 | Andrew Conradi, ofs acknowledges and thanks the Lkwungen People, (of the place to smoke herring) also known as the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations, for allowing me to live, pray, work, and play on their lands. May 2021 Blog |  |
Promises need to become Real Action now!
 Laudato Si’ Week 16-24 May 2021 will be the crowning event of the Special Laudato Si’ Anniversary Year, & a celebration of the great progress the whole Church has made on its journey to ecological conversion. | |
For more info https://laudatosiweek.org/events/
He said in LS 13: “for we know that things can change”
Can faith leaders shift public opinion toward climate action? by Brian H. Smith, Professor emeritus of religion at Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin, USA. He was a member of the Society of Jesus for 21 years.
He said in LS 13: “for we know that things can change”
Can faith leaders shift public opinion toward climate action? by Brian H. Smith, Professor emeritus of religion at Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin, USA. He was a member of the Society of Jesus for 21 years.
Time for bold action from leaders
How many Catholics, for example, know of the important work of the Global Catholic Climate Movement ?
This is the time for religious leaders to act boldly, since saving the environment is a pro-life issue.
The World Health Organization (WHO) projects that climate change will cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050. Elderly people, children and those living in coastal cities are expected to be particularly vulnerable.
Catholic bishops regularly speak about abortion and the sanctity of traditional marriage. … If they began to support policies to protect the environment and called pollution an "ecological sin" (as did the Synod of Bishops on the Amazon in 2019), those in the pews might be mobilized to channel their environmental awareness and concerns into action.
Members of the hierarchy are sometimes very specific when they point out what they believe is wrong in public policies affecting the unborn. There is no serious reason why they could not make saving the environment a major moral imperative for Catholics, as well.
It is one of the most critical pro-life challenges of our era, and time is running out to prevent massive deaths in the coming decades.
If one is "pro-life" for the unborn, one cannot remain "pro-choice" regarding the environment. Without bold action now, millions of born humans will die in the next 20 years because of inaction in face of this planetary crisis
This is the time for religious leaders to act boldly, since saving the environment is a pro-life issue.
The World Health Organization (WHO) projects that climate change will cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050. Elderly people, children and those living in coastal cities are expected to be particularly vulnerable.
Catholic bishops regularly speak about abortion and the sanctity of traditional marriage. … If they began to support policies to protect the environment and called pollution an "ecological sin" (as did the Synod of Bishops on the Amazon in 2019), those in the pews might be mobilized to channel their environmental awareness and concerns into action.
Members of the hierarchy are sometimes very specific when they point out what they believe is wrong in public policies affecting the unborn. There is no serious reason why they could not make saving the environment a major moral imperative for Catholics, as well.
It is one of the most critical pro-life challenges of our era, and time is running out to prevent massive deaths in the coming decades.
If one is "pro-life" for the unborn, one cannot remain "pro-choice" regarding the environment. Without bold action now, millions of born humans will die in the next 20 years because of inaction in face of this planetary crisis
AND NOW TURNING TO MINING:
What AngloAmerican’s logo should say…
TAKE ACTION: Send a message
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See Kairos Canada: Faithful Action for Justice
Barrick Gold Mines Focus of Conflict Globally
“Barrick’s global environmental and human rights track record at these and other mines remains dismal,” says Catherine Coumans of MiningWatch Canada. … “Barrick must stop turning a blind eye on the demands and rights of local communities,” says Diana Martin of MiningWatch Canada. “For many of these communities, Barrick’s mining practices mean the destruction of their livelihoods and ecosystems. As they so often tell us, their water is their gold.” See Mining Watch
“Barrick’s global environmental and human rights track record at these and other mines remains dismal,” says Catherine Coumans of MiningWatch Canada. … “Barrick must stop turning a blind eye on the demands and rights of local communities,” says Diana Martin of MiningWatch Canada. “For many of these communities, Barrick’s mining practices mean the destruction of their livelihoods and ecosystems. As they so often tell us, their water is their gold.” See Mining Watch
Fossil fuel $$ in the B.C. Budget
The B.C. NDP released its new budget 20 April 2021, and it contained over $1 billion for oil and gas companies in the form of tax breaks, incentives, and direct funding. Let’s be clear: This budget was a huge missed opportunity to diversify B.C.’s economy and invest in creating new, sustainable jobs in renewables (or really – anything but fossil fuels). Instead, the government decided to continue its policy of giving fossil fuel CEOs massive handouts from the public purse. If you haven’t already, help increase the pressure on the government by signing the petition to stop fossil fuel subsidies. Just click on the preceding sentence link!
