Travis Park United Methodist Church
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Unconditional Love and Justice in Action
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Living Green Did you know that Travis Park United Methodist Church has an Electric Vehicle Charging Station?
Green Gift Ideas
from www.treehugger.com and other sources
Be sure your material gift will get used It may be the thought that counts, but a gift that the receiver does not use is simply wasted: not a very nice thought. Give material possessions only if you know the recipient well enough to pick out something they were on the cusp of getting for themselves, or which they really need and will certainly enjoy using. Personally made certificates for home repairs, meal preparation, house cleaning, child delivery,etc. or purchased gifts certificates for needed items: haircut, car wash, lawn services, drive way repair, etc.
Give a consumable gift
Your friend will love your consumable gift twice: once while enjoying the organic teas, fair trade coffee, fresh flowers, fresh or dried fruits and nuts, or other consumable gift; and again when they appreciate that your gift leaves them with no guilty conscience about a gift left unused in the corner of their closet.
Share a piece of yourself Avoid material consumption altogether. Instead, offer your services to baby-sit while your friend enjoys a cozy date with their partner, give a gift certificate for a relaxing massage, or an invitation to an event, party, meal, golf game.
Make a gift of a green service If your time is prioritized elsewhere, you can buy a green service. Consider the gift of a bus pass for a commuting colleague orperson in need.
Make a gift of any service: You will still reduce material consumption by giving a service of any kind. Especially heart-warming are humanitarian services, such as making a gift of a micro-loan (for example via www.Kiva.org ) meals for the home bound, or a bus pass.
Give a gift where it is needed on behalf of someone else. Make a child smile when they get a card describing the child in another part of the world whose life will be improved by the gift of a llama or a sheep on their behalf (for example via World Gifts or Heifer or Alternative Christmas through Travis Park.
Creative gifts show you care: The baby sweater or scarf you knit yourself is more likely to become a family heirloom, extending the life cycle of the materials in your gift. Tickets to a musical, theatre, movie, outdoor excursion, museum, or boat ride on the river. Give recycling bags, fabric Christmas bags (or use), recorded family stories, family pictures, family recipes, and plants. Give lessons: music, swimming, cooking, golf, or dance.
Buy a local gift A gift made or grown locally can tell a story or share a unique product you have discovered on your own stomping grounds. Your locally-sourced gift will save the environment and shipping emissions. Farmers market, fair trade shops, www.findgreen411.com
Buy high-quality goods Sometimes a little extra care or money invested will result in finding a high quality gift that will do justice to the materials consumed in the manufacturing by a long lifespan. Try flea markets or vintage and second-hand shops for quality goods you can afford: then make the gift "new" with a personal touch.
Think about your packaging Use re-usable packaging that will not go to waste. Your packaging may be part of the gift itself, such as wrapping the gift in a scarf or enclosing it in a box that can be reused for collecting life's odds and ends. Reusable wrapping, such as a fabric gift bag, will pass on the fun. For family and close friends, consider the Sunday funnies instead of commercial gift wrap or a newspaper sack (see hall display).
San Antonio Eco Friendly Shopping
All's Fair World Gifts
2267 NW Military Highway Ste. 110; San Antonio, TX 78213 Phone 210.979.0087 www.allsfairworldgifts.com Big Grass Bamboo
637 West Hildebrand; San Antonio, TX 78212 Phone 210.735.7999 www.biggrassbamboo.com Green Living Everyday
PO Box 69; Dripping Springs, TX 78620 Phone 800.863.2142 www.greenlivingeveryday.com Whole Earth Provision Co
255 E Basse Rd # 510; San Antonio, TX 78209 Phone: 210.829.8888 www.wholeearthprovision.com  time to save – cut waste
The heat and drought in Texas should have everyone thinking about saving, not wasting water and energy. CPS Energy and Build San Antonio Green with the help of a one-time $10 million dollar initiative through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act makes this the perfect time for making cost-effective energy efficiency improvements to your home. Specific items from the City of San Antonio, Build San Antonio Green, and CPS Energy include no or low-cost energy audits, rebates and incentives, financing options, assistance finding participating contractors and the Alamo College’s One Stop Center where you can enroll in the program and receive additional information.
