DEN Enews

Welcome to the Enews

In this issue:

• Can your Faith building offer space for an EV charging station? Take the survey below.

• Interesting reads on small nuclear reactors and CRED-NB initiatives.

• fun from SOOF for the kids

• Foodgrains Bank is looking for your voice on climate financing

• 5 petitions from all over the globe

• Open House and free compost if you get there early

• Grandma’s finally cut the grass

Hannah Minzloff is the Enery Efficienccy Coordinator for the Ecology Action Centre. She has asked us to disseminate the following call to all faith groups in NS, NB and PEI.

We are reaching out to faith-based organizations in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island to gauge interest in installing electric vehicle charging stations as a collective. 

A group of faith-based organizations in the Martimes has been discussing opportunities to improve local sustainability efforts, engage more members of our community, and potentially add a small recurring revenue source for our organizations. There are incentives to cover up to 50% of the project costs, and other grants that may help to make these chargers affordable for all of our organizations.

Please take this 3-minute survey to help us understand the potential for electric vehicle charging projects in the region!

 We feel faith-based groups can play a central role in expanding local electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Many of us have the necessary electrical infrastructure with under-utilized parking lots at our places of worship. By exploring electric vehicle charging together, we believe we can enhance our spaces and connect with more members of our community by offering this small amenity. Your participation is important for moving this initiative forward. If you have additional questions, don't hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for your time.

There has been a lot of chatter recently about Small Nuclear Reactors. You may find this article interesting:

You may also enjoy the articles from the Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick. On their website, you will find the following links: https://crednb.ca/

Update: CRED-NB’s vision to Atlantic Canada Climate Network

· How does electricity work when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow? Storage!

· Webinar June 20: What’s the harm? Radiation, Radioactive Emissions and Health

· Webinar June 20: Honouring Indigenous Climate Leadership

· CRED-NB supports the Peace Caravan with an event May 25 in Fredericton

Here is some fun for the kids this week.

Click on the Save Our Old Forests link to their newsletter and find a coloring page and a word search. It is never too early to teach the importance of our forests.

_{Join us this World Refugee Day as we learn about how people impacted by humanitarian crises can be forced to flee and struggle to access food. We’ll hear from organizations working on the ground about the challenges of delivering emergency food assistance in these complex situations. And you’ll get a first look at our new Forced to Flee learning resource to help you gain a better understanding of what people face in situations where their home is no longer a safe place for them to be. Follow the link below to register through Zoom.}

Here is another way to get involved and share your voice:

Global Affairs Canada has launched another consultation on climate financing for developing countries, which is something all higher income countries have committed to doing. They are asking Canadians to share their ideas about how best to do this. The Foodgrains Bank has been advocating for climate financing for more than 10 years - this is a crucial opportunity for Canadians like you to come together and share your voice. You can help us make an impact by participating in this public consultation process and speak into Canada’s next international climate finance commitment, expected to last from 2026 to 2031. 

 I’m asking if you would be able to join us for a short training webinar on June 13, and then complete the online form, before the deadline of June 30th, 2024. 

The Norwegian branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is suing the government for inadequate impact assessments ahead of its decision to open Norway's seabed to mining. They are backed by more than 800 marine scientists and policy experts from 44 countries who have called for a pause to deep-sea mining plans. Ocean ecosystems are already affected by pollution, trawling, and the climate crisis. We know next to nothing about our ocean’s depths, but we do know deep-sea mining will certainly have impacts and will harm the biodiversity of vulnerable and needed ecosystems. Add your name to this petition with more than half a million signatures urging Norway to rethink choosing to irrevocably harm our ocean. 

There are three species of orangutans on our planet, and all of them are critically endangered. The name orangutan means "man of the forest" in the Malay language. Deforestation is threatening the survival of these incredible animals. They have lost over 80% of their habitat in the last 20 years. Between 2,000 to 3,000 orangutans are killed every year. The ever-increasing global demand for palm oil makes a dire situation worse as each new palm oil plantation leads to more land loss and more orangutan deaths. Malaysia is the world’s second largest producer of palm oil. As a response to the environmental harm caused by palm oil production, the country recently announced an absurd plan called “Orangutan Diplomacy”. They will ship orangutans as a trade to partners who buy Malaysian palm oil. Not only would this force intelligent creatures to live in captivity thousands of miles from their native forests, but it promotes the continued destruction of their forests, which is what is driving them to extinction! Tell the country’s Plantation and Commodities Minister to ditch the ridiculous greenwashing attempt and focus on real solutions. 

Peru's lawmakers have pushed through a law that legalizes the destruction of the Amazon and threatens the survival of Indigenous peoples. This ‘anti-forest’ law gives agribusiness land-grabbers and loggers legal ownership of precious rainforest lands, even if they are taken from Indigenous peoples' ancestral territory - and Peruvians have taken to the streets by thousands to demand a repeal. Now, forest defenders are taking the fight all the way to Peru’s highest court, and they need a global spotlight on the case to make sure it isn’t derailed by powerful agribusiness lobbies desperate to keep the law in place by any means. Add your name now to stand with Peruvian forest defenders and support the repeal of the anti-forest law ahead of a critical hearing, convened by the Constitutional Court in the coming two weeks.

This petition calls on finance ministers of the world's richest nations — the G7 — to stop funding coal, oil and gas abroad and fund renewable energy instead AND to give much more finance to help poorer countries to make the transition to renewables. We can’t afford more time-wasting. As the largest funders of fossil fuels and historically the biggest greenhouse gas emitters, they hold a unique power and responsibility. Please sign today as they are meeting soon.

