Almost everyone is familiar with the story of “Superman.” In the original DC Comics series that debuted in 1938, Superman is sent as a child by his parents to Earth from his doomed home planet of Krypton. As he grows to adulthood, Superman’s many superpowers are put to positive use as he protects his adoptive home and its citizenry from a wide array of villains, be they human, natural, or supernatural. A unique super-power was Superman’s ability to rotate the earth backwards, allowing him to reverse time and thereby prevent whatever evil calamity had unfolded. Also interesting was his one unique weakness, to a toxic radioactive substance – Kryptonite. He has served as a symbol of hope, strength, and virtuous-ness, beginning with the Great Depression and continuing to this day, through decades marked by numerous wars and periods of great political and social upheaval.
This year, the Green Team’s Earth Day theme was “Environmental Superheroes!” However, unlike Superman, our environmental superheroes did not travel from a far-distant planet. Rather, these everyday superheroes walk in our midst. On March 21 we were blessed to host Adult Forum with guest speaker and former member of St. Matthew Ali (Parvin) Pressel, a teacher of Environmental Sciences in St. Augustine, Florida, and a National Geographic Emerging Explorer award winner. You can view a recording of Ali’s Adult Forum here https://bit.ly/32z9ZTy and learn more about her life and work here: http://bit.ly/AliPresselStorymap.
On April 25, Green Team members Barbara Duffy and Lorraine Horton created and led a wonderful interactive program for the pre-K to 6th grade Sunday School students, in which the kids learned about their own “superpowers” to care for God’s creation by saving energy, reducing food waste, and conserving water. The kids wore their favorite superhero costumes, and even received a certificate recognizing their becoming “Environmental Superheroes!” A special THANK YOU to Barbara, Lorraine, Karen Widin, Peggy Marks and Melissa Feeney, and thanks to our friends at the Pachamama Alliance Delaware River Valley Community for providing materials.
The global 2021 Earth Day theme was “Restore our Earth.” While, unlike Superman, we cannot simply turn back time to reverse the desecration of our natural resources and communities that have occurred in the past, we can take very concrete and meaningful steps to restore our world to a more pristine, just and sustainable state, and to teach ourselves and our children ways that we can be car-ing stewards of our common home and future.
If you would like to try out your own “environmental superpowers,” please consider joining us for our upcoming May service projects (both will be outdoors and socially distanced):
- Saturday, May 8th, 9-11am: Save the Environment of Moorestown (STEM) for a Natural Area Care Trail Cleanup, South Valley Woods (behind South Valley Elementary School). This is a great service project for ages 9+, seniors and confirmands/mentors.
- Saturday, May 22nd, 10am-12n: New Jersey Farmers Against Hunger for a Summer Gleaning at Specca Farms (Springfield Township). This is a great service project for all ages, including families, seniors and confirmands/mentors.
To volunteer for a service project, please RSVP to beckymasserini1@gmail.com. For more information on the Green Team, or to join us at one or our virtual monthly meetings, please contact me at brianlestini@yahoo.com.