Carbon Emissions Reduction
The Vestry has adopted the goal for the entire Saint Mark’s campus and community to have a net zero carbon footprint by the year 2030. We encourage parishioners at Saint Mark’s to sign up with the Episcopal Church Carbon Tracker at www.sustainislandhome.org, a tool to help our community measure its collective carbon footprint and take action to reduce that footprint.
Click here for more detailed instructions about how to use this resource. See the resources and recording from a Climate Conversation about the importance of reducing our household carbon footprints and ways to better use the Episcopal Church carbon tracker tool. Why is measuring your carbon footprint is important? Listen to this excellent podcast about why our collective actions really do make a difference!
The Creation Care ministry has researched several carbon offset programs and suggests that parishioners donate to the Carbon Offset Fund here at St. Mark’s when making offset contributions. These funds will then be directly passed through to either the Carbon Offset Cooperative Mission | The Episcopal Diocese of Olympia (ecww.org) or to COTAP.org.
For an update and more information about the Carbon Offset Cooperative Mission partnership between the Olympia Diocese and the Diocese of the Southern Philippines, view this short webinar here.
Reflections
Parishioner and literature professor Doug Thorpe submits occasional reflections on the environment, faith, and current events:
Report from Glasgow: The COP26 U.N. Climate Change Conference
Community member Dr. Lisa Graumlich attended the COP26 U.N. Climate Change Conference with the delegation of the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. She recently presented about her experiences in an online forum, titled The COP26 Experience: Healthy Skepticism and Abiding Faith.
- Watch the video recording posted here
- View the slides
- See the creation-focused prayers presented at the forum
- See photos from Glasgow
- Read Dr. Graumlich's summary document
Click here to read her letter from the first week of the conference, and here to read her article Loss and Damage: Why these two words hold the key to a just transition in a warming world on the Episcopal Church's Creation Care page.
Climate Conversations
FIRST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH, 5:30 P.M.–6:30 P.M., online via Zoom
Looking for practical ways to reduce your impact on the environment? Saint Mark’s Creation Care Ministry is hosting Climate Conversations about everyday things in our lives. These monthly conversations will be held on environmentally-friendly Zoom on the first Tuesday evening of each month from 5:30–6:30 p.m. Learn more here. Here’s the schedule for the next few months.
- June 7: What you can do about Food
The slides from the presentation may be seen here. - July 5: What you can do about Energy
The slides from the presentation may be seenhere. - August 2: What you can do about Water
The slides from the presentation may be seen here. - September 5: What you can do on the Carbon Tracker
The slides from the presentation may be seen here. Video of this conversation may be seen here. - October 4: What you can do about Transportation
The slides from the presentation may be seen here. Video of this conversation may be seen here. - November 1: Investing with Your Values
The slides along with additional links shared at this event are now available here. Video of the conversation may be seen here. - December 6: Creation Care Perspectives on Shopping at Christmas Time
Register to participate using this link. You can be part of any or all of these conversations with the same Zoom link each month.
Past Events
Click the images for video and resources of past events:
