Reflection on Flint Water Crisis

It is not unusual for a group, to want “to do something” after a disaster. We want to help, heal, reduce pain, bring relief, and some balance through song, because our desires are deep and well-intended, loving gestures. At the same time, our intention “to act”, “to do” something, invites me to look deeper, “to wonder”, and ask the question, what might this situation be saying to me personally. What are the energies moving within me? How might such pain, loss, confusion, be also leading me personally to greater transformation?  

We can “do” but can we also allow ourselves “to be”, to feel the monumental pain of mothers with children, to grieve imperfections of our society and civic leaders involved in this horrific situation of toxic lead in the Flint water supply? Does this crises move me towards greater wholeness, oneness with others and self?  We do change and that is the paradox and mystery of pain.

Perhaps there is a challenge here. Can I listen to details of this tragedy without adding more waves of violence, anger and blame into our universe and towards others? Can I/we hold all the confusion and pain lovingly without judgement? There is no doubt in my mind that Divine presence is around us and within us, bursting forth in ways we cannot imagine, holding the pieces and threads of our groans, and us, intimately, in this darkness. Beatrice Bruteau in Holy Thursday Revolution, urges us “to exercise our imaginations to offset pessimism and despair”. In this situation as in so many other environmental disasters, consciousness expands bringing together new relationships and sculpting a new creation. At this moment it may not be clear, but in time, maybe hundreds or thousands of years from now, this water crises may be understood as related primitive roots of a new birthing. 

These are the energies I hold, the connections I make, and the new picture I paint. Seeking stillness. Open to a mindful presence. I like to believe that we as people, personally and collectively are evolving just like the original birthing of the universe and planet earth itself. According to Hildegard of Bingen, “God has arranged everything in the universe according to everything else”. Everything in creation is not perfectly shaped and beautiful, in fact it is as we have experienced before, it is both messy and Mystery.  We are on a journey, still unfolding.

Pat St. Louis, CSJ

“YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!”

For two years, I was blessed to live at Villa St. Joseph Retreat and Ecology Centre in Cobourg, ON and to spend the summer at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre in Guelph, ON. Nettie and Susan, two gifted cooks, skillfully prepared delicious meals that were nourishing for both body and soul! Experiencing earth to table eating allowed me to enjoy the wonderful sensory delight of organic food. If persons in Cobourg and Guelph wish to grow their own food organically, they are able to rent community garden plots. Community Shared Agriculture in Guelph provides freshly harvested organic products for persons to take home for family meals.  What joy I experienced as I visited farmers’ markets, connecting with the people who grow our food! Local food is not necessarily organic; and, organic food is not always local. Look in your own community for the perfect combination of local food grown using organic or ecological practices. 

Organic farmers follow the specific ecological practices stipulated in Canada’s National Organic Standard. They work with the diversity that nature already offers: They save and exchange seeds and knowledge. Healthy soil, rich in minerals and nutrients, produces appealing and flavourful food. As the saying goes, “we are what we eat.” It is important to know exactly what our bodies are digesting and how it came to be on our plate in the first place. The wisdom of organic farming speaks for itself. To sample some tried and true recipes, you can visit Susan Sprague’s blog at:  www.loyolahousekitchen.wordpress.com where you can get recipe the recipe for her Vegan Carrot Cake pictured above.

Bon Appetite!

https://loyolahousekitchen.wordpress.com/2015/10/02/septembers-taste-of-italy-celebration-3/

Kathleen O’Keefe, CSJ

Alberta’s Climate Plan: Game Changed

Ever have one of those days when all the assumptions you had about an issue turned upside down? Today (November 22^nd) is one of those days.

Addressing climate change in Canada has long been an intractable problem. This is because, despite the slowly transforming economies and declining carbon pollution emissions in Ontario, Quebec and B.C., Alberta’s emissions were growing at a breakneck pace and wiping out the reductions happening everywhere else. As a result Canadian governments were left with two options: deny or avoid the problem, or force change on Alberta.

Needless to say previous federal governments have consistently chosen door one.

But today’s climate change announcement in Alberta could change all that forever. The new plan will:

• Cap the carbon emissions from the tar sands at 100 MT and eventually force them to decline
• Close the fleet of coal electricity plants by 2030, drastically reducing both deadly local air pollution and also massive amounts of carbon emissions
• Increase the amount of renewable electricity on the grid to 30% by the same year
• See Alberta join with Ontario, Quebec and B.C. in putting a price on carbon pollution. Alberta’s price will start at $20/year in 2017, rise to $30 in 2018 and then rise annually. Money from the fee will be invested in programs to further reduce carbon emissions and help to ensure that price increases don’t harm citizens with limited income
• Significantly reduce waste methane emissions from oil and gas wells that are also important causes of climate change

This is a historic moment for Alberta and Canada. This is a commitment to tangible and aggressive climate action and we all should applaud Alberta for this huge change in direction.

Based on this announcement, Alberta’s carbon pollution should soon peak and start to decline. This is a fundamental pivot after years of uncontrolled carbon emissions growth and it removes one of the largest barriers to developing a meaningful Canadian climate strategy.

