This worksheet provides a guideline to walk you through an action plan for better energy management at home and to demonstrate care for this gift that God has shared with us. By completing three sections (personal, communal and transformational activities), you will be able to use energy in a more sustainable manner.

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Objectives for this worksheet:

• To consider switching to renewable electricity

• To conduct a personal energy audit in my house

• To set my short, medium- and long-term energy efficiency goals for my house

The following worksheet provides a guideline to walk you and your family through an action plan for a sustainable transportation lifestyle. By completing three sections – personal, communal, and transformational – you will be moving toward being able to travel in a more sustainable manner.

Let’s get started!

Please invite your family members to help you as you proceed with this worksheet.

Objectives for this Worksheet:

• To learn about actions to save money and reduce my transportation carbon footprint

• To create my action plan based on the options offered on this worksheet

• To learn how I can contribute in my community and neighborhood for a more sustainable transportation lifestyle

Food waste is estimated at between 30-40 % of the food supply. From an economic, environmental and social standpoint, keeping food out of landfills is imperative. We waste 40% of the food we buy each year while 1 in 7 Americans go hungry, and the global agriculture industry emits 1/3 of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. American food production costs 10% of the nation’s total energy budget, 50% of its land, and 80% of all the US’s freshwater consumption is dedicated to the production and distribution of food. Americans throw out $218 billion of food annually. That’s more than enough food to feed the 42 million Americans who are food insecure every year. Food waste goes straight to landfills, producing harmful greenhouse gasses, impacting the environment both directly and indirectly as all the resources, like water, labor, and energy, used to grow, produce, and transport that food also ends up wasted.

Objectives of this worksheet:

• To create a strategic plan to reduce my water and food waste and reduce my groceries expenses

• To learn what action I can take to reduce my water and food waste

• To contribute to my community by reducing waste

• To become an agent of change in my family, parish, and working environment

Consumer purchasing is an expression and a reflection of you, your tastes, and your lifestyle choices. Your spending decisions reflect your priorities. Maybe you take pride in your car or your clothes or your kitchen appliances or your latest, coolest purchase. Or maybe you spend whatever you can on travel or on your passion for hiking. Those very personal tastes will frame your spending choices.

Over the last 50 years, the average American home size has grown from 1,000 square feet to 2,500 square feet, and we consume twice as many material goods today as we did 50 years ago. Excess material possessions do not enrich our lives. In fact, buying things we don’t need keeps us from experiencing life-giving and life-freeing benefits. We would be wise to realize the cause and become vigilant in overcoming it. Whether it’s a new car or the latest smartwatch, the reality is that the value of consumer goods generally drops over time.

Objectives of this worksheet:

• To diagnose my purchasing habits and restructure my decision-making process before buying something

• To learn how to adjust my consumer purchasing lifestyle

• How can I live simpler?

• To create an action plan for a more sustainable consumer purchasing mindset