In 2021, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet established our Laudato Si’ Action Plan to enfold the call of Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ into our personal, communal and institutional decision-making over the next seven years and beyond.
Our plan states, “We commit, as individuals, as a community and as an organization, to recognize how our decisions impact the Earth community; to raise our awareness and change behaviors; to act with urgency to protect Earth’s stability and integrity and to celebrate her beauty wherever we are.”
Serious consideration is given to executing this action plan, utilizing multiple approaches like energy-saving measures, recycling initiatives and food waste reduction.
Taking small steps can result in measurable impacts. For example, in the past two years in the Albany Province, sisters have collected empty snack bags to keep them from landfills. Approximately 65 pounds of bags have been recycled, no small amount considering how little each individual bag weighs.
Diane Smith, CSJ from the Los Angeles Province takes numerous actions in her everyday life to reduce her ecological footprint, such as using a bamboo toothbrush, environmentally friendly toothpaste, soap and detergent; cleaning with Earth-friendly cleaning products; using cloth bags for shopping; and setting her printer to automatically print everything two-sided, using less paper.
Each month, our congregation issues an Eco-Challenge inviting our sisters, charism partners and friends to make manageable but impactful changes in our everyday lives. The challenges provide practical actions like air drying your clothes instead of using a dryer, selecting sustainable paper products and unsubscribing from junk mail. The Eco-Challenges are posted to our website and social media accounts and shared in our internal communications.
For example, our December 2023 Eco-Challenge focused on the impact of unsubscribing from paper mail that is no longer relevant to you. In the United States, it is estimated that 100 billion pieces of unwanted mail are dumped into landfills each year. Lin Neil, CSJ of the Albany Province, states, “I really appreciated this Eco-Challenge! I went to five websites to request removal of my name. Some groups don’t make it easy, but it’s worth the effort.” Taking these steps, even if tedious, makes a significant impact in the long run.
In January, the Albany Province sisters began a Season of Simplification. Goals and actions were introduced weekly to promote a mindset of simplifying one’s life and living/working space, emphasizing ways to recycle and donate goods and making conscientious decisions about freeing oneself from unneeded items.
Sister Darlene Kawulok, CSJ from the Los Angeles Province states, “In a consumer-driven society, our purchasing has power, and what we buy sends a message throughout the Earth, from the waste it produces to who that waste gets shipped to halfway across the world. We should remain conscious of what products we buy every day.”
As stated in the Laudato Si’ Action Plan, “The crisis of our planet is too big for our personal and congregational changes alone to have the needed impact. Therefore, we also commit to advocating and educating for the systemic change needed to address this global crisis.” While the Sisters of St. Joseph are making measurable public commitments themselves, our hope is that our friends, family and charism partners are also following in our footsteps.
This story appeared in the 2024 issue of Carondelet magazine. Join our mailing list.