Environmental Stewardship
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
Genesis 2:15
Mission and Commitment Statement
We joyfully strive to be careful stewards of the environment as we honor God’s covenant with all of creation.
We welcome all people to our church and all living creatures to our earth by committing to preserve its beauty and longevity.
As followers of Christ, we seek to live the love of Christ by protecting all of God’s creation; with Christ’s humble and wise demeanor we enjoy the gifts of our environment without wasting God’s generosity.
Webster Groves Presbyterian Church is committed to environmental stewardship and implementing sustainable practices as an integral part of our ministries. We strive to minimize the environmental impact of our church, workplaces and all the events we support, in coordination with our staff, church officers and congregants.
Environmental Book Club
Fourth Thursday of the month January-May, noon-1:00pm
Environmental Stewardship has organized a book club starting in January. A discussion of chapters 1-5 of the book The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where Do We Go from Here by Hope Jahrens will be led by Karen Dapron on January 28th via Zoom. For more information, contact Karen.
Adult Education Hour - Benefits of Bees
Sunday, April 25th at 10:45am - Fellowship Hall or Zoom
Join us to hear Dr. Ed Spevak explain the important relationship between the bees and other beneficial insects buzzing around our home gardens, and the plants that rely on them to thrive. He has dedicated the last 40 years of his career to the conservation of invertebrates and is currently the Curator of Invertebrates at the Saint Louis Zoo and the director of the Zoo’s WildCare Institute Center for Native Pollinator Conservation (CNPC). He also Co-Chairs the Imperiled Bombus Task Force of the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign and is on the Steering Committees of the Honey Bee Health Coalition, Keystone Monarch Collaborative and Missourians for Monarchs Collaborative and the Science Advisory Council of Field to Market. Join us for this informative and fun talk!
See the Friday Flash for the Zoom link.
Bee Bulletin!
Seed Sharing at WGPC
All are welcome to join in a new project to benefit pollinators - a seed sharing initiative at WGPC! A box inside the Hale Entrance contains packets of pollinator-friendly native plant seeds, collected and shared by members of the Environmental Stewardship Committee. If you have a spot in your garden for some new native plants, then stop by and pick up some seeds to get started! Later this spring look for annual milkweed seeds to support the beloved Monarch butterfly. If you are a gardener who saves seeds and has some to share, contact Beth Kazlauskas for details!
WGPC is proud to have been approved as an Earth Care Congregation by the PC(USA). To achieve this recognition, our Session committed to the Earth Care Pledge, which challenges us to live in a manner consistent with God’s call not only to care for creation but to commune with creation because of our love for Christ. Please contact our Mission Outreach Coordinator, Beth Kazlauskas, if you have any questions.
Three Seconds
Watch this epic presentation of where humanity stands today and how we must all work together to make it to the fourth second.
1st Prize Short Film Winner of the Film4Climate Global Video Competition
Recycling 101
The average American generates 4.48 pounds of trash a day, adding to a monstrous 262 million tons of trash per year in the United States. Approximately 35% is recycled.
Aluminum, such as beverage cans, pet food cans, aerosol cans, aluminum foil, and cookware, can be recycled. It takes 60 days to repurpose aluminum cans. It is cheaper to make material from recycled material than it is to make the same material from scratch.
Recycling Tips
1. Walmart, Target, Dierbergs, and Schnucks recycle the film or stretchy plastics..that is grocery bags, newspaper bags, dry cleaning bags, zipper sandwich bags, and plastic cereal bags. Curbside pick up does not accept these items. We knew that, but we didn’t know any paper labels on this type of plastic needed to be cut off first.
2. Rinse bottles with hot water and shake well. Pour out the water, allow to dry and replace the lid back on the bottle.
3. Any item with more than one material cannot go in your recycling bin. For example a Pringle can has a metal base along with the cardboard round container. One could cut off the bottom, then the container might be recycled.
Recycling Information
Our Recycling Station in Fellowship Hall accept the following:
- batteries (rechargeable, alkaline, hearing aid)
- cell phones/chargers
- corks
- eyeglasses
- hearing aids
- printer cartridges
- electric cords
- candles
For locations to recycle other items, see Where to Recycle in St. Louis
ReUse Opportunity:
WGPC is collecting "loose parts" for Urban Sprouts Child Development Center. The Center is a joyful, encouraging, and diverse educational community located in North University City. As evidenced by the 300 families on the wait list, many people are in need of high quality, predictable child care to enable them to enter the workforce. The Center is inspired by the Reggio-Emilia approach and to that end, it builds learning toys from many "loose parts." WGPC has a new collection center in Fellowship Hall to gather the following for Urban Sprouts:
- Washers and Bolts
- Napkin Rings
- Wood Frames
- Buttons
- Bracelets
- Thimbles
- Wood Scraps
- Embroidery Rings
- Thread and Ribbon Spools
- Cabinet and Drawer Knobs