Church of the Good Shepherd’s Good & Green Team
Members: Becky Ryder, Hilary Greene, Jan Barton, Jean Nyman, Jo-Ann Finn, Joella Cruz, Judy Govoni, Karen Clark, Kelly Churbuck, Michelle Murray, Peter Johnston, Scooter Holcombe, Sheryl Facchetti, Ginny Eldridge and Vivi Marty-Paquin.
Want to join our team? Just let Deacon Hilary know: [email protected] or 508-737-4542.
Our Mission: To follow the “three R’s” of caring for creation: REDUCE your use of non-sustainable products; REUSE those products as often as you can before the final option: recycle.
Formed in the Spring of 2023, the Good and Green Team works together to care for God’s creation because as God says over and over again in the book of Genesis: God saw what God had made and said it was good, very good. The Good people of Good Shepherd care very deeply about serving God and our community and are working together to collect information, raise money to implement green initiatives at our parish and in the wider community and to pray together to bring environmental justice to God’s world.
Information & Resources: The Good Green Team bulletin boards in the parish hall is where members post articles, tips and flyers about environmental stewardship, updated monthly.
Fundraising: On the 3rd Sunday of every month, the Good and Green Team collects redeemable cans and bottles for redemption and sneakers to be recycled via GotSneakers.com or donation the new/good condition sneakers to Turning Point to help the arriving immigrants living in our community or our unhoused neighbors.
The funds raised will go to fund our efforts in our parish- for example purchasing a recycle bin for the parish hall to be used for our coffee hours, Good Shepherd’s Table and other community events; buying more sustainable dinnerware, cups and utensils for our meals and community gatherings; a water bottle filler purchased and installed to replace the overuse of single use plastic water bottles; a dishwasher and other kitchen renovations.
Tips and Guidelines: Below are the tips and resources our team has compiled each month and shared on our bulletin boards or in the weekly Good Shepherd newsletter.
December 2024
December’s theme is Sustainable Holiday Shopping and Advent Simplicity
Advent Simplicity Challenge: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/advent-simplicity-challenge/
World Wildlife Fund UK Sustainable Christmas Tips: https://www.wwf.org.uk/top-tips-sustainable-christmas
Alternative Christmas List: https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ethical-christmas/your-alternative-christmas-shopping-list
Eco-Friendly Shopping: https://www.marleysmonsters.com/blogs/marleys-musings/your-guide-to-eco-friendly-shopping-for-the-holidays?srsltid=AfmBOoqEP117BEL2VA0W6AG8e2B0q8ZhHvW6ED_BDE6qmJ4m1ioAuMJy
November 2024
November’s Theme: Caring for God’s People and Animals during the month of Thanksgiving
Justice for the native peoples of our country:
The “Doctrine of Discovery” https://upstanderproject.org/learn/guides-and-resources/first-light/doctrine-of-discovery
Episcopal Church Statement on “Doctrine of Discovery” https://doctrineofdiscovery.org/the-episcopal-church-usa/
Sea Turtle Strandings:
https://www.ifaw.org/campaigns/strandings
Food Labels: what they really mean and uncovering deceptive labeling:
https://www.ewg.org/research/labeldecoder/be-wary.php#animal-welfare-review
https://www.ewg.org/research/labeldecoder/
Sustainable Thanksgiving tips:
https://www.greenbusinessbenchmark.com/archive/15-sustainable-thanksgiving-tips
https://kab.org/7-ideas-to-keep-your-thanksgiving-eco-friendly/
October 2024
October’s theme is Sustainable Halloween and more:
“Green” Halloween Tips: https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/10-green-halloween-tips
How to donate leftover candy: https://www.today.com/parents/how-donate-halloween-candy-good-cause-t117994
More sustainable Halloween ideas: https://www.sustainthemag.com/culture/sustainable-guide-to-halloween
One Tree Planted Halloween ideas: https://onetreeplanted.org/blogs/stories/green-halloween
Beyond Convenience, Single Use Plastics vs. Compostable Alternatives: https://greenpaperproducts.com/blog/beyond-convenience-the-environmental-impact-of-single-use-plastics-vs-compostable-alternatives
September 2024
ADVOCACY: Pray. Learn. Act. ADVOCATE
Information from RecycleSmartMA:
https://recyclesmartma.org/2024/06/all-the-waste-we-do-not-see/
https://recyclesmartma.org/where-does-it-go/
Groups to Join:
Don’t Trash Wareham: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=don%27t%20trash%20wareham
Wareham Recycling Committee: https://www.wareham.ma.us/recycling-committee
Wareham Recycling Center: https://www.facebook.com/Warehamrecycle/
Bourne Recycling Committee: https://www.townofbourne.com/recycling-committee
An Episcopal Path to Creation Justice: https://www.episcopalcreationpath.org/
September is also the start of the Season of Creation!
