Social Justice Tag: Earth

By Mike Poulin, Justice Resource Manager

In 2015, Pope Francis addressed his letter Laudato Si, On Care for Our Common Home to the entire world. It received considerable fanfare and has garnered much attention in the ensuing years. Laudato Si has become a document that supports efforts towards care of the Earth, reducing poverty and rejuvenating spirituality. 

On October 4, 2023 , Pope Francis released a follow up letter, Laudate Deum, to reiterate his concern for the global climate crisis and renew his call for action on the local, national and international levels. While Pope Francis recognizes the sober truths facing our planet, his words also offer hope and inspiration. As you consider your own steps toward living more sustainably, reading the letters that the Pope has written to you can be a tremendous motivation. 

By Marianne Comfort, member of the Mercy Justice Team

Over one-third of the food produced in the United States is never eaten. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, this means we are wasting the resources used to produce that food and creating many environmental harms. 

A significant part of the problem is that food is the single largest category of material placed in municipal landfills, where it emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Municipal solid waste landfills are the third largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States, accounting for approximately 14.1 percent of these emissions in 2017, the EPA reports. 

Reducing food waste can reduce our individual and national carbon footprint. 

Decreasing food waste can also lessen the need for new food production, shrinking projected deforestation, biodiversity loss, water pollution, water scarcity and greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural production. In 2015, the United States announced a goal to halve U.S. food loss and waste by 2030, but the nation has not yet made significant progress.  

Roughly half of food waste occurs at the consumption stage in households, restaurants and other food service sites. Fruits, vegetables, dairy and eggs are the most frequently wasted foods. 

Green Tip 

Make creative use of your freezer. Use it to store leftovers and scraps of food that could be added to soup or smoothies rather than dumped into the garbage. 

Sustainable America offers tips for organizing your freezer to reduce food waste. However, you don’t need to go out and buy another freezer to expand space because that just increases your energy consumption. Consider what you can do with the freezer you already have. 

By Jason Giovannettone, Climate and Sustainability Director

As Mike mentioned last week, trees provide a number of environmental benefits for the planet humans, wildlife, and even other plants.  A mature tree can take in and store significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.  But does it matter the type of tree or where we decide to plant it?   

Mike reminded us that native trees (as well as other plants) are easier to maintain. Often, they need little more than water to thrive and remain healthy. If your tree is healthy, it is much more efficient at removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.  When considering a tree to plant in your yard, focus on deciduous trees (i.e., trees that lose their leaves during the autumn season); coniferous trees such as pines grow better at higher altitudes than those at which people generally live. Plant your tree close to other trees. Trees growing in forested areas are healthier and more efficient at removing carbon dioxide from the air than trees that are planted in locations isolated from other trees.   

To determine which trees are native to your region, you can use the National Wildlife Federation’s “Native Plant Finder” by entering your zip code. For more information on the social behavior of trees and some tips on how to ensure your tree is as healthy as possible, we highly recommend reading the book The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben.  Other books that address our relationship with the environment are Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and The Secret Wisdom of Nature by Peter Wohlleben.  Happy reading! 

By Mike Poulin, Justice Resource Manager

Trees are magical, multipurpose creations. They filter air and water, sequester carbon, provide housing for creatures and critters and shade for people and property. Some trees mark the passage of time with new buds in spring, full leafy branches through summer, a cascade of colors in fall and dormant branches in winter. Others greet us with greenery year-round. 

Trees can be an investment. Shade trees can cool your home in the summer while evergreens can provide a break from cold winter winds. Studies have shown that trees on a property can increase the value by as much as 15 percent. 

When you are ready to plant a tree, choose a variety native to your region, because as Marianne told us back in February, “Native plants generally require less maintenance — including the use of pesticides, herbicides and water – since they are adapted to the local climate.” 

So, what are you waiting for? Make plans to plant a tree! 

By Sister Karen Donahue 

Where does our food come from? We sometimes hear terms like “farm fresh” or “straight from farm to table” in food advertisements. However, the iconic family farm as it existed for decades in the U.S. has all but disappeared. Today, only 1.3 percent of the U.S. workforce is employed in farming and ranching, and the number of farms has decreased from about seven million in 1935 to about two million in 2019. 

Globally, about 26 percent of the world’s population is engaged in agriculture. Most food today is produced on large factory farms. This industrial agriculture has fundamentally changed our relationship to food and the natural world from which it comes.  

Two examples:  

• Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) can house more than a thousand animals in a relatively small area. These operations often feature cruel treatment of animals and over-use of antibiotics, which can contribute to the development of bacteria resistant to antibiotics. CAFOs also have serious environmental impacts, with massive volumes of animal waste that is often stored in open lagoons. During storms, these lagoons can overflow onto croplands where the runoff pollutes streams and rivers.  
• Large factory farms where one crop (monoculture) is planted on thousands of acres also presents new challenges. To assure uniformity, seeds are genetically modified by altering their DNA or introducing genetic material from another species to produce desired characteristics such as resistance to a specific herbicide. Nevertheless, some weeds develop a resistance to a cancer-causing chemical called glyphosate, so that even greater concentrations have to be sprayed on crops. This poses a threat to human health and to other species like Monarch butterflies.  

