God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature so they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, and, yes, Earth itself.”
GENESIS 1:26
At Church of the Nativity we believe that our faith in Jesus, our reverence for the earth, and our service to others are deeply woven together in our life of faith. We seek a connection to God through our connections with one another, through caring for the natural world, and through an examination of our interior life.
Loving our neighbor requires us to reduce our overall consumption, to conserve energy, to reduce waste, and to live more simply and sustainably. We believe that we are called individually and in community to be agents of change and healing for all of creation because God has given us all the ministry of reconciliation.
We hope that the articles, stories, reflections, and suggestions for how to Care for Creation on this website will encourage others to join us in this ministry. We invite you to share your stories with us for posting on Zero Waste Church.
ARTICLES
Update on the Composting Programs at Zero Waste Church
by David McKinnon Our work at Nativity to Restore God’s Earth continues to make great strides. Up until the pandemic, produce from our organic community garden was shared with residents living in a local low-income retirement center. In this way we were able to reduce …
Reduce your Carbon Footprint
by Becky Showalter So now that you know your carbon footprint (see previous blog post), what now? Before we think about how to offset our effect on the environment, we should brainstorm on ways to reduce it!There are so many things that can be done: We can’t …
What you need to calculate your footprint
by Becky Showalter In our previous post, we talked about what environmental footprints* and carbon footprints are. In this post we are going to concentrate on how you calculate your carbon footprint? Here’s what you’ll need for a basic estimate – annual electricity and gas bills (average monthly usage) …
What does carbon footprint and environmental footprint even mean?
by Becky Showalter The words “Carbon Footprint” and “Environmental Footprint” are thrown around almost interchangeably these days in news articles and discussions, but what do they actually mean and how do they relate to each one of us? Bottom line, they are slightly different ways …
Welcome!
I grew up in the mountains of Western North Carolina, surrounded by beauty, all the time. So much beauty that I took for granted – didn’t everyone live with magnificent, awe-inspiring views out their bedroom window? I also grew up in the Episcopal Church, shaped …
Waste Not: Moving Your Congregation Toward Zero Waste
Save the date! More details to come. To reserve your spot please click here.
Restoring God’s Earth: The Nativity Solar Project
By: Carl Sigel “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2) For the past several years, …
Becoming the Good Soil: Expansion of Composting Capabilities at Nativity
By: Carl Sigel As we work to Restore God’s Earth, the amount of compostable material donated to Nativity by church members and from our church events and activities has increased significantly. Consequently, we are expanding our composting capabilities. In addition to our two Earth Machine …
January- Increasing Energy Efficiency
” For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light.I am the world’s Light” John 9-5 January’s ACTION is INCREASING ENERGY EFFICIENCY . Commit to one Action each week this month. Contact zerowastechurch@gmail.com for more information. Let’s ACT …
December- Shrinking Consumerism for Christmas and Beyond……
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Matthew …
Christmas Shopping Without The Bags
I have been shopping with re-usable grocery bags for a long time, but I am embarrassed to admit, I would never take my bags with me to do any other shopping. I would run to Target, use a plastic bag, and not think anything of …
November – Reducing Food Waste
When they were satisfied, he told his disciples “gather up the fragments left over so that nothing may be lost.” John 6:12 November’s ACTION is REDUCING FOOD WASTE. Commit to one Action each week this month. Let’s ACT together this year to restore the fullness of …
20 Ways to Start Being a Zero Waste Church
Here are 20 action items to start taking your church towards zero waste. What is something you could do today? Get a team together; you can’t do this alone! Someone familiar with the church kitchen is essential as most of your waste will be generated from …
Reducing What We Throw Away is Part of My Faith
By Becky Showalter This week, our family had our third week in the last three months that we didn’t put the trash bin out to the road because there wasn’t any! Yes, there was a little bit of trash in the trash cans in the …
The Last (Styrofoam) Cup
Church of the Nativity’s journey toward zero waste started in earnest last winter with an almost zero waste Pancake Supper on Shrove Tuesday, the night before Lent began. That night we started the process of moving towards using reusable and compostable items only in our …
The Economic Injustice of plastic
This is an excellent TED talk from 2010, exploring the impact of the production of plastics and the disposal of plastics on the poor. Of particular note, is the realization that when we often think we are doing something good for the environment, such as …