https://www.facebook.com/pages/Roselawn-Memorial-Park/121946907815445

http://www.roselawninfo.com/

And here is a great little write up on them:

http://wakethememory.com/blog/category/cemeteries/

Are There Green Cemeteries in Illinois?

I am happy to report that the answer is finally, YES!

The Green Burial Council in California recently approved Roselawn Memorial Park for green burials. You can now be buried in Illinois without a casket, without embalming, without anything but a shroud if you want.

I do not personally think that a green burial ground has to be approved by the Green Burial Council, but they have some strict standards that make sense, and their mission is great. In a previous life, I worked in the architectural world, and saw first-hand what it was like dealing with the logistics of becoming LEED certified, and know how hard it can be. Additionally, it is very expensive to become “Certified Organic”. I think it’s worthwhile to recognize any cemetery or burial product willing to become more natural, and I will support any company that tries to be better.

Here is their information. They do not seem to have a working website yet. I will keep you posted and update after I contact them directly.

Roselawn Memorial Park – Hybrid Cemetery
924 South 6th Street
Springfield IL 62703
217/525.1661

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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The post Green Burials In Springfield IL – I love these women appeared first on Community Energy Systems.

http://gizmodo.com/#!5781566/this-is-the-scariest-first+person-video-of-the-japan-tsunami-yet

This Is the Scariest First-Person Video of the Japan Tsunami Yet

Jesus Diaz — This first-person view is the most terrifying and astonishing video I’ve seen of the Japan tsunami. Initially everything seems ok, just a mild wave coming towards the camera. But keep watching—the sea goes Godzilla and destroys everything.

By the end of it, the raging water is taking entire buildings off the streets of Kesennuma, in the Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It’s horrible. Almost unreal. This is the exact point where this video was taken, before the catastrophe.

To watch more first person videos of the tsunami, click here.

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More tomorrow.

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The post The Nuclear Industry In Japan Is ____ – Well you pick the word appeared first on Community Energy Systems.

http://blogcritics.org/books/article/heaven-on-earth-the-rise-and/

The phrase “Heaven on Earth” in the context of the book is lifted from a phrase by Moses Hess who, in his Communist Confession of Faith, noted that while Christians imagine a heavenly joy “We, on the other hand, will have this heaven on earth.” It’s exactly this kind of religious fervor for the concepts of socialism (and communism – the terms are used interchangeably) that gave socialist regimes the license to do whatever it took to cram Paradise down people’s throats. And when people rejected the “freedom” offered to them, the results were horrific: Mussolini’s Italy, Stalin’s Soviet Republic, and Mao’s China. In total, Muravchik estimates that more than 100 million people were murdered in the name of socialism since 1917.

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Some people mistake it for State Run Fascism.

http://lis.net.au/marijonas/

BOOKS, EDITORIALS & NEWS REPORTS

DEATH FOR CONVENIENCE
The great en-masse deception

CONSCIENTIOUS
OBJECTIVE ACTION

WOLF & LAMB
Animal Free Cooking

APPLIED OPERATION CENTER

Unfolding History

The Heaven On Earth phrase well illustrates the aspirations of most humanity. It is the point at which all our individual and collective efforts from across the ages of humanity are fulfilled. It is the point at which we are freed by the truth.

As we proceed on our living journey, the words of Meister Johann Eckhart, a 14th century mystic, might help to re-focus our individual tasks: “Earth should become like heaven, so God can find a home here”. Herein are our individual and mutual tasks – to transform the things of ourselves which we sense in our heart are incompatible with heaven. When we make the change, we create a difference, which in turn becomes challenged. When we hold our ground, the world around us changes in consequence. By changing ourselves, we change the world.

The world is in extreme crisis and needs our individually unique care. The topics presented on this site are those which the author emphasizes for humanity’s healing.

