• Cover, table of contents and preface
• Chapter 1: Program Description
• Chapter 2: Starting the Journey
  
• Chapter 3: Conducting an Environmental Assessment
  
• Chapter 4: Creating a Comprehensive Program
  
• Chapter 5: Green Sanctuary Accreditation & Acknowledgments
  
• Exhibits
  
• Application for Candidacy
  
• Application for Accreditation
  

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22968263/

Pete   

I’m breaking my own rule of post to the blog first – there’s always a place for email. My congregations have not gotten back to me, except for Montreal, which made it sound like Green Sanctuary is no big deal there, at least not yet. I’m very curious to hear from Katherine Jesch.

I have been thinking a lot about GS and what our UU fellowship would be like if we really went in that direction, not fooling around but really doing it. And I’ve been trying to look at GS thoughtfully and “critically” (in the good sense, I hope), and trying to imagine how it fits in to local environmental efforts.

Look forward to a good talk tomorrow,

Don

All, I had a very inspiring and instructive Q&A dialogue with Judy Moores, the coordinator of the Green Sanctuary program at the UU Church of Davis, CA. I’m sharing it here because the work at this congregation is exemplary, and Judy’s responses provide good answers to some key questions we’ll have as we flesh out our own program framework.

If you have time, check out the site of the UU Legislative Ministry, a resource Judy mentioned. This is in California only, but conceptually it offers plenty of food for thought re: how to engage on issues at the policy/legislative level.

Without further ado, here’s the Q&A.

Thanks,

Pete

————————

Q1 – Have you found that the framework of the Green Sanctuary program as sponsored/administered by the UU Ministry for Earth gives you the flexibility to tailor the program to your congregation’s unique needs and interests?

A1 – Definitely. The point of the audit is to figure out where the holes are and what are the needs of your congregation. For example, you may not do any recycling, but your R.E. program is full of nature and environmental issues. So you start a recycling program and seek ways to enrich your RE program with ecojustice projects. The idea is to start where you are. We have a varied congregation with lots of different interests. So we made sure to include music, art, lectures, fieldtrips, discussion groups, etc. on a wide range of topics (bioregion, nature, sustainability, ecojustice, etc.)

We found that including a number of subsidiary projects was a great boon. For example, under Project 12 we said that we would two or more of six possible projects. We actually completed 3 of the projects (1,5,6), turned one project (4) into a major project when we could not do one of the other planned projects, and did most of the remaining two projects (2 and 6). This flexibility also gave us projects to continue to work on after we completed enough work to file for accreditation. So we never felt much of a let down.

Q2 – Did you encounter any “resistance” within your congregation to the idea of becoming a Green Sanctuary? If so, what form did it take? (We’re trying to anticipate potential objections and obstacles and wonder what your experience has been.)

A2 – We started gently – asking for consensus at the annual congregational meeting to form a committee and start the basic work. We did tell the congregation that they would need to vote on whether or not they wanted to be a Green Sanctuary before we could apply for accreditation. The Peace and Justice group was worried that we would be competing with them, but we reassured them that we were happy to work with then and many eco-justice issues were also peace and social justice issues. Members of the GS committee also attended p + J meetings and worked on P and J issues. We were careful to write some articles for our church newsletters emphasizing the need for both and how complementary they were. We also did a lot of personal outreach – meeting one on one with the minister, office staff, some key church leaders. We visited other committees to ask for their input and tell them what we were doing. I gave a talk for the women’s fellowship and got them on board. In the end we had an unanimous vote in favor of becoming a GS. If you have read out accreditation application, you will note that our work really build a good feeling and a sense of pride in our work by the congregation.

Q3 – Are there ongoing requirements to maintain Green Sanctuary certification after it’s earned? What reviews, audits, documentation, reports, etc., if any, are in place to help ensure that the congregational commitment is ongoing and doesn’t end with the certification itself? Something analogous to “continuing education” at the institutional level, administered or monitored by the UUMFE?

A2 – Yes to the first question. Becoming accredited is just the beginning of the work we need to do if we are to get global warming under control and deal with many other environmental and eco-justice issues. In some cases, on-going church policies were changed. Our audit is being used as we work with an architect on a 50 year plan for our property and what buildings we may add in the next few years. We continue to offer green Adult RE classes and the Earth and environment and eco-justice are incorporated into many of our worship services and children’s RE program.

As I mentioned, our plan had sufficient projects to continue well pass the actual completion of sufficient work to earn accreditation. We also continued to brainstorm projects and to work fairly hard – even if not at quite the earlier intensity. Last fall, we had Richard Heinberg give a talk and put out a vegetarian cookbook. We are now working on introducing the David Gershon book Low Carb(on) Diet: How to lose 5000# in 30 days (that is reduce our carbon emissions) in March and April and are challenging our congregation to lose 50000#. You can find out more about this on the UU Legislative Ministry website (http://www.uulmca.org/about/about.html). I believe that a church needs to be reaccredited or renew its accreditation after 5 years, but my manual is not handy to check the exact #. Meanwhile, we do keep active and we do keep records of all our work. Do keep records – pictures, copies of posters, news releases, newspaper articles, etc., – great for church records and for documenting what you have done when you get ready to apply for candidacy and accreditation. We made binders of our work, which we keep in the church lib as a reference for all.

Q4 – To what extent, if any, has financial cost been an issue in deciding on or implementing specific Green Sanctuary-related work? For example, some sustainable living projects could entail investment in more energy efficient technology or upgrading church facilities.

A4 – We were not able to justify the economics of putting up solar panels as an independent project and replaced that project with a major food project. However, as a church we have decided that we will try to meet LEEDS criteria for any future buildings that we build and fully expect to incorporate solar panels when we build. As a committee, we have given concerts and fieldtrips and our cookbook project for small fees and those amounts have offset our budget each year so that we are actually end the year with a surplus for the church.

Q5 – One year following your official certification, do you feel that excitement and commitment to the Green Sanctuary program within the congregation has been sustained? Have you made additional plans for further integrating the Green Sanctuary commitment into various aspects of congregational life? This could include expanding efforts outward to the larger community and perhaps even to the local, regional or state policy-making level. For example, UC-Davis has an Environmental Justice Project — http://ej.ucdavis.edu/about.html — do you envision your church forming partnerships or alliances that allow you to work with other organizations toward similar goals?

A5 – We have become part of a growing network of UU Churches and other faith groups that look to us as a model for their own efforts on behalf of earth. Our UU CD Green Sanctuary committee has some new members and some have moved on to other activities, but we still have a sense of deep commitment and pride in all that we have accomplished. We are part of Care for God’s Creation – a local interfaith group that puts on conferences every two years to educate the faith communities on their responsibilities to take care of Earth. As a church we also support and keep close contact with the UU Legislative Ministry and the UU Ministry for Earth. We have good relations with the NWEI as well. I personally have begun to work with others in the City of Davis to deal with environmental issues. I helped write a resolution to ban the purchase (and sale) of bottle water by the city, which the council passed and is now being implemented. (You can read about this on the UU Legislative ministry website.) I hope these answers help you. Blessings on your work on behalf of Earth.

Judy

PS I will attach a copy of some of my favorite readings for your use. I put them together for Care for God’s Creation’s next conference to be held May 3 on the Breathe of Life. cfgc-and-b-of-life-quotes.doc Enjoy!

http://www.uusofdavis.org/information/GS/gs1_main.html

(then scroll down to the various links)

As an example to illustrate what a tremendous model the Davis church is, here is a copy of their actual application for Green Sanctuary certification. It’s long, but I’d consider it “required reading” at some point, if we used such terms:

 uudavis-application-greensanctuary.pdf

Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:46:09 -0800 (PST)
From: Janet Heller
Subject: Re: [Greensanctuary] Food
To: Sandra Rippetoe , Green Sanctuary Prog -
environmental congregations
Message-ID:
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

Our church has an organic vegetable garden that is a regular part of the RE curriculum each spring and summer with input from many other congregational members. The kids really love the program and many adults have great pleasure and learning from it as well. Our Sustainable Living Committee promotes support of local organic food and farms (and organic land care)in various ways including membership in area CSAs, promoting farmers markets and membership in and events sponsored by CTNOFA www.ctnofa.org the CT branch of the Northeast Organic Farming Association. At UUSE we have also started and Ecological Landscape Team to plan and care for our wooded land and grounds especially as we prepare for a building expansion. We like the idea of encouraging edible plants, shrubs and trees into the landscape.

We are having a program on St Jan 26 about Global warming and will make the connection between food and global warming and promote a greener diet – more plant based, local organic or home grown, and less meat or animal products especially from factory farmed animals.
We are also having a service in March about Rachel Carson. I am interested to see here that there will be a CSAI proposed on ethical eating at this year’s GA. It’s a tough issue that needs to be out there more for so many reasons.
Janet Heller
www.uuse.org

Sandra Rippetoe wrote:
our church (via our env. task force) partnered with a local farm last year
to provide a CSA for interested members.
Sandy Rippetoe
UU Church of Lexington, KY

Here’s   a picture of an Oregon UU lawn/parking lot  from UU World.

WOW! I don’t know if we want to do it, but WOW anyway.

Here is the site of the maker, and the message from the guy at Clemson follows below. Field trip, anyone???

http://www.invisiblestructures.com

Also, yes, some congregations help sponsor CSAs and community gardens, both.

Don

Message: 5
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 11:38:40 -0800 (PST)
From: Steve Johnson
Subject: Re: [Greensanctuary] Food
To: Green Sanctuary Prog – environmental congregations

Message-ID:
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

At the Clemson (South Carolina) UU Fellowship we have a green parking lot. This a heavy-duty plastic grid that sits just under the surface of the turf. This allows us to have a nice green lawn which cars can park on. Many churches are surrounded be a depressing sea of asphalt. Visitors comment all the time at how welcoming the grounds to our church are. Our green parking lