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Here are five other ways to go #PlasticFree

By: Ashley Wallis,  Program Manager, Water,  Environmental Defence

Maybe we’ve finally seen enough photos of dead and dying animals choking on or entangled in plastic trash. Or maybe we’re rattled by reports that our bodies and drinking water (bottled and tap) are also contaminated with plastic bits. Whatever the reason, more people than ever want to do their part to help curb the flow of plastic into our lakes, rivers, and oceans. And that’s a great thing.

The good news is that all over the world folks are trying to go plastic free, or reduce the amount of plastic they use.

But where to start? We all know about saying no to plastic shopping bags and straws, but what next? We’ve put together a list of ways to ditch plastics for good which you might not have thought of.

1. Say “No” to single-use

So let’s start with the obvious.  Single-use plastics are the kind of plastics you use for only a few minutes before throwing them in the bin. Items like plastic bottles, shopping bags, coffee cups and drink straws fall into this category, but so do most take-away containers and produce bags. You can make a huge difference by refusing to buy or use these items in the first place.

Plastic bottles and coffee cups can be replaced with stainless steel or glass alternatives. And you don’t need to get fancy. I’ve taken a regular, clean mug to my local coffee shop and they’ve happily filled it. If you’re looking for a more portable option, you can use a canning jar and buy or make a cloth sleeve to protect your hand from the hot drink inside.

The Plastic Free July website has loads of awesome alternatives to single-use plastics.

And if you’re the kind of person who usually needs a “doggy bag” when you eat out, bring your own reusable containers to date night. Instead of leaving the restaurant with leftover spaghetti in a Styrofoam box wrapped in a plastic bag, you can bring your food home in a container you can wash and reuse over-and-over again.

Unfortunately, many takeout restaurants refuse to fill personal containers, citing concerns over food safety. If that’s the case, you should seriously consider taking action number two…

2. Tell businesses they need to do better 

A few fast food chains have recently announced plans to stop using plastic straws. This is a great first step, but there are lots of other problematic plastics businesses should kiss goodbye. For example, in many jurisdictions (including Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa) black plastic simply isn’t recyclable. That means coffee cup lids and takeout trays are destined for the landfill. If black plastic can’t be efficiently recycled, it shouldn’t be used.

“If it can’t be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, recycled or composted, then it should be restricted, redesigned or removed from production.” – Pete Seeger

And what’s with packaging bell peppers in cellophane and avocados in plastic mesh sacks? This kind of packaging doesn’t do anything to protect or preserve your produce. If anything it encourages shoppers to over-buy, which can lead to unnecessary food waste.

If you have concerns, write, tweet, or call the companies you think are the worst offenders, and ask them to eliminate unnecessary packing. Kicking up a stink works, especially if lots of people do it.  And use your wallet as a tool for advocacy by choosing to support companies and products that use less useless plastic.

3. Rethink what you wear

Peppers aren’t the only things wrapped in plastic. There’s a good chance you are too. Many of the common modern fabrics and textiles we wear are actually made from plastic. Performance fleece, stretchy athletic wear, and really anything with polyester, spandex or nylon is made with plastic.

The polyethylene terephthalate (PET) industry has been singing its own praises for transforming used plastic bottles into performance fleece. But huge quantities of textiles end up in landfills every year. And before they even get there, these fabrics shed millions of microfibers into our rivers, lakes and oceans through laundering processes.

To decrease your impact, choose high-quality, durable clothes made from natural fibres like wool and hemp. And buy less, because all of this stuff inevitably ends up in the landfill, incinerator, or environment.

4. Join a beach clean-up event

Wondering where littered single-use plastics end up?  Last year, over 80,000kg of litter was collected from shoreline clean-up events across Canada. And most of the commonly collected items were – you guessed it – plastic.

If you want to get involved with a shoreline clean-up, Environmental Defence bookmark this website for upcoming events. If the timing or location doesn’t work out for you, you can join an existing clean-up or lead your own through the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup.