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Some confuse it with theocracy.

 http://books.google.com/books?id=isWUqKBcb1QC&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=heaven+on+earth+phrase&source=bl&ots=i7j2kItMfh&sig=gtBxdCX01G3Co8I4Ar6dewqc8qc&hl=en&ei=TqRcSrGNJ4fkNb6K_b8C&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8

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While others are simply obscure…

But Flying Turbines are much more practical:

http://blogs.ft.com/energy-source/2009/06/16/turbines-in-the-sky/

Turbines in the sky

June 16, 2009 11:44am

by Kate Mackenzie

Magenn’s MARS prototype

Wired takes a look at several companies working on high altitude wind turbines: ranging from floating, kite-like devices tethered to long power cables to quaint-looking power-generating flying machines.

The devices are very diverse. Magenn’s helium-filled devices resemble floating kites; Sky Windpower has a ‘controlled helicopter’ with four rotary blades keeping it suspended. Kite Gen’s devices describe a figure eight in the air.

There’s no doubt the wind is stronger at high altitudes, and the devices would take up less ground space, perhaps avoiding one key objection to wind turbines. The attractions are many:

Wind’s power — energy which can be used to do work like spinning magnets to generate electricity — varies with the cube of its speed. So, a small increase in wind speed can lead to a big increase in the amount of mechanical energy you can harvest. High-altitude wind blows fast, is spread nicely across the globe, and is easier to predict than terrestrial wind.

Companies also claim the devices would pose less of a threat to avian life, and emit lower noise pollution than regular wind turbines.

But they’re not without drawbacks.

High-altitude winds, although they are far stronger than terrestrial winds, don’t offer any solution to the ‘baseload’ problem, the inconsistency of supply affecting many renewables. In a article in Energies journal:

Because jet streams vary locally and seasonally, however, the high-altitude wind power resource is less steady than needed for baseload power without large amounts of storage or continental-scale transmission grids, due to the meandering and unsteady nature of the jet streams.

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Please see the rest of the article for more info

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmxB2BwVufA&feature=fvst

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The post Flying Wind Turbines – Energy for Heaven on Earth appeared first on Community Energy Systems.

http://www.peakoil.com/

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From the paranoid:

http://www.peakoil.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=47647

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0415/p13s01-wmgn.html

Economic slump provides

tinder for global conflicts

With more people pushed into poverty,

the probability of armed rebellions increases around the world.

The new director of the National Intelligence Agency caused something of a stir last month when he warned Congress: “The primary near-term security concern of the United States is the global economic crisis and its geopolitical implications.”

On that theme, Hampshire College professor Michael Klare sees the world economic meltdown as already prompting “economic brush fires” around the world and worries whether these could prove “too virulent to contain.”

It seems as if the lyrics “trouble, trouble, trouble” from Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man” have become too real in today’s world.

Last November Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank Group, noted that the global financial crisis would hit hardest the “poorest and most vulnerable” in the developing world. At that time, Mr. Zoellick calculated another 100 million people around the world had been driven into poverty as a result of soaring food and oil prices. These prices have eased. Nonetheless, hundreds of millions in poor nations must try to balance household budgets on incomes of $2 a day or less.

Now he’s forecasting the world economy will shrink by 1 to 2 percent this year, with difficulties possibly extending into next year. That’s much worse than the bank group’s forecast last year. It will be the first time world output has actually declined since World War II. And each 1 percent decline

in developing-country growth rates pushes an additional 20 million people into poverty, Zoellick reckons.

“The political ramifications [of rising poverty] will be great … though hard to predict,” says John Sewell, a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars in Washington. Before the election last fall, he assembled a group of experts who urged the incoming president to streamline the nation’s development tools. These are now spread among 12 government departments, 25 government agencies, and almost 60 government offices. “No one is in charge,” the group held.

Powerful droughts around the world could cause food shortages, reversing a dramatic drop in global poverty that the economic crisis recently halted, worries Mr. Klare, an expert on peace and world security.

In Africa and in East Asia, population growth also adds to economic pressures.

