Issues

Enter Sustainability Photo Contest and win up to $400!

RESTORExchange and the Sustainability Institute are asking you “What does sustainability look like?” Show us by submitting your photos of sustainable practices in your life. Anything can be made sustainable, and we want to see how you see and incorporate sustainability into your experiences. The subjects of these photos can be anything related to sustainability, including but not limited to technology, environmental justice, energy, wellbeing and lifestyle, society and culture, the economy, and politics.

Photos will be accepted through March 15, 2024, and the winning photos will be selected by a panel of judges and announced on Earth Day, 2024 with the Environmental Professionals Network. First place will win a financial prize of $400, with second place receiving $300, third place receiving $200, and an honorable mention receiving $100. Photos will be displayed on the RESTORExchange photo gallery, and you can find our site’s information page for the contest here.

Read more and submit your photos here!
Drawing of Earth with two hands holding branches. Text reading, “What does Sustainability look like to you? Technology, Environmental Justice, Energy, Lifestyles & Wellbeing, Social & Cultural, Economic & Political. Win up to $400. Photography Contest, RESTORExchange, Sustainability Institute. A QR code is in the bottom-left corner.

Deep Green Faith: Holy Forest Kinship

Image courtesy of http://beeckencenter.sewanee.edu

In September 2019, the Beecken Center and the Center for Religion and the Environment are offering a conference that approaches the connections of faith and ecology to trees and forests. Presenters include Matthew Sleeth, MD, Karen Kuers, PhD, Connie Keetle, and Robert Gottfried, PhD. This conference plans to investigate how trees natural interactions with the ecosystem around them and scripture’s engagement of trees may teach us how to live.

 

To learn more about the conference or to register, click here.

Baltimore, Ohio Community Gardens

Image courtesy of lancastereaglegazette.com

A 2017 article written by Robert Badgeley and published by the Lancaster Eagle Gazette shares the success of the Baltimore Community Gardens sponsored by Faith Lutheran Church in Baltimore, Ohio. Extra produce is donated to the local Baltimore Food Pantry.

 

For more information on the Baltimore Community Gardens click here.

 

Toledo GROWs

Image courtesy of toledogrows.org

Toledo GROWs supports more than 125 community gardens by providing education, materials, volunteers, and tools to local community gardens, including faith-based community gardens. They also operate a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) available to local Toledo residents. In addition to the support they give to community gardens, they also offer workshops and programming to the larger Northwest Ohio community.

To learn more about Toledo GROWs click here.

 

Ohio State Offers Free Gardening Help to Faith-based Organizations to Increase Urban Agriculture

An article written in 2015 by Tracy Turner for the College of Food Agricultural and Environmental studies covers a 2015 workshop led by OSU Extension, a part of the Ohio State University community, for faith leaders on creating community gardens. For those looking to grown the involvement of the community beyond their faith community, this article is an example of a local university connecting with faith communities around community gardens.

To read the article click here.

Derbyshire Place Community Garden

Image courtesy of Derbyshireplace.org

Not only do more traditionally organized faith communities create community gardens, but Derbyshire Place is an example of a faith-based community center that is also getting involved in community gardening.

Breaking ground in 2019, the goal of this community garden is to increase accessibility to fresh fruits and vegetables for families who may have difficulty affording fresh produce at the grocery store. Leaders also hope it will give an opportunity for inter-generational community conversation.

To learn more about this community garden, click here.

 

 

Faith Presbyterian Community Garden

Image courtesy of Sybil Lee via Faith Presbyterian Facebook Group

Faith Presbyterian is involved in many service and mission programs in Myrtle Beach where they are located. Their service work includes a community garden. They use the produce of this garden to support those who experience food insecurity in the Myrtle Beach area and to connect with God as creator. One of the ways that they share information about their community garden is through a Facebook page. Facebook pages or groups can be a great resource for faith communities who are beginning their own community gardens too.

To connect with Faith Presbyterian click here. To see their facebook group click here.

PIN Garden Ministry: Asbury United Methodist Church

Image courtesy of asburyohio.org

The PIN Garden Ministry at Asbury United Methodist Church was started in 2007 to provide fresh produce to People In Need, a service organization in Delaware County. It is tended to by parishioners and intentionally includes children in the maintenance of the garden as a way to extend youth ministry into the outdoor classroom.

To learn more about the PIN Garden Ministry click here.

 

Anthony’s Garden

Image courtesy of stjoanofarcpowell.org

St Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Powell, Ohio created Anthony’s Garden to memorialize the son of family in their congregation. The garden is tended by parishioners, and each week produce from their garden is donated to their local food pantry Help My Neighbor.

For more information on Anthony’s Garden click here.

 

Seminary Hill Farm

Image courtesy of seminaryhillfarm.org

The Seminary Hill Farm is a ministry on the campus of the Methodist Theological School in Ohio (MTSO). Made of fields, hoop houses, and a greenhouse, the farm works to provide fresh food throughout the year to the Seminary Hill Kitchen, a three-season community supported agriculture (CSA), and local farmers markets. The work of the seminary hill farm supports sustainable practices and MTSO’s commitment to faithful earth stewardship. You can also follow their blog that features articles on eating fresh local produce and life at the farm.

 

To learn more about the Seminary Hill Farm click here.