WARWICK — “Why should a faithful Catholic be concerned about the environment?”
It was a question Father Henry Bodah not only posed, but also answered during his keynote speech at the Diocese of Providence’s Office of Life and Family environmental forum.
Throughout his speech, Father Bodah, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi in Wakefield, cited parts of the Bible that highlight the importance of respecting “Mother Earth.” One of the most well-known verses is found in The Story of Creation, which reads, “Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish in the sea, the birds of the air, over the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl upon the earth.’”
“In other words, the way in which we are the image and likeness of God is that we represent him on this earth,” Father Bodah said. “It’s our formation as humans to do for the world what God does for the world. We are called to care for this planet, as we function in the world as the image and likeness of God.”
Following the keynote, more than 50 people branched off to three workshops, which took place at SS. Rose and Clement Parish on October 3. The sessions, led by environmental professionals, provided opportunities for participants to learn more about nurturing the eco system.
While Dr. M. Dawn King, a visiting assistant professor of environmental studies at Brown University, discussed the benefits of gardens, Tee Jay Boudreau of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) gave an overview about the profits of planning trees.
Chris Kearns of the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources, highlighted programs that support the use of clean, renewable energy, including the Net-Metering Program. It enables homeowners, businesses, and municipalities to offset their electricity usage with eligible renewable energy technologies.
“We started to see an increase in the residential market,” Kearns said of the program, also noting that 100 percent of homeowners are leveraging tax credits offered on state and federal levels. “We did 85 homes in 2013, and we’re looking to do about 125 to 130 homes this year.”
He went on to explain the Renewable Energy Growth Program, which passed the General Assembly in July. It will support local renewable distributed generation projects and Rhode Island’s clean energy economy by establishing an additional 160 megawatt tariff-based program for businesses, municipalities and homeowners beginning in May 2015 and continuing until 2019. Eligible renewable energy technologies will include wind, solar, anaerobic digestion and small-scale hydropower.
“We will have incentive payments spread over a 15 to 20 year period,” said Kearns. “We’re looking at 500 to 600 residential projects per year with this new program, pending approval from the PUC.”
Like the programs, planting more trees can also help people save money and lower cooling and heating costs. Improving a municipality’s tree canopy, or tree cover, reduces summer peak temperatures to enhance social ties among neighbors. This often helps communities attract business and residents.
Boudreau, RIDEM’S Urban and Community Forestry Program Coordinator, said trees also improve health, as they reduce stress, lower heart rates, and better air filtration.
“Studies have shown that people heal a lot quicker at hospitals where there is a lot of green space in the area,” said Boudreau, adding that crime rates are also lower in communities that have more trees. “If the community is more present, people are less likely to do harmful things.”
Boudreau advised participants to connect with arborists if they need tips about planting. He said the Rhode Island Tree Council, a citizen group that educates homeowners about planting and proper care, is a good resource, as is America the Beautiful, a grant program that gives non-profits and communities funds to plant trees.
King said planting gardens is also helpful. Not only are they good for the environment, as open space helps with rain water retention and improves waste water management, some gardens support people in need.
As an example, SS. Rose and Clement has an organic community garden and donates the harvest to Westbay Marketplace, a food pantry in Warwick. Under the guidance of Master Gardener and retired science teacher, Barbara Melone, students from St. Rose of Lima School, as well as Providence College, help maintain it.
King, a representative of the Rhode Island Food Policy Council, said the organization, along with the Rhode Island State Council of Churches, as well as the Rhode Island Interfaith Power and Light, is working on an initiative to encourage more congregations in the state to grow food for those in need. One in seven people, she said, is food insecure.
“Many churches have acres and acres and acres that are just sitting there,” said King, noting that while Rhode Island has the most expensive farm land in the entire country at $13,500 an acre, it is the only state that recently saw an increase in farmers. “Churches have this opportunity to help.”
Aside from land, said King, the Council is also looking for parishes that have commercial kitchens and are willing to host canning workshops. Many of them are canning pasta and pizza sauce, apple sauce, peaches, pickles, as well as other fruits and vegetables.
“You can make quarts and quarts of tomato sauce for very little money,” she said.
Several people who attended King’s presentation, including Giovonne Calenda, said they enjoyed the discussion. Calenda, a parishioner at St. Catherine in Warwick who teaches at Lincoln School in Providence, agreed that there are benefits of community gardens.
“We donate food to Camp Street Community Ministries in Providence,” she said, noting that she serves as her school’s garden caretaker. “We also grow food for use in our own school’s dining room.”
John and Mary Ann Earresi, parishioners at Woonsocket’s St. Joseph Parish, were also pleased with the event. While Mary Ann took part in the tree workshop, John learned more about renewable energy.
“It was a great opportunity to explore ways we can take care of our ‘Mother Earth,’” said John.
Paola Lois, education coordinator for the Office of Life and Family, organized the event. She was happy with the turnout, as well as the information each presenter put forth.
“Hopefully, we can get the message of how much of a responsibility we have to take care of God’s creation,” she said.
