Greening Canadian Mosques: Program Launch

By Saba Khan

In partnership with EnviroMuslims and with generous funding from Olive Tree Foundation, Faith & the Common Good has launched Greening Canadian Mosques, the first program of its kind giving Canadian mosques the tools and resources they need to embed sustainable practices and policies within their facilities.

As is the case for many religions, Islam holds a high regard for environmental stewardship and the important role humans have as stewards of the planet. Muslims all over the world have a religious duty to learn about environmental issues and make changes both individually and collectively to protect the natural environment. While there is growing interest from Islamic leaders and mosques in Canada to engage on the matter, there is limited targeted guidance and support for them to lead the way on environmental stewardship. 

The Greening Canadian Mosques program aims to support Canadian mosques in developing and implementing environmentally friendly practices and policies. The program consists of two main resources:

 Toolkit: The toolkit features key statistics and Islamic references on environmental issues, helpful resources, inspiring case studies, and creative ideas to make mosques more environmentally and economically sustainable – reducing their impact on the environment while contributing to the well-being of local communities. The toolkit consists of different areas that mosques can focus their efforts on including waste management, water stewardship, energy conservation, sustainable transportation, community engagement, event management and environmentally conscious efforts towards greening the holy month of Ramadan. Each of these sections are divided into tangible actions that can be taken depending on their relevant costs (no-cost, low-cost, and high-cost). The toolkit also consists of policy templates, action plans, and resources to help gain the support of senior leadership.

Communications Package: The communications package consists of graphics and word templates to help mosques showcase their leadership and participation in the program. These consist of templates for newsletters and websites, as well as social media templates and graphics to communicate participation in the program.

Another important feature of the communications package is the addition of multilingual posters that can be displayed in Canadian mosques. The posters are in Somali, Hindi, Urdu, Arabic and Gujrati, and cater to the diverse Canadian Muslim population.

The Greening Canadian Mosques program is a call to action for Muslim community leaders to embed policies and practices within their mosques centering around the protection of the natural environment, and to encourage their Muslim congregations and community members to uphold their roles as stewards of the environment – protecting it from harm and leaving it in a state better than how we found it, for our future generations.

This piece was originally published on Faith and the Common Good on May 17 2021.

Our Climate, Our Stories

A Collection of Stories and Poems by Canadian Youth

Our Climate Our Stories is a compilation of essays, stories, and poems written by Black, Indigenous, and youth of color from Canada. This e-book was developed to amplify diverse voices on emotions related to climate change, as well as journeys and experiences, communication, impacts and climate action. Our Climate, Our Stories showcases 20 young Canadian writers along with illustrations developed by Climate Illustrated.

Our Climate, Our Stories is a project of People Planet Pages, a book club run in partnership with EnviroMuslims, Community Climate Council and Books-Art-Music Collective, with the goal of bringing together a community of readers to discuss environmental and social sustainability, to initiate conversations, and to provide skills necessary to live sustainable lifestyles. 

This project was generously funded by the Rising Youth Grant, a program led by TakingItGlobal. Our teams would also like to express our sincere gratitude to Nature Canada, World Wildlife Fund Canada ( WWF-Canada), David Suzuki Foundation, Jane Goodall Institute of Canada and Climate Strike Canada for providing a foreword and opening statements to each section of the e-book.

We would also like to express our appreciation to the following illustrators for their creative contributions:

• Luise Hesse. Halle, Germany (illustrator and lead designer) @lufie.nesse, post@luisehesse.de

• Carolina Altavilla. Buenos Aires, Argentina (illustrator and designer) @caroaltavilla, carolina.altavilla@gmail.com

• Jenny Schneider. Boston, USA (illustrator) @Jenny_schneider, jennyschneiderart@gmail.com

• Audrey SUAU. Lyon, France (illustrator) @audreysuau_illustration, audreysuau@gmail.com

• Satyasree Rajeeth. Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India (illustrator) @satyasreerajeeth, sathyasreerajeeth@gmail.com

• Zelo Safi. Washington, DC, USA (illustrator) @createdbyz_, createdbyzs1@gmail.com

• Orvokki a.k.a. Kaisa Leppäkoski. Turku, Finland (illustrator) @mielenkuvia, @kaisaleppakoski, kaisa.leppakoski@gmail.com

• Jenny Caldwell. Olympia, WA, USA (illustrator) @jennycaldwelldesign, @jennypaintswithpixels, jennycaldwelldesign@gmail.com

• Nina Clausonet. Chiemgau, Germany (illustrator)@nina.clausonet, nm.clausonet@gmx.de

Download the book here: http://www.enviromuslims.ca/our-climate-our-stories/

Greening Canadian Mosques

In partnership with Faith & the Common Good and with generous funding from Olive Tree Foundation, EnviroMuslims is proud to share the Greening Canadian Mosques program! The program aims to empower mosque management teams, as well as mosque-goers, to understand environmental issues and take appropriate action.

