DEN Enews

In this issue:

• Making Waves : Ride for Coastal Protection

• NS Solar Community Program

• Ethics & Climate Change - a new course at AST

• Old Growth Forest Walk

• Get involved in Protected Areas Proposals

• From Grandma Birch - The Oak - Keystone Species

• Monarch Butterfly life cycle

• Petition Blitz! How many can you sign in 10 minutes?

• Forest Bathing & More from Grandma

Making Waves

Are you passionate about protecting our beautiful coastline? Join the Climate Change Task Force for a bike ride along the stunning Celtic Shores Coastal Trail, and show your support for the Coastal Protection Act! Click on the link above for more information.

Want to encourage more in your neighbourhood to think about the environment? Here is an inspiration for you. We received this from Nancy Blair, the leader of the Climate Cafe in Dartmouth.
The Flower Streets Climate Action Group is made up of neighbours in the ’flower Streets’ in Dartmouth. We gather monthly to talk about retrofitting our homes and also other climate issues such as gardening in our changing climate. We exchange stories about retrofitting, heat pumps, solar power in individual homes, new technology, proposals, funding etc. Many in the group have installed heat pumps and/or solar panels in/on their homes. Several of the members of the group are familiar with the new NS Community Solar Program which is focused on solar programs for neighbourhoods and communities - rather than individual households. We are inviting members in the community-at-large to learn about this initiative. The event is co-sponsored with The Christ Church Climate Cafe, which has met monthly since April 2024.

This interdisciplinary conversation on the climate crisis navigates the shoals of eco-grief, various forms of denial, and the real possibility of despair. Among others, we will discuss thinking like an eco-system, the wild, environmental rights, eco-justice reformation, a multi-species lens, commanding hope, and earth as creation and home. For more information and the dates and fee, click on the link above.

From their newsletter:

SOOFSTOCK Old Growth Forest Walk with Donna Crossland

Before the music gets going on Saturday August 24 at SOOFSTOCK why not take a walk in the woods with forest ecologist Donna Crossland? The walk will take place in a newly discovered area of old-growth Wabanaki/Acadian Forest in the eastern part of the proposed Goldsmith Lake Wilderness Area. The 1.6 hectare old growth forest is close to Corbett Lake and includes Sugar Maple and Yellow Birch that are estimated to be 150 to 200 years old, and possibly older. Participants will meet at the West Dalhousie Community Hall (site of SOOFSTOCK) and will drive to the Goldsmith Lake Wilderness Area (approximately 20 minutes)

We urge you to read the following from SOOF to get involved in the process they describe below:

Quick Facts:

• the 16 proposed new or expanded Protected Areas will protect 1,820 hectares

• the Canada-Nova Scotia Nature Agreement has a goal to protect an additional 82,500 hectares (15%) of land and water by March 31, 2026

• all of the land in the proposed Protected Areas were private lands that have been acquired by the Province of Nova Scotia

• Public input on these 16 proposed Protected Areas will be accepted until September 20, 2024

From Laudato Si’

We begin the countdown to Season of Creation 2024, and we now have the dates of the main events for you to mark in your calendar.

Please remember to plan your activities ahead of time. We encourage you to make space especially for the following events:

• September 1st: Opening prayer service, led by the Season of Creation Ecumenical Steering Committee.

• September 10th (TBC): A conversation on the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty with high-level speakers from the religious and political spheres.

• September 21st: Day of Action on Fossil Fuels

• October 4th: Closing prayer service for the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, led by the Ecumenical Youth Committee.

A list of resources from the Anglican Communion Environment Network - Materials from around the Communion:  

The Anglican Church of Southern Africa (Green Anglicans) has prepared a resource with sermons by different women bishops (on the RCL readings) and liturgies for each Sunday
 
The Episcopal Church has a wonderful set of resources and a podcast on the liturgy through a social development lens 

Scottish Eco-congregations has some very creative multi-media resources
 
The Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil is having a series of webinars in Portuguese
 
The Church of England has some great resources
 
The Scottish Episcopal Church has some wonderful liturgies 

The Church in Wales has a publication entitled: ‘Creationtide’ 

Sermon notes (Revised Common Lectionary) for the Season from women Bishops from Kenya, Lesotho, Eswatini, Brazil and UK

_{From Grandma Birch’s newsletter: Celebrating Oak!}

 _{Long considered a symbol of strength, wisdom, and endurance - oak trees are the most diverse and widespread tree genus in the temperate northern hemisphere. There are over 435 different species of oak trees, growing on five continents. Like Wow!!!}

