SE Vicariate Columbia River Festival
Plans are currently under way to stage a "Festival" with all
Catholic parishes in the SE Portland Vicariate. The festival's
central theme is the Columbia River Watershed Pastoral Letter
with the goal of bringing focused attention to the Columbia
River Watershed Pastoral Letter across all parishes. The festival
will take place on October 5th from 10:00 a.m.to 3:00 p.m.
at St Francis Park. The park is located at SE 11th and Stark,
Portland, Oregon.
Festival Vision Statement: The Columbia River Watershed
Festival is a fun, educational and energizing event for the
SE Portland Catholic community and interested neighbors focused
on "spotlighting" and celebrating the vision and message of
the regions' Catholic Bishops' Columbia
River Watershed Pastoral Letter.
Natural Step
The Natural Step Framework offers St. Philip’s a compass from
which to guide our actions as a people of God. It is designed
to help individuals and organizations achieve a sustainable
balance between their social, economic, and environmental
needs in relationship to the world around them.
The Framework uses a core set of principles, rooted in
scientific study and affirmed by Catholic social teaching,
to support sustainable practices. We at St. Philip Neri seek
a deeper understanding of The Natural Step Framework and ways
in which we can apply the principles by conserving natural
resources, reducing our operating expenses, and improving
our quality of life and the lives of our children.
Bioswale
St. Philip Neri has been awarded a $5,000 grant from the Community
Watershed Stewardship Program to help fund a project to
develop a bioswale. The goal of the bioswale project is to
reduce the amount of storm water runoff that flows off of
our parking lot and roof-tops into the combined sewer. The
heavy flows in the combined sewer in the winter overload the
city wastewater treatment plant. Under overload conditions
large volumes of untreated sewage and storm water get discharged
directly into the Willamette River, which hurts that ecosystem.
The bioswale will allow our runoff to be treated on site,
and to be discharged in a cleaner state through seepage back
into the ground, not into the river. The bioswale will provide
additional habitat for urban birds. Additional grant monies,
in-kind donations of materials, and volunteer labor are sought
in order to have our bioswale on line in time for the wet
season beginning in November 2002.
Energy Audit
An effort to evaluate the results of an energy audit done
for the entire St. Philip Neri plant is under way. Lighting,
windows, insulation and mechanical equipment are being evaluated
for energy efficiency.