Bottom trawling flattens vital habitats, scooping up and killing wildlife — often in so-called “protected” areas. Disrupting complex marine ecosystems throws our shared environment out of balance, threatening livelihoods, economies, cultures, recreation, and coastal protection alike. Bottom trawling depletes valuable fish stocks and results in millions of tonnes of discarded fish every year. When trawl nets scrape the seabed, they disturb vast amounts of carbon, releasing plumes of carbon-rich sediment that can be viewed from space.Bottom trawling is accelerating global warming and ocean acidification, worsening the impacts of climate change. Ecosystems that took centuries to form are demolished. Recovery can take decades, if it happens at all. Please sign this petition to the European Commission.

No Mow May

_{I tried! I really did try!}

_{During the first week of May, when the grass was ankle-high, I was determined not to mow. I can deal with my yard looking shabby. It is important for the bees and other pollinators that need fields of dandelions to eat.}

_{My grass trimmer came out of the shed during the second week of May. I would trim, certain areas like around the garden boxes. By now the brook area is knee-high in grass. I cut and made many paths around the yard but kept the mower in the shop.}

_{The 13^th of May arrived, and I was still determined. What does it matter if I get wet every morning, walking Jazz to her preferred bathroom area? I will trim another path. I am using a bottle of tick deterrent every week, but, we must protect the bees.}

_{By May 20^th I changed morning work to cleaning the sheds. The grass is too long and too wet to move in the yard until afternoon. There is lots of other work to keep me busy. I did need to grass trim the entire area outside the back shop (shed) just to move.}

_{Then on May 25^th, I can’t take it anymore! The ride-on mower is rolled out and the battery is charging. Jazz takes the tick medicine where the ticks are killed if they bite her. I pulled 3 ticks off her today and found two on myself.}

_{Sorry pollinators, I held off as long as I could. I could tolerate the extra work all June long to get caught up from the neglect in May, but I can not tolerate ticks in the tall grass.}

_{Still, 25 days is better than none. Having that 2-acre field next to me that never gets cut for the hay will keep the bees happy from now on.}

 Garden

_{Grandma purchased several good-sized bags of organic fertilizer last fall. (Yes, it was another sale) New bags of fertilizer often come with a type of zip lock closure. I never trusted those closures, so I emptied the fertilizer into plastic containers. This is a perfect use for those big plastic wipe containers.}

_{The idea is to keep the air away from the fertilizer, to keep its potency.}

_{The same rule holds for Epson salts, bone meal, calcium pellets and more.}

_{The newest garden article I read this week suggested using gallon zip-lock bags; the type used to freeze food. Grandma's concern is that I would be using more plastic instead of re-using air-tight containers. I did re-use the bigger zip lock that cleaners are placed in for delivery.}

_{If you don’t have tight-lid containers, start looking at yard sales. If you do have them, fill them up (especially in the fall when there are sales).}

Cleaning hacks I just learned

_{I have a filthy ceiling spot about 3 x 5 feet, where the stairs go up to the second floor, that is unreachable. The ceiling is the 1970 stickle look that loves to manufacture hanging dust balls. The large giant dusters, duct taped to the broom, touch them but don’t get all the dirt. However, a new fluffy paint roller, again duct taped to the broom handle and rolled around that little square, did a much better job.}

_{Get rid of pet hair on the sofa by wearing rubber gloves and wiping the surfaces. The gloves will gather the hair in a ball. (It works!)}

_{I admit I have never cleaned a washing machine. Well, at least not regularly. If it gets musty, I have to run a cycle with vinegar in the clear water. I was half correct. What is suggested is to run a load of hot water with a small box of baking soda first and them a second load with the vinegar. The baking soda is an abrasive and tends to scrub as it washes. The vinegar disinfects.}

Pinwheels

_{You will need a pair of needle nose pliers}

_Paper

_Beads

_Stickpins

_Tape

_{A sheet of newspaper or flyers.}

_{First, make your wand for the pinwheel. Take a whole sheet of newspaper or flyer and starting at one corner roll the paper around a pencil. Some may remember when we did the same thing to make newspaper fire starters. Loosen your paper a bit and let the pencil roll out. Tape the rolled newspaper and put it aside.}

_{Get a square of paper. Remember we can make a letter-size sheet of paper into a square by folding the lower right corner of your paper over to the left side. Crease and cut off the excess}

_{Fold the square in the opposite direction so the two creases make four sections on the paper.}

_{Mark about an inch out on each crease from the centre and cut from the outside into that mark near the center}

_{Put a bead onto a big-headed stick pin.}

 _{Holding your left thumb (or right thumb if left-handed) into the center of your paper, place the right-hand corner of each triangle of paper into the middle and push the pin through all wings and the middle of the paper adding another bead on the back of the pinwheel.}

_{Push the pin through the newspaper wand. I use the needle nose pliers to bend the stick pin at a 45-degree angle and tape it flat against the newspaper wand.}

_{Could you make the pinwheel from the flyer paper? What happens if you use Bristol board? What else could be used for the wand? How could we decorate the pinwheel to make colours swirl? All fun things to do anytime.}

Something to eat

_{This may be a favorite dessert mainly as the topping or frosting is baked in. So easy to make and can feed a crowd.}

_{Cinnamon Apple Cake}

_{1 cup brown sugar}

_{1/3 cup vegetable oil}

_{1 egg}

_{1 cup milk}

_{1 tsp. baking soda}

_{2 ½ cup flour}

_{1 or more apples totaling about 2 cups}

_{Mix together and put in a 10 x 13 pan}

_{Combine about}

_{½ cup sugar,}

_{1 tblsp butter}

_{1 tsp cinnamon till it looks like a crumble and spread on top of the batter}

_{Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.}

If you heard the readings this past Sunday, this prayer may resonate with you. Where are you being called to safeguard and preserve the integrity of the earth?