Give God’s earth a break, give up something for 40 days

By Naomi Yaeger

Commissioned Earthkeeper
(United Methodist Church)

Ash Wednesday is March 6. Traditionally some people give up something for Lent.

When I became a commissioned Earthkeeper in 2016, each of those in the class picked a theme. My is “Duluth

Doesn’t do it Dirty.” My goal is to educate others, to meet you where are, and see how you might increase your ways to keep God’s earth beautiful. Hope UMC’s pastor, Rev. Lawton is also an Earthkeeper   FUMC also has Earthkeepers Chuck Campbell and Carol Donahue – they have chosen a different missions.

Lent is a good time to see what you might give up or do for 40 days.

Could you give up plastic cutlery for 40 days? It takes some planning ahead if you eat lunch at facilities that use plastic cutlery.

Plastic cutlery is used because it is cheap and doesn’t need to be washed. Unfortunately, it wastes a lot of resources and is rarely recycled. Most plastic cutlery is made from a type of plastic known as polystyrene. Polystyrene or expanded polystyrene is more commonly referred to as Styrofoam. Styrene is currently classified by the National Toxicological Program’s 12th Report on Carcinogens as reasonably anticipated to be a carcinogen, workers involved in the manufacture of polystyrene foams are at the most risk of styrene exposure.

It is estimated that serval million tons of Polystyrene is produced each year.

My bamboo spork

Most cities cannot recycle styrene. Keep metal cutlery at your office or in your purse. I have a bamboo spork that comes in handy. As soon as I use it I wash it and place it in a waxed paper porch in my purse. Or if you are going for fast food to bring it back to your home or office, ask them to skip the plastic cutlery. Maybe you have another way you’d like to be more friendly to God’s Earth. Try choosing something you can do from Ash Wednesday until Easter. Anything you can do for 40 days is a start.

According to the United Methodist Church Statement on the Environment:

God is the owner of the land (Lev. 25); thus it is a gift in covenant which involves the stewardship of keeping and tending the land for present and future generations; as God's creation, land has the need to be regenerated that it may sustain life and be a place of joy. It is a common gift to all of life requiring just patterns of land use.

(Originally published in Duluth First United Methodist Church's newsletter and Duluth's Hope UMC Church newsletter)

United Methodist Women
UTENSILS M3534
$9.95



Carry your own utensils with you, at a church event or a take-away meal without adding plastic-ware waste to the environment. A fork, spoon, knife and a pair of chopsticks are held in a zipper pouch with the United Methodist Women logo and a reminder to Be Just. Be Green. Excellent gifts for family and friends and a great conversation starter.

Don’t Throw It Away—Take It to the Repair Cafe*

* I'm inserting other blogs in to keep it interesting this is from the citylab.com blog The Eco-cowpokes continue to travel. I hope to have their interesting environmental photos up soon.

Linda Poon

Jul 17, 2018

Charlie Goedeke demonstrates how the

 motor of the fabric shaver works. Linda Poon/CityLab

This series of workshops aims to keep broken items out of the landfill, and it might help you save a few bucks, too Read more here:

Enjoying camping at an awarding winning KOA

This is the Arco, Idaho KAO that the cowpokes stayed at while on their way 

to Craters of the Moon. Look at the Mountains in the background. 

From the KOA's own website: This award-winning campground sits at the edge of the Lost River Range and Mount Borah (Idaho's tallest mountain). The campground is only 19 miles from Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve, where you can explore vast lava flows, cinder cones and lava tube caves created by ancient volcanoes. Discover mountain lakes and hot springs or watch for deer, antelope, elk and moose. Ride your ATV up a volcanic dome or on the many trails in the valley - some city roads even allow you to ride to the trails. Then quietly relax at your spacious site shaded by mature trees, enjoy the heated pool or frolic with your dog in the pet playground

Eco-cowpokes explore the heart of North Dakota:McClusky - the city with a heart

McClusky is the geographic center of North Dakota, or the Heart of North Dakota.
Here Matt has cleverly framed Rebecca between the sign and the large heart.