As for brush fires, the driest tinder lies in eastern European states such as Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, and Bulgaria, he says. There, the people in fragile democracies had the notion that rising prosperity in the 1990s and up to 2006 would continue forever. Now the money from the West has dried up and gone home, leading to an economic bust.

“That is what is driving them to rage,” says Klare. “The promises have been taken away.”

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To the paradoxical:

 http://www.peakoil.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=47644

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30240000/

Renewable energy’s environmental paradox

Wind and solar projects may carry costs for wildlife

Sandy Seth, via Friends of the Bosque del Apache via AP

Sandhill Cranes fly in formation into the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge near Socorro, N.M., last year. Environmentalists have raised concerns that the birds’ habitats could be affected by a planned sun and wind power transmission line.

WASHINGTON – The SunZia transmission line that would link sun and wind power from central New Mexico with cities in Arizona is just the sort of energy project an environmentalist could love — or hate. And it is just the sort of line the Interior Department has been tasked with promoting — or guarding against.

If built, the 460-mile line would carry about 3,000 megawatts of power, enough to avoid the need for a handful of coal-fired plants and to help utilities meet mandated targets for use of renewable fuel. “We have to connect the sun of the deserts and the winds of the plains to places where people live,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said recently.

But the line would also cross grasslands, skirt two national wildlife refuges and traverse the Rio Grande, all habitat areas rich in wildlife. The graceful sandhill crane, for example, makes its winter home in the wetlands of New Mexico’s Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, right next to the path of the proposed power line. And much of the area falls under the protection of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

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To the pusillanimously positive:

http://www.peakoil.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=47643

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/04/action-plan-for-50-how-solar-thermal-can-supply-europes-energy

April 15, 2009

Action Plan for 50%:

How Solar Thermal Can Supply Europe’s Energy

The solar thermal sector’s strategy to reach a 50% contribution

to Europe’s space and water heating requirements by 2050.

by David Appleyard, Associate Editor

London, UK [Renewable Energy World Magazine]

The research efforts and infrastructure needed to supply 50% of the energy for space and water heating and cooling across Europe using solar thermal energy has been set out under the aegis of the European Solar Thermal Technology Platform (ESTTP). Published in late December 2008, more than 100 experts developed the Strategic Research Agenda (SRA), which includes a deployment roadmap showing the non-technological framework conditions that will enable this ambitious goal to be reached by 2050.

A strategy for achieving a vision of widespread low-temperature solar thermal installations was first explored by ESTTP in 2006, but since then the SRA has identified key areas for rapid growth. These focus points include

the development of active solar buildings, active solar renovation, solar heat for industrial processes and solar heat for district heating and cooling. Meanwhile, amongst the main research challenges is the development of compact long-term efficient heat storage technology. Once available, they would make it possible to store heat from the summer for use in winter in a cost-effective way.

The ESTTP’s main objective is to create the right conditions in order to fully exploit solar thermal’s potential for heating and cooling in Europe and worldwide.

As a first step for the development of the deployment roadmap and of the Strategic Research Agenda, ESTTP developed a vision for solar thermal in 2030. Its key elements are to establish the Active Solar Building – covering 100% of their heating and cooling demand with solar energy – as a standard for new buildings by 2030; establish the Active Solar Renovation as a standard for the refurbishment of existing buildings by 2030 (Active Solar renovated buildings cover at least 50% of their heating and cooling demand with solar thermal energy); supply a substantial share of the industrial process heat demand up to 250°C, including heating and cooling, desalination and water treatment; and achieve broad use of solar energy in district heating and cooling.

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They got it covered. My hat’s off to you.

