This week, as many celebrated the spirit of independence that inspired the founding (by those with relative power and privilege) of this nation, there were also repeated reminders of humanity’s global interdependence in the face of climate change.

Hope for Creation interviews one of the founding members of Kalamazoo's styrofoam recycling program to see how it all started!

Throughout this interview, as Rick indicates, the word “styrofoam” is used to indicate EPS, or expanded polystyrene.

We’ve got so much to share with you this month, we’re skipping the introduction and getting right down to business:

In anticipation for the event tomorrow, we asked Claire a couple questions about her enthusiasm for activism and the ideas behind The Intersectional Environmentalist! Claire McSwiney teaches in the biology department at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, is a former scientist at the Michigan State University Kellogg Biological Station, and is a parishioner at St. Thomas More Catholic Parish Church.

Is faith-based action something that anyone can do?

Recently Hope for Creation communications assistant Tanai Dawson sat down with Cybelle Shattuck, WMU faculty and author of Faith, Hope, and Sustainability: The Greening of US Faith Communities, to learn more about her story. Cybelle is an Associate Professor with a joint position in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and the Department of Comparative Religion at Western Michigan University. We'll share segments of her interview over the next few days, in anticipation of her talk on February 18.

What was a particularly difficult project in your field work or in your teaching experience?

Recently Hope for Creation communications assistant Tanai Dawson sat down with Cybelle Shattuck, WMU faculty and author of Faith, Hope, and Sustainability: The Greening of US Faith Communities, to learn more about her story. Cybelle is an Associate Professor with a joint position in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and the Department of Comparative Religion at Western Michigan University. We'll share segments of her interview over the next few days, in anticipation of her talk on February 18.

What do you think effective faith-based actions consist of?

Recently Hope for Creation communications assistant Tanai Dawson sat down with Cybelle Shattuck, WMU faculty and author of Faith, Hope, and Sustainability: The Greening of US Faith Communities, to learn more about her story. Cybelle is an Associate Professor with a joint position in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and the Department of Comparative Religion at Western Michigan University. We'll share segments of her interview over the next few days, in anticipation of her talk on February 18.

Which do you find more impactful in your work? To be out doing that field work or to be teaching those courses and having that analysis with your students?

Recently Hope for Creation communications assistant Tanai Dawson sat down with Cybelle Shattuck, WMU faculty and author of Faith, Hope, and Sustainability: The Greening of US Faith Communities, to learn more about her story. Cybelle is an Associate Professor with a joint position in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and the Department of Comparative Religion at Western Michigan University. We'll share segments of her interview over the next few days, in anticipation of her talk on February 18.

When you've gone on in your fieldwork, what's something that's impacted the way you continued your studies?

Recently Hope for Creation communications assistant Tanai Dawson sat down with Cybelle Shattuck, WMU faculty and author of Faith, Hope, and Sustainability: The Greening of US Faith Communities, to learn more about her story. Cybelle is an Associate Professor with a joint position in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and the Department of Comparative Religion at Western Michigan University. We'll share segments of her interview over the next few days, in anticipation of her talk on February 18.

Do you think that faith-based sustainability initiatives today have had a significant impact?

Recently Hope for Creation communications assistant Tanai Dawson sat down with Cybelle Shattuck, WMU faculty and author of Faith, Hope, and Sustainability: The Greening of US Faith Communities, to learn more about her story. Cybelle is an Associate Professor with a joint position in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and the Department of Comparative Religion at Western Michigan University. We'll share segments of her interview over the next few days, in anticipation of her talk on February 18.