Last Tuesday, the sisters and lay employees of the mother house of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame assembled to highlight and celebrate the efforts made thus far to diminish the ecological footprint of the house.
In fact, since 2014, words have been put into action and the mother house has been taking concrete steps to become “green”: evaluating and improving the energy efficiency of the heating system; composting; switching to biodegradable cleaning products and fair trade coffee, etc.
(photo: Sister Fernande Cantin, leader of the international community of the mother house)
It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Pictured is Sister Ruth Penny, after she won at Wii Bowling, a game played using the computer. Once a month, at Providence Mother House a Wii Bowling tournament takes place. Under the expert tutelage of Christine, one of our Activity organizers, six of us gather for a couple of hours of bowling. Amidst cheers and moans, laughter and applause each one tries her best to knock down all the pins to achieve a strike or at least a spare for her efforts. A specially designed trophy is presented to the winning team along with “Tuck Bucks” worth $1.00 at the in-house Tuck Shop. Who says we seniors can’t have fun?
Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ) has launched a campaign that is asking us to "Give it up for the Earth!" There are postcards to send to the Minister of the Environment, where we check off what we are pledging to give up for Lent that will lower our carbon footprint (driving less & taking greener modes of transport, eating a non-meat meal once a week or more, or a blank 'other' category where you can write in your personal pledge) and urging the Canadian Government to follow this example and take action to reduce our carbon footprint at a national level. Cards can be sent anytime during Lent. This is a great way for us to fulfill the promises we made in our Corporate Stance pledge on Climate Action. You can request a postcard from the JPIC office, or visit the CPJ website to order a bulk amount free of charge to distribute in your house, your parish and other places.