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The post Peak Oil I Love YOU…Leanan does an amazing job appeared first on Community Energy Systems.

 http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/sex/index.html

How to Go Green Sex..:}

[by Jacob Gordon]

Whether you’re single and playing the field, settled down with that special someone, or someplace in between, most of us consider good, satisfying, sexy sex an important part of this complete breakfast. It might not be the first thing we think of while working towards a sustainable and graceful life on this fragile planet, but there’s a lot we can do to make our sex lives greener. In the process of greening the ecological footprint of our love making, we might also open up some new doors to deeper pleasure, satisfaction, and romantic connection.

Buzz up!I can’t go on but for more you can go here: 

http://evilbeet.blogspot.com/2007/03/green-sex.html http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/04/13/gree.DTL

http://blogs.takepart.com/2008/04/09/top-10-ways-to-green-up-your-sex-life/ 

http://buzzfeed.com/buzz/Green_Sex

 http://www.eartherotics.com/

 http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/eco-sex-guide

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/03/eco_kink_japans.php

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19333870/

 http://www.usnews.com/blogs/fresh-greens/2008/10/15/sex-sells-green-pinup-girl-calendars.html

I could go on but I think they already have.

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The post Green Sex Life – Yes its true, you can do it in the dark appeared first on Community Energy Systems.

This as always dedicated to John Martin and Susan Kay of the Denver area who for years have collected antique muscle cars and have a collection rivaling  Jay Leno’s….though they drive their cars in competition unlike the wuss that Leno has become.

The post Weird Bird Friday – Another fallen angel appeared first on Community Energy Systems.

and who is a Universal Unitarian. She is a our web Diva and genius, and she along with Shane Bumgarner and Lanny Montgomery make this web site possible.

But First, “What is Unitarianism?”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarianism

Unitarianism is the belief in the single personality of God, in contrast to the doctrine of the Trinity (three persons in one God).^[1] It is the philosophy upon which the modern Unitarian movement was based, and, according to its proponents, is the original form of Christianity. Unitarian Christians believe in the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, as found in the New Testament and other early Christian writings, and hold him up as an exemplar. Adhering to strict monotheism, they maintain that Jesus was a great man and a prophet of God, perhaps even a supernatural being, but not God himself. Unitarians believe in the moral authority, but not necessarily the divinity, of Jesus. They do not pray to Jesus. Their theology is thus distinguishable from the theology of Catholic, Orthodox, mainline Protestant, and other Christian denominations, who hold the Trinity doctrine as a core belief.

Some Evangelicals hold a unitarian theology in that they see God as a single person, and are thus antitrinitarian, but because they perceive Jesus to be God himself do not fall into the general theology discussed here, which sees Jesus as subordinate to God and a finite being. Instead see: Sabellianism, Oneness theology, Oneness Pentecostalism, Monarchianism, Binitarianism.

While there are both religiously liberal and religiously conservative unitarians, the name “Unitarian” is most commonly associated with the liberal branch of this theology.

Conservative (Biblical or Evangelical) unitarians strictly adhere to the principle of sola scriptura and their belief that the Bible is both inspired and inerrant and uphold “fundamentals” of belief. This version of unitarianism is more commonly called Nontrinitarianism, rather than Unitarianism.

Unitarians sum up their faith as “the religion of Jesus, not a religion about Jesus.” Historically, they have encouraged non-dogmatic views of God, Jesus, the world and purpose of life as revealed through reason, scholarship, science, philosophy, scripture and other prophets and religions. They believe that reason and belief are complementary and that religion and science can co-exist and guide them in their understanding of nature and God. They also do not enforce belief in creeds or dogmatic formulas. Although there is flexibility in the nuances of belief or basic truths for the individual Unitarian Christian, general principles of faith have been recognized as a way to bind the group in some commonality. Adherents generally accept religious pluralism and find value in all teachings, but remain committed to their core belief in Christ’s teachings. Liberal Unitarians value a secular society in which government stays out of religious affairs.

OK are you asleep yet? But as a Red Letter Christian I find it all very interesting.

Wiki goes on:

The term “Unitarian” has been applied both to those who hold a Unitarian theological belief and to those who belong to a Unitarian church. A hundred years ago, this would not have made much of a difference, but today it is a distinction that needs to be made.

