Creation Care Team
​Mission Statement

In response to Pope Francis’ call to tend to our common home and show respect for all of God’s creation, with concern for our most vulnerable, the Creation Care Team will share faith-based knowledge, awareness, and activities with the Our Lady Star of the Sea community regarding the seven goals of the Pope’s encyclical, Laudato Si, so that our parish family can work toward building a better future together.

Join us for our next meeting! Please contact
sosreligioused@staroftheseamarblehead.org for the next date and zoom link. 

Projects we have worked on:

• Held a household goods drive for the Afghanistan refugees in partnership with Catholic Charities.
• Began composting weekly, which is utilized at coffee hour, the Rectory, and at events.
• Placed a lending library bookshelf at the back of church to promote religious book sharing.
• Held meatless meal workshops.
• Future: Looking into installing a pollinator garden, screening of "The Letter" movie, Soup 'n Stations of the Cross, and ongoing litter clean-up of grounds.

Visit our display table in the Parish Center hall to learn about a variety topics: Laudato Si, composting, reducing waste and more!

Meatless Meals Workshop
The second annual Lenten Meals Cooking Demonstration & Tasting took place Sunday, February 12th in the Parish Center Conference Room led by Holly Willsey-Walker. Parishioners including a student from Holly’s CCD class took advantage of Holly’s vast knowledge of shopping cooking and composting food. With the various meatless items, Holly told the group which products she was using and why, and where to buy them right down to the location within the grocery store. The product packages were available as well. The hot food samples were fabulous - salmon, imitation crab cakes, Impossible Burger and a quiche (which went into the oven early on and emerged piping hot 45 minutes later).

​What to do with leftovers? There was an answer for everything. It’s hard to imagine Holly has a scrap of food left for her own compost pile. Even the banana skins and onion tops had a second life. We took photos of some of Holly's favorite Lenten recipes being ecologically friendly too. We were pleased to have Monsignor make an appearance. Our Lenten meals will surely have a new flavorful look this year.

Greener Lent
New in 2023! Our Creation Care Team introduced us to a new Lenten program called Greener Lent, which focuses on promoting climate justice for the poor who are most affected by climate degradation. This program can help us learn more ways to increase the rigor of our traditional Lenten fast while substantially reducing our personal environmental impact. This is in addition to our commitment to prayer, almsgiving, and turning our hearts to Christ during the Easter season. You can learn more about this program and sign up at greenerlent.org. For more information, or for any questions, please contact Holly at hwillseywalker@gmail.com.

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We are Composting!

We are excited to announce that we are now composting in the Parish Center and Rectory, using the services provided by Black Earth. We recognize our responsibility to care for God's great Earth and composting our food scraps is an important step toward this goal. When food is thrown in the garbage and taken to a landfill, the decomposition process releases dangerous green house gasses into the atmosphere, including methane, which is even more potent for trapping heat than carbon dioxide. By diverting our scraps to composting, we are doing our part to lessen the climate impact of waste disposal. The next time you come for coffee and donuts, please use the small, green compost bin to dispose of your soiled napkins, tea bags and food scraps.

Many people don't realize how easy it is to compost, and will be surprised that it does not need to be messy or smelly. The Creation Care Team is happy to guide any parishioner through the simple process of composting at home using the services of Black Earth or another provider. For advice on getting started, email sosreligioused@staroftheseamarblehead.org or call (781) 631-8340 Monday - Wednesday. 

Greener Lent
Greener Lent is lenten program focused on justice for the poor who are most affected by climate degradation. By increasing the rigor of our traditional Lenten fast, we substantially reduce our personal environmental impact. This, plus our commitment to prayer and almsgiving, help turn our hearts to Christ as we prepare for his resurrection at Easter. Learn more and sign up at greenerlent.org.
For more information, or for any questions, please contact Holly at hwillseywalker@gmail.com.

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