The Eco-cowpokes checked out the heart of North Dakota on their way to Utah. This photo was taken over a week ago.
According to the City's website the population of McClusky in 2010 was 380. In 1940 the population was 924. The town, as any Dakota town, boast beautiful sunsets. And if fishing and hunting are your thing visit this N.D. Fish and Game website. For those of you who love outdoor adventure without hunting or fishing, the town has a swimming pool and is close to the North Country Trail.

Learn more from the town's website: 

 "McClusky is the Sheridan County seat in North Dakota, United States of America.

McClusky is the closest town to the geographical center of North Dakota, which lies about five miles to the southwest, thus its nickname "Heart of North Dakota."

Located on Highway 200, McClusky is approximately 70 miles NE of Bismarck, and 90 miles SE of Minot.

Sunrise by Steve Haux

We invite you to visit us, to enjoy our parks, swimming pool, Hoffer Lake and local events. The town has a friendly, welcoming atmosphere, plenty of clean air. quality schools, healthcare, business opportunities, and a variety of recreational activities.

Sunrise at Hoffer Lake by Jessie Meckle

Eco-cowpokes visit a violent past ...erupted lava

The Eco-cowpokes had a great time at Craters of the Moon.
It is a national monument and preserve in Idaho.

From the website 

Craters of the Moon formed during eight major eruptive periods between 15,000 and 2000 years ago. Lava erupted from the Great Rift, a series of deep cracks that start near the visitor center and stretch 52 miles (84 km.) to the southeast. During this time the Craters of the Moon lava field grew to cover 618 square miles (1600 square km.).The smaller Wapi and Kings Bowl lava fields also formed along the Great Rift during the most recent eruptive period (approximately 2000 years ago).

A Violent Past, Calm Present, and Uncertain Future...

Craters of the Moon is a vast ocean of lava flows with scattered islands of cinder cones and sagebrush. We invite you to explore this "weird and scenic landscape" where yesterday's volcanic events are likely to continue tomorrow. 

Every poo counts

This post is a one minute read

By Naomi Yaeger-Bischoff

with comment from the Eco-Cowgirl, Rebecca Yaeger-Bischoff*

Eco-cowboy, Matt, grins while standing beside this sign along a trail in Bozeman, Mont. 

Those Eco-cowpokes were in Bozeman, Mont. a few days ago. In this photo is a nature trail actually in the city that connects up to the hospital. 

The sign says, How far do you go to scoop? Off trail, in the bushes, light years from the waste station. Every poop counts.
Did you know that picking up your pet's poop is not just a matter of courtesy, but a matter of public health. Lots of people think, Well, animals poop in the wild so why can't my dog or cat? 
The reason is because we humans own so many more pets in cities that per capita it's more than there are wild animals in nature. If their poo is NOT properly disposed of it runs downstream into our drinking water. 

(You know what they say about all X*$# runs downstream.)

If you’re thinking that’s what the water treatment plant is for, well, that’s putting a lot of extra work on what is probably a municipal treatment plant. i.e. You are paying for this treatment.  (Every year Duluth Minn. has trouble with there beach being too full of fecal matter to be safe for swimming.) This fecal matter is from pets and gulls.

If you want more information about how dog poop hurts the environment read
Dogs' use of outdoors as bathroom affects our water

*Thank's for reading: This blog is authored by the Determined Yaeger-Bischoff Women, determined to make a difference in protecting the environment. 

Wild horses

That Eco-Cowgirl is traveling again. Last time I posted about the Eco-Cowgirl she and her grandmother were traveling in the southeast of the U.S. This time she and her beau are traveling through the western states. You know the Cowgirl loves horses, well, she got to see wild horses in Medora, N.D.
Some sources say that the horses that got fenced into the national park are actually descendants of Chief Sitting Bulls horses. Sitting Bull was forced to surrender all his horses when he surrendered at Ft. Burthold on July 19, 1881 (Ft. Burthold is in northwestern North Dakota and is not a "Sioux" reservation. Standing Rock is the Reservation that Sitting Bull's people were sent to. It straddles the North Dakota/South Dakota border. The Sioux Nation was and is comprised of three major sub-divisions: including the Dakota, Nakota, Lakota. I'm guessing that's where the Nakota horse got its name.  There is another group of people who are calling the horse from Theodore Roosevelt National Park the "North Dakota Bandlands Horse."