Learn more: https://seasonofcreation.org/
Liturgies: https://newcreationliturgies.org/seasonofcreation/
August 2024
August’s Theme is Back to School Sustainable Shopping:
10 Must-Have Sustainable School Supplies: https://crannorganic.com/blogs/crann-organic-blog/eco-friendly-school-supplies
https://earth911.com/home-garden/5-sustainable-swaps-for-a-green-school-year/
A Sustainable Guide to Back to School Shopping: A Sustainable Guide to Back-to-School Shopping – Impakter
Best On-line Thrift Stores for Kids: https://sustainablykindliving.com/best-online-thrift-stores-for-kids/
EarthHero Sustainable Back to School Supplies: https://earthhero.com/collections/kids-back-to-school?srsltid=AfmBOorH6ND5rU9D8XqpgsJ6YFfI89MddizK2p7sCdGH0YQ5gbFv9iBl
https://earth911.com/home-garden/5-sustainable-swaps-for-a-green-school-year/
Plus good news:
July 2024
July’s theme is SUSTAINABLE ENERGY & OTHER PRACTICES FOR HOME & OFFICE
Sustainable tips: https://native.eco/for-individuals/sustainability-tips/
Work and home sustainability tips: https://www.energy.gov/management/osp/earth-day-every-day-sustainable-practices-work-and-home
Low standby power product list: https://www.energy.gov/femp/low-standby-power-product-list
Renewable Energy sources explained: https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/renewable-sources/
And in the local “good news” category, Bourne is working on food recycling:
June 2024
June’s Theme is Sustainable Gardening: How to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
Alternative Lawns: https://earth911.com/home-garden/sustainable-alternative-lawns/
Sustainable Gardening Ideas: https://www.fertilefibre.com/blogs/blog/sustainable-gardening-ideas
Resources for Sustainable Gardens: https://ahsgardening.org/gardening-resources/sustainable-gardening/
Sustainable Outdoor Living Spaces: https://earth911.com/home-garden/designing-sustainable-outdoor-living-spaces/
Cut Flowers Without Harming Your Plants: https://earth911.com/home-garden/spring-flower-cutting-tips/
May 2024
May’s theme is Clothing and Textiles: How to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
- Reducing our consumption of “fast fashion” inexpensive clothing we don’t need made by workers in unsafe, underpaid working conditions;
- https://apps.bostonglobe.com/opinion/graphics/2023/11/fast-fashion/ (subscription necessary to read)
- https://www.thehealthy.com/beauty/news-toxins-in-clothing/
- Reusing clothing by purchasing items at thrift stores or donating clothing to places that resell them:
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- The Good Shepherd Rummage Sale Saturday May 11, 9-1 (items can be dropped off Friday, May 10, 10-5)
- 21 Best Places to Buy and Sell Used Clothing Online | Conscious Fashion CollectivePoshmark: https://poshmark.comThred Up: https://www.thredup.com/Mercari: https://www.mercari.com/
- Some retailers have added a section on their website to allow customers to resell or send in their used products to be resold. Lululemon does this. REI and Patagonia are on this list. Mercari is another site – but that site is only half textile and the other half is household items and electronics. Local thrift stores, churches and rummage sales are where you can always find the best deals, though. Hands down. You can never find a better price than you can locally.
- https://www.letsift.com/
- https://www.secondserveresale.org/collections/all
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- Recycling your clothes and other textiles in local donation bins.
- https://www.mass.gov/lists/donation-reuse#look-up-donation-drop-off-locations-
- https://www.epilepsy.com/give/donate-clothing-and-household-goods
- Some organizations (i.e. Red Cross) sell their collected clothes and textiles to a 3rd party business which raises money for the organization. The clothes are sent to other countries or made into rags or insulation. These bins are where you can dispose of your “not as nice” clothing, and other bins are for local distribution- be sure NOT to drop off any stained, torn or otherwise shabby items. Ask yourself: “Would I wear this again?”