The B.C. NDP released its new budget 20 April 2021, and it contained over $1 billion for oil and gas companies in the form of tax breaks, incentives, and direct funding. Let’s be clear: This budget was a huge missed opportunity to diversify B.C.’s economy and invest in creating new, sustainable jobs in renewables (or really – anything but fossil fuels). Instead, the government decided to continue its policy of giving fossil fuel CEOs massive handouts from the public purse. If you haven’t already, help increase the pressure on the government by signing the petition to stop fossil fuel subsidies. Just click on the preceding sentence link!
Pope Francis: no time to wait on climate change
In twin Earth Day messages, Pope Francis warned a gathering of world leaders and the global community at large that "we are at the edge" with climate change, and the time to take action is now.
Waste and plastic
Pope Francis, 2015, Laudato si’, n 22. “ … problems are closely linked to a throwaway culture which affects the excluded just as it quickly reduces things to rubbish. … our industrial system, at the end of its cycle of production and consumption, has not developed the capacity to absorb and reuse waste and by-products. We have not yet managed to adopt a circular model of production capable of preserving resources for present and future generations, while limiting as much as possible the use of non-renewable resources, moderating their consumption, maximizing their efficient use, reusing and recycling them. A serious consideration of this issue would be one way of counteracting the throwaway culture which affects the entire planet, but it must be said that only limited progress has been made in this regard.”
 | DID YOU KNOW? |
According to the Environmental Justice Network: “Trash incineration is the most expensive and polluting way to manage waste or to make energy. It’s dirtier than coal and is more polluting than direct landfilling of trash. For every 100 tons burned, over 70 tons becomes air pollution and nearly 30 tons end up as toxic ash that is dumped in the county’s landfill, making it more dangerous than if waste were placed there directly.” (FAN Newsletter: Love is of God, 3 May 2021)
In Canada approximately 97% of the waste requiring final disposal is sent to landfills and 3% is incinerated. Incineration can reduce the volume of MSW by 90%. Today, incinerators use advanced air pollution controls and can include technologies that remove 99% of the dioxins and furans emitted from incineration. [Can include? How well and how much do they actually remove?]
In Canada approximately 97% of the waste requiring final disposal is sent to landfills and 3% is incinerated. Incineration can reduce the volume of MSW by 90%. Today, incinerators use advanced air pollution controls and can include technologies that remove 99% of the dioxins and furans emitted from incineration. [Can include? How well and how much do they actually remove?]
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Training and mobilization for campaigns against incinerators and landfills and for recycling initiatives comprise the majority of The Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA) actions.
ZWIA launched a new program at its last board meeting, The Albatross Alliance, to be headed by world-renowned captain of the oceanographic research vessel Alguita, Charles Moore, author of Plastic Ocean. “Zero Waste is the only strategy that can save these legendary seabirds and the oceans where they feed and breed.”
(ZWIA) continues to react to the world wide challenges posed by mismanagement of materials known as solid waste. A Zero Waste future is not only possible, but also inevitable in a crowded world such as ours.
Zero Waste Europe welcomes the [Laudato si’] encyclical of Pope Francis and is pleased to see that there is a growing consensus on the need to transform our wasteful societies into zero waste ones. As Paul Connett once said, “God recycles, the devil burns”.
ZWIA launched a new program at its last board meeting, The Albatross Alliance, to be headed by world-renowned captain of the oceanographic research vessel Alguita, Charles Moore, author of Plastic Ocean. “Zero Waste is the only strategy that can save these legendary seabirds and the oceans where they feed and breed.”
(ZWIA) continues to react to the world wide challenges posed by mismanagement of materials known as solid waste. A Zero Waste future is not only possible, but also inevitable in a crowded world such as ours.
Zero Waste Europe welcomes the [Laudato si’] encyclical of Pope Francis and is pleased to see that there is a growing consensus on the need to transform our wasteful societies into zero waste ones. As Paul Connett once said, “God recycles, the devil burns”.
BUT HOW CAN WE DO IT? YES;
WE DO HAVE TO CHANGE!
RECOMMENDED: HERE ARE SOME WAYS:
ZERO WASTE #BREAKFREEFROMPLASTICS
How much plastic do we ingest?
We Consume a Spoonful of Plastic a Week
WE DO HAVE TO CHANGE!
RECOMMENDED: HERE ARE SOME WAYS:
ZERO WASTE #BREAKFREEFROMPLASTICS
How much plastic do we ingest?
We Consume a Spoonful of Plastic a Week
You’ve heard about all the microscopic plastic in our water supply. We’re breathing microplastic, eating it and drinking plastic-infused water every day. It is everywhere: in mothers’ milk and in the Arctic.
To date, humans have produced 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic. About 8 million tons of it washes into the oceans every year, where it doesn’t biodegrade—because its large polymer molecules were designed to last forever, and they do. Instead, bigger plastic objects break down into smaller, microscopic fragments, littering marine ecosystems from deep ocean sediments to polar icecaps. And as they float down the rivers and into the ocean these miniature fragments come back to us with the water we consume.
Plastic does not biodegrade. Instead, it breaks down into smaller pieces, and ultimately ends up everywhere, including in the food chain. Pieces that are less than five millimeters in length, around the size of a sesame seed, are called “microplastics.”
People could be ingesting the equivalent of a credit card of plastic a week, a recent study by WWF International concluded, mainly in drinking water but also via sources like shellfish, which tend to be eaten whole so the plastic in their digestive systems is also consumed
To date, humans have produced 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic. About 8 million tons of it washes into the oceans every year, where it doesn’t biodegrade—because its large polymer molecules were designed to last forever, and they do. Instead, bigger plastic objects break down into smaller, microscopic fragments, littering marine ecosystems from deep ocean sediments to polar icecaps. And as they float down the rivers and into the ocean these miniature fragments come back to us with the water we consume.
Plastic does not biodegrade. Instead, it breaks down into smaller pieces, and ultimately ends up everywhere, including in the food chain. Pieces that are less than five millimeters in length, around the size of a sesame seed, are called “microplastics.”
People could be ingesting the equivalent of a credit card of plastic a week, a recent study by WWF International concluded, mainly in drinking water but also via sources like shellfish, which tend to be eaten whole so the plastic in their digestive systems is also consumed
 | Every week 5 grams of plastic. That’s about the same weight as a plastic bottle cap and enough shredded plastic to fill a porcelain soup spoon. |
“We have been using plastic for decades but we still don’t really understand the impact of micro- and nano-sized plastic particles on our health,” said Thava Palanisami of Australia’s University of Newcastle, who worked on the WWF study. “All we know is that we are ingesting it and that it has the potential to cause toxicity. That is definitely a cause for concern.”
Are we responsible? What should we do?
Are we responsible? What should we do?
Bottled water sellers beware: This student is coming for you
 | Mireta Strandberg-Salmon campaigned to end bottled water sales in her B.C. high school and university. ...READ MORE Photo submitted by Mireta Strandberg-Salmon |
She was asked: Do you have anything to say to older readers?
Listen to youth voices. Step in when you are needed and then step back. Create space for young people to lead, and keep an open mind when young people challenge the status quo. ...READ MORE
Listen to youth voices. Step in when you are needed and then step back. Create space for young people to lead, and keep an open mind when young people challenge the status quo. ...READ MORE
Merci, les évêques/ thank you, bishops!
Quebec’s Catholic bishops don’t just want a recovery, they want change.
The Quebec Assembly of Catholic Bishops’ annual May Day message [St Joseph the Worker] calls for a basic income, higher minimum wage, an economy less dependent on fossil fuels, tax reform that redistributes wealth away from the wealthy and policies that recognize how women have been disadvantaged in our economy.
“Women and young people have been especially hard hit,” the bishops write in “Towards a Just Recovery: Paying Attention to the Lives of Workers.” Read more...
Peace & joy, Andrew, ofs,
6 May 2021
Quebec’s Catholic bishops don’t just want a recovery, they want change.
The Quebec Assembly of Catholic Bishops’ annual May Day message [St Joseph the Worker] calls for a basic income, higher minimum wage, an economy less dependent on fossil fuels, tax reform that redistributes wealth away from the wealthy and policies that recognize how women have been disadvantaged in our economy.
“Women and young people have been especially hard hit,” the bishops write in “Towards a Just Recovery: Paying Attention to the Lives of Workers.” Read more...
Peace & joy, Andrew, ofs,
6 May 2021
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