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Your Congregation | Greening Resources | Institutional Life | Water
Water Conservation and
Care
Greening
Ideas
Educational Resources
Practical Resources
Greening Ideas
Throughout Scripture, water is described as cleansing, sustaining, and a source of life itself. Water is essential for all that lives, moves, and has being. Water makes up 60 to 70 percent of the weight of all living organisms, including our own bodies. If all Earth’s water were in a twenty-six-gallon bathtub, only one-half of a teaspoon would be available for use by the vast majority of these organisms. (97 percent of Earth’s water is saltwater; 2½ percent of the freshwater is locked up in glaciers, polar ice caps, atmosphere, soil, or is too polluted to be used by most organisms.) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and World Vision say that the finite sources of freshwater are being diverted, depleted, and polluted so fast that, by the year 2025, two thirds of the world’s human population will be living in a state of serious water deprivation – not to mention the fate of other species (see Lester Brown’s article on Section One p. 31). The careful use of water and protection of its quality only makes sense to people of faith who are concerned about people living in some of Earth’s most fragile ecosystems, and about the viability of these ecosystems themselves. Congregations can exercise greater care and protection in their buildings, members’ homes, and local watersheds, knowing that their actions will affect a broader global community bound together in God’s amazing hydrologic cycle.
One congregation’s
experience …
Fairwood’s Water Conservation Tips
Washington
state experienced a drought year in 2001.
Sharon Kenyon, Earth Ministry’s Colleague at
Fairwood
Community United Methodist Church in Renton (WA), and the
church’s Social Concerns Committee decided to help members learn (from
one another) about water conservation.
During a spring worship service, each member received a blank
“resource conservation ideas” sheet on which to write down their ideas
for household conservation around water use, energy, and transportation.
People (including children and youth) were given enough time to
write down their ideas, and the Social Concerns Committee compiled the
ideas into a “Resource Conservation Ideas” booklet.
The Committee then made the booklet available to all members.
Here are but a few of the water conservation and care ideas that
members shared with one another:
·
Fix leaky faucets, pipes, and toilets [they can waste 20 to
200 gallons of water
each day].
Install low-flow faucets, toilets, and showerheads.
· Mulch flowerbeds and gardens to prevent water loss due to evaporation. Use drip and soaker hoses. Garden organically … no “weed ‘n feed.” Compost. Plant native and drought-tolerant plants that require less water than exotics.
· Don’t water your lawn. Make your lawn area smaller every year. Water grass early in the morning or late in the evening [this prevents evaporation]. Aerating the lawn saves water and improves soil’s health without chemicals.
· Wash with non-phosphate detergents [nontoxic, biodegradable, and phosphate-free cleaning agents help to reduce algae growth that suffocates fish and other aquatic life].
· Use car washes that recycle water instead of washing your car at home.
Educational Resources
· Protecting God’s Creation: A Resource Manual, produced by the National Catholic Youth Initiative. The “Water Session” of this manual contains prayers, meditations, activities, presentations, and facts on water use and conservation. While this is intended for youth, the session may be adapted for both adults and children. (This manual also contains sessions on children, wastes, pesticides, rainforests, and more.) For more information on this manual, see our Recommended Curricular Aids and Congregational Resources guide.
·
David Gershon and Robert Gilman’s book, Household Ecoteam
Workbook: A Six-month Program to Bring Your Household into Environmental
Balance, is an excellent, easy-to-use resource for assessing areas in
which congregations can better conserve water.
To order, call (914) 679-4830.
One congregation’s
experience …
“Water, Sacred and Profaned” Class
Ellen Kramer is a Colleague from Garden Street United Methodist Church in Bellingham (WA). With the church’s Social Action team she coordinated a well-received, two-part Sunday school series that addressed the question: “How shall we use [water], and how shall we protect it for future generations?” She invited a water scientist/watershed advocate from a local college as a speaker for the first class. For the second class, Ellen and another Social Action member showed an excellent video called “Water, Sacred and Profaned.” (She borrowed the video from the local library; it can be purchased from the Foundation for Global Community.) In both classes there was lively discussion and a desire for follow-up. Ellen helped people to answer the question “what next?” by providing them with a calendar for “upcoming watershed stewardship/education events” in the community and other web-based information.
Practical Resources
· Click here for Puget Sound-area resources.
· The Web of Creation’s “Conserving Water” page contains ideas on saving water, indoors and out, and plenty of helpful web and written resources.
· To conduct audits on “Water” and “Toxics,” refer to EarthScore: Your Personal Environmental Audit & Guide by Donald W. Lotter (see our Recommended Curricular Aids and Congregational Resources guide for a description).
· The EPA has a partnership program, the Water Alliances for Voluntary Efficiency (WAVE), which promotes water efficiency in institutions. WAVE participants receive free water-use analysis software, technical support, and access to a nationwide help line.
· Real Goods Trading Company sells water quality (e.g., water quality test kits) and water-saving (e.g., low-flow faucet heads) items.
· Seventh Generation sells nontoxic household cleaners, laundry and dish products; 100% recycled, non-chlorine-bleached bathroom and facial tissues, paper towels, and napkins.
· The “Environmental Hotline” web site contains information on proper disposal of hazardous wastes (e.g., paints, automotive products, cleaners) that might otherwise contaminate waterways.
· Purchasing chlorine-free paper products can help to reduce the production of dioxin, a highly toxic by-product of the chlorine-bleaching process that directly affects water systems. Also, the chlorine-using pulp mills typically consume up to ten times the amount of water as non-chlorine pulp mills. To learn more, visit the Chlorine Free Products Association. To purchase chlorine-free products, visit Seventh Generation’s web site or refer to Co-op America’s National Green Pages – an ecologically sound “yellow pages.”