"People of all faiths working toward a just and sustainable future."
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4th Annual Wisconsin Interfaith Earth Month Poster
Contest for K-12 Students (April 2008) Organized and Sponsored by Wisconsin Interfaith Climate and Energy Campaign (WICEC) and the Islamic Environmental Group of Wisconsin (IEG) All Wisconsin Kindergarten-Grade 12 students are encouraged to participate in the Interfaith Earth Month poster contest. Students are invited to create a poster that can represent Wisconsin Interfaith Earth Month. Participants should create a poster with an interfaith environmental message for the general public. It must deal with water and energy as environmental issues from an interfaith or multi-faith perspective. More details >> Posters must be RECEIVED by Wisconsin Interfaith Climate and Energy Campaign (WICEC) / Islamic Environmental Group of Wisconsin (IEG) before FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2008. Send posters to P.O. Box 1021, West Bend, WI 53095-1021 or scan them and e-mail them as PDF to interfaith.earth@yahoo.com with the subject: WI Interfaith Earth Month Poster Contest. In 2007, more than 120 K-12 students participated in the 3rd Annual Wisconsin Interfaith Earth Month Poster Contest. For more information, please contact Huda Alkaff, Coordinator of the 4th Annual Wisconsin Interfaith Earth Month activities at interfaith.earth@yahoo.com
Islamic Environmental Group of Wisconsin and WICEC meet goal of 100 pledges to install CFL bulbsWe received the following note from the Energy Star Campaign of the federal EPA, the overall sponsor of the promotion in October:"Congratulations on reaching your goal of 100 pledges!
You and your community will save 84,600 kWh of energy and prevent 122,700 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions! "To celebrate your work, we will send you a personalized press release for you to tailor and use to tout your efforts and a certificate of achievement to recognize your accomplishment. "We can't thank you enough!" - The ENERGY STAR Change a Light Campaign Team.
Faithful ConsumerMy college buddy Dean Eggert, in New Hampshire, wrote of his grandfather, who was “an accidental environmentalist when it came to plastic.” Dean wrote: “I can recall his incessant railing against plastic in the early ‘70s. He would talk about how plastic was not fully degradable and how it would destroy our environment …and how one day our society would struggle to dispose of our plastic and speculate that it would be useless to dispose of plastic in landfills.” Read More >>
Background: The Wisconsin Interfaith Climate and Energy Campaign (WICEC) is a group of people of all faiths working to reduce the emissions that cause global warming. They are concerned about the effects of climate change, especially the majority which are caused by the burning of fossil fuels. The combustion of fossil fuels not only releases carbon dioxide—the most common of the “greenhouse gases”—but a host of other toxins and carcinogens including nitrogen-oxides, mercury, sulfur-dioxide and particulate matter or soot. WICEC emphasizes that it is also our own future at stake. Studies have linked air pollutants to health problems: respiratory disease, asthma, heart and lung conditions and premature death.
All faiths profess the protection of nature in their teachings. For example, consider the teachings regarding the earth from the four following faiths:
Christianity—“And God created the great whales, and every living creature that moves…and God saw that it was good.” Also, “Justice, justice, you shall pursue, in order that you and your children may live.” Judaism—“…speak to the earth and it will teach you; the fish of the sea, they will inform you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Eternal has done this?” Islam—“And the earth We have spread out; set thereon mountains firm and immovable; and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance.” (The Qur’an 67:1-4). “…and He has set up the Balance (of Justice), in order that ye may not transgress (due) balance. So establish weight with justice and fall not short in the balance.” (The Qur’an 55:7-9). Buddhism—“…a king banyan tree called Steadfast, and the shade of its widespread branches was cool and lovely. …Now there came a man who ate his fill of fruit, broke down a branch, and went his way. Thought the spirit dwelling in that tree, ‘How amazing, how astonishing it is, that a man should be so evil as to break off a branch of the tree, after eating his fill.
About usWICEC (formerly the Wisconsin Interfaith Climate Change Campaign, WICCC) is one of more than 20 state campaigns of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment (NRPE). The aim of WICEC is to inform, train, and activate faith congregations to take concrete steps to reduce global warming and work toward a sustainable future out of a faith-based value orientation. It is the belief of all involved that our various faiths can transform our world and give us a sustainable future. We also believe that interfaith projects foster healthy, sustainable and secure communities through creative relationships between diverse people. Our Board of Directors consists of people of all faiths with remarkably diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise. Members are available to speak at conferences, services or gatherings on such topics as:
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