The Nokota Horse Conservancy believes that the wild horses in North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park badlands descend from horses surrendered by Chief Sitting Bull in 1881. Park officials disagree --- See story by Ryan T. Bell headline, "Sitting Bull’s Lost Horses?"   Read more here

Read about the Nokota Horse Conservancy here https://www.nokotahorse.org/ 

Here is a close up of a colt in the south unit of Medora, (Theodore Roosevelt National Park) in western North Dakota.

How many horses do you see in this ravine. I think I see eight. But I would have never guessed that there were baby horses in these scenes until I enlarged the photo in PhotoShop.

We are the Determined Yaeger-Bischoff Women and wild horses couldn't get us to stop caring about the environment. 

Picnic

Tonight we joined our friends at Brighton Beach for a picnic. I brought our everyday dishes and cutlery.

I brought food scraps home to be composted.

A friend talked about a picnic she had been to for lunch, which had a lot of food left over. They were wondering who they could donate the food to. The homeless shelters did not pick up the phone when they called.  I urge you to think ahead if you are having a big gathering with lots of food, please phone some homeless shelters and find out if they will take the food and exactly where and what times they will accept food.

Below is our picnic. Can you find items which are not waste free? 

How to host a zero-waste July 4th party

By Naomi Yaeger-Bischoff,

We hosted a zero waste party on July 4th. It was fun. You can do it too. We used a colorful tablecloth, real dishes and cloth napkins.

( This is a less than a 4 minute read)

Michelle and Greg with real glass with paper pinwheels.

Decorations add to a festive ambiance. To greet our guests, the front of our house featured red, white and blue cloth buntings, and miniature flags lining our sidewalk. I purchased 20 of these little flags at a thrift store three years ago. We use them every year. At the grocery store I purchased a bouquet of flowers from Duluth Flower Farm, (an offshoot of FarmerDoug). I chose their bouquet because brown paper, not plastic, wrapped the arrangement.

Flag-colored paper pinwheels with tiny wooden clothespins that attach onto the top of glasses were another craft store goody.  Also, I purchased little paper flags on wooden toothpicks to stick in our red, white and blue cupcakes.

Julia blows on the paper pinwheel. Click the arrow to see a 3 second video

Guests often ask if they can bring anything. Esther brought some daisies and buttercups. I tasked Michelle with helping me string up colorful lanterns. They were made of paper with LED bulbs.(At a previous party I put red, white and blue crepe paper in our archways. (And for my husband’s birthday party, I purchased a felt “Happy Birthday” banner” we can use again for his and mine — if he remembers!) We also had real cloth napkins. 

Using my parents' crystal cake plate to display the  cupcakes
Notice the cloth tablecloth and wooden toothpick paper flags.

Julia brought a nice glass bowl and fixings for a salad.

Bruce and Jeanne have been bringing their specialty rhubarb daiquiris for a few years now. This year they arrived with the special rhubarb mixture, their blender and the alcohol in canvas bags. The first year they brought their rhubarb specialty, they also brought red Solo “beer” cups. I had a bunch of tumblers and cocktail glasses ready for them. And they didn’t bring the disposable one-time-use cups this year.  

We ate blueberry and strawberry parfaits out of crystal parfait glasses. The parfait glasses had been a wedding gift to my parents. A lot of people don’t like to use china or crystal because you can’t put it in the dishwasher, but my husband actually prefers doing dishes by hand. The crystal gives our parties a special feel. At first I was a little nervous, but then I figured, “What the heck, better the crystal be enjoyed and used, and if something breaks, so what?” It was my parents, and it’s over 61 years old. 

But you don’t have to get fancy and use china or crystal, just use regular everyday dishes and put them in the dishwasher.

A good time was had by all. I gained 3 pounds, but no guilty conscience that I had soiled this nest we all live on, our earth. Walking around our neighborhood picking up trash laying in the storm sewer grates on it’s way to the Lake Superior is a good way to work off those pounds. Or a trip to clean the beach at Park Point would also do it.

Next time you plan to have guests, look for some simple ways to eliminate unnecessary plastic from your party. If you tell your guests what you are doing, perhaps they, too, will make earth-smart choices in deciding what to bring.

