Sr Colette Kane OP
I am a religious sister living and working in An Tairseach, the Dominican Farm and Ecology Centre in Wicklow town. The spirituality of this community and place is given expression and witnessed to through the lens of creation theology, where planet earth is understood as the primary revelation of the Divine. Here we attempt to live in right relationship with God, humankind and the cosmos.
An Tairseach is the Irish word for threshold and it suggests a new beginning, an alternative and more sustainable way of working with the land as well as a renewed relationship with the whole community of life, human and other-than-human. Our land is farmed in a sustainable way, i.e. organically with no chemicals at all. In winter the animals are housed in the traditional way with straw bedding.
Of course, you don’t have to live in a farm or ecology centre to make a difference to the environment where you live. It’s easy to make small but important changes in your own lives.
Greener Cleaning: A glance at many of the products we use to clean our houses will reveal warning/danger signs. Chemicals like phosphates, found in washing powder and dishwashing products, pollute water systems and harm aquatic life. But what are the alternatives? Good old-fashioned remedies like bread soda, vinegar, and even lemons – along with some elbow grease – are all possibilities, or alternatively, you could buy phosphate-free washing powder for example with ECOVER cleaning products from www.ecover.com
Buy local: Buying locally is one of the most important things you can do to improve the environment. If you buy food that has been produced locally, you will help to reduce the need for long-distance food transport and, ultimately, save energy. Take a walk to your local store or farmers’ market to buy locally produced (and, therefore, in season) organic food. And, when supermarket shopping, check where food has come from.
One kilo of New Zealand apples accounts for its own weight in CO2 transmissions by the time it arrives in Ireland while 10 litres of orange juice needs one litre of fuel (for processing and transport) as well as 220 litres of water for irrigation and cleaning. The typical food item you see in a supermarket has travelled more than 1,600km. The more locally-produced food you can use, the better!
In the Office: Switch to an eco-friendly search engine – www.envirosearch.org – that donates profits to charity! Launched by https://carbonfund.org, the free search engine hosts sponsored advertisements that generate revenue which is then donated by https://carbonfund.org to environmental projects around the world, including the Haiti Reforestation Initiative, and the India Mangrove Project
Many more suggestions can be found on the website of Eco-Congregation Ireland: http://ecocongregationireland.com/eco-tips