Green Sanctuary
Contact: Dick Schaffer, bikeschaf@aol.comProgram Goals • To raise awareness of the global environmental crisis.
• To generate commitment for personal lifestyle changes.
• To motivate UUs to community action on environmental issues.
• To build a connection between spiritual practice and environmental consciousness.
• To make the church a microcosm of what we'd like to see environmentally in our community and in the world.
• To encourage members of the congregation to live their personal lives in an environmentally friendly manner.
Current activities:
Big Birding Year on the Holy Hill
A lot has gone into making Mt. Vernon Unitarian Church a truly "green" space. From the butterfly garden, to the geo-thermal system that now warms up and cools down our Meeting House, to composting leftovers from our functions, this community is trying to live the seventh principle: the interdependence of all existence.
In 2012, we attempt to see how many bird species are attracted to our church grounds, and make a record of it. You are encouraged to keep a pair of binoculars in your car and use it when you come to church, whether for a meeting, worship, or just to sit and relax.
If you spot a bird, report it using this link, http://ebird.org/content/ebird/. The user id is MVUCMVUC, the password is "chalice." Follow the instructions and enter your bird(s).
We kick off this year-long event with a brief bird walk on the Holy Hill at 8 a.m. on Monday, January 2nd, led by Ben Jesup. Please join us, we will have fun!
Ethical Eating
What It Is, What's Its Relevance
There are many factors that are stressing all environments around the globe most of which are known to most people. One that isn't as well known is food production. The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations has created a Study Action Issue called Ethical Eating to show what effects current food production practices have on the environment, on animals, and on people. There is vey detialed information available in the associated study guide.
At its simplest Ethical Eating is being aware of where your food comes from, the effect growing it, the effect creating it, has on environmental health and on your health. It is being aware of the environmental costs of meat production. It is being aware that the low cost of certain food stuffs in our country can negatively affect people in other countries.
What's Happening
Food production, like many other environmental stressors, affects the environment in many complex ways and has changed a great deal in the past sixty years, not always for the better.
• Current food production practices contribute to global warming by releasing greenhouse gases such as methane from industrial animal farms.• Current food production practices destroy ecosystems by allowing manure and urine from factory animal farms to leak into ground water and streams where it eventually makes its way to rivers conributing to the dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
• Fertilizer and pesticide run off also contribute to these dead zones.
• Current food production practices contribute to soil erosion and depletion.
There are also non-environmental costs associated with current food production and consumption practices. These practices can contribute to poverty, hunger and malnutrition globally (please refer to the study guide for specific information).
What You Can Do
The Green Sanctuary Task Force is participating in this effort to show that as individuals and families we can reverse these problematic production methods.
We can affect this change in a few ways as follows:
• Learn more about where your food comes from. (Resources on the implications of food choices and animal rights are available.)• Eat more vegetables, grains, and nuts. If you want to eat meat, try to eat less meat than you currently do, and when possible eat sustainably raised meat.
• Try joining the Meatless Mondays movement.
• Learn about the Slow Food movement.
• Learn about Raw Food.
• Rediscover the pleasure of growing your own food.
• Replace your lawn with an edible garden. Or take a look at the "Delawning Movement".
• If possible buy locally grown organic produce.
• Patronize restaurants that serve locally grown organic produce and sustainably raised meats.
• Keep faith that our efforts will matter. Our current problematic eating practices took decades to develop and will take time to reverse.
Future Plans
The Green Sanctuary task force has produced a brochure on Ethical Eating practices and resources - look for it in the Commons. We are also working on a cookbook of tasty, fun to make, vegetarian recipes. We will be producing plans for edible gardens complete with planting suggestions.
If you want to know why you will never ever want to use a plastic bag again you can view "Plastic Plague" by National Geographic.
Energy
We instigate and support the church's switch from the power grid to renewable energy. See link for details of MVUC's going 'net zero' energy use, here.For Recycling Information, click here.
Find Easy Green Tips here.
How to reduce waste at home, click here.
Past Work and Accomplishments at this link.
Task Force members information.
