The Minnesota Episcopal Environmental Stewardship Commission (MEESC) states its mission as follows: We believe creation is a gift of God, and all creation is interconnected. We seek to instill this spiritual awareness in parishioners, clergy and staff of the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota; and to promote stewardship of and advocacy for planet Earth.

RECYCLING
Hopefully all of you recycle through your local curbside recycling program. I trust by now you recycle all aluminum beverage cans, metal cans from food products, glass jars and bottles, plastic bottles, newspaper, phone books and office paper and mail.

Paper items
Are you aware that most curbside recycling programs also collect the following?

• Boxes for food items that do not go in the refrigerator or freezer e.g. boxes from crackers, cake mix, pasta, gelatin & pudding, cereal

• Boxes from health & beauty aids e.g. toothpaste, facial tissue, over the counter medications
• Boxes from products such as trash bags, zipper-type bags, printer cartridges
• Empty tubes from toilet paper and paper towels
• Gift and shoe boxes
• Shredded paper

Plastic Bags
Most grocery stores (Byerly’s, Cub, Festival Foods, Almsted’s, Jerry’s, Kowalski’s, Lund’s and natural food co-ops) and some city/county recycling centers collect plastic bags for recycling. This does not just include plastic grocery bags, but includes the following (Make sure to remove all food residue from bags): Retail bags with string ties and rigid plastic handles removed, newspaper bags, dry cleaning bags, produce bags, bread bags, cereal bags, frozen food bags, plastic food wrap from paper products (i.e. paper towels and toilet paper) and zipper type bags (without rigid plastic closing mechanism). Make it a goal to cut down on the number of bags you put in your garbage can each week by recycling as much as possible.

Environmentally responsible cleaning alternatives.
Soaps, dishwashing liquids and laundry detergents are available that are kinder to our environment. Several brand names are Arm and Hammer Essentials, Seventh Generation, Whole foods and Shaklee. In the local Whole Foods stores you can refill your natural cleaning bottles to reduce waste. Shaklee cleaners are concentrated so that you can add water, waste and save on shipping costs. You can also make your own homemade cleaner. Most are made with common ingredients like baking soda, borax, vinegar and olive oil.