Want to get involved?

If you are a mosque-goer, please fill out this survey to help us understand what your expectations are from your local mosque when it comes to embedding sustainable practices within their facilities. You'll also have the chance to win 1 of 2 $50 gift cards at the end of the survey! https://bit.ly/34RK4Z0

If you are an imam or manager of a mosque facility, complete the survey below to tell us about some of your current sustainability policies and practices, and what types of resources you'd like to see as part of the GCM program: https://bit.ly/2KHbmdH

Help us spread the word - tag your family and friends, and encourage your local mosque to take action!

Faith & the Common Good and EnviroMuslims Announce a New Project: Greening Canadian Mosques

The following is the press release from Faith & the Common Good announcing the launch of the Greening Canadian Mosques Project.

In keeping with our commitment to work with interfaith partners for sustainable communities, Faith & the Common Good (FCG) is delighted to begin a new partnership with EnviroMuslims (EM) to green Canadian mosques.

Islam holds high regard for environmental stewardship and sees it as a religious duty for Muslims to participate in the care of the planet. As such, there is growing interest from Islamic leaders in Canadian mosques to engage in sustainable practices and a need for support and guidance to set and achieve targets.

Thanks to generous funding provided by the Olive Tree Foundation, the Greening Canadian Mosques program aims to address this interest and empower mosque management teams, as well as mosque-goers, to understand environmental issues and take appropriate action.

“The overall objective is to understand what kind of support Canadian mosques need to embed sustainability in their operations, and the tools they need to identify, track and deliver resource efficiency opportunities,’ says Michelle Singh, Executive Director of FCG. “At the same time, the project will identify potential facility cost savings.”

There are over one million Muslims in Canada and over 903 mosques. One resource that the project will develop is a Toolkit designed specifically for Canadian mosques to improve sustainable practices, reduce carbon emissions, and reduce costs. As part of the development of the Toolkit, FCG and EM will be bringing together local sustainability experts and mosque leaders in a roundtable event to ask for their input on the resources developed.

“Mosques serve both as a place of worship and a place to generate economy, education, and social cohesion of the community,” says Areej Riaz, Lead Climate Programs at EnviroMuslims. “They can serve as an influential medium for spiritually and behaviorally congruent environmental sustainability interventions in Muslim populations, and for improving and maintaining a healthier environment.

The project launched on October 1, 2020, and will run until March 15, 2021.

Contact: Michelle Singh at msingh@faithcommongood.org for more information.

Download a PDF of the announcement here. 

Faith & the Common Good is a national, interfaith charitable network with a mission to harness the power of diverse faith and spiritual groups through education, capacity building, and collective action to build more resilient and sustainable Canadian communities.

EnviroMuslims is a group of Canadian Muslims working to engage with, educate, and empower the Canadian Muslim community to embed sustainable practices where they live, work, play, and pray.

The Olive Tree Foundation is a philanthropic foundation that promotes community development through the collection of endowed funds and charitable contributions to fund services for the long-term benefit of the community.

EnviroMuslims Want to Make This Year's Ramadan More Eco-Friendly with Their Eco-Ramadan Challenge

By: Chelby Daigle

EnviroMuslims has launched its Eco-Ramadan Challenge, aimed at getting Muslims to think about making their Ramadan more eco-friendly.

Muslim Link interviewed members of EnviroMuslims about their organization and what they hope to achieve with this year's Eco-Ramadan Challenge.

Tell us yourselves

The three core members of the team are: Saba Khan, Sara Khan, and Areej Riaz. All three individuals have a passion for environmental stewardship and sustainability as well as community health and well-being, which is so closely tied to the realm of sustainability.

Both Areej and Saba have pursued degrees related to environmental sciences and sustainability. Saba holds a bachelor's degree in Environment and Business from the University of Waterloo, and Areej holds two Masters of Science degrees: one in Applied Carbon Management from the University of Glasgow and another in Environmental Sciences from Kinnaird College in Pakistan. Both are currently employed in the field of sustainability and climate change.

Sara holds a science degree from the University of Toronto, specializing in Computer Science. Over the years she has been involved in various large-scale community projects through groups such as Islamic Relief Canada, Muslim Welfare Centre, and MAX Mentors, and is leading the group’s projects related to social impact. 

While all three individuals are of Pakistani descent, we look to our community for diverse perspectives and ideas and encourage individuals who would like to volunteer with us, or have ideas for future programming, to get in touch.

How did you start EnviroMuslims? 

EnviroMuslims was an idea in the works for years. For some of us, we have studied environmental studies, sciences, and sustainability and pursued careers in the industry. For others on our team, although they pursued different career paths, the passion they have about social justice and the health and well-being of our communities tied directly to their desire to get involved in this group.