If you want personal assistance, Alamo College’s One Stop Center is in room 122 at the Susan B. Oppenheimer Education and Training Center located at 309 W. Dewey. Soraya Gonzalez, the Residential Outreach Coordinator (210-486-1426; sgonzalez232@alamo.edu), is extremely helpful and knowledgeable.
To do it yourself, the First Step is to go on line to Residential CPS Energy Saver Program and enter information for the “Free do it yourself check up”. Filling out this information puts you in line to get financial help before the $10 million grant runs out. It will give you a $5 credit on your bill and after about 2 months (because of the demand for this service) a print out about your energy use. Click here for more information.
The Second Step is a walk-through audit ($25) which determines the energy efficiency of your home and appliances (water heater uses 47% of energy and appliances 25%). This audit will identify needs and provide you with appropriate CPS rebates, City refunds and cash incentives. A free programmable thermostat is available from CPS to save on heating costs.
Significant savings are available if you can improve your home’s HERS (Home Energy Rating System) to 85 or less or improve the current rating by 15%.
The Better Business Bureau (www.sanantonio.bbb.org) has a CPS site to click to help find an accredited business and request a quote from multiple contractors at once within minutes.
Alamo College is developing an Eco Central site for urban sustainability. Check with Steve Lewis, Director of Service Trade & Industry Center for information about green jobs training and/or do-it-yourself training.
Broadway Bank is a partner in providing home improvement loans and can be contacted at 210-283-6500.
Contact Solar San Antonio for new information about placement regulations eased by TX Bill 326 and their new “Bring Solar Home” program that facilitates the process of installing solar.
 350.org moving planet – thanks!
Thanks to Travis Park Living Green members Mona Kandeler, Joanna Foster, Shirley Watkins, Alvin Loewenberg, Fred Kandeler, Irene Keller and Bill Barker for their work on this community event.
living green: get ready to share
By Halloween this year, earth will have 7 billion people, most of whom live in developing countries. Even though “population growth tends to get blamed on other people: Africans and Asians who have "more kids than they can feed," immigrants in our own country with their "large families," even single mothers in the "inner city."
But actually the population problem is all about me: white, middle-class, American me. Steer the blame right over here because population isn't just about counting heads. The impact of humanity on the environment is not determined solely by how many of us are around, but by how much stuff we use and how much room we take up. And as a financially comfortable American, I use a lot of stuff and take up a lot of room.
When someone like me has a child--watch out, world! Gear, gadgets, gewgaws, bigger house, bigger car, oil from the Mideast, etc... And then when that child has children, wash, rinse, and repeat (in hot water, of course). Without even trying, we Americans slurp up resources from every corner of the globe and then spit 99 percent of them back out again as pollution.”
“I am the Population Problem”. Lisa Hymas. The Grist, 9/27/2011
I challenge you to begin sharing today. Do an energy audit on your home (the on-line do-it-yourself version) and you will be in line to receive some of the one time, 10 million dollars that the city currently has to help home owners to upgrade the efficiency of their homes and you will be saving energy and lessening your impact on the other 7 billion.
How-to-information is available from Living Green.
See the poster in the hall or ask a Living Green member this Sunday.
 awareness and action
living green task force
The question being asked is “What happens to a country when its boundaries diminish or it disappears beneath the sea? Does it cease to exist? Can permanent installations be built above the water covered land as a sovereign country? The Maldives are the first country to construct islands for survival of climate change. The Dutch have been hired to build star shaped islands for them.