- Clothing: 3 of them on St. Margaret’s and Cohasset Roads in Buzzards Bay
- Clothing and Book bins: Rochester 4 Corners
iii. Books: in front of the Old Bridge Restaurant in Buzzards Bay and at St. Peter’s Church, Buzzards Bay
- Red Cross & other Organizations textile recycling bins: Bourne Transfer Station and most other town transfer stations
- Nice clothing/Thrift Shops:
- Walt’s Mobile Closet at the Gleason Family Y on Charge Pond Road in Wareham
- Emmanuel Church of the Nazarene, Wareham
- Congregational Church, Wareham Thrift Shop
- There is a new drop off shed for used but clean clothing, blankets, sheets, shoes, belts, purses, curtains, pillowcases and stuffed animals behind the Elizabeth Taber Library at 8 Spring Street, Marion. Both new and used items may be donated but need to be placed in tied up bags and not thrown in loose
March 2024 Theme: “Confused about Recycling? You’re Not Alone”
Each town, each state and every private housing development or community has their own rules and even the most “good and green-hearted” person can get frustrated and give up. Below are links to the web sites about recycling for our state and many of the local towns our parishioners come from. If you have more info to share, please let us know!
Recycle Smart MA: https://recyclesmartma.org/where-does-it-go/?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgbuBovfahAMVr3JHAR1RLAHlEAAYASAAEgKrjfD_BwE
“Recyclopedia”- Is this recyclable? https://recyclesmartma.org/results-materials/#
Town of Wareham: https://www.wareham.ma.us/recycling-department
Wareham Recycling Center flyer: https://www.wareham.ma.us/recycling-department/news/2023-recycling-flyer
Town of Bourne: https://www.townofbourne.com/recycling-committee/pages/recycling-in-bourne
Town of Rochester: https://www.townofrochestermass.com/trash-recycling
South Shore Recycling Cooperative: https://ssrcoop.info/
Town of Fairhaven: https://www.fairhaven-ma.gov/board-public-works/pages/recycling-center
Town of Mattapoisett: https://www.mattapoisett.net/trash-recycling
Town of Marion: https://marionma.gov/463/Single-Stream-Recycling
February 2024 Theme: Food
To learn more about where your food comes from and how it is packaged and distributed, visit the South Coast’s Marion Institute web page on the components of the food system: https://www.marioninstitute.org/programs/sfpc/the-food-system/
What’s in plant based meat and how is it made? https://earth911.com/food-beverage/how-is-plant-based-meat-made/
How to Eat Less Plastic:
https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/how-to-reduce-exposure-to-plastic-in-food-everywhere-else-a9640874767/
and
https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/the-plastic-chemicals-hiding-in-your-food-a7358224781/
Food Recovery Chart: https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-recovery-hierarchy_.html
Wasted Food Scale: https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/wasted-food-scale
“You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment” on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81133260
January 2024:
Target carries deodorant in cardboard tubes now – push pop style dispenser and Grove Collaborative offers a metal container push up one: https://www.grove.co/catalog/?category=deodorant . Raw Sugar is one brand. So, for sustainable shopping, just check your everyday stores for better containers! They’re coming out with them.
Another Donation Location:
My Brother’s Keeper, 1015 Reed Road, North Dartmouth, right off Route 195 going north at exit 19B.They take in all usable furniture, household items, stuff like that and they give them for free to any family in need who have either lost a home through fire and must start over again or immigrant families coming in to relocate in their first apartment who need to be able to get all the stuff to begin a household. While they don’t go to a donor to pick up items, once a donor brings items to them they donate to the needy for free and also even deliver locally. They also are sometimes in need of volunteers who have pick-up trucks who might be willing to help them deliver a load of stuff to those starting out again in their new location.
Massachusetts junk removal: https://www.gogreenteamjunk.com/ they recycle, reuse and donate 80% of everything they haul. The Green Team is an eco-friendly Junk removal company that prides itself on providing the most environmentally conscious junk removal services in Massachusetts.
Episcopal Church offerings: Our diocese has the Creation Care Justice Network https://www.diomass.org/creation-care the Western MA diocese has a Creation Care team also (Sharing Margaret Bullitt-Jonas with us https://www.diocesewma.org/creation-care ; our Anglican Communion has resources https://acen.anglicancommunion.org/ and our national church, The Episcopal Church has resources too https://www.episcopalchurch.org/ministries/creation-care/resources/
2023 GOOD AND GREEN TIPS