This announcement also sets Alberta on a path toward diversifying its economy and recognizing that a global transition away from fossil fuels is essential if the world as we know it is to survive. The money collected from a new price on carbon pollution can be invested in more energy efficient homes and businesses, new clean technology and renewable energy jobs.

With this move from Alberta, there is now nothing standing in the federal government’s way of developing a credible climate strategy and following Alberta’s lead by setting a limit on carbon pollution in Canada. Canada can now move ahead and fulfill its promise to cut carbon pollution in line with global science-based targets. 

Today’s announcement is very good news for Albertans and Canadians. It will help protect us all from dangerous climate change, set the scene for Canada to restore our good name, and places the country and the province in a solid position to harness the opportunities for growth in a clean economy.

This is the beginning of something new, folks. I am looking forward to a new Canada on the stage in Paris at the U.N. climate negotiations.

Guest blogger, Tim Gray, Executive Director of Environment Defence www.environmentaldefence.ca/

Another Messenger Came…..Will We Listen?

Another Messenger Came…..Will We Listen?

...David Suzuki came, a voice crying in the wilderness; we laughed and barely listened as the smog increased.

...The First Nations came, beating drums for Mother Earth; we polluted the water and raped the land.

...The scientists came, with unquestionable evidence – the sea is rising, the earth is warming, the ozone is disappearing; we silenced them and destroyed their research.

...The poor came, unable to till the barren soil now becoming deserts; we turned away and continued our destructive ways.

...The hurricanes, fires, tsunamis and blizzards came; we rebuilt and carried on as usual.

...Pope Francis came carrying peace and Laudato Si.  Will we listen and mend our destructive path to end it all?

Will We Listen?

Jean Moylan, CSJ

Microbeads add up to big problem for Great Lakes

Microbeads are tiny plastic beads commonly used for their exfoliating properties in personal care products such as facial cleansers, body wash and toothpaste. Generally 0.5 mm or smaller in diameter, these particles get rinsed down drains during use, and are dispersed into the environment through wastewater treatment plants which are not designed to remove or treat microbeads. Treated wastewater is then typically discharged into freshwater rivers or lakes.

Microbeads are an emerging issue of global concern. One study, for example, found a single tube of facial scrub to contain more than 330,000 microbeads. These tiny bits of plastic are now distributed widely in both marine and freshwater environments — in the water, on the seabed, and on beaches.  They are ingested by many organisms throughout the food web, including plankton, invertebrates, small fish, birds and mammals. Along the way they act as sponges for dangerous chemicals and contaminants such as PCBs and flame retardants — which accumulate in species low on the food chain and are passed on to larger predators, eventually contaminating the fish and wildlife species that humans eat.

In the face of increasing public concern over the use of microbeads, a number of large personal care product manufacturers have expressed their intention to phase them out and replace them with biodegradable alternatives. This is an important first step, as microbead use is completely unnecessary: Effective biodegradable alternatives, such as ground apricot kernels and jojoba beads, are readily available and already widely used in personal care products.

There’s also growing momentum in the United States to get microbeads out of personal care products. Last year, Illinois enacted legislative provisions that will prohibit the manufacture and sale of personal care products containing microbeads. New Jersey just followed suit and enacted similar legislation. A ban is also looking promising in Indiana, and Ohio, New York, California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Vermont, Maine, and Washington State are all currently considering similar legislative measures.

Meanwhile in Canada …
No similar efforts have yet occurred in Canada except for the recent introduction of a private member’s bill to ban the manufacture and addition of microbeads to consumer products in Ontario — even though plastic microbeads are a particular environmental threat to Canada’s iconic Great Lakes. In fact, microbeads make up 20 per cent of plastic pollution in the Great Lakes, which provide drinking water to 8.5 million Canadians.

Scientists have found millions of microbeads in just one square kilometer of parts of the Great Lakes. These bits of plastic have been found in Lakes Superior, Huron, and Erie, as well as in the St. Lawrence River, with the highest concentrations occurring near urban areas. Sample analyses show that the majority of microbeads come from facial cleaners.

And yet, a wide variety of products containing microbeads are still available on the Canadian market. While voluntary measures from manufacturers are a good first step, we cannot rely on that alone to prevent these substances from polluting water bodies. It’s time for Canada to take action and address the threats microbeads pose to the environment and, by extension, our health.

That’s why, on behalf of Environmental Defence, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, and Ottawa River Waterkeeper, Ecojustice staff lawyer Tanya Nayler has submitted a request to Minister of the Environment Leona Aglukkaq asking that plastic microbeads used in personal care products be added to the Priority Substances list so that these can be assessed, designated and regulated as a toxic substance under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. The Minister must respond to this request, with reasons, within 90 days.

The letter also asks Minister Aglukkaq to review Illinois’ decision to ban microbeads. Under CEPA, when the Minister receives notice that that another jurisdiction has or substantially restricted a substance for environmental or human health reasons, she is required to determine if that substance is toxic and should be regulated.

Our hope is that this request will put into motion the necessary steps to initiate a Canada-wide ban on microbeads, keeping these unnecessary pieces of plastic from piling up in our oceans, lakes and rivers and putting the environment and our health at risk.

Reposted with permission from Ecojustice