News Archives » Integrity of Creation
Rio+20 – the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development May 25th, 2012
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as Rio+20, is to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 20 to 22 June 2012. This also mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, in Rio de Janeiro, and the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.
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Maryland Becomes the Second State to Pass Legislation on Congo Conflict Minerals May 25th, 2012
The state of Maryland has taken a definitive step toward curtailing the use and trade of conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). On May 2, Governor Martin O’Malley signed the Maryland State Procurement and Congo Conflict Minerals Bill into law. Maryland is now the second state to adopt such legislation, following California’s example in September 2011. A similar bill is under consideration in Massachusetts.
Under the Maryland State Procurement and Congo Conflict law, the State of Maryland is prohibited from doing business with companies that do not comply with federal disclosure requirements on conflict minerals. Section 1502 of the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 is a disclosure requirement that calls on companies to determine whether their products contain conflict minerals by carrying out supply chain due diligence and to report this to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Kansas Diocese Opening Green Cemetery May 25th, 2012
Wichita, Kansas is about to become one of the very few cities in the country to offer ‘gree’ or non-toxic burials. The open Kansas prairie – tall natural grasses and the quiet of nature – is where the Catholic Diocese of Wichita will open the area’s first natural burial area. There are no caskets, no vaults, and no headstones.”
In a recent article in the local press, Jim Sheldon, Director of the Catholic cemeteries explains: “The idea is that we’ll have natural gamma grasses, little blue stem, tall to have area like it used to be like the Kansas prairie. “…[A] natural burial area will not only save money for the families who are burying loved ones, but it will save the environment, according to the Casket and Funeral Association of America. This is largely due to the fact that [e]very year, 827,000 gallons of embalming fluid – dangerous chemicals – along with tons of steel, copper, and bronze are buried in the ground, causing potential environmental dangers.
The Oblate JPIC Committee has been looking at the issue of ‘green’ burials in the past year.
To learn more about green burials, visit this article by U.S. Catholic Magazine.
The Migration of Our Plastic… May 25th, 2012
Plastic found in the gut of a dead albatross on Midway Island; Photo Credit: Chris Jordan
The MIDWAY media project is a powerful visual journey into the heart of a deeply symbolic environmental tragedy. On an island 2,000 miles from the nearest continent, tens of thousands of baby albatrosses lie dead on the ground, their bodies filled with plastic from the Pacific Garbage Patch. A team of film makers and researchers visiting the island over a period of several years has produced a stunning film that captures both the immensity of this tragedy—and our own complicity—head on. In this process, they have found “an unexpected route to a transformational experience of beauty, acceptance, and understanding.”
Watch a trailer for the film….
Take Action: Use less plastic, and recycle what you do use. Never toss bottles into or near storm gutters. And support local efforts to ban polystyrene containers and plastic bags.
Protect the Amazon for the Achuar May 25th, 2012
Two Oblates are working among the Achuar people who live in the Peruvian Amazon. They have been holding meetings with the people to get to know their culture, their traditions and to learn from them about their relationship to the land. The Achuar don’t celebrate Earth Day once a year, every day is EARTH DAY.
Their life is deeply connected to their land and nature. What a sad day it would be to lose all they have learnt from the land and not hear again the sound of the birds and enjoy this lush forest and beautiful waterfall that inspires dreams. Petrol companies would destroy this natural beauty and the ways of life of this peaceful loving people forever.
