Bending the Arc

Braver Angels is a nonpartisan organization uniting “red and blue” citizens in a working alliance to depolarize America. They envision an American with respectful embrace of political disagreements, where civic friendship flourishes and competing perspectives strengthen our nation. They embrace values of respect, humility, honesty, and responsible citizenship. The goal of Braver Angels conversations is not to change people’s views of issues, but to change their views of each other. Learn more at  https://braverangels.org/ 

One thing Braver Angels (BA) do incredibly well is host online debates. Participants join from across the country to share their perspectives on hot political issues affecting us all. Debates are moderated in which persons on all sides of the issue are able to equally speak in a shared, safe space. Here is a sample of a BA debate: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d14Ug_ZRROpw92ZIuzzd29JtRY354CTB/view 

Today, millions of Americans are thrilled with the changes President Trump and his administration are bringing to our government while millions of others fear it’s an existential threat to this nation. In their current National Debate Series: Trump’s First 100 Days, Braver Angels has already had debates on Birthright Citizenship and Foreign Policy. The two left will cover DEI (April 22) and answer the question: “Is President Trump Making America Great?” (May 1) You won’t want to miss these! There are a few tickets left to attend these online debates, but get them soon! 

Sign up here through Eventbrite

Hero of Fascist? Watch and share this video

There are currently Braver Angels Alliances in Madison and Milwaukee, WI. Learn more at https://braverangels.org/braver-citizens/find-a-local-alliance/ 
 

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Dusty Goes Bananas to Reduce Food Waste

In mid-February, I received a message from a friend whose employer had a full box of bananas destined for the dumpster. My friend messaged to ask whether I would be interested in the bananas rather than seeing them go to waste. He took about a third of the bananas for his own freezer, and I took the remainder to process at home.  

Most of the bananas were speckled with dark spots and some were entirely brown. I removed all the sticky labels and then peeled the bananas.  One-third went directly into the blender and then into freezer trays, while the solid ones were divided into two or three sections and set onto silicon mats on cookie sheets and placed directly in the freezer, before going into recycled gallon food storage bags. The remaining one-third of the bananas were ingredients for banana bread.  My three chickens were not producing eggs and, with store prices as a premium, I opted to replace the eggs in the recipe with aquafaba—the water from cooking beans or inside a can of chickpeas or other beans. I had enough aquafaba on hand to produce five full loaves of banana bread. Three loaves went to the freezer, one went straight to my cutting board for a late-night snack, and the last one was destined for the employee lounge to be shared with my colleagues.

Next, I had many banana peels to use. Though I could have blended the bananas with skins on for the banana bread, I opted to offer the chickens a special treat instead.  All the peels went into the blender and were then greedily enjoyed by the three hens.

Finally, the woody tops that were too hard for the blender went into the compost pile. Composting is an aerobic process, unlike the anaerobic environment created by landfills, so it does not produce methane, which is key to reducing the footprint of food waste.

Methane and food: a Relationship with an environmental impact

Once in a landfill, food waste breaks down and emits greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). Methane is 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide, making it more damaging to the environment.  Reducing the world’s methane emissions by 30% over the next decade would have the same effect on global warming by mid-century as immediately shifting the global transport sector to net-zero CO2 emissions (source).  Food waste accounts for 9 billion metric tons of methane every year (source). Globally, if food waste could be represented as its own country, it would be the third largest greenhouse gas emitter, behind China and the United States (source).  I did a little personal banana math*.  I would need to drive 6,826 times around the planet to produce the same amount of methane as that 25 pounds of bananas would have produced in a landfill.
    

Click here to see Tools for Preventing and Diverting Wasted Food

We really can make a difference in caring for the earth by reducing the footprint of food waste (even beyond old bananas).  

Are you curious about the free online training to become a Laudato Si’ animator?

Register by April 16 for the first of six live sessions that begin April 30. https://laudatosianimators.org/ 

May 7-14, 2025 is Food Waste Prevention Week. Visit https://www.foodwastepreventionweek.com/  for ideas to enhance your food waste and landfill diversion efforts.

Have you heard of Misfits Market? Misfits Market rescues “ugly” fruits and vegetables and other groceries from being tossed in the garbage and delivers them right to your door! There is nothing wrong with these foods except they may be discolored, have packaging issues, too big or small, or just leftover ends and pieces. Check them out!

