All levels of education embrace creation care as a central theme impacting all disciplines. Students of all ages are guided in reconnecting to the natural world. Youth are instructed and counseled in value, lifestyle, and career choices that demonstrate stewardship of the earth. Schools practice sustainable building design and transportation patterns.

SCHOOLS IN ACTION

Goshen College cuts mowing, adds biodiversity with new prairie

In October 2009, a team of ecology students, professors and Physical Plant employees began two tall-grass prairie restorations at Goshen College. The prairies will sequester carbon, provide habitat, reduce mowing costs and educate students about restoration. read more

Prairies are important parts of other Mennonite campuses as well. In 2008, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA, created a prairie on the north side of EMU's hill. Meanwhile, at Bethel College, Bethel, KS, stewards two prairie preserves, Sand Prairie Natural History Reservation and Broadie Prairie Preserve.

Dining Halls Combat Waste with Trayless Dining, Composting

Dining halls across the country have figured out that students waste less food if they carry their food piecemeal rather than putting it on a tray. Eastern Mennonite University, Bethel College and Goshen College all went trayless in the last two years.

In addition, EcoPax, Goshen College’s environmental group, is implementing a pilot project to compost waste from the dining hall, beginning in January 2010. read more

Students at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate Auto Shop Convert Pick-Up from Gas to Electric

Seniors at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate auto shop, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, raised money to convert a 1997 GMC Sonoma S-10 pick-up truck from gas to electric. While students studied pollution, they created a vehicle that is useful for the average citizen and much healthier for the environment. The truck uses batteries that are 98 percent recyclable and, by the end of next semester, will have no direct emissions. At its completion in the coming months, the truck will be sold and the proceeds put toward future environmental projects at the school.

To read more, click on “Past Issues.” Go into 2009 and click on Volume 13, No. 15. “The Wheels are Turning” can be found in the left hand column.

More stories about people caring for creation in school settings.

SEND US YOUR STORIES

Mennonite Creation Care Network seeks examples of schools of all levels, from kindergarten to graduate education, where environmental stewardship is taught and practiced. Send stories to lukeag@goshen.edu or jenniferhs@goshen.edu.

FEATURED RESOURCES

Paul Fieguth, an engineering professor at the University of Waterloo has written a series on Living within Limits for The Canadian Mennonite February 2008. This, and more detailed information on life in a finite world is available on Fieguth's web page.

Creation care was the theme of the spring 2008 issue of Vision: A Journal for Church and Theology. Who can we blame for Western society's exploitive tendencies? How is care of the earth connected to salvation? Will riding a bicycle bring world peace?

Click here to reach our web-searchable Creation Care Resource Library. Search for resources especially for schools, as well as search under a variety of topics.

"As servants of God, our primary vocation is to be stewards in
God's household."
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Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective, 1995 more

Mennonite Creation Care Network

P.O. Box 263 Wolf Lake, IN 46796
PHONE 260-799-5869
FAX 260-799-5875

Luke Gascho provides leadership for MCCN.
Contact him at 260-799-5869 or by email at lukeag@goshen.edu.

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