DEN Enews

Come out to support the students at their

School Strike for Climate

Anglicans and everyone connected to DEN are welcome to join us at the Climate Strike. We will gather between 12 and 1230 on the Cathedral steps across from Victoria Park.

Last week we expressed our gratitude for all those who protected areas across the province from aerial spraying and clearcuts. This week we received a message from Nina Newington expressing her dismay at returning home from months protecting the Goldsmith Lake area only to find that Westfor had recently cut part of the forest they were protecting at the Last Hope Camp in 2021-2022.

From the SOOF newsletter : Westfor contractors logged some of the forest in the proposed Beals Brook Wilderness Area in Annapolis County. In December 2021, the Last Hope Camp was set up to protect this forest. Six months later, in June 2022, after citizen scientists had identified enough species at risk lichens to put 60% of the cutblock off limits to logging, the Last Hope campers declared a win. They knew there was still a risk that WestFor would cut in the remaining 40% but by then several proposals to protect the whole area had been submitted. With all the evidence demonstrating the ecological value of this forest, they hoped the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables (NRR) would put a hold on the harvest plan while the area was assessed for inclusion in the 20% of Nova Scotia’s lands and waters that must, by law, be protected by 2030.

For more on this story: https://mailchi.mp/51454fce5c72/soof-newsletter-sunday-april-897?e=fbcc1c5e66

Link to the letter sent to the Premier about the actions of DNRR along with photos. https://saveouroldforests.ca/proposed-protected-areas/

Eco-anxiety and Practices of Christian Hope in a Climate-changing World

• Lecture 1: Eco-anxiety and Climate Trauma: Theological musings and a call to Faithfulness
  October 29, 2024 | 7:00 pm

• Lecture 2: Practicing Hope amid Climate Crisis
  October 30, 2024 | 7:00 pm

https://www.astheology.ns.ca/.../con-ed/con-ed/lectures.html

Join the Ecology Action Centre and the Spiritual Coalition on Climate Action in Nova Scotia (SCOCANS) for a fall gathering! The focus of this free event is to bring people of all faiths together to share knowledge, to learn and to take action on climate issues. 

SCOCANS is dedicated to advocacy for environmental and social justice through supporting faith groups interested in reducing their environmental footprint and providing a platform for exchange between participating groups and individuals. 

This is a free event with lunch and snacks provided. Please RSVP by filling out the form below.

Date: Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024
Time: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. 
Location: Grace Chapel (255 Ross St, Halifax, NS, B3M 4B3)

Accessibility: There is a large parking lot for onsite parking, direct access via Halifax Transit bus, and the building is wheelchair accessible. The event will be held on the main floor.

In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly declared safe and clean water, for drinking and sanitation, a human right essential to the full enjoyment of life and all other human rights. The UN also found the Canadian government at fault for failing to provide safe water for First Nations. In 2024, dozens of First Nations still don’t have clean water. In 2022, a landmark class action case was leveled against the Canadian government by over 50 First Nations communities . And now, the Liberal government has decided to fight them in court arguing they have no legal obligation to provide clean water. Instead of spending taxpayer dollars mounting an expensive legal defense, focus on ending boil water advisories once and for all. Supporting First Nations people in their call for a healthy environment is one of the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

In 2019 Microsoft CEO said that the technology Microsoft creates needs to benefit “everyone on the planet, including the planet itself.” Actively supporting the growth of fossil fuel production is the exact opposite of the climate leadership we need. This petition calls on Microsoft to recognize Microsoft’s impact on increasing emissions and change the company’s policies accordingly. With accelerating climate impacts felt by communities around the world, we need to phase out the production of fossil fuels, not bend over backwards trying to keep it competitive with renewable energy by using the latest AI technologies.

The ocean doesn’t recognize borders, and regardless of borders, we all rely on having healthy oceans. The high seas make up 2/3 of our global ocean. They provide us with oxygen and food and regulate much of our climate. The ocean is facing unprecedented challenges ranging from overfishing, pollution, shipping, climate change, and new industries like deep sea mining and potential geoengineering projects. The High Seas Treaty would allow for protected areas in international waters, impact assessments and monitoring, management of resources, and an increase in scientific understanding. It needs at least 60 countries to ratify it in order to come into effect. Our country has the longest coastline in the world and borders 3 international ocean basins. Send a message to your MP telling them we need to ratify the treaty by June 2025, in time for the next United Nations Ocean Conference.

Mines and mining are wreaking havoc on the Amazon rainforest. More than 4,000 illegal gold mines are operating here, and many of them in Indigenous territories. Illegal mining poisons rivers and destroys communities and their livelihood. A recent report showed a major link between illegal mining in Brazil and gold imports in the EU. The European Union is currently implementing a brand-new anti-deforestation law, but gold is not on the list of commodities despite its known impact on our environment and the areas where it's being extracted. This petition is a chance to say no more illegal gold from Amazon by asking EU lawmakers to put gold on the list of commodities under the EU Deforestation-Free Regulation.

The right to a healthy environment is essential to all other human rights, such as the right to life, food, water and sanitation. Last year, we celebrated a historic moment for environmental justice when the right to a healthy environment was recognized for the first time in Canadian federal law. More than 30, 000 supporters contacted elected officials to urge them to pass a modernized Canadian Environmental Protection Act which included this recognition of the right to a healthy environment. Now the federal government is asking people across Canada what the right should look like and how it should be implemented. Use this opportunity to tell the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change to implement the strongest possible version of our right to a healthy environment that will benefit everyone in Canada.

211

How many of you have heard about dialing 211? I sure didn’t. The folks at 211 help individuals navigate the social systems in our province (and across Canada).

They are there 24/7 to help people find resources in their communities. Their main calls are from those needing help with housing, food and mental health issues but it doesn’t stop there.

They have councillors for diverse groups such as African Canadian, 2SLGBTQIA+ community, Indigenous and Acadian groups.

They know the resources for persons with disabilities, the military and or veterans and also for newcomers to our land.

Government services, income support, holiday support, and legal advocacy is available.

Even things like Pet services and transportation information are available.

The 211 system works across Canada including Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. If someone in Toronto wanted to help family or friends in Nova Scotia, this 211 system would give them the information needed for that province.

For more information check out the websites for your province

https://ns.211.ca/

https://pe.211.ca/

One more number that has been invaluable to Nana and I these last few weeks is 811. Dialling this number connects you to a registered nurse (in both NS and PEI) who will ask you many questions and then give you their recommendation.

If you ever have those times when you wonder “Am I being silly to worry about this?”, call them.

They don’t need your health card number. They do not charge a fee. They just talk to you and then suggest that maybe get an appointment with your family doctor, drive to an emergency or call an ambulance.

They can forward the info from that call to an emergency room ONLY if you allow it. They need your name and age and then info on your problem.

Our Nana has pneumonia that won’t clear for a month. When it seemed to worsen and we wondered if we should be concerned, 811 was a great help.

Please don’t hesitate to call either of these numbers.

An Oddity for you

A Gasoline station on the top of a parking garage in China. Just go gas up before heading home—maybe not “Brilliant” status but useful and interesting. I wonder if they have charging stations on rooftops now?

My garden

The tomatoes that keep surprising me. I thought I would make a batch of mincemeat but the box had ripened too many of them.

I just learned how to get the skins off so easily. Wash and cut where the stem was and then a couple slits on the bottom. Throw them whole into a bag and into the freezer. When you have the time bring them out and run them under hot water and the skins slide off. So much easier.

Cleaning the pantry I found the dried dates yet again this month. I knew they were older and needed to be used. As I cut up the dates in small pieces and added water to cover them, I wondered what to make. I didn’t want date squares, date bark, date brownies, date bars, or date fudge. (Yes, there is such a thing) So I made Date Cookies and they are so good. I had to freeze half of them to take to the seniors gathering.

In the back of the cookie picture is my canned cranberry sauce. I like to make my sauce from scratch but there always is so much left over. I can the sauce in my smallest bottles so when having a chicken dinner we open a jar and usually finish it in one meal. Recipe to follow.

Date Cookies

3 cups flour

1tsp baking powder

1 tsp. baking powder

1 cup butter

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup honey (or add a cup of sugar)

3 eggs

1tsp. vanilla

1 ½ cup dates

Nuts are optional

Cut dates in bits and add water to cover. Even microwave them a minute and set aside while mixing the rest.

Dry ingredients in one bowl. Wet ingredients in another bowl

I drain off the water from the dates but don’t discard. If your cookies dough seems dry add some of the juice. Dates are sweet and will require less sugar in your recipe. Put dates in the flour mixture and stir. Mix the flour mixture into the wet mixture.

Drop by spoonfuls. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes

Cranberry sauce

I usually buy two bags of cranberries for Thanksgiving. Put these into a pot with just enough water to cover them. Add at least a cup of sugar but taste close to the end of cooking and add more if needed.

Once the cranberries have boiled for about 15 minutes mix up either flour or cornstarch with water, mix and stir into the cranberries to thicken the sauce. Once they start to thicken take off the stove as they will continue to thicken in the pan.

Ladle into sterilized mason jars and then a 20-minute boil bath. There are at least a dozen ways to use those cranberries.