While shoreline clean-ups on their own won’t get us out of this mess, they’re a great way to roll-up your sleeves and help your local environment. They also provide vital data on the amount and types of plastic that are out there. But if we really want to end plastic pollution, we need to change the way we use, collect, and recycle plastic. And the best way to accomplish that is through point number five: government action.

5. Tell governments to do more

As individuals we have important choices to make, but the biggest change happens when we change the way a system operates. Over the last several decades, we’ve established a system that ignores massive costs to people and the environment. If it doesn’t have a price tag, it doesn’t seem to matter. Governments need to write new rules that make businesses financially responsible for the polluting plastics they put on the market. And we need a unified approach from coast-to-coast-to-coast.

We need federal, provincial, municipal, and Indigenous governments to work together to establish a national framework that moves Canada to a zero plastic-waste future.

If you agree, take action and tell government you want a plastic-free environment now. 

 

Special Honour for Sister Ruth Hennessey

On October 27, 2018 at Showplace Performance Centre in Peterborough, the inaugural Peterborough-Kawartha Women’s Leadership Awards event took place, organized by Honourable Maryam Monsef, the local MP and Minister of Status of Women, and featuring 54 area women who had been nominated.  In the filled- to- capacity audience were a number of Sisters of St. Joseph as Sister Ruth Hennessey CSJ accepted from Maryam the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award for her notable contribution to refugee resettlement in Peterborough. In presenting this award, Maryam noted that she and her family were recipients of Ruth’s hospitality and care when they arrived from Afghanistan in 1996, and expressed gratitude to her and to the Sisters of St. Joseph for their generous response to newcomers.  Ruth thanked the people of Peterborough for the welcome they have extended to new arrivals, and for the many ways in which this ministry has been supported.

Sister Ruth’s involvement with this work began in the 1970s as a participant in the local welcome to Vietnamese boat people. In the early 90s the congregation undertook to support a transitional house for refugees in Fort Erie, Ontario, and Ruth took responsibility for the occasional family who came to an apartment on the Mount property. Aware of the tremendous need, the congregation purchased a house on Downie St. in 1994 and Ruth was asked to take charge of this new ministry, known as Casa Maria.  Here refugees were welcomed from any religious or cultural tradition, of any race, sex or social background. In 1997 Sister Ruth retired from teaching, and devoted herself full-time to the service of refugees. With the support of an advisory board, numerous Sisters and volunteers from the lay community who helped with fund-raising and responding to the many needs of the newcomers, this ministry flourished. Within five years two more transitional homes for refugees were added. Not only was temporary housing provided, but this ministry included assistance with legal processes, language training, schooling, obtaining health care and eventually employment and permanent housing. Sister Ruth’s passion for this work and her unflagging commitment to it has touched many lives in unmeasurable ways. Casa Maria Homes has welcomed more than two hundred people from almost every continent in our world, and a few of these who were present at this celebration were pleased to be recognized. In the recent influx of refugees from Syria and the Middle East to our area, Sister Ruth played a leading role, as new and ardent sponsors took advantage of her vast experience generously shared.  With the standing ovation that accompanied this Life Achievement Award, the highlight of the evening, the audience acclaimed the choice of Sister Ruth Hennessey.

-Joan Driscoll, CSJ

Pictured above, Sister Ruth Hennessey   with Maryam Monsef, MP

The WIDOW’s ‘Might’

She gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford – she gave her all. (Luke 21:4; The Message)

Remembrance Day has drawn to a close.  How extraordinary that it happened to be on a Sunday we commemorated the 100^th anniversary of the end of WWI, along with all the brave men who died for our freedom.  When the Last Post began to fill the air during our memorial service, it brought tears to my eyes.  A somber mood settled over me. I thought of all those men, and women, whose lives were lost during that terrible war.  Foremost on my mind was my maternal grandfather who did not return home.  Though I do not even know his name, I think of him with deep gratitude, admiration and sadness.  

