Eco-project Overview
A growing number of congregations and faith-based organizations (e.g. camps) are engaged in sustained efforts to make their settings sustainable, educational, and inspiring. Below are examples of Iowa-based projects created with a focus on sustainability, climate change, resilience, ecological care, and/or education.
Start a Project
Feeling inspired to do something similar in your setting? Reach out to an organization’s contact person. If one isn’t listed, contact the organization’s office.
You can also connect with our team about your idea. We’d love to help you take the next steps!
Submit Your Project
Has your organization installed solar or a heat pump? Do you have a prairie, community garden, or bioswale on your property? Have your members worked together to increase resilience in your faith community and beyond? Tell us about your project using this form so we can add it to the map.
Iowa Faith-based Eco-project Map
- Solar Panels
- Heat Pump(s)
- Geothermal
- Energy Efficiency / Cool Congregations
- Prairie/Pollinator Garden
- Active Green Team
- Tree Planting
- Other
As you can see, we have initiated several other initiatives including natural burial, Goats on the Go, beehives, Conservation Easement with the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, and prairie restoration. In Spring 2025 alone, we planted 44 trees on our property.
Another effort: The Storytelling Project
The congregation continues initiatives toward sustainability and integral ecology. The Storytelling Project is the newest action. The Laudato Si’ Committee of Sisters Nancy Miller, Marie Cigrand, Michelle Balek, and Janice Hoffman are aware that there is a growing conviction that facts alone are not convincing people that climate change is real, rather, the arts have a way of moving the issue from the head to the heart. With that in mind, the committee invited Sisters and Associates to be a catalyst for change by expressing their love of creation and their concern about climate change in word and picture. Responses include poems, stories, reflections, spiritual beliefs, and personal experiences and photos.
