Greening Our Lives,
Community & Church
Small steps
lead to deep change
During
the Regional Gatherings in Saskatchewan, Calling Lakes Centre
offered a series of 7 workshops where people were invited to
help create a banner as they shared an array of ideas about how
to green their lives, communities and churches. At the close of
the workshops we read the story After the Beginning by
Carolyn Pogue that encouraged us to remember to care for the
planet that we call home. This banner, along with the book, will
soon be circulated to many church communities who requested to
receive it.
Looking at the banner, a convergence of ideas becomes
apparent... car pooling ... composting ... fair trade ... The
steps may seem small or insignificant, yet when adopted as a way
of life, we can become part of the changing wave of
consciousness sweeping the planet.
Indeed, many of these ideas have become part of daily life at
the Centre. With the hope of adding to the discussion and
inspiration, we share some of the practices which are "greening
the Centre".
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Vinegar (with water, alcohol and
some elbow grease) is the main cleanser used by kitchen and
housekeeping. (It’s an antiseptic too). We’ve also used
‘salt and vinegar’ spray on our weeds! |
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Composting helps reduce our
kitchen waste. Containers placed in the dining room and
lounge encourage guests to compost. We have worm bins in the
basement and a deluxe outdoor compost system built by the SK
Federation of Labour youth camp. |
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Our new dishwasher (installed
this spring) uses less water, and at cooler temperatures. |
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We use fair trade coffee. |
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Guests select and use a cloth
napkin during their stay. |
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We use 100% recycled: office
copy paper (most colored papers are 30% recycled), toilet
paper, brown paper towel for cleaning (all processed without
chlorine). |
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The paper used to print this
newsletter is elemental chlorine free, 50% recycled
including 25% post consumer waste. |
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Low flush toilets have been used
in all replacements since 2005. Almost half of our toilets
are now low flush! |
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Compact flourescent bulbs are
used in our lamps. Energy efficient ballasts and bulbs were
used in the recent refurbishing of Katepwa Room. The
lighting feels nicer too! |
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We recycle tin, plastic, paper
and drink containers. There are recycling containers in the
lodges & meeting rooms for guest use. |
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Straw mulch has been used to
reduce weeds and conserve moisture in flower beds. It lasts
for several years too. |
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We encourage car pooling by
emailing transportation offers and requests to program
registrants. |
