What Does :

Driving less and cycling or walking more,

Turning off the lights and turning up the AC,

Using less water (50 gls/person) and harvesting more rainwater,

Planting trees and reducing asphalt,

Recycling and drastically reducing waste, composting,

Growing your own food,

Eating way less meat and dairy, and way more local, seasonal and pesticide free veggies,

Buying paper products that are 100%PCW (post consumer waste), FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) labeled, and PCF (processed chlorine free)

...Have to Do with GOD?

EVERYTHING!

What does the Lord require of us but to walk humbly, kindly and justly on our beautiful Earth.

Join the Green Team and together we can make a difference!!


Env_Sust_News__Feb_2010_2.pdf

This is the day that the Lord has made!

Today, August 26^th, 2010, the Session of St Mark’s approved a Motion from The Columbarium Task Force to redo the landscaping of that sacred space.

For the last 4-5 months we have worked tirelessly to create a plan for our memorial garden to make it accessible to people of all abilities, reduce our use of Tucson’s most precious resource, groundwater, by shifting to low water desert landscaping and do much needed thinning of the lofty mesquites. We will maintain the oasis feel of the garden, make it more sustainable for generations to come and reduce the maintenance that it needs to keep it looking inviting.

We are grateful for the people of St Mark’s, near and far, who gave us insightful advice and who have offered to donate benches and plants for this new space. If you are so moved, we still need more benches. Please, contact Tom Dahlberg or Eileen Bates at the office for your donation. 520 325 1001 or
Linda Ryan This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Not included in this proposal but recommended for the future are: signage for the area and the scatter garden, renovation or improvement of the scatter garden, water containers for flowers for each niche, new name plates if necessary, and painting of the inside walls around the Columbarium.

At present the Columbarium is a quiet oasis of Mesquite trees and green grass. Unfortunately the way this combination has been watered has caused the roots of the trees to come to the surface and the shade of the trees caused the grass to be sparse and uneven.  The surface roots could cause possible falls and the grass and roots do not allow walkers and wheelchairs easy access. We also need to cut our water bills.  Three trees would be removed: two next to the Geneva Hall and one which hangs over the southern wall. The arborist says these trees have the potential to cause structural damage to the building and the wall should they be blown over. The canopies of the other trees will, in time, cover most of the area again.

Our solution proposes that we remove the grass and substitute a hardscape of stabilized decomposed granite surrounded by a similar color decomposed granite. The hardscape in the design should allow anyone with a walker or wheelchair to access, within a few feet, any of the columns. The paths will be 54 inches wide to enable a wheelchair and a person walking by the wheelchair to pass. There will be three entrances with hardscape paths.  Two will be wheelchair accessible. The third is the stairs from the patio.  The little used small entrance on the north from the building has no hardscape path but the area is open, allowing for access to the Columbarium. There is an area in front of the east wall which already has plaques or memorial markers.  This area is bare of plants so it could be expanded. The area west of the path along the scatter garden also has plaques or memorial markers.  The placement of the path allows for more memorial markers in the future.

We also included an area for ceremonies.   There are two benches bordering this gathering area which help define the edges of the hardscape and allow for seating for those who cannot stand.  Possibly more could be added in the future. Two more benches border the path, both to define the edge of the path and allow someone to sit fairly near the southern most columns.

To keep this area a quiet place for meditation and prayer, drought tolerant plants will be used to soften the use of so much decomposed granite and hardscape.  The plants are also placed to differentiate the paths and gathering area from the decomposed granite area.  A great variety of plants were chosen to give interest somewhere in the Columbarium at almost any time of year, as most desert plants tend to have seasons where they are not as attractive. Some tall shrubs were placed to break of the barrenness of the eastern and southern walls as we didn’t want to put trellises on the walls. Vines which cling to the walls could perhaps damage them. The northern most area of the Columbarium will be the sunniest, with the removal of the two trees next to Geneva Hall. Therefore, shrubs and bushes, which need more sun to bloom, were chosen for this area.  The flowers of most of these plants attract hummingbirds, some also attract butterflies.

The tree will be deep watered much less frequently and the other plants will be on a drip system.  We hope this will substantially cut our water bill. Deep watering of the trees will not cause the surface roots to disappear but it should keep them from raising more.

Members of this task force are: Lori Block, Tom Dahlberg, Drusilla Delp, Pat Harris, Lou Kirkpatrick, John MacGregor, Gusti Newquist, Vanessa Quinn, Gwyneth Roske, Linda Ryan, and Jessie Zander.