Unitarian theology is distinguishable from the belief system of modern Unitarian and Unitarian Universalist churches and fellowships in several countries. This is because over time, some Unitarians and many Unitarian Universalists have moved away from the traditional Christian roots of Unitarianism. For example, in the 1890s the American Unitarian Association began to allow non-Christian and non-theistic churches and individuals to be part of their fellowship. As a result, people who held no Unitarian belief began to be called “Unitarians,” simply because they were members of churches that belonged to the American Unitarian Association. After several decades, the non-theistic members outnumbered the theological Unitarians.^[2] A similar, though proportionally much smaller, phenomenon has taken place in the Unitarian churches in the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and other countries, which remain more theologically based.

But I guess I could have let them speak for themselves….

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http://www.uua.org/visitors/index.shtml

Welcome to Unitarian Universalism!

Unitarian Universalists are a caring, open-minded religious community that encourages you to seek your own spiritual path. Our congregations are places where people gather to nurture their spirits and put their faith into action by helping to make our communities—and the world—a better place.

Explore our website,visit a congregation in your area and discover Unitarian Universalism. We invite you to join us.

Unitarian Universalism: 
Nurture Your Spirit.  Help Heal Our World.

Find Out More!

Unitarian Universalists are committed not only to spiritual growth and transformation but also to involvement in the world.  Read these Unitarian Universalist Perspectives to see how we live out our values. 

• Ecology, Justice, and Compassion
• Affirmation of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender People
• The Relationship Between Religion and Science
• The Role of Religion in American Democracy
• Religion, Morality, and Sexuality

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Please note that their FIRST issue is Ecology! Is that cool or what? But then there is the pretty picture syndrome:

http://uuministryforearth.org/mfe_overview.htm

UU Ministry for Earth (formerly the Seventh Principle Project) is an affiliate organization of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Our mission is to facilitate and support the work of Unitarian Universalists by affirming and promoting the Seventh Principle of the UUA, “Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” Our members believe that the Earth is in peril from human activities, and for us as people of faith, this is a moral and spiritual crisis of utmost importance.

We sponsor the congregation based Green Sanctuary Program which provides a framework for study and reflection, and encourages individual and collective action for responding to the call to heal the Earth. In addition, our annual programs and exhibit booth at General Assembly provide hundreds of Unitarian Universalists with education and collaboration opportunities around critical environmental issues.

 So there you have it…it is the Whole Church. Pretty amazing actually…

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Respect Existence

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The post Universal Unitarianism And Environmental Groups? Are there any or is the Church just one big one? appeared first on Community Energy Systems.

Normally I wouldn’t bother to cover this but since it’s on the list I felt I needed to “dis” it as much as I could. I even took the time to get Buzzes top searches for the week to punch it up a bit. I even checked every category Energy Tough Love has to publicize this human indignity. The list of “Religions” that I used to start this meditation on the relationship between Religion and the Environment placed Juche well down on the list but with 18 million adherents that still alot of folks. I had never heard of it before and I even asked a couple of people if they had heard of it. Imagine my suprise when I typed it into a search engine and up popped this Prick who claimed he was god:

www.dictatorofthemonth.com

During his lifetime he forced millions of people in North Korea to worship him. Can you imagine anything more degrading or disgusting then a man who points a loaded gun at your head and demands that you treat him like a god. You must pray to him. Oh most Divine Leader. Makes me want to puke. But then he is followed by this buffoon:

www.beconfused.com

Now they are “worshiping” something no better than a trained monkey. If they had an ENVIRONMENTAL group in North Korea, I wish them the best of luck but I ain’t gonna publish it. I ain’t even gona type it into a search engine. If anybody ever deserved to get a nuke shoved up his poop shoot. This would be it.

The post Juche – a simple name for a nasty idea. Kim Il Sungism appeared first on Community Energy Systems.

http://www.coejl.org/resources/israelorg.php

And quick as you can say Holly Moelly Batman, I find this site and they got pretty pictures too.

Israeli Environmental Issues and Organizations

Adam Teva V’Din: The Israel Union for Environmental Defense

info@iued.org.il
http://www.iued.org.il/
Protection and restoration of Israel’s environment through research, grassroots organizing, litigation, and political advocacy.

Alma – Association for Environmental Quality
A citizens group involved in promoting the use of environmentally-friendly products and organically-grown produce, in encouraging industry to reduce waste, in advancing recycling and in forming an environmental youth movement.

The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (AIES)
Email: info@arava.org
http://www.arava.org/
AIES offers the foremost environmental studies program in the Middle East. Participants come from The Palestinian Authority, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and a variety of other nations including the US, Canada, Sweden, China, and Australia.

Council for a Beautiful Israel
Email: cbi@israel-yafa.org.il
http://www.israel-yafa.org.il/
CBI is active in promoting environmental awareness, protecting the natural beauty of Israel, preserving historical sites, promoting the rehabilitation of run-down urban areas and developing public recreation sites and gardens.

Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME)/EcoPeace
Email: contact@ecopeace.com
http://www.ecopeace.com/
A consortium of Egyptian, Jordanian, Israeli and Palestinian environmental non-governmental organizations that work jointly to promote sustainable development in the Middle East.

For Bicycles
Email: taba@bike.org.il
http://www.bike.org.il/
Local associations for the promotion of bicycles as a means of transportation in Israel’s cities.

Green Action
Email: info@greenaction.org.il
http://www.greenaction.org.il/
An association fighting against environmentally damaging projects by means of colorful demonstrations, attracting media attention to issues.

Greenpeace Mediterranean
Email: mmedia@diala.greenpeace.org
http://www.greenpeacemed.org.mt/

Green Course (Megama Yeruka)
Email: megama@green.org.il
http://www.green.org.il/
Students’ group aimed at promoting environmental issues inside and outside the universities, colleges and other higher education institutes.

Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership
Email: heschel@heschelcenter.org
http://www.heschelcenter.org/about_eng.html
Integrates environmental ethics into Jewish and Israeli education through seminars, teacher training, curricula development, and research.

Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel (ICCI)
Email: iccijeru@icci.org.il
“http://www.icci.org.il/
The ICCI is an umbrella organization of over 70 Jewish, Muslim and Christian institutions actively working towards interreligious and intercultural understanding in Israel and the region.

Israel Economic Forum for the Environment
Email: ecoforum@netvision.net.il
The forum encourages industry, transportation, agriculture and other economic sectors to incorporate environmental concerns into their development planning alongside economic and operational concerns.

Israeli Green Party
http://www.green-party.org.il/

Israeli-Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI) (Environmental Programs)
Email: ipcri@ipcri.org
http://www.ipcri.org/

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
Email: jcpa@netvision.net.il
http://www.jcpa.org/jep.htm
List of recent Jewish Environmental Publications

Jewish Global Environmental Network (JGEN)
Email: jgen@coejl.org
http://www.jgenisrael.org/
The mission of the JGEN is to develop partnerships and collaborative initiatives through which Jewish environmental leaders in Israel and around the world work together toward a sustainable future for Israel.

Jewish National Fund
Email: communications@jnf.org
http://www.jnf.org/
Forestry and land reclamation in Israel; education; Israel trips; campus programming.

Kibbutz Lotan
Email: lotan-office@lotan.ardom.co.il
Email: lotan-programs@lotan.ardom.co.il
http://www.kibbutzlotan.com/
Kibbutz Lotan offers creative approaches for integrating the study of Liberal/Progressive Judaism, kibbutz, desert ecology, and environmental protection.

Life and Environment
Email: sviva@sviva.net
http://www.sviva.net/
An umbrella organization to coordinate environmental activities among Israel’s non-governmental organizations.