Green Tip 

Visit a local farmers market and talk with some of the farmers about how they grow their produce and raise their livestock, or read about their practices on their websites. Identify how you might adjust your food budget to purchase some of your food from smaller-scale operations that use practices that align with your values. 

By Jason Giovannettone, Climate and Sustainability Director

There are many ways that your laundry can have negative impacts on our environment: your laundry detergent’s plastic container, the emissions created during washing and drying, and the chemicals released into the water during the process. 

According to a recent study, the U.S. residential sector contributes about 20% of total national carbon emissions (Goldstein et al. 2020), a large percentage of which comes from activities related to doing laundry. Water heating, for example, was found to consume about 16% of the total energy used during a laundry cycle (Golden et al. 2010).  

In addition to energy use, another area of concern relates to the chemicals present in the detergent. These chemicals can come into direct contact with our skin, eventually making their way into our bodies. They are also released into the environment through the water used for washing. Therefore, a laundry detergent that minimizes the number and amount of harmful chemicals is preferred.  

A great option for comparing the safety and environmental friendliness of various cleaning and household products is the non-profit organization Environmental Working Group (EWG). The EWG provides a rating system that is based on a number of factors including asthma, skin allergies, reproductive toxicity, cancer, and the environment. Ratings range from the highest rating of “verified” down to an “F”.    

Green Tip 

Go to the EWG website to determine the environmental and health grade given to the laundry detergent, sheets, pods or tablets that you use. In addition to using cold water to wash your clothes, please consider changing to a non-plastic product that has been given a “Verified” or “A” grade. 

By Mike Poulin, Mercy Justice Team 

Last week, Marianne challenged readers to use the Season of Creation as a time to develop a green habit and to tell us about your new practice. I want to challenge you to do one more thing: share our tips and how you are using them on social media,via email or in conversation with family and friends. Encouraging others to make a change with you expands the impact of our efforts. 

 If you follow Sisters of Mercy of the Americas on Facebook, or mercysisters on Instagram, don’t just ‘like’ our Mercy Tip to Care for the Earth; click ‘Share’ and help spread the word. If you’re not on social media, send an email with a link to our Mercy Tips to Care for the Earth page. Together we can grow the community of individuals who are taking active steps to live more sustainably. 

By Marianne Comfort, Mercy Justice Team 

Pope Francis invites Catholics around the world to celebrate the Season of Creation, September 1 through October 4, with prayer and action. 

This year’s theme is “Let Justice and Peace Flow,” based on a scripture passage from the Book of Amos: “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (5:24). We are called to join the river of justice and peace, to take up climate and ecological justice, and to speak out with and for communities most harmed by climate injustice and the loss of biodiversity.  

Green Tip 

Scientists tell us that it takes 66 days on average to develop a new habit. The Season of Creation, which runs for 34 days, is an excellent time to start this process. Look through the list of Mercy Tips to Care for Earth compiled over the past few months and select one new practice that you want to develop over the next few weeks. Email us at justice@sistersofmercy.org to let us know about your new habit. 

By Jason Giovannettone, Climate and Sustainability Director

One common item that has serious environmental and health impacts is the receipt. In a 2019 report provided by Green America, it was estimated that the production of receipts in the United States alone has the following yearly environmental impacts : 

• consumes 3 million trees
• uses 9 billion gallons of water 
• generates 4 billion pounds of carbon dioxide 
• creates 302 million pounds of solid waste  

In addition to the above concerns, the thermal paper used for receipts contains high levels of BPA (Bisphenol A), which is a chemical commonly found in plastic packaging. Sufficient exposure to BPA can lead to serious health problems such as infertility, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and the early onset of puberty, and diabetes. As a result, most of us have seen the “BPA Free” label on plastic containers and cans as part of an effort to reduce our exposure. BPA is used as a color developer on heat sensitive or thermal paper like a receipt. Since the BPA is added and not chemically bonded to the paper, it can readily be transferred to your hands when touching a receipt (see this article for more details). 

Additionally, other things commonly found on hands, including sanitizers, creams, sweat or grease, can exacerbate exposure to BPA when touching a receipt. A 2014 Newsweek article highlights a study that found because many commonly used hand sanitizers contain chemicals that enhance dermal (skin) penetration, their application can increase the skin’s absorption of BPA by up to 100 times. This is of particular concern if you touch food shortly after touching a receipt, such as at a restaurant or after leaving a grocery store.  If you end up putting the receipt in your pocket, there is an additional concern that BPA will transfer onto anything that touches the receipt such as your keys, phone, or wallet; this will result in unknowing exposure to BPA when you handle any of these objects.

Green Tip:  

Opt for no receipt at any restaurant or store you visit; an email receipt is also good if given the option. Avoid storing past receipts in your wallet. Instead, store them in a bag or box that minimizes contact with other commonly handled items.