EnviroMuslims is a movement to engage with the Muslim community around our roles as caretakers of this planet - a gift that has been given to us by Allah swt and that we are responsible for caring for. Seeing the lack of inclusion and diversity in the realm of sustainability and considering the impact climate change has on diverse and vulnerable communities around the world, we saw an opportunity to engage with the Canadian Muslim community around an issue that is so important to our religion, as well as the health and well-being of our community and generations to come.

How did the idea for the Eco-Ramadan Challenge come about?

The idea of the Eco-Ramadan Challenge came from EnviroMuslims’ Climate Change and Environmental Programming Lead, Areej Riaz. Areej moved to Canada in 2019 and was devastated to see the plastic water bottles and food waste that littered a local masjid during the month of Ramadan. Her feelings resonated with the entire EnviroMuslims' team, and the Eco Ramadan Challenge was born.

With the COVID-19 pandemic halting gatherings and closing mosques across the world, the team knew this Ramadan was going to be different. The Eco Ramadan Challenge aims to bring the community together by introducing activities and resources to complete an eco-action every day of Ramadan from home, with the hope of encouraging a shift in behaviors within the community. By developing the Eco Ramadan Challenge, our group’s aim is to encourage individuals to consider the impacts our actions have on the planet and its finite resources, to examine alternative actions that can reduce our environmental footprint, and reduce our collective burden on planet earth.

How are you partnering with other Muslim organizations for this campaign?
 
While the development of the Eco Ramadan Challenge has been a team project, the support we have received by Muslim organizations sharing the Challenge on their social media platforms has been a true blessing. 
 
The Alberta Muslim Public Affairs Council (AMPAC) helped us in creating a video for their Muslims of Canada video series, which we released on Earth Day. The video introduced EnviroMuslims as well as the Eco Ramadan Challenge.
 
We have also received support from our friends at Khaleafa, who have included the Eco Ramadan Challenge in their Green Ramadan Journal.The journal allows individuals to track their green goals along with goals related to prayer and health this Ramadan.
 
More recently, on Tuesday May 5, we had the opportunity to “take over” Green Deen Tribe’s instagram account. Green Deen Tribe is a group based in the United Kingdom who is currently featuring environmental groups around the world and showcasing what an ethical iftar looks like in different countries. EnviroMuslims had the opportunity to spend the day speaking about our work and showcasing the Eco Ramadan Challenge
 
The COVID 19 pandemic has highlighted the issue of air pollution as many cities are experiencing the cleanest air in years as so many people stay home. Does your campaign explore Air Pollution or other environmental issues related directly or indirectly to the COVID 19 pandemic.
 
The Eco Ramadan Challenge explores a variety of environmental issues related to water stewardship, energy conservation, food and plastic waste and climate conversations. These actions are not only ones that individuals can take within their homes during a time of physical distancing but can also be adopted past the pandemic and lead to a behavior shift in our community. In terms of direct actions that link to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an action that encourages families to make cleaning supplies made of natural, chemical-free ingredients. 
 
Through our social media channels, we have shared posts encouraging individuals to properly dispose of gloves and masks, as well as resources around the impact of disposing disinfecting wipes down toilets - a concern many municipalities across the country have shared, as the improper disposal of disinfecting wipes down toilets has increased the stress of our shared infrastructure. We are active in sharing tips, news articles and resources specifically around environmentalism during COVID-19 on our social media platforms.
 
We were also invited by the MYVOICE Canada team to speak to youth about post-pandemic life specifically around environmental sustainability. During this webinar we discussed issues related to our environmental footprint, and how the pandemic has brought to light the impacts humanity has on the natural environment. Watch the interview with EnviroMuslims by MYVOICE Canada below (It may take a few moments for the video to load from YouTube).

How can people get involved with EnviroMuslims?

We are always looking for like-minded individuals who share our passion about environmental stewardship and sustainability. If you are interested in volunteering or collaborating on one of our coming projects, you can reach us at enviromuslims@gmail.com.

You can also follow us on social media: Facebook: @EnviroMuslims, Twitter: @EnviroMuslims, Instagram: @enviromuslimscanada
 
Is there anything else you would like to add?
 
To us, it is important to share that environmental sustainability goes beyond caring for the natural environment: it is an issue linked closely to health and well-being, social justice, inequality, education, and indigenous sovereignty. It is important for us to share with our community that everyone has a role to play in this movement, regardless of your educational background, career, or lifestyle. Through our programming, we hope to introduce the Canadian Muslim community to a wide range of ideas, resources and perspectives to empower individuals to see the power we have to make a positive and eco-conscious change.

This piece was originally published on MuslimLink on May 10 2020.