Won’t you please join me and pledge to a Plastic Free July at #plasticfreejuly.

Reusable cloth "flag" announcing that this is the house where the celebration is taking place.

If you are planning a party and need some earth-friendly ideas, please free feel to contact me at:

sun_dog_press@yahoo.com or (218) 591-5277. (I am a commissioned Earthkeeper with my church at the national level. I need to donate 10 hours of my time helping others become more earth-friendly, so please contact me.)

Working on the "Such a Pretty Face" speech

"Such a Pretty Face: how cosmetics impact your health and the environment," is the title of our speech for the AAUW Minnesota State Convention on April 30 in Duluth.

Rebecca takes notes as she re-reads "Not Just a Pretty Face"

"Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry" by Stacy Malkin

Anyone who uses soap, male or female is using what the FDA considers a cosmetic or beauty product. Most of us use several everyday. You most likely use a health and beauty product to be clean and presentable. You want to look good, but sometimes the use of the products can be unhealthy for both our bodies and the environment. 

Acne plagued me as a teenager, I used all kinds of special soaps and facial scrubs. Invented in the 1970s, I may have been an early microbead adopter using the special acne scrubs my dermatologist prescribed. It wasn’t until recently the microbeads became a popular product in many facial scrubs and toothpastes. Microbeads are extremely small spheres of plastic that act as exfoliating agents, they are so small — about the size of a grain of sand — that when they pass down the drain and onto the water treatment plant, the treatment plant is unable to filter them out and then the microbeads get dumped into our waterways and lakes. There are about 300,000 microbeads in a tube of facial scrub. Once in our lakes and rivers these little particles act like a sponge soaking up toxins, such as pesticides, heavy metals, and phthalates. Phthalates are hormone disrupters. Birds, fish and other marine animals mistake the plastic for food. And we in turn eat the fish. Microbeads have been found in tuna and swordfish.

In 2015, researchers estimated that more than 8 trillion microbeads entered our waters everyday. That’s enough to cover the surface of 300 tennis courts a day.  

Image by Sara M. Kross, from "Scientific Evidence Supports a Ban on Microbeads"
published in Environmental Science & Technology

In December 2015 Congress passed the Microbead-Free Waters Act. The use of microbeads in personal care products will be banned beginning June 2017. Now many companies are phasing out the use of microbeads. 

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Superior, including assistant professor of chemistry Lorena Rios-Mendoza, are credited for sparking the discussion of the prevalence of microbeads in the Great Lakes. She made headlines in the Duluth News Tribune in August 2013. And soon there was a buzz in the environmental world about these plastic beads. 

Rios-Mendoza is not only a researcher she is an advocate and is tackling the problem you could say one grain of sand at a time. According to the Duluth News Tribune during a press conference she reminded people of the three R’s of sustainability -- reduce, reuse and recycle -- when it comes to plastics.

"But I have a fourth one:” she said at a press conference. “Refuse.”

This is a story of hope. Environmental advocates have been concerned for years about these tiny spheres of plastic. The research and subsequent laws pertinent to the use of microbeads in health and beauty products can serve to inspire us that tackling environmental problems and big companies is not hopeless. Our voices matter and large companies listened. 

Many years ago lipstick contained lead and the ingredients in mascara blinded some women and led to the death of another. In our Such a Pretty Face speech, we are not here to alarm you. But we will make you aware of some harmful products you may be using every day.  

I don’t want to give away our whole speech on this blog, and you may have already heard of the microbeads issue. On April 30, you can expect to learn more about cosmetic safety and ways to reduce your exposure to dangerous chemicals.  

We are not out to strike fear or panic, you but to give useful advice so that you can make your own decisions.

Footnotes:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/19/us/8-trillion-microbeads-pollute-water-daily-irpt/

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/content/plastic-polluting-great-lakes-1

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/education/3673838-backed-uws-research-plastic-microbead-bans-spread-nationwide

http://beatthemicrobead.org/images/pdf/RED%20UNITED%20STATES.pdf

http://conbio.org/images/content_policy/03.24.15_Microbead_Brief_Statement.pdf

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/acs.est.5b03909