10 ways Catholic dioceses can care for God’s creation

Convene a group of experts (Catholic volunteers from universities, development agencies, government, business, green groups, etc) to advise the diocese on how to shrink the environmental footprint of the diocese, leveraging existing resources and programs available in the area.

Create a plan to strengthen care for our common home in the diocese.

Encourage formation of Care for Creation Teams at parishes, schools and other facilities, and support them through orientation and training events; online resource library; selection of educational resources for students and staff; and a forum for teams to exchange experience and resources.

Inspire care for creation among the faithful through prayer, liturgies, communications and events. Examples include a diocese-wide care for creation event for secondary school students in diocesesan Catholic schools; sample homilies, newsletter articles, eco-tips; identifying potential guest homilists; and hosting diocese-wide conferences.

Adopt diocese guidelines for best practices in the following areas:

• waste reduction, recycling and (where available) composting,
• water conservation 
• green purchasing
• sustainable grounds maintenance 
• sustainable transportation 
• document management (print / no print; color / black and white)

Save energy and use renewables in the diocese by doing the following:

• collect energy use data for the diocese-owned buildings
• benchmark churches in EPA Portfolio Manager for Houses of Worship
• set a diocese-wide energy savings / emissions reduction target 
• promote the purchase 100 percent renewable electricity via the grid where available 
• provide or otherwise help parishes get access to financing and expertise for energy savings and renewable energy

Advocate for environmental justice, joining with people of other faiths and with secular organizations by taking the following actions:

• locally on issues such as waste, air, and water quality and promotion of energy efficiency and renewable energy to phase out the use of fossil fuels 
• nationally, on national environmental standards and the realization of Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to reduce carbon emissions
• globally, for international agreements to limit the extent of global climate change and to aid the world’s poorest in coping with climate change impacts

Care for those harmed by environmental degradation

• coordinate volunteer opportunities and direct material assistance to those affected in the region 
• coordinate collections for Catholic aid agencies (Caritas Internationalis, Catholic Relief Services, CAFOD etc) for those affected overseas 
• support development and adaptation as well as emergency response and recovery

Measure and communicate progress on caring for God’s creation

• newsletters, website, 
• public statements, media interviews 
• deanery meetings, convocations