Pictured Above: St. Columban’s residents and staff plant milkweed seeds which will later be transplanted into
outdoor beds to attract pollinators to the retirement home gardens. The program engages residents in the care of the natural environment and is one of the many activities offered at the home.
Green Practices have long been an integral part of St Columban’s 56 year history. This year St. Columban’s on the Lake Retirement Home marks its 56th year in its ministry for the elderly serving Silver Creek, New York and the surrounding communities. A Mass of Thanksgiving was celebrated on May 3rd in St. Columban’s chapel commemorating this very special occasion. St. Columban’s is blessed with a campus consisting of 50 parklike acres of trees, rolling lawns and beautiful gardens overlooking the Lake Erie shore. During all its years of operation, the retirement home and grounds have been consistently maintained under the loving stewardship of the Columban Sisters who have long incorporated green practices into their planning.
Program participants enjoy an educational video on Monarch butterflies, one of the area’s native pollinators.
The Sisters follow the goals set forth by Pope Francis in his 2015 encyclical Laudate Si, now continued by Pope Leo, to address the many crises affecting our natural environment. They believe that everything in human life and in nature is interconnected and that we must all do our part to care for the earth, our common home. The Sisters have established ecology ministries in
all their worldwide missions, in addition to St. Columban’s on the Lake Retirement home in the USA. For the most part these are small, everyday actions that cumulatively can make a positive, sustainable difference.
St. Columban residents with one of the paper recycling bins found at various locations through the home. The ongoing program for paper, plastic and glass recycling was given special emphasis during this year’s Earth Day observance.
The Ecology Ministry in Action at St. Columban’s
Supported by staff and volunteers, St. Columban’s offers its residents a wealth of programs and activities that suit a wide variety of interests.
Among these are many with a green focus. For residents with a green thumb and a love of gardening, there are the home’s raised garden beds where residents plant, weed and harvest fresh produce used to prepare healthy meals in the home’s kitchen. Recently, residents have participated in a program for planting milkweed seeds to attract pollinators such as Monarch butterflies to the home’s garden beds. Everyone at St. Columban’s participates in the home’s recycling program for paper, plastic and glass and practices energy conservation in all aspects of day-to-day operations.
Environmentally friendly activities through the years include replacing annual planting beds with perennial gardens, planting scores of trees in honor of various milestone anniversaries and replacing plastic edging with manual edging for garden beds and trees. The home also creates its own compost and potting soil with spent plant material from the property. Currently, in addition to
introducing pollinator plants, the home has also focused on including plants requiring less water.
These and many more ecological initiatives are underway or in the planning stages, including development of larger “no-mow” areas, ongoing removal of invasive species and drainage improvements to control storm water run-off and pooled water. There are also ongoing educational programs and demonstrations to continually raise environmental awareness among residents and staff.