The sisters and staff at CSA Motherhouse continue to collect their food waste daily and dispose of it in a blue tote in the back of the building where a service picks it up every other Monday. ALL sisters and associates in the Fond du Lac area, who are not already composting at home, are encouraged to collect their food scraps and regularly add them to the tote. Please contact tabler@csasisters.org with any questions. 

Sister Patricia Weidman, CSA, Laudato Si’ Animator, writer
Special thank you to: Chelsea Koenigs, Laudato Si’ Animator, formatter; Dusty Krikau, CSA Director of Mission Advancement; Julie Ann Krahl, CSA, Patricia Bogenschuetz, CSA

*The math

In hindsight, I wish I had weighed the box. Assuming no bananas had been taken from it at all, the box likely started at the average industry weight of 40 pounds. Which means that my personal impact was to reduce food waste entering the landfill by a little more than 25 pounds. 
This converts to 0.0125 tons. 
Recent studies show that one US ton of food waste generates 34 metric tons of methane. (source)
Therefore, I was able to reduce methane production by (.0125x34) 4.25 metric tonnes.
4.25 metric tonnes = 4,250,000 grams 
The estimate for methane produced by a car burning one gallon of fuel are .375 grams of methane produced by burning one gallon of gas. (source)
Which means it would take 11,333,333 gallons of petrol to produce the same amount of methane as 25 pounds of bananas in the landfill.
If we estimate the average modern SUV gets 15 mpg, I could drive 169,999,995 miles on that much petrol. 
The circumference of Earth is 24,902 miles.
So, assuming there was a road that went directly around the equator, I would need to drive 6,826 times around the planet in order to produce the same amount of methane as that 25 pounds of bananas would have produce in a landfill.
 

From the start, the sisters of CSA, have promised to follow and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have done so through teaching, care of the sick, the aged, orphans, and wayfarers. As global realities have become increasingly apparent, so also has our awareness been heightened to issues regarding the dignity of persons, human rights, and justice; the need for structural change; efforts at ‘simplicity of life’ and a greater appreciation of the gifts of creation. The concerns that we pray about and the causes that we pray for have grown.

The crisis in Haiti is a great concern. Armed groups now control over 90% of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as parts of the North of the country, terrorizing civilians with kidnappings, sexual violence, and indiscriminate killings. At least 5,601 people were killed in Haiti last year as a result of gang violence. Nearly half the population of the country require urgent humanitarian aid, with 1.6 million facing catastrophic food insecurity. Gang sieges and arson attacks have internally displaced over a million people, half of them children.

In this context, The Department of Homeland Security has rescinded the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti, which will end legal protections of Haitians in the United States on August 3, 2025. Over 500,000 Haitians who currently hold TPS are at risk of a forced return to Haiti.

The Quixote Center, an organization whose priority is addressing the root causes of migration in Haiti and Nicaragua,also believe we must insist on fair policies in the United States that promote the dignity of migrants.They have created a petition to the Secretary of DHS with suggested actions to stem the crisis in Haiti. All are encouraged to individually sign on here: https://quixote.org/action#/18 

One action is to stop illegal arms to Haiti.You are invited to attend a webinar on weapons trafficking and its devastating impact in Haiti, Mexico, and beyond, including insights into Haiti’s current crisis. Speakers include John Lindsay-Poland from Stop Arms to Mexico, and Bill O’Neill, UN Expert on Human Rights for Haiti. This webinar is April 24 at 12:00 Noon CT. 
Register at https://bit.ly/HaitiArmsTrafficking 

Catholic Sisters nationwide have joined the Nuns Against Gun Violence (NAGV) coalition's second annual Lenten Fast to End Gun Violence.

As people of faith, we are called to nonviolence. In response to the gun violence epidemic, we invite you to join us in prayer and advocacy to end gun violence. This year, our advocacy focuses on the intersection of gun violence and immigration.

It is not too late for you to get involved! Here are some ways:

1. Write to our congressional leaders. It is recommended mail be sent to their state offices and there is a mail backlog in Washington. Here are sample letters you can use:
   Advocacy Letters.

2. "Making Connections & Building Hope: Gun Violence Prevention in Pennsylvania" is the first in a series of webinars featuring work for gun violence prevention at the state level. Presented on April 1, 2025, the webinar focused on the state of Pennsylvania. Speakers included State Senator Tim Kearney, State Representative Lisa Borowski, Adam Gardner of CeaseFire PA, and Lashira Council from the Chester Community Coalition. Together, they reflected on ways people can be involved in gun violence prevention and community support, and where they find hope for the future. There have been many positive comments about this webinar; information is applicable to any state.

   This event was co-sponsored by Nuns Against Gun Violence, Franciscan Action Network, and the Franciscan Peace Center. Other congregations planning similar webinars are from the states of Ohio and Missouri at this time.

3. Use this NAGV Facebook page to stay updated and interact with others.
4. Support https://www.everytown.org/ and use their new AI-powered tool, EveryShot, to track US shootings in real-time. The stories and numbers help to back up your work when advocating for common sense gun laws and gun violence prevention.  
5. Use this toolkit to explore some more!

The Fond du Lac Public Library will soon be powered by the sun.

Installation has begun on an array of 500-watt solar panels on the roof of the library. When complete, 240 solar panels will harvest energy from the sun, providing power to the Fond du Lac Public Library.

“We are excited to have this project started,” said library director Jon Mark Bolthouse, who spearheaded the solar project. “After almost three years of planning and fund-raising, the solar panels were delivered to the library Thursday.”

These solar panels are expected to be installed by April 4 and integrated into the library’s electrical system by the end of May.

The library will remain easy and safe to access throughout the project.  Equipment and materials will remain far away from both the south entrance adjacent to the parking lot as well as the north entrance by Sheboygan Street. Chapter 52 Bookstore, which is the library’s bookstore located next door, also will not be impacted. The library will remain open for its regular hours throughout the duration of the project.

When the installation is complete, the new solar panels are expected to generate up to 400 kilowatts a day, which is enough electricity to cover more than 25% of the library’s electrical needs. Library leadership expects the project to save the Fond du Lac Public Library more than $17,000 a year.

“Every dollar saved is another dollar that we can use toward vital services and materials for the Fond du Lac community,” Bolthouse said.

The library’s collection serves every age group, from picture books for pre-readers to a robust equipment collection, and much more. Online services supported by the library include a streaming service for movies and series (Kanopy); an e-book, audiobook, and online magazine app (Libby); a language learning app (Mango), and much more.

Eventually, visitors to the library will be able to literally see the savings. A special display will be installed later this year near the library’s south entrance; it is expected to display live updates about how much electricity the panels are generating for the library and more.

Financial support for the solar project was provided through a combination of Capital Improvement funds from the city of Fond du Lac and funding from the Friends of the Fond du Lac Public Library, as well as private donations from community members. [press release]

Dusty Krikau, president of the library board, added “Knowing that this project has been supported in large part by community donations in addition to the tax dollars from the City’s Capital Improvement fund, shows that when funds are needed for initiatives that make our library better for the planet, people will come forward to make it happen!” 
 

When beekeepers opened their hives for the first time this year, many of them found devastating numbers of empty hives and scientists warn that honeybee colonies in the U.S. are projected to decline by up to 70% in 2025.

Contributing factors for these record-high losses include pesticide exposure, diseases, and nutritional deficiencies. One of the biggest factors could be the varroa mite. Read more here.

Watch this video to understand ways you can help our native bees and honeybees in crisis

April is Earth Month. Celebrate and advocate for Mother Earth with needed action.

Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit public interest environmental law organization. They wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change.

• Urge the EPA to safeguard lead protections
• Stop the attack on clean air protections
• Protect our endangered species and forests
• Keep toxic pesticides and disrupting chemicals off and out of our food
• Unfreeze promised climate funding
• Defend our National monuments

Learn about these and many more Action Alerts at https://earthjustice.org/action/alerts 

CSA Sisters are reminded to follow the congregational guidelines for political advocacy.

The Damascus Road Project in Oshkosh, WI was founded in 2009 and is dedicated to fighting the evil of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation. They are committed to bring awareness through educating, restoring and empowering the abused, and advocating for the prevention and abolition of sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.

Sister Lucina Halbur, CSA, has been volunteering with the organization for a couple of years now, where she is a prayer partner for two women. Learn about current volunteer opportunities here.

Football fans across the country will be coming to Green Bay, WI April 24-26 for the NFL Draft.  Many studies have shown there is an increase in the demand for commercial sex services surrounding large sporting events. This is why groups like the Damascus Road Project are making preventative outreach to hotels and gas stations in the greater Fox Valley area and VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED (men and women, ages 11+)!

Join “Blitz the Draft” on Saturday, April 12, 9 am - 2 pm with Damascus Road Project, 1528 Oregon Street, Oshkosh. Training and light lunch provided. Register here