Overview
The Episcopal Church has placed the care of God’s creation at the heart of its members’ common life. Members of Saint Philip’s Creation Care Commission give voice to this charge by offering a summary of resources available throughout Tucson, and by engaging in hands-on activities.
Contacts
Creation Care Chair
Greg Silva (gregsilva@aol.com)
Creation Care Vestry Liaison
Chuck Kirchner (chuck@chuckkirchner.com)
Creation Care Staff Liaison
Kiki Cheney (kiki.cheney@stphilipstucson.org)
Resources
Battery disposal
Batteries require special handling.
Suburban Miners (see above)
Interstate Batteries—provides information about what batteries it can recycle
Batteries Plus can recycle many types of batteries
Book recycling
Give your books a new life with someone else.
Friends of Tucson Library—books, audio, and visual items can be donated
Bookmans—Staff will decide what books, cds, dvds, lps, and games the store will take and give you cash or store credit.
Climate Action Now
Visit the website or download the app to learn about resources and ways to help fight climate change.
Electronics recycling/disposal
Electronics contain materials that need special treatment so they shouldn’t be put in normal trash bins. Here are two local companies that will take your electronics and recycle what can be recycled and dispose of the rest in a responsible manner.
Suburban Miners—anything electronic, including batteries
Keeper of the Grumper—computer and electronics recycling, data destruction
Hefty Orange Bags
Many types of plastic can’t be recycled in the normal blue bin. But some of them can IF you use Hefty Orange Bags (and if you are willing to drive to one of the collection points around town). Go to https://www.hefty.com/hefty-renew to learn more.
Household Goods recycling
Do you have items around your house that you no longer want or need, but which still have life in them? Consider these options for passing them on to someone else.
Freecycle—create a profile, then list the items you want to get rid of for free.
Habistore — Habitat for Humanity offers this resource so you can donate household items that can be resold to others doing home repairs and renovations. Profits help support the work of Habitat for Humanity.
Household Hazardous Waste
Learn what the 2025 collection schedule is.
Recycle Coach
This smartphone app can generate reminders for all trash and recycling pickups at your address, alert you to upcoming special pickups like Brush & Bulky or a nearby Household Hazardous Waste collection. You can also learn how to properly dispose of specific items.
Go to www.recyclecoach.com or download from AppStore/Play Store
Adopt-A-Road
Saint Philip’s is the proud sponsor of the mile-long section of Campbell Avenue north of Skyline Drive. Volunteers (14 years and older) clean the road of litter twice a year. They wear fancy safety vests and are given bags and extended grabber tools to collect any litter. After their work, they gather for lunch and fellowship.
Contact Greg Silva (gregsilva@aol.com).
The natural world
Saint Philip’s is delighted to be part of Tucson Audubon’s Habitat at Home Program.
Volunteers created a pollinator garden at the entrance to the church office. It is watered by rainfall and has plantings that attract pollinators.
Solitary bees (which are non-aggressive and responsible for 1/3rd of all food humans eat) live in the ground in the labyrinth area. They also have a lovely house they visit in the pollinator garden.
In 2023, the youth built nesting boxes to attract different birds. They now host families, including a vermillion flycatchers with babies and at least one Lucy’s Warbler.
Outreach
Saint Philip’s Grant Writing Committee (Barbara Cone and Jane Prescott-Smith) submitted an application to support local eco-ministry efforts. $12,000.00 was approved by a committee of the churchwide Task Force on the Care of Creation and Environmental Racism.
Members of the Creation Care Committee will partner with the Outreach Commission, with the Adult Formation Commission (through the Anti-Racism Discussion Group), and with CYFM families and children.
The grant will be used to partner with local nonprofit, Watershed Management Group, to design and install rain gardens (for water conservation) and to plant trees (to create shady areas) at Prince Elementary School* (at Prince and Stone avenues).
This short term mission opportunity will require some training which will be provided by Watershed Management Group 6:00pm-7:00pm on Tuesday, October 29. The trees will be planted the morning of Saturday, November 2.
If you would like to participate in this opportunity to serve the church’s neighbors and build relationships, please contact Erika Johnson (erika.johnson06@gmail.com).
*Prince Elementary School is one of the most ethnically and racially diverse schools in the Amphitheater School District:
- More than 17 languages are spoken.
- It serves an economically disadvantaged, “at environmental risk” population with 100% of students enrolled in the federally subsidized lunch program.
- The school scores in the lowest 30% in math and reading performance among elementary schools in Arizona.
Historically, minority, low-income communities have many fewer trees and consequently higher heat levels than wealthier neighborhoods. Prince Elementary School is in one such community and this grant will help increase shade, add rainwater infiltration, and produce vegetation that will lower temperatures and affect the neighborhood positively.