With a heavy heart I made my way to Mass.  Distracted, I continued to dwell on those who laid down their lives for their country, for freedom, for us.  Suddenly, I was pulled out of my reverie by the Gospel reading.  It was the familiar story about the poor widow that got my attention: “Many rich people threw in large amounts [into the treasury]. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents” (Mark 12:41-44). This story used to be known as ‘The Widow’s Mite,’ in which Jesus commends the poor woman for her generosity. Perhaps a more fitting title would be: ‘The widow’s might.’ Eugene Petersen, author of The Message, wrote, “She gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford – she gave her all.”  This got me thinking.  It would seem to me, all those young men, and women, who died during WWI, much like the widow, gave extravagantly – of what they couldn’t afford.  Their lives.  They gave their all. 

How often do we think to ourselves ‘what can I do?’ or ‘what if I’m not enough?’ Did those young men, and women, who fought for our freedom, have these doubts as they went into battle?  What does it mean, ‘to be enough’?  Is it only enough when we are wealthy?  Or is it enough when we love wholeheartedly, ready to give our all, even when it seems little?  Is it not so much that we have been given a ‘mite’ but rather that we have been given ‘might’ to love and give of ourselves wholeheartedly for others?  Those young men who died in the trenches loved mightily with their whole heart.  They gave their all.

Every Remembrance Day provides us with an opportunity to broaden our understanding of those who laid down their lives for our freedom. However, how might we broaden our understanding of the many things stirring within the hearts of the those who managed to make it back home? What do they continue to face?  Many continue to give what they cannot afford – their all. These veterans may have recovered from their physical injuries; however, the psychological stress cannot be healed as effectively.  Just like the poor widow, they continue to give what might look to some like a mere ‘mite’.  Though the rich may place their ‘lavish gifts into the treasury’ it is ‘the poor’ who continue to give their all.

- Sr. Magdalena Vogt, cps

The Poppy Man

Every fall during my elementary school years when WW II was only a decade past, into our one-room school limped Mr. Butson, the poppy man. Dressed in his navy blazer adorned with medaled ribbons, gray pants and a veteran’s tam, he arrived bearing bright red poppies for us to wear and sell.  Although he seemed old to me, he was probably in his late fifties or early sixties.

Throughout my years at school (SSS#4 Hibbert), Mr. Butson’s annual visit left a deep impression on me. His dedication to the poppy drive piqued my interest in the war, veterans and Remembrance Day.  He was interested in our education and to this point, he avidly promoted our participation in the Royal Canadian Legion Public Speaking Contest. Through this initiative and the work of our dedicated teacher, Mrs. Melady, many of us students benefitted by learning the rudiments of elocution and participated in annual speaking contests at the township, county and provincial levels.  Mr. Butson attended every event, smiling from the sidelines at our diligence and progress.

Right to the present time, every Remembrance Day, my thoughts roll back to Mr. Butson.  He taught eager groups of students through both his words and his memorable presence about valor, sacrifice and love of country.  Thanks to him, I can recite with nostalgia Colonel John McCrae’s famous poem, “In Flanders Fields.”  How could I ever forget the fallen soldiers’ plea, “If ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders fields.”

Thank you, Mr. Butson.  We won’t ever forget.  - Sr. Jean Moylan, csj

Decorated Nurse Part of St. Joseph’s Storied Nursing Past

The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph Archives and St. Joseph’s Hospital cooperated on making an exhibit that was on display at the Ontario Legislature for several months. In the process of selecting photographs for the exhibit, our Congregational Archivist came across an interesting photograph, showing Helen Woolson, a graduate of the St. Joseph’s Hospital School of Nursing, receiving an award from the future King Edward VIII. If you recall, he is the King who gave up his throne for the woman he loved. This photograph fascinated Noelle Tangredi, who heads the hospital historical committee, and so she researched Helen Woolson’s life, by visiting Western University archives, who hold the records of her life.

To learn more about Helen Woolson and the St. Joseph’s School of Nursing, please visit this link:

https://www.sjhc.london.on.ca/our-stories/decorated-nurse-part-of-storied-past

- Mary Kosta, Congregational Archivist, Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada