"Grateful for the gift of creation…we invite Catholics and men and women of good will in every walk of life to consider with us the moral issues raised by the environmental crisis…. These are matters of powerful urgency and major consequence. They constitute an exceptional call to conversion. As individuals, as institutions, as a people, we need a change of heart to preserve and protect the planet for our children and for generations yet unborn." Renewing the Earth: An Invitation to Reflection and Action on Environment in Light of Catholic Social Teaching, a statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops . www.nccbuscc.org/sdwp/ejp/bishopsstatement.htm
"Each of us should carefully consider our choices and lifestyles. We live in a culture that prizes the consumption of material goods. While the poor often have too little, many of us can be easily caught up in a frenzy of wanting more and more -- a bigger home a larger car, etc. Even though energy resources literally fuel our economy and provide a good quality of life, we need to ask about ways we can conserve energy, prevent pollution, and live more simply." Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good, a statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops. www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/globalclimate.htm
Following are several ideas from which you can choose to carry out individually, with friends or family, or with the wider faith or civic community.
Personal and family action
1. Reduce the use of nonessential appliances that rely on energy derived from fossil fuels.
2. Use reusable containers or wax paper bags for sandwiches and leftovers instead of plastic wrap and Baggies.
3. Install low-flow showerheads and faucets. You'll use less than half the hot water without decreasing performance.
4. Insulate water heater and hot water pipes and set it at 130 degrees (cool enough to save energy, but hot enough to kill bacteria).
5. Tune up furnace and air conditioner.
6. Clean refrigerator coils and door seal.
7. Use a fan at home instead of air conditioning.
8. Buy energy-efficient electronics and appliances. Then, turn them off when they're not in use. When buying, look for the Energy Star label or yellow-and-black sticker that tell you the energy efficiency ratings.
9. Lower the thermostat one degree for every hour away from home or asleep.
10. Turn off lights and appliances when not in the room.
11. Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs - especially those lights that burn the longest each day. These produce the same amount of light as normal bulbs, use about a quarter of the electricity, and last ten times as long. Each compact fluorescent bulb saves 500 pounds of coal, helping to clean the air today, curb global warming, and save you money on your electricity bill.
12. Insulate and weather-strip home.
13. Start a compost pile or take yard clippings and debris to a yard debris recycler.
14. Plant a tree. Trees "breathe in" carbon dioxide. Lower air-conditioning bills in the summer, and absorb CO2, by planting shade trees around the home.
15. Buy locally produced items when possible. This saves energy used to transport products.
16. Reduce consumption of gasoline by keeping cars tuned and tires inflated, carpooling, biking or walking, and using public transportation when possible. The more gasoline burned, the more carbon dioxide (CO2) is put into the air.
17. Air dry laundry whenever possible.
18. Explore solar and wind energy sources as alternative energy sources.
19. Enjoy recreational activities that use renewable instead of nonrenewable energy (e.g. take a walk instead of watch television).
20. Start a garden. That can reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
21. When purchasing, renting, or leasing vehicles, select energy-efficient models.
22. Conduct an energy audit of your home and identify ways to reduce energy use.
23. Reduce! Reuse! Recycle! Producing new paper, glass, and metal products from recycled materials saves 70-90% of the energy and pollution including CO2 that would result if the product came from virgin materials. Recycling a stack of newspapers only 4' high will save a good-sized tree. Buy recycled products! Recycling can reduce your home's carbon dioxide emissions by 850 pounds per year.
24. Plant deciduous trees in strategic locations around your home, including easement areas if permitted. The shade the trees cast can reduce your energy consumption. In addition to energy savings, another benefit is that trees store ("sequester") carbon during photosynthesis and can remove 50 pounds of carbon in a year.
25. Use a composting lawnmower. Composting yard waste on site reduces the waste stream sent to your community's landfill, and landfills generate a potent gas called "methane" that adds to global warming.
26. Using a push lawnmower instead of a power mower will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 80 pounds per year.
27. Buy food and other products packaged in reusable or recyclable material to save the energy required to manufacture new containers. This simple action could reduce emissions by 230 pounds a year.
28. If purchasing a new vehicle, consider a fuel-smart car – one that gets more miles to the gallon than your current vehicle, and match the vehicle to your needs. The potential carbon dioxide reduction for a car that gets 32 miles per gallon is 5,600 pounds per year.
29. Invest in businesses using and/or producing alternative energy sources or in other ways addressing climate change issues.
Community action
1. Explore the use of wind and solar energy sources as alternative energy sources for your local government.
2. Start a community garden.
3. Contact transportation companies whose vehicles spew black smoke and suggest that they tune up their vehicles and consider alternative sources of energy. The more gasoline burned, the more carbon dioxide (CO2) is put into the air.
4. Encourage your local government to support mass transit and other alternatives to single-passenger gasoline-powered cars for commuting.
5. Encourage your local government to conduct an energy audit of government buildings and identify ways to reduce energy use.
6. Encourage your local government to Reduce! Reuse! Recycle! And to buy recycled products!
Action by church, school, or faith-based groups
1. Ask celebrants and liturgy committees to incorporate themes into prayer and worship that emphasize our responsibility to protect all God’s creation.
2. Organize prayerful celebrations of creation on feast days honoring St. Maria, September 14; St. Francis of Assisi, October 4 and St. Isidore, May 15; and on other special days such as World Day of Peace, January 1; Thanksgiving; Rogations Days, normally the three days before Ascension Thursday; Earth Day, April 22; and World Environment Day, June 5.
3. Suggest and help organize a climate change awareness day at your parish.
4. Explore the use of wind and solar energy sources as alternative energy sources for your parish.
5. Start a parish garden.
6. Conduct an energy audit of your church buildings and identify ways to reduce energy use.
7. Replace incandescent light bulbs in your church buildings with compact fluorescent bulbs - especially those that burn the longest each day. These produce the same amount of light as normal bulbs, use about a quarter of the electricity, and last ten times as long. Each compact fluorescent bulb saves 500 pounds of coal, helping to clean the air today, curb global warming, and save you money on your church electricity bill.
8. Encourage your church to Reduce! Reuse! Recycle! And to buy recycled products!
Political involvement
1. Ask candidates for public office what they are prepared to do to address climate change issues.
2. Ask policy makers and public officials to focus more directly on the ethical dimensions of climate change and on its relation to development, to seek the common good, and to resist short-term pressures in order to meet our long-term responsibility to future generations.
3. Find out candidates' views on climate change and make them known to people old enough to vote. Encourage voters to take into consideration the candidates views when they decide for whom to vote.
Advocacy
1. Learn how to lobby local, state, and federal officials.
2. Urge your local government to reduce its energy consumption.
3. Urge your local government to consider solar and wind as alternative energy sources.
4. Write letters to the editor expressing your concern about climate change issues.
5. Encourage the U.S. government to support international efforts to address climate change issues.
6. Protect forests from unsustainable management.
7. Encourage the U.S. government to domestically address climate change issues.
8. Support government policies that promote energy efficiency and renewable energy.
9. Urge government leaders to raise mile per gallon standards for cars to 45 mpg and sport utility vehicles and other light trucks to 34 mpg. It's the biggest single step we can take to slow global warming.
10. Encourage U.S. Government support for sustainable agriculture.
11. Encourage national leaders to support Reduce! Reuse! Recycle! And to buy recycled products!