 The 33 islands that make up Kiribati sit barely above sea level these days, and more than half of the country’s 100,000 people are crowded onto the capital island of South Tarawa. Land is scarce and drinking water is in short supply, so to combat both overpopulation and rising seas, Kiribati has begun sending young citizens to Australia to study nursing. The nursing program is different because the graduates will continue to work in Australia and someday bring their families to join them because their entire country may soon be underwater.As the planet warms and ice sheets melt, sea levels are rising worldwide. In some parts of the world, entire countries are at risk of vanishing beneath the seas. Currently political leaders and concerned citizens are working together through the Alliance of Small Island States to save their homes, their sovereignty and their identities from disappearing beneath the waves.
In 2008, former Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom persuaded Japan to pay for a $60 million seawall of concrete tetrapods around the capital city of Male, and retaining walls have since been built on other islands.
In 2003, the people of the Carteret Islands became the world’s first environmental refugees when Papua New Guinea authorized a government-funded evacuation of the islands.
Not one of the Maldives 1,200 islands is more than 6 feet above sea
 level, so as the world continues to heat up, it’s likely the country’s 400,000 residents could soon be homeless. President Nasheed has established a fund using tourism dollars to buy land in other countries where his people can relocate if the nation is flooded. Possible relocation spots include India and Sri Lanka.Carbon dioxide pollution is currently at 393.69 ppm (parts per million). The safe level is thought to be 350 ppm. Fifty percent of carbon pollution comes from China and the United States. Other nations are having to cope with sea walls, relocation, education, as well as floating cities and countries.
It is time, past time, to cut our carbon emissions. According to a UN report, “raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gas emissions all cars, trucks, trains, ships and planes combined” worldwide. One meatless day a week equals taking 8 million cars off the road. Commit to three meals per week without meat. Commit to cutting gas consumption by 5-10%. Walk, bike, carpool, bus, combine errands into one circular trip.
White Spruce in Alaska are being destroyed by wood beetles exacerbated by warming and the change in climate. Live oak trees in Texas are threatened by oak wilt and many other trees have died from lack of water.
Help plant more native and drought tolerant trees and plants to replace what is being lost. Support city wide efforts to conserve water and encourage even more conservation personally and politically. Join Energy Mia to work for greater influence over San Antonio energy
issues through Cynthia Weehler cnthweehler@gmail.com.
  Cape Hatteras, N. C. has experienced extensive coastal erosion.
The number of major storms and their intensity has risen extensively in U.S. and worldwide. Meteorologists find that increasing ocean temperatures mean increasingly intense hurricanes with damaging wind, hail, flooding and possible tornados. Cut your consumption of gasoline and petroleum products to help limit warming. Check out ScienceDaily.com for information.
 Rhone Glacier, Valers, Switzerland. The melting of mountain glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, the thermal expansion and land garnered water being dumped into the oceans are all thought to contribute to the rising sea levels of about 3mm per year about twice the rate since 1940. Many coastal cities worldwide will be affected by significant sea rise. Connect to ShiftMovement.com and watch the movie trailer to see what is being said and done in the world to join people to people working for change. “The dawn of the 21st century has witnessed two remarkable developments in our history: the appearance of systemic problems that are genuinely global in scope, and the growth of a worldwide movement that is determined to heal the wounds of the earth with the forces of passion, dedication, and collective intelligence and wisdom.”
 Many people worldwide are “performing daily miracles of redefining our relationship to the environment and to one another.” (Paul Hawken, Blessed Unrest.) During the next six weeks you will be invited to heighten your awareness and join the “miracle workers” by adding your insight and voice to other voices thereby helping to make the positive changes that will heal the earth and our relationships.Remember: “Nature recycles everything; nothing is wasted, nothing is thrown away because there is no ‘away’. All natural processes are cyclical, and every scrap of matter, atom, and molecule is reused and repurposed into new flows of life.” p. 179 Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken. Let’s move in that direction so nature and society can begin to heal.
Over the next six weeks Living Green will be presenting visual images about earth's predicament and options for increased awareness and action."
Argentina’s Upsala Glacier was once the largest in South America, but is now disappearing at 200 meters per year. The melting of permafrost which has been locked up for millions of years is releasing methane which is twenty-four times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. To help lessen your carbon footprint, cut your use of plastic in all its many forms.
Green Lenten Awareness
In recent years, Christians have focused on discovering specific ways we can help green our planet. Yet, keeping motivated to persist in green lifestyle practices is difficult. What we often fail to recognize is that green practices impact not only water, air and earth, but impact very real people. Perhaps our green motivation needs to be humanized.
Our congregation seeks to bring dignity and respect to all persons, especially the poor and homeless. The poor and marginalized are the real people who are most harmed by the harming the environment. For example, 12% of the world’s population uses 85% of the water. Water conservation has an impact for the 88% who use only 15%. To image a poor or marginalized person being helped, perhaps is a better motivation to sustain our practice of water conservation.
Each week of Lent, your TPUMC Environmental Task Group, “Living Green,” will be sharing a different green practice to consider and importantly who will be impacted by it. This first week, the focus is on sustainable food.
[A wide variety of resources have been used to gather the information below. If you have more information or other data that supports or contradicts this information, please contact Mona Kandeler at mkandeler@satx.rr.com This venture needs to be a dialogue among those of us in community at Travis Park and the best information will be that which receives the scrutiny of many. Your input is desired and will be valuable to the search for clarity and understanding.]
 First Week in Lent:
Healthy quality food enhances health and wellness.
Enjoy two meatless main meals this week and/or shop at a farmer’s market.
·Eating some meat is important for healthy development for all people, but excessive red meat often leads to health problems.
·Excessive meat production (2 billion livestock worldwide) leads to overuse of water, toxic waste from animals, fertilizer pollution of soil and water for animal food production, deforestation of wilderness land and a loss of bio-diversity (1/3 of world’s arable land is used).
·Example: 40% of wheat and 70% of corn in U.S. is now grown for feed and energy source, rather than as food which creates a loss of bio-diversity (1/3 of arable land is used for feed and energy crops) limiting the amount that can be exported as food.
·31-40% of U.S. corn is used for ethanol.
In solidarity with the poor of the earth, eat less meat, buy food produced close to home, grow some of your own food, shop at a farmer’s market or join a community garden.
 Second Week in Lent: Freedom from toxic waste should be available worldwide.
Recycle your old cell phones and used batteries by bringing them to the church during the next several weeks.
·Texas is the worst state in the nation in e-waste recycling. E-waste creates 40% of the lead and 70% of the heavy metals found in landfills.
· ww.earth911.com provides recycling outlets for all types of products giving specific addresses in San Antonio.
·All electronic equipment should be responsibly recycled (Corona Visions, Inc. is a responsible recycler ) because the heavy metals that leach into the soil and water are known to accumulate in the tissues of higher order animals (including humans) and causing brain and liver dysfunction.
· We will take cell phones and batteries to the recycler for you if you bring them to the church.
Many recyclers (although it is against the law) send toxic materials like televisions and computers to China, India, Pakistan, Ghana and Nigeria, often as second hand goods, but in reality for disposal. Local people disassemble them by hand to make money which poisons people, soil and water causing life threatening illnesses and frequently death for many.
More than 1 billion people struggle to survive on less than $1 US a day. Eleven children under the age of 5 die of hunger related causes every minute.
 Third Week in Lent:
Clean water is a necessity for health and life.
Change your habits and products by curbing use of toxins that contaminate water.
·People should wash their cars at a car wash to avoid washing toxins into storm drains which pollute waterways and oceans.
·Lawn tenders should apply the correct amount of fertilizer (the average person uses three times as much pesticide per acre as farmers). Phosphorous-rich run off from lawn fertilizer feeds carpets of algae that suffocate waterways.
·Use of “green” products protects our local water from toxins.
·Unused meds should be rendered unusable with water and then put in the trash not flushed down the drain or toilet.
·Every year, 14 billion pounds of sewage, sludge, and garbage are dumped into the world's oceans. 19 trillion gallons of waste also enter the water annually.
·One billion people world-wide are denied the right to clean water.
·Mexico, Europe, Northern Africa, the Middle East, India and China have the least amount of fresh water sources and many of the largest populations.
·Polluted water kills millions of children, youth and adults each year.
·The problem of ocean pollution affects every nation around the world. This is especially true because water is able to transport pollution from one location to another.
·The world’s oceans are being poisoned by the double impact of chemical fertilizer and plastic. UNEP. No ocean fish today could be called organic.
Fourth Sunday in Lent: Clean air is a gift and necessary for good health.
Bike, walk, or go by bus this week and drive your car 25% less than your typical average. Save all chores for one day and do one round trip to cover less miles. Buy fewer petroleum based products.
The U.S. spends $1 billion a day on imported oil.
·The U.S. uses 28,000 42 gallon barrels of oil every two minutes. Fact: Cars and light trucks consume 8.6 million barrels of oil a day.
·Down town urban dwellers carbon footprint is 1/3 that of suburban dwellers.
· Children who live close to freeways are twice as likely to be autistic.
·Homeless persons and others who live or spend much time near, under or around freeways experience serious health issues.
·Over 6,000 products are made with petroleum: paint, detergent, fertilizer, synthetic fabric, vitamins, plastic, CD/DVD’s, shoes, cosmetics, athletic equipment, wax candles, etc. Check out www.PetroleumGeology.org for an extensive list.
Fifth Sunday in Lent:
Community gives us the courage to change ourselves and the world.
· Join “Green Living” members by donating money for plants to refurbish our exterior landscape and join in a TPUMC community activity to prune, plant and commune together outside.
Sixth Sunday in Lent:
Sustainable energy protects and provides great benefit to all persons
Commit to using 75% fewer plastic bags, plastic bottles, and plastic packaging.
·The United States uses 2 million plastic bottles every 5 minutes.
· It takes 1.5 million barrels of oil a year to make all these bottles.
· It takes from 200 to 500 years for different types of plastic to decompose.
· BPA (the hormone disrupting chemical used in some plastics) is found on half of all cash register receipts and nearly all dollar bills.
· BPA is in a ton of stuff we use everyday. According to an article published in Fast Company Magazine, over 7 billion pounds of BPA was produced in 2007.
·The ester bonds that link the BPA monomers together are not very stable. Over time, these monomers break down which releases BPA into whatever is surrounding it. Namely, our food and water. An article published in Scientific American reports that when the plastic is heated (such as in the dishwasher or microwave) or used to store hot foods or liquids, the BPA leaks out 55 times faster than normal.
· BPA can be found in: canned foods (as the chemical lining inside the can) baby bottles, cell phones, water bottles, and computers.
·BPA is essentially a synthetic hormone, acting much like estrogen, so it’s possibly affecting our bodies in a myriad of ways.
·The first is breast cancer. There is evidence that suggests a link between increasing instances of breast cancer and BPA, especially when women are exposed to BPA at a younger age. Children especially are susceptible to the adverse health effects of BPA, since their brains and bodies are still developing.
·In an article published in TIME, BPA might also be causing diabetes, aggressiveness, heart disease, and decreased sensitivity to chemotherapy in cancer patients.
·Plastic clogs the world’s oceans and waterways imperiling marine life, food sources and marine jobs
·Connect to www.TED.com Charles Moore’s talk on “Sailing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” Most marine life is killed by bottle caps and small plastic pieces thought to be food and therefore, ingested or some are snared in plastic objects and bags.
·Many of the world’s poor rely on the ocean for food and livelihood.
 230 E. Travis Street
San Antonio, Texas 78205
210-226-8341
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