Our Lady of Good Counsel
Green Church Committee
Minutes September 2, 2020

Present-Father Paul Conway, Suzanne Shoust, Chris Shoust, Betty Boissineau, Rose-Marie Valade
Regrets- Roseanne DelBianco, Neil DelBianco

Prayer- Opening Prayer from CSJ Chapter 2014

Minutes – Suzanne and Chris read the minutes from the March 4 th meeting.

Business Arising
i) There was some discussion of Peter McLarty’s main message of reducing consumption.
ii) Styrofoam – Rose-Marie will call Maker North to see if they are still collecting Styrofoam and if so, this will be added to our Sunday collections for the month of Creation. Chris has also contacted Maker North to inquire if they collect the plastic from bottle caps and prescription drug containers. They have not yet responded.
iii) Letters to non-Catholic churches. It was decided to defer our letters to them until the spring.
iv) Adopt a Mile – We will begin the process of applying to the province to do this. We will contact the city to see if it is also possible to adopt a mile or a block in the city. Rose-Marie will call Randy Johnson for clarification about the provincial application process.
v) Pledges for our Common Home – Due to Covid-19, the taking of pictures of parishioners was halted. A bulletin board display has been prepared featuring the pictures we have taken.

New Business
i) We received a letter in response to our letter to CWL’s from the CWL in Coniston. Rose-Marie will acknowledge the letter with a response.
ii) Chris proposed that we review all of our minutes to make a list of what actions we have taken and what we have not taken, to help us to plan for the future. He also stressed how important it is that we continue to educate ourselves and research issues regarding the environment to ensure that what we focus on is always environmentally friendly and beneficial.

Next Steps
i) Chris suggested that we consider holding movie nights/afternoons, with environment themed movies. We could also hold ‘exchanges’ at these gatherings, where people would bring items to give away or books to exchange. There could also be discussions after the movies. Some movies suggested were: The Story of Water, The Story of Stuff. We will reflect on this and discuss it at our next meeting.
ii) Chris will contact Sue to let her know when he will pick up the collections from the Masses, to take to the hazardous waste depot.
iii) Rose-Marie will help F. Paul to move the items collected to the garage after the 11:30 masses.
iv) Boxes to collect items will be place at the entrance to the church opposite the ‘sign-in’ table.
v) Chris will collate the information about hazardous waste depots that he has been acquiring with the hope of eventually sharing it with parishioners. Because of Covid-19, he has not yet contacted the communities to respond to the questions we had about their operations.

Next Meeting October 21,2020, 7:00 pm at the church