SYLVANIA – The number of groups that promote protecting the environment are legion, from ones on the international stage, like the United Nations Environment Programme, to ones more commonly known, like Greenpeace.
But there’s a longtime group based at Lourdes University in Sylvania that’s been going about its mission in relative anonymity: S.A.V.E. – Science Alliance for Valuing the Environment.
S.A.V.E. was founded on Aug. 10, 1990 by three women who “felt we needed to do something about saving our Earth,” said Sr. Rosine Sobczak, the remaining one of the three women and the S.A.V.E. coordinator.
Sobczak, associate professor emerita at Lourdes University, which follows Catholic and Franciscan principles and is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis. Sobczak, added, “I really felt in my heart I was being called to this ministry.”
She looks at S.A.V.E. as a ministry because of what sets it apart from any other environmental action group in northwest Ohio. The group focuses on three points: ecology, sustainability and — the difference-maker — spirituality.
One of the activities of S.A.V.E. is presenting a bi-monthly series of lectures free to the public. The lectures generally are held in the board room in the Franciscan Center on campus and streamed on Zoom. Details and the Zoom link can be found on their website; and all lectures are from 7:30-9 p.m.
“I have been trying to put in at least one lecture that has a spiritual dimension,” Sobczak said. This will be the approach with Spirituality of the Cosmos: What Stars Teach Us About Hope, to be held on March 11.
The next one will be Laugh Learn, Life Fully: Embracing Environmental Stewardship with Humor, Knowledge, and Action, on April 8.
Other lectures dealt with ocean conservancy and coastal cleanup, microplastics and wildlife filmmaking.
Sobczak said that adding the Zoom component to the lectures has increased their audience. Longtime board of directors member John Krochmalny agrees. He provides technical expertise to livestream the lectures and post them on YouTube.
“The amount of hits on those programs are large,” he said. “They have an international audience.”
S.A.V.E. reaches out to the community through other activities. It collects and recycles used cell phones, laser and ink-jet cartridges, laptops, MP3s, tablets, readers and notebooks.
It also produces a quarterly newsletter; takes part in local conferences; conducts an annual awards program where it presents environmental awards; provides two scholarships for graduating high school seniors; and collaborates with Lourdes’ Lifelong Learning program to spread its message.
Its message: Save the environment through education and action. As its website says, “S.A.V.E.’s activities are designed to empower individuals to values-based action for a just and sustainable world.”
“People are hungry to reconnect to the natural world,” said Cynthia Nowak, a new addition to the nine-member board of volunteers.
“S.A.V.E. offers not a shaming or fear-mongering approach; it’s an approach of hope. A message of optimism — we have the ability (if we have the will) that we can turn things around,” she said.
“Transformative times require hope,” Sobczak added. “S.A.V.E. offers hope in educating others for a sustainable future.”
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