FACT:
Clothes dryers use a lot of energy as they spin and heat. To dry a load of laundry will use about 8 times the amount of electricity that was used to do a cold cycle wash (90% of energy used to wash clothes is spent on heating the water, and unless you have oily stains, cold water cleans just as well. Efficiency Vermont has a chart of most household appliances if there are others you are curious about.
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Meet a Permaculture Plant:
Egyptian Walking Onion, aka tree onion (under apple) perennial providing food all growing season. Robust flavor without the strong sting of some onions. Instead of flowers it forms bulblets (mini onions) at the top of the stalk which then bend under the weight and start new plants away from its parent, which is how it 'walks' around the garden.
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SOLAR BY THE NUMBERS
This Quarter:
Generated: 3589kWh
Used: 1719kWh
Donated: 1870kWh
Estimated Value to BBC: $483
Estimated Value to TCMF: $315
Total Value for Quarter: $798
Grand Totals
Generated: 25,826kWh
Used: 11,553kWh (10,851kWh from Solar, 702kWh from the grid)
Donated: 14,975kWh
Estimated Value to BBC: $3,664
Estimated Value to TCMF: $1,989
Total Value: $5,653
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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT - ALISON GOOD
Q: What is something you love about creation?
A:I love seeing how beautiful and diverse God’s creation is. I love being surrounded by and designing my flower beds. I also love finding spots in the woods that are God’s gardens and being amazed by the detail and design.
Q: What is something you do to care for creation?
A: I’ve been learning to identify more of the plant life in the woods around our house. I try to teach the girls to appreciate the natural beauty around us.
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KID'S CARE CORNER
Pick an animal you are afraid of... snakes? spiders? bats? bears? Then learn something about that animal that is interesting, something about how God made them special. For example, did you know that bats eat 100% of their body weight each night, which is about 1000 mosquitos and other insects in an hour, so 8000 each night! Did you know that by some estimates bears can smell food 20 miles away!
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A NOTE FROM STEVE
“Look at the birds of the air…” -Matthew 6:26
On a day when I was feeling particularly discouraged, I happened to glance out the window of my home office and saw something unusual. Just above the tree-tops across my yard was a large bird spreading its wings. My attention was captured as the bird unfolded to its widest wingspan. What is this, I wondered? With wings spread it soared directly towards my house where I was sitting, I could clearly see its white-head and dark feathers on its body. Sure enough, it was a bald eagle! It flew right above me where I was--gliding as though effortless with fully-spread wings.
Strangely, just a week before, I had been driving on Interstate 91 (with my two boys asleep in the car) and had seen a bald eagle in the wild for the first-time in my life. Two nights ago (at the time of this writing) my family and I saw another bald eagle at sunset, soaring nearby.
What does all this mean? Why am I seeing eagles?
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I looked up the symbolism of eagles and found that they are near-universally understood as signs of hope and strength. Could this be a sign from God?
How could I be seeing this rare bird so frequently? I was encouraged to learn that the population of bald eagles has substantially increased; in 2007 they were removed from the Endangered Species List! The recovery of eagles is a testament to the success of conservation efforts.
Whether or not God was conveying a specific message through these eagles to me, I am encouraged by these sightings; both because of the recovery of this formerly-endangered species, and because of the aura that I felt in seeing these majestic birds. My spirits were lifted!
“...but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
-Isaiah 40:31
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CONTACT US
Have ideas, stories, resources you'd like to share related to creation care?
Contact Heather Wolfe,
Taftsville Chapel's creation care liaison
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