The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur Ohio Province has responded to Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ Action Platform by creating the Dorothy Stang Initiative for Laudato Si’ Action. While in the process of gathering data from sisters, associates, staff, donors and others in our circle, we were reminded that all steps we take are important - both big and small. We therefore introduce Your Little Bit of Good, a short weekly one-pager that focuses on some aspect of the environment. It is an attempt to bring forward small things we can do.
Teresa Phillips
Director of Justice, Peace and Care for Creation
Prayer
God, our Provider,
We praise you for pollinators,
for the many beings who are indispensable in bringing food to our tables - birds, bats, beetles, butterflies and bees…
Bless native plants - their flowering, fruiting, and feeding of this ecosystem.
Bless species at risk: rusty-patched and yellow-banded bumble bees.
Bless our attempts to partner in the restoration and health of this land.
Bless the web of life, our deep connections, our interdependence, our giving and receiving.
Amen
Taken from:
Burning Bush Forest Church
Kitchener, Ontario
Knowledge
It’s spring! It’s spring! Many of us are excited to get outside, clean up our yards, plant flowers and kill bugs and weeds. Ever heard of a Neonicotinoid. Sounds like a horrible medical condition, doesn’t it? Actually, you might use this in your very own yard. Neonicotinoids are nicotine based ingredient in pesticides and herbicides that kills bees. As we all know, bees are crucial to our world. They are the top pollinator of fruit and flowers. Without bees in the world, human food systems would be drastically affected. And our enjoyment of flowering trees and plants would too. What you may not know is that bees are dying in large numbers and scientist are starting to worry. One of the biggest things they worry about are commercial and personal applications of neonicotinoids.
Before I knew better, I used permethrin based products. Permethrin is used in agriculture, household pesticide products, flea shampoos for pets, and in head lice products for people. It makes me sad now to think I was not only killing fleas, but bees too. Many general pesticides you use in and around your house include a neonicotinoid. Another source of these chemicals are flowers you buy at big box stores. Most of them are treated with neonicotinoids. Please research what you use and the flowering plants you buy. There are some resources in the action column to help. Speaking of spring cleanups, if you use Round-up or other week killers containing glyphosate, they are problematic too. Glyphosate is leeching into our water systems. It is affecting our health. Before you add more to the system, I encourage you to look into it a bit.
Action
Beesponsible is an organization whose goal is to educate about the importance of bees.
Beyond Pesticides is a place to go for alternative ideas regarding insects.
Here is information on neonicotinoids.
What would happen if all the bees died? Here is one article that talks about that. Amazon is the largest online retailer in the world.
Would you like to sign a petition asking them to stop selling these pesticides? You can click here. Just know, you will be added to Daily Kos which sends email every day. So you would have to unsubscribe from them after.