 _{In Nova Scotia the Northern red oak is our native oak, but bur oak, white oak, swamp white oak, pin oak, and English oak all have found their places here. Most oak trees can live for many hundreds of years. The practice of eating acorns (the nut of all oak trees) is called balanophagy.  While the acorns of our Northern Red oaks are very high in tannins (requiring significant leaching to render them edible) many bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa), white oak (Quercus alba) and English Oak (Quercus robur) trees produce acorns with markedly less tannins, and may be considered a nut crop for human consumption - being high in fats and protein.} 

_{Of course, acorns are an invaluable food source for wildlife, including blue jay, red squirrel, bear and white tail deer.  American entomologist Douglas Tallamy identifies oak trees as supporting more insects and insect larva (and therefore bird populations) than any other tree species - making them a keystone species in the forest and in your yard}

From the Church of Saint Andrew in Cole Harbour

Have you been planting pollinator gardens? We would love to see your photos. The Church of Saint Andrew planted Swamp Milkweed last summer and the plants really took off this year. The Day Care children and teachers took particular attention of the Monarch life cycle and used it as an excellent teaching tool.

Did you know DEN volunteers have found more than 125 environmental petitions this year alone? 

Try out the 2024 Summer Petition Blitz! 

Take a 10 minute challenge by setting a timer and seeing how many you can sign. Can you make it through all 125? Did you learn anything new, share any of the petitions, or discuss the green needs with family, friends, or coworkers?

Let us know on DEN's Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/101542159983749

Check out a full list of petition links here: Green Voices | Supernaturegirl 

Tonnes of banned chemicals are made in Europe every day and shipped all over the world. The European Commission committed in 2020 to lead by example, and, in line with international commitments, ensure that hazardous chemicals banned in the European Union are not produced for export. But it's 2024, and the European Commission still hasn’t proposed a fix. Please sign this petition from Eko asking the EU Commissioner for Environment to stop Europe's deadly exports. France recently banned the export of such materials. High-income countries have been shipping their hazardous chemicals, pesticides and e-waste to low- and middle-income countries for decades, poisoning people and nature in the process.

• Putting in place a cap on oil and gas emissions – with no loopholes

• No longer approving new fossil fuel projects

• Banning thermal coal exports immediately

• Regulating our financial industry to stop funding oil, gas, and coal developments

• This is urgent. July 21 2024 was the hottest day ever recorded on this planet, suggests new data.

The Center for Biological Diversity has highlighted how the U.S. Maritime Administration could soon greenlight Texas GulfLink, a dangerous deepwater crude oil export terminal that's one of 20 new fossil fuel export projects proposed for the Gulf Coast. Part of the biggest fossil fuel buildout in the world, Texas GulfLink would export more than 1 million barrels of crude every day, increasing the risk of catastrophic spills and spewing at least 3.8 billion metric tons of toxic pollution in its lifetime. But the United States already produces more oil than any country in history. We don't need more projects that will harm human health and worsen climate disasters like hurricanes and floods. Texas GulfLink would also threaten endangered animals like Kemp's ridley sea turtles and Rice's whales, of whom 100 are left on Earth, with extinction. The Gulf Coast's ecosystem, people, and wildlife can't take more needless destruction, and the planet can't take more climate-killing oil and gas projects. Tell the U.S. Maritime Administration to stop Texas GulfLink.

In the span of a few days, we saw the heartbreaking images of Toronto underwater and Jasper National Park on fire. Extreme weather events are no joke—they put lives and livelihoods at risk, and fossil fuel companies are the ones driving them. Will you add your name and call on the Canadian government to hold Big Oil accountable by making them pay into a new Climate Recovery Fund to address, repair, and adapt to climate damages?

The Oxygen Project and Sustainable Ocean Alliance Guatemala are looking to build pressure and resistance against deep sea mining. There are now 32 countries calling for a pause or moratorium of the exploitation of mineral resources on the seabed. The mining industry is looking at a region called Clipperton-Clarion between Mexico and Hawaii. A known risk from mining activity are sediment plumes, which can affect key migratory species such as sharks, tuna, and whales, as well as the fishing industry and tourism. These plumes can spread and impact high biodiversity areas, including the Mesoamerican Trench, continental slope, and San José Canyon in Guatemala. Send a message to the Guatemalan government to support them in saying NO to underwater mining.

The Summer Heat on Wall Street Campaign has people protesting and rallying to deliver petitions to major companies asking them to end their dealings with Citibank. Citi has co-branded credit cards with Costco, LL Bean, Macy’s, Home Depot, Best Buy, Sears, and AT&T. These companies can choose to clean up their credit cards. Citibank has been a leading fossil fuel expansion funder for many years. There are people regularly protesting at Citibank’s global headquarters in New York City. 364 people have been arrested so far for demanding a just transition and end to financing fossil fuel expansion. Take action by signing this petition that insists some of Citi’s most important co-branded credit card clients drop this dirty bank.

