who will inhabit this fragile Earth in the future? The well-being of these future neighbors will be saved only by our actions, not by our good intentions alone.
The Environmental Guild works to suggest ways to balance the needs of the St. David’s community of today with those of tomorrow. One of its most successful programs to date involves recycling. St. David’s uses recycled paper for all of its printing needs and recycles its used paper, plastics, glass, and aluminum foil. Additionally, St. David’s is an official City of Austin drop-off site for battery recycling; we also encourage you to bring in your old ink cartridges, eyeglasses, cell phones, prescription bottles, CD’s, and aluminum-can pull tabs for recycling. The receptacle for these items is outside the Bookshop near the main church entrance. Recycling can be seen as one way to care for God’s creation and fulfill the imperative to love our neighbor. No doubt you have heard many times that making a conscious effort to reduce, reuse, and recycle our resources is good for the environment, including reducing the demand on our municipal landfills, but it is important to remember that these same efforts benefit people as well. With a little extra effort we can leave the world a better place for those who come after us while we continue to serve those around us.
The Environmental Guild has also been successful in increasing the use of reusable items in place of Styrofoam cups, plates, and bowls; Café Divine uses ceramic coffee mugs, as does the Trinity Center, and the Sunday School classes now use washable water cups. The parking garage no longer issues paper tickets upon entry, saving both paper and expense. Also, the church has switched to using compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) instead of standard incandescent light bulbs. These are but a few of the changes the church has made in response to the suggestions of the Environmental Guild. Look for our posters, bulletin board, and tips in “Looking Ahead” describing how you can contribute to this effort to extend stewardship to all of God’s creation now and in the future. If you would like to be a part of this energetic group, which meets once a month and hosts the annual parish-wide Earth Day Celebration in April, please contact Rosera Tateosian.
Breaking News! In May 2010, St. David’s Joined the GreenFaith Certification Program.
In alignment with its increasingly holistic approach to environmental stewardship, St. David’s has recently become a member of the The GreenFaith Certification Program, which is the nation’s first interfaith environmental certification program for houses of worship. The program is designed to help churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples earn recognition as environmental leaders by carrying out over two dozen environmental activities over a two-year period. Each participating institution forms a “Green Team” to lead the institution through the Program’s activities, which comprehensively cover the areas of education, worship, spirituality, stewardship, justice, and communications.
St. David’s is the first house of worship in Texas to join this prestigious national program and is excited to join the program because it gives us the tools to become strong environmental leaders. Answering our call to care for creation, we will be able to live out “green” values in everything we do---from our preaching and education, to the operation of our building, to advocating for a healthy environment for all. As St. David’s goes through the Program, our members will experience the transformation that comes from sharing a religious commitment to Creation.
Currently, St. David’s Green Team is undergoing training and education by GreenFaith and is conducting comprehensive institutional audits in each of the Program’s three main areas---Spirit, Justice, and Stewardship. The Green Team will then use the information gleaned from that process to compile an action plan for the next two years. Stay tuned for more updates!
Learn more about GreenFaith.
Congratulations St. David’s!
Thanks to your efforts, the recycling program has increased dramatically in 2009. Just look at the volume of materials you have kept out the landfills this past year:
Ink Cartridges: 688 collected, a 38% increase over 2008. The proceeds are given to the Capital Area Food Bank.
Cell Phones: 226 collected, a 67% increase over 2008. Phones are sold to a re-manufacturer, and the proceeds are used by the Environmental Guild in carrying out its environmental-stewardship ministries.
Glasses: 310 collected, a slight decrease from the previous year. Glasses are distributed to needy recipients through the Trinity Center and the Lions Club.
CD’s: 2,266 collected, an 84% increase over 2008. These are sent to a re-manufacturer to remove the metals and plastics to be made into other products.
Batteries: ½ to ¾ ton (too many to count!). We are an official City of Austin drop-off site, with the hazardous waste department picking up from us monthly.
Pull Tabs: Tabs are given to the Ronald McDonald House. We don’t count the tabs, but the program appears to be growing considerably.
Prescription Bottles: It is estimated that the number of recycled prescription bottles was over 5,000.
Learn how you can help the recycling efforts at St. David’s with your drop-offs and more on why you should use compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Learn more about the Interfaith Environmental Network.
