Ruth Schroeder and Dorothy Friesen, residents of Lindenwood Estates Retirement Community, know how to give cheerfully. In 2008, they came up with a plan to use scrap pieces of fabric to create reusable bags to sell at Mennonite Central Committee’s Relief Sale in Winnipeg, Canada. The bags were so popular that, this year, a group of 16 women gathered for 14 Monday’s to create 360 bags for the sale. Selling for $3 a piece, the bags brought in a total of $1140. The women have high hopes to continue the project again next year.

To read more, click on “Past Issues.” Go into 2009 and click on Volume 13, No. 15. “Raising Money for MCC, Saving the Environment” can be found in the left hand column.

Since 1995, Mennonite Central Committee Ontario has donated tons of food to people in North Korea. Even so, the food shortage continues to increase. As a result, MCC has launched a new project expecting to run until 2011. MCC plans to teach “conservation agriculture” to three cooperative farms which are home to several thousand residents who live and work together. Conservation agriculture relies on organic matter and nutrient-rich soil to boost grain production rather than unaffordable materials such as fertilizer and fuel. read more

When Mennonite Central Committee Ontario discovered a community-based model of buying solar energy in bulk, they created and launched the Mennonite Initiative for Solar Energy (MISE). This opportunity to save money on solar equipment and receive technical assistance began in March 2009 and will continue through November 2009.

The program grew out of a rising interest from individuals who wanted to make their households energy efficient but found the idea of installing solar thermal and solar photovoltaic panels overwhelming on their own. Buying in bulk is cost efficient and, at the same time, eases the confusing process of installation for homeowners. Through this initiative, MCCO is developing “Communities that Care” about creation and people worldwide.  MISE also aligns with MCCO’s values of “peace, justice and dignity for all people.”

Over 120 people from various Mennonite and Brethren congregations gathered for the first information meeting at Erb Street Mennonite Church on May 27, 2009. MCCO hopes to launch MISE again in 2010 and invites churches to participate in converting their buildings to solar energy. Read More

Due to increasing propane prices, people of Brazil are returning to older customs of using firewood and charcoal as fuel for cooking. The result? Deforestation and illness caused by excessive smoke in the home. Joel Krehbiel, Moundridge, Kansas, is using his knowledge of engineering to aid Mennonite Central Committee in creating a new alternative energy source to reduce the problem. He is learning about and installing biodigesters; a container which stores methane from decomposing organic material. This methane is then used as cooking gas in the kitchen.

Krehbiel is a participant in MCC’s SALT program, an acronym for Serving and Learning Together. SALT offers a one-year assignment to young adults who desire to serve internationally with MCC. Read More

Milverton Mennonite Fellowship, Milverton, ON, has heated their church building with a ground source heat pump since 1991! The congregation has a sanctuary that seats 350 and is happy to keep those seats warm with lower CO2 emissions. Read about Milverton in Mennonite Central Committee Canada’s Creation Care Crossroads newsletter, winter 2009.

from Darren Kropf, Creation Care Crossroads, Mennonite Central Committee Ontario

Mennonite Central Committee is committed to addressing issues related to climate change and stewardship of creation, and towards that end has created a Caring for Creation Task Force. The Task Force is responsible to identify and focus the issues we must address, to do an audit of what we are already doing globally and locally, and to suggest concrete ways in which MCC should address the challenges.

In order to assess our environmental impact as an organization, MCC has hired Mark Bigland-Pritchard of Low Energy Design Ltd. to do an audit of MCC’s environmental practices and greenhouse gas emissions. (more…)

by Darren Kropf, Creation Care Crossroads

Mennonite Central Committee Ontario has “greened” the electricity of its 50 Kent office in Kitchener by purchasing renewable energy from Bullfrog
Power. Bullfrog Power provides renewable energy for
homes and businesses in Ontario, through the regular
distribution grid.

Without any hardware installations or
changes to your regular utility, Bullfrog simply agrees to
feed an amount of renewable energy into the grid that is
equivalent to your buildings’ needs. While Bullfrog does
charge a premium price for its wind and low-impact hydro
electricity, MCC is committed to investing the extra cost
to protect God’s creation and our global neighbours
affected by climate change.
Through Bullfrog Power, MCC is lowering its carbon
emissions on a yearly basis by 19.2 tonnes, about the
equivalent of 19 flights from Toronto to Calgary. We also
prevent 56.8 Kg of sulphur dioxide and 24.5 Kg of nitric
oxide, which are major contributors to smog.
To bullfrogpower your house, apartment, workplace or
church building, see www.bullfrog.com

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is the relief and development agency of the Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Church Canada and a variety of other Anabaptist-related denominations. This portion of MCC’s web site is a convenient place to find out how MCC’s work—more often thought of as serving the poor—intersects with earth-related concerns. Read about tree planting in Jamaica, sand dams in Kenya, gardening projects. MCC efforts most directly related to creation care include Appalachian learning tours on coal mining, the Simply in Season Cookbook, The Earth Trek series.

http://mcc.org/careforcreation

MCC also offers an extensive list of “Occasional Papers” including these titles: “Military Solutions No Longer Relevant to World Problems,” “Lotteries, Wealth and the Second Law,” and “How Much is Enough?”

http://mcc.org/respub/occasional/13.html