Ministry of Environment
www.sviva.gov.il/

Neot Kedumim
Email: Gen_Info@Neot-Kedumim.org.il
http://www.neot-kedumim.org.il/
Nature reserve dedicating to restoring the flora and fauna of biblical Israel; publication of educational materials.

New Israel Fund
info@nif.org
http://www.newisraelfund.org/
New Israel Fund pursues an integrated strategy of grantmaking, technical assistance and coalition building to support national and community-based public interest organizations in Israel.

Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI)
Email: international@spni.org.il
http://www.spni.org.il/e, birthright mission: http://israelnature.com/

Israel’s largest environmental organization advocates environmental protection and offers a wide variety of educational programs and tours.

American Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (ASPNI)
email: aspni@aol.com
http://www.aspni.org/

Teva Adventure Israel
Email: info@tevaadventure.org
http://www.tevaadventure.org/
Teva Adventure is a new not-for-profit informal Jewish educational organization that combines outdoor, environmental & adventure education with Jewish programming.

SHALOM

The post Jewish Environmental Groups? I thought this could be a lot of fun appeared first on Community Energy Systems.

http://episcopal-life.org/1829_62397_ENG_HTM.htm 

The environmental movement within the Episcopal Church is deepening its roots and branching out. From grassroots “green building” projects to international conferences, Episcopalians are seeking ways to integrate their faith with care for the environment. Interest is growing, as are efforts to link members and organizations within the environmental movement with each other and with other faith groups, leaders say.“There’s definitely a growing interest,” says the Rev. Fletcher Harper, convener of the Episcopal Ecological Network (EpEN), adding, “It’s still very much a movement in its infancy.” The movement is more than environmental activism.“There’s a theological component as well as an environmental,” says Joyce Wilding, Province IV environmental ministry leader. “It’s not the Sierra Club of the Episcopal Church. It is grounded and rooted in our deep Episcopal tradition.” That’s been true since the beginning, says the Rev. Franklin “Skip” Vilas, founder of EpEN and Partners for Environmental Quality (now GreenFaith) in New Jersey.
“Our commitment does not come out of what you could call traditional environmentalism. It really comes out of a new look at the earth as a gift from God,” he says.“All of our commitments came out of a spiritual commitment, and we made it very clear to everybody — both in the churches and also in the environmental community — that our position would always be in a centrist position. That is, we would try to confer with both the business community as well as the environmental community, because they were all in our congregations.”

http://www.cnaturenet.org/

Churches Encouraged to Connect Children with Nature

Church Executive – March 01, 2008
By Rachel Beach

 Many of us first began to grasp the idea of a world much larger than ourselves as youngsters. We wandered in the woods, stuck our noses into rose blossoms, and gazed at the stars in wonderment. Hundreds of studies have shown that discovering the beauty of nature is necessary for a child’s healthy development.

Spending time outdoors often means taking risks such as climbing trees or walking near a cliff, and in turn encourages children to practice good judgment and be alert to their surroundings. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission guidelines for playground safety, “A risk is a challenge we are willing to do.” Unstructured play helps develop a child’s cognitive thinking skills, the ability to learn, and stimulate one’s imagination.

Unfortunately, statistics show that outdoor play has decreased by 75 percent since 1900. But now, some childcare specialists have called upon churches and faith-based organizations to “reclaim nature as a part of the spiritual development of children.” Reconnecting children with the outdoors leads to them becoming good stewards of the environment.

A parable example

Consider the parable of the talents. We have a responsibility to improve the world that was given to us and to pass it on in better condition to our children, who will grow up to be the next generation of stewards. Some responsibility lies on the church’s shoulders to communicate appreciation for and protection of the beautiful world God has given us.

http://www.kidsoutside.info/
I have always wanted to say this…More About God Tomorrow.
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The post Christian Environmentalism – I had not posted on this before because I can’t tell how long the movement will last. appeared first on Community Energy Systems.