The Creation Care Ministry Team

The Creation Care Ministry Team at Southminster

As a faithful community at Southminster, we need to express our love for God by showing reverence for the Earth and all its creatures. Toward this end, we will seek a greater understanding of our right relationship with creation, steward Earth’s resources more justly and sustainably, and partner with neighbors near and far to advocate for the personal and public practices which advance these aims. We seek to understand, protect, preserve, and conserve God’s good Earth. The Green Team encourages you to do all that you can do to serve God as a faithful steward of God ‘s Creation.

Education and Initiatives

One of our first initiatives is to review the recycling program at Southminster. Our first step is to educate ourselves about what is acceptable/what is not acceptable curbside. Theresa Greinig, Education Director at SWANCC (Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County) presented an interesting and informative talk on recycling on Sunday, August 20. Please watch the video of Theresa’s presentation if you missed it, please click here for that presentation.

Click Here for the link from Sunday, September 17  when Dan Huntsha, the North and West Suburbs Senior Outreach Coordinator for Faith in Place,  presented a Home Energy Audit Workshop. How efficiently are you running your home? Dan helped participants discover how much energy their home uses, where their home is inefficient and which problem areas and fixes they should prioritize to save energy and improve the comfort of their home.

Here are the resources that were offered in the presentation. 

If you would like to learn more about getting a free home audit, take advantage of peak time savings or hourly pricing:
https://comed.org or call (855) 433-2700

If you would like information about free solar (for low income) or community solar (for all income levels):
https://illinoisSFA.com or call (888) 970-4732

Here’s another source of information for discounted solar and community solar:
https://Illinoisshines.com.

PFAS

Contamination from Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) chemicals is a national public health and environmental emergency. PFAS negatively affect the blood and organs of nearly every living being, and are called “forever chemicals” because they resist degradation and remain in the body for decades. Southminster is helping to increase awareness of these chemicals and support for legislation on the national and state level that would declare these substances hazardous. Click Here for more information.

If you’d like to learn more about how you can take action to protect our environment, please contact Barb Taylor at barbtaylor1616@gmail.com or Janet Thompson at jct216@gmail.com.