“Green” is a word with a whole new connotation these days. It is jargon appended to our human activity and consumption on the earth, our motherly planet. As a child I was taught to save energy by turning off lights when leaving a room, or turning down the temperature when leaving home for an extended period of time; not to litter was drilled into my consciousness as a sign of respect for another’s property. We had no awareness that the sources of energy that we used—mostly petrochemical—were an environmental problem (especially in rural northern Minnesota). And the jargon continues: along with “being green” is “reducing your carbon footprint.” Although these are jargon, there are realities behind the terminology.

In contemporary Catholic Social Teaching Pope John Paul II was the first to speak directly of care of the environment in his writings. This was an expansion of the awareness of nuclear winter (from nuclear weapons madness). Pope Benedict XVI has continued the language and exhortation to be better stewards of the earth.

Here in Bloomington there is an organized effort to educate for ecological consciousness and to promote practices of conservation. The group is called Earth Care. It is a religiously-based group. St. Paul as a parish is tangentially involved; there are a couple of parish members who are deeply involved. I hope you notice that we recycle most things: paper, plastics (#1-7), aluminum (e.g., soda cans), cardboard, steel, and glass. The Schamp family is the regular recyclers for St. Paul parish recyclables (Thanks, Gene and Bea!). Help us to be attentive to these recyclable products—look for the containers for recycling in the Gathering Space, the sacristy, in the basement rooms.

Recently St. Paul had an energy audit conducted by the Earth Care team. They were thorough. We discovered ways of considering certain spaces as ‘zones’ where we can control the heating/cooling, thus saving energy and money. We are investigating a small unit to heat and cool the back chapel. Currently, in order to provide heat or cooling of this space (27’ x 17’) we must turn on the whole church unit…and the thermostat is located in the church. What a waste of energy! We hope that the installment cost is low enough to afford implementation.

What about each of us and our households? If you have curbside pick-up of trash, you can recycle everything. And what about recycling all of these packaging items (plastic, aluminum, steel, glass)? It will reduce the trash, thus reducing the junk going into the landfill. It might seem like a small amount by any given household, but the collective amount of 700 households adds up! And what about being smarter about driving vs. walking/biking? It’s something to consider.

The gigantic BP oil spill in the Gulf wakes us up to the sludge that petrol energy costs the environment. No matter where one is in the spectrum of the global climate debate, conscientious care of materials and waste is a spiritual thing to do. Mindless littering or waste has no spiritual merit in any religious system.

It is summer. What a great time to exercise our mindfulness in awareness of what we use and consume and discard. And what a wonderful habit to be cleaner about our actions. Let’s make St. Paul a model Catholic community of care to all of creation.