The following CARING FOR CREATION “TIP OF THE MONTH” was provided by Dick Severy, COE Liaison and CFC Committee Chair from St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Orinda, and is intended for use in Sunday Bulletins:

SIMPLIFYING CHRISTMAS.  While dreaming of a “White Christmas,” plan on celebrating the holidays in an eco-friendly way.  You can enjoy a green Christmas without sacrificing your good tastes, while also becoming more conscious of our footprints on the planet.

·        Reduce the size of your outdoor lighting displays.  Use LED lighting –they last far longer and use up to 95% less electricity than incandescent lights.  Turn off lights when you go to bed.

·        Use live greenery as décor.  Rosemary, thyme sage, eucalyptus, pine and other plants are readily available.

·        Decorate with edibles you can enjoy later:  pomegranates, bowls of nuts and fruits, colorful squash and pineapples can create a festive look that’s later useful.

·        Reuse and dress-up last year’s decorations, and create new decorations from household materials.

·        Brighten your tree with cranberries, popcorn, paper snowflakes, reusable ornaments and others made of sustainable materials.

·        Avoid plastics, disposables, and anything else that will wind up in the landfill.

Making little changes during the holiday season will bring us all closer to the goal of living as responsible, eco-conscious stewards of creation. 

The following tips were provided by the CREATION CARE/ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP at

ChristChurch, PortolaValley, liaisons Robb & Timi Most. They are for inclusion in Sunday Bulletins as environmental stewardship reminders.ver

Tip of the Week

Bishop Marc Andrus on August 3rd wrote the following about the climate crisis -"We must and will respond to this crisis with intelligence, commitment, and will. It is essential that we not only move into greater action, but that we also see that action as prayer, that we root our action in prayer and theology."

You may already be a member California Interfaith Power &Light, but if you are not, you are missing out on a valuable source of information regarding occasional (but critical) environmental legislative actions. Visit www.interfaithpower to see the powerful work being done by California's faith community, and to sign up for news.

Ti of the Week

You can break the bottled water habit! Did you know - Buying one gallon’s worth of bottled water is three times more expensive than buying one gallon of gasoline. Did you know - 30 million water bottles are thrown away every day, and each one of them takes 1000 years to biodegrade. Did you know - Bottling and shipping water is the least efficient method of water delivery ever invented. The energy we waste using bottled water would be enough to power 190,000 homes. But refilling your own water bottle from the tap requires no expenditure of energy, and zero waste of resources. Did you know - bottled water is not guaranteed to be any healthier than tap water.  Did you know - In contrast to tap water, which is distributed through an energy-efficient infrastructure, transporting bottled water long distances involves burning massive quantities of fossil fuels. Nearly a quarter of all bottled water crosses national borders to reach consumers, transported by boat, train, and truck. Did you know - Father Mitch and staff no longer buy bottled water. Whew, after that heavy load of facts keep using the water bottle you have or go buy one.

Tip of the Week

UNPLUG - When you’re not using your electronics, appliances, lamps, unplug them. Or better yet plug them into a power strip and turn off the power strip when you’re not using them. Appliances and electronics pull power even when they are turned off. The cell phone charger is the biggest offender. Your cell phone charger pulls the same amount of power whether your cell phone is plugged into it or not. So unplug your cell phone charger when you aren’t charging your phone. By unplugging you can save on your electric bill. Who said going green is more expensive!

Tip of the Week

Avoid creating trash wherever possible: when ordering food, avoid receiving any unnecessary plastic utensils, straws, etc. (ask in advance), buy ice cream in a cone instead of a cup, don't accept "free" promotional products, buy products with the least amount of packaging, etc. Every little bit of trash avoided does make a difference!

Tip of the Week 

There are only so many fish in the sea.  Certain types of fish are being overfished; that is, they cannot reproduce as fast as they are being harvested.  The Monterey Bay Aquarium website has a ‘Seafood Watch’ list of fish that provides advice about what is good and bad to buy or order.  Their list has ‘Best Choices’, ‘Good Alternatives’, and what to ‘Avoid’.  Some wild caught fish are good to buy and others are not. Some fish are being farmed in ways that are not harmful to the environment but some fish farming methods are harmful to the environment and the consumer.  This list can make it easy to buy and order your fish thoughtfully – a link has been provided on the Christ Church Cool Campaign’s website.

We have new monthly challenges for our Christ Church Cool Campaign.  Check out the poster in the narthex or go to www.ccccpv.org

Tip of the Week 

We are officially in a drought and an enormous amount of water can be lost through seemingly minor drips around the house. A leaky faucet can lose up to 20 gallons of water a day, while a leaky toilet can flush an extra 200 gallons every day! What's worse, the toilet could be leaking and you might not even know it. To test for a leak, put five to ten drops of food coloring in the tank. If ten minutes later there's coloring in the bowl, you've got a problem.

Be sure and see the latest about our Christ Church Cool Campaign at www.ccccpv.org

Tip of the Week

Reduce the number of miles you drive by walking, biking, carpooling or taking mass transit wherever possible

Avoiding just 10 miles of driving every week would eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year!

Be sure and see the latest about our Christ Church Cool Campaign at www.ccccpv.org

Tip of the Week

You can make a meaty statement! Livestock produces more greenhouse gas than the world’s entire transportation industry.  If every American gave up meat just one day a week, doing so would be the equivalent of taking eight million cars off the road.  Granted this is a long term project but our goal is to make changes for the long term and to be good stewards of our world.

Tip of the Week

Have you ever wondered what qualifies a product to be labeled ENERGY STAR? More than 50 types of products have earned the ENERGY STAR, including appliances, lighting, home electronics, and home office equipment. ENERGY STAR qualified products meet strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. EPA and U.S. Department of Energy. They use less energy, save money, and help protect the environment.  So it does make sense to seek out and buy ENERGY STAR products!

Tip of the Week

The Cool Campaign’s focus this month is home appliances, please see our monthly challenges next to the poster in the narthax.  In California, about 17% of your electricity use goes to your refrigerator or freezer. If your freezer and/or refrigerator are set 10° colder than necessary, your energy consumption will go up an amazing 25%.  Set Your refrigerator/freezer temperature for maximum efficiency. The refrigerator should be between 36° F and 40° F.  The freezer should be between 0° F and 5° F.