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Environmental Action Committee

The Environmental Action Committee was established by Church Council with the primary goal of initiating and maintaining Green Sanctuary status with the Unitarian Universalist Association. The Green Sanctuary Program was designed to develop the vision that together we can create a world in which all people share reverence, gratitude, and care for the living Earth, which is so essential to our lives. 

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Participating in the UUA's Green Sanctuary program provides us with a framework to proclaim and live out our commitment to the Earth. We already do a lot! From composting all of our food waste and procuring only green electricity through Viridian to promoting local and healthy food through UShare gardens and Campus Kitchens – our “green” habits are quite visible. But the Green Sanctuary program does more to also help us with the 7th UU Principle and the spiritual side of "respecting and connecting to the earth and the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part."

Our Green Sanctuary application has been completed and submitted to the UUA for review. This completed document includes an evaluation of the current "green" strengths and areas to improve in the operations, worship, education, and environmental justice aspects of our church, and a plan for 12 projects that will increase the sustainability of our activities. The projects include:

1. Celebrating a Spiritual Connection with our Natural World: Starting Summer 2013 - a commitment to hold at least one outside service per year in subsequent years. Lead: Jon Montan (Worship Committee)

2. Services with themes of nature and protecting the environment: One to two services indoor services will be held annually that celebrate themes of nature and the interdependent web of life. Lead: Jon Montan (Worship Committee)

3. The World of Wonder: The new UUA Tapestry of Faith curriculum The World of Wonder will be adopted as a curriculum as part of our RE program. Lead: Susan Powers (RE Committee) and Jan Hutslar (DRE)
4. Living our Values Daily (LOVED): A series of five RE sessions were held in the 2012-2013 year with all children in grades 1-7 to develop their sense of love for the environment and develop plans for reducing their impact. Lead:Susan Powers (RE Committee), and Jan Hutslar (DRE)
5. First Friday Potluck and Discussion Series: On the first Friday evening of each month in the fall, a potluck will be held at the church followed by a presentation or video and discussion on a wide range of sustainability topics. Lead: Carol Zimmerman and Carol Gable
6. Preserve the Harvest: Members of the church will work with the director of the local Church and Community Program to offer classes on how to cook with fresh, local ingredients. Lead: Maria Corse (UShare Committee)
7.  Engage Youth Group in Environmental Justice: The youth group will spend a year learning about environmental justice issues in places near and far culminating with trip dedicated to working on an environmental justice project. Lead: Carol Gable and Tom Van de Water  
8. Heating System Improvements: Based on the energy audit completed this winter, several issues were identified that would make our heating system more efficient. Lead: Mike Corse (Buildings and Grounds Committee)
9. Green electricity: Last fall the church switched its electricity supplier to Viridian, a company committed to providing alternative sources of energy. Viridian also provides a fund raising program in which we receive a donation for members of the congregation who select Viridian as their electricity supplier. Lead: Walt Conley (Church Council) and Pam Short
10. Conserve Water: Low flow sink aerators will be installed in the kitchen and three bathrooms.  Two upstairs toilets will be fitted with low-tech solutions to displace water volume in the tank. Lead:  Mike Corse (Building and Grounds committee)
11. Food waste collection for composting: Improvements being made to the kitchen will include a system to collect food scraps that accumulate during church functions and the free weekly meal at the church. Food scraps will be composted and the compost used for the church’s UShare gardens. Lead:  Mike Corse (Building and Grounds Committee)
12. Sustainable Purchasing Policies: Sustainable purchasing policies will be implemented for the church with guidelines for cleaning supplies that avoid harsh or toxic chemicals.  The policies will also require that office paper, toilet paper, paper towels contain at least 30% post-consumer recycled paper.  Snacks for social hour and religious education will be purchased in bulk from United Natural Foods, Inc. Lead: Maria Corse.

Additional details are included in the complete application:  

 

Our next steps are to receive comments from the UUA and revise this document while we concurrently work to become a Green sanctuary.  The final designation that we have achieved the Green sanctuary designation will occur (hopefully!) after our projects are complete and their success reported to the UUA
The GS application was developed and written by members of the Environmental Action committee under the leadership of Susan Powers (sep@clarkson.edu) and Carol Gable (cgable@stlawu.edu). Special thanks go to the additional contributors to this document and the project implementation leaders: Maria and Mike Corse, Walt Conley, Jan Hutsler, Jon Montan, Pam Short, Tom Van de Water, and Carol Zimmerman.

To learn more about the UUA's Green Sanctuary program, visit http://www.uua.org/environment/sanctuary/index.shtml.

Our church is a member of the New York chapter of Interfaith Power and Light, an association of more than 60 congregations of various faiths located throughout the state that are working together to address climate change as a religious issue. 

To Learn More
click on these links

United Nations Information On Climate Change 

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