Forest Bathing

Forest Bathing? What is such a thing?

In Japan, it was noticed that in a modern world of technology, many people were becoming depressed or just having difficulty coping with life daily. The practice of “Shenrim Yoku” started as a “back to nature” destressing technique. It has grown into a worldwide movement.

It turns out to be something many of us did or still do practice. It is simply being in the woods and soaking up the sights, the sounds and the smells.

 _{As a kid, my family called it, “Taking a picnic on the mountain”.  We would pack a lunch on a good day when Dad could take a few hours off. We would walk back in the forest and climb the big hill we considered a mountain. There was a brook to get across, giant rocks in the middle of no where and constant bird chirping and squirrel racing.}

Once we reached the top we sat and had our lunch overlooking an inlet. Then we trudged back out of the trees. Tired from the exercise, we slept well that night. The world just seemed right.

Scientific studies now prove that walking in the woods reduces stress, lifts our mood, and can even help our heart and immune systems.

We get all that from walking around trees. What else are trees good for? Here is a little refresher.

Trees give us oxygen to breathe. They absorb carbon from many sources. Humans give carbon and trees give oxygen. Beech trees give the most oxygen of all the varieties of trees.

Trees give us a large amount of food. Think of all the nut trees, and citrus trees besides our local apple trees.

Treea reduce the noise in cities. Ever wonder why busy city downtowns have trees? It isn’t all for shade. Trees improve city air and reduce all the noise of traffic.

Trees are a home for squirrels and birds necessary for seed distribution.

Forest Bathing may be a new term, but, anyone who went hiking through the woods,  knows and feels its benefits.

https://www.anft.earth/

Garden

Just reviewed a new way to garden that I started last year

Half Moon or Horseshoe Gardens

Originally this type of gardening was used in arid lands with little rainfall. You dig a horseshoe-shaped pile of ground, on a downward slop. Plants grow on the semi-circle mounds. When it rains, the water runs downhill and catches inside the horseshoe. Rain soaks into the mounds giving moisture to the plants for a longer time.

Last year I grew zucchini here and got a bumper crop. This year, extra tomatoes are going in this garden.

RE-USE

I used this idea years ago and then saw it again this week on Facebook. The lady buys vintage (old) casserole dishes at yard sales and makes a meal when someone needs one. She tells them to keep or pass along the dish. They are often cheaper than buying the disposable type at the grocers.

I need to get to yard sales as my supply of extra casseroles is getting low. Covid did help me reduce my collection.

French Knitting

Some may remember nails tapped into the top of an empty wooden spool of thread. Others may remember a “Friendship bracelet” craft. When Grandma was a girl it was called cording or French Knitting, making a multicoloured cord to be used in so many ways. It was a purse strap, a belt for a dress or just the tie-backs for curtains.

Expecting a family reunion with a dozen extra kids to show up at a service in August, I adapted my knitters to a circle of cardboard.

Cut a circle from thick cardboard (not boxboard). Make 8 slits in the cardboard (4 directions and then halfway in the middle of each) Cut a hole in the middle.

Gather 7 strands of yarn, perhaps a yard long. Tie a knot on one end. Pull the yarn through the hole with the knot is at the back of the cardboard. Pull each piece of yarn snug and place it through one of the slits. Now you are ready to work.

For the first stitch, count three strings past the empty slit. Take that string and move it to the empty slit. Again count 3 strings from the empty slot and move the string back to the empty slit. Continue and eventually, you will see a cord emerging from the bottom.

When the cord is long enough, remove the yarn from all the slits and tie a knot to make a friendship bracelet or just a long cord for many uses.

This is great to keep the hands busy around a campfire.

The video tutorial is shown here

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7AneKaoAG2/?igsh=b3Q3bnZ3NTFwb285

Here is my cording.

Something to eat

I have found a new way to have better cakes. Cakes need eggs and I am a bit stingy with my eggs. Give me a recipe with more than 3 eggs in it, and I move on to the next recipe. NO MORE! I have discovered egg replacer (Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer).

Egg replacer is a powder where you add a spoonful of the egg replacer and 2 tbsp. water for each egg. All those recipes with 6-8-10 eggs in them are now in my reach.

My first attempt was a plain white cake that required 6 eggs. I gave it 2 regular eggs and 4 egg replacer eggs worth. This cake stayed moist for the best part of a week.

Plain White Cake, Birthday Cake, Base for deserts

1 cup butter or margarine

13/4 cups sugar (I mix a little sugar and honey)

6 large eggs

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 tsp of vanilla, almond or lemon flavouring

2 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder, speck of salt

1 ½ cup milk

Mix and blend first 5 ingredients. Add flour and baking powder mixture in small batches with milk. Put in a 9 x 13 pan and bake 350F for 25-30 minutes. So good!