Greening Your Church Community

1.  Set up a recycling station in the church hall.

2.  Church Yard Sale:  Hold a yard sale in the church parking lot as a fundraiser

3.  Plant trees around the church

4.  Plan a day to pick up any trash on the church grounds or in the neighborhood around the church

5.  Bulletin board at church with a picture/short story on an index card about one change each family has made to make their home more environmentally friendly as stewards of God’s Creation.

6. Clothing Swap:  Plan a day for the community to hold a clothing swap (hand me downs on a grand scale) in the hall.  One side of the hall can have tables for boys/men’s clothing.  Each table is labeled with a size range.  The other side of the hall is for the girls/women’s clothing.  Again, tables are labeled with a size range.  Anyone wanting to participate, brings clothing (in decent shape) on the designated day.  They sort their clothing onto the appropriate tables.  (i.e. Sorting time is from 9am – 10am)  Then everyone can look through the clothes and find items they need for their growing kids or different clothes for themselves.  (This can take place after the sorting from 11am – 1pm, for example)  It can be a social time where coffee and snacks are brought while benefiting everyone at the same time with a clothing swap.

7.  Community Garden:  There are many different ways you could approach this but the basic idea is for a community garden on the church property where parishioners can grow fruits and vegetables together for their homes and for social hour after Liturgy on Sunday.

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

I'm on a journey to make my home and family more green.  What do I mean by green?  My own personal definition is - taking steps to eat healthier (organic, non-processed, and attempting to have a productive little garden), waste less (anything from packaging for an item I buy to eating leftovers in the refrigerator instead of letting them go bad to recycling and composting for sending less to the landfill), use products that not only are easier on the environment but also on our bodies (shampoos, toothpaste, dishwasher detergent, laundry soap, etc.), respecting/loving God's Creation, and teaching my family about these things along the way.  It's not always easy and it's definitely a lifestyle change.  What I've found is that it's easiest to incorporate these things one or two at a time.  Once I get comfortable and make it a part of my everyday life then I know it's time to add another thing.

My latest addition on my journey is making my own dishwasher detergent.  It is very simple and considerably cheaper than buying the environmentally friendly version at the store (although I have bought that in the past also).

Here's my recipe that has worked very well for me these past 3 months:

- 2 cups borax

- 4 cups baking soda

- 1 cup kosher salt

- 4 ounces citric acid

- distilled white vinegar (for the rinse cycle)

Measure out and mix together the borax, baking soda, salt, and citric acid.  Keep it in a container that will not get your detergent wet.  I bought my container and spoon at a local kitchen store but you could use just about anything.  I use 2 scoops for the main wash and 1 scoop for the pre-wash.  I don't know exactly how much that measures out to be but I'd guess that one scoop is about 2 tablespoons.

You can find the borax in the laundry section of your store.  It's pretty easy to find.  I bought my citric acid from Amazon.  I didn't use the citric acid at first but after my dishes kept turning out foggy after they'd been washed, I did some research and found that the citric acid will prevent the foggy and streakiness.  It has worked incredibly well.  I bought a large container of it - this way I don't have to worry about ordering it on a regular basis since the one container will make about 35 batches of detergent.  The salt is added to help act as a scrubber for the dirt on the dishes.  I've played with this recipe for the past 3 months and found that this one works best for me.  I also pour in a little bit of distilled white vinegar into the rinse aide (twist off cap in the inside door of the dishwasher) which helps to disinfect and also with streaking.

Feel free to post any of your own dishwasher detergent recipes and how they work for you!

The Green Patriarch

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has been nicknamed "The Green Patriarch" for his extensive work initiating environmental awareness and response.  Some of his most well known work has been the environmental symposiums he has held around the world with both religious leaders and scientists alike.  In October of this year, Patriarch Bartholomew will be visiting the United States.  He has various meetings and appearances scheduled across the U.S. and will also be holding another Environmental Symposium on the Mississippi River.  A wonderful website has been put together to give further information to everyone about the Patriarch's visit.

Becket Films put out a phenomenal short film about "The Green Patriarch".  I purchased it about six months ago when I was developing my Vacation Church School Curriculum.  It was well worth the $20 I spent to purchase it but I just discovered you can view it on the above website for free.  If you'd like to learn more about the patriarch - here's the perfect opportunity.  Here's a direct link to the video.

(Picture used with permission)

My husband and I were blessed to go Constantinople in 2007 with a group of friends, Father Mark, and Bishop Savas.  During the trip, we visited the patriarchate, Agia Sophia, Chora Church (Museum), and many other places.  At the patriarchate, we were greeted by Ecumenical Patriarchate Bartholomew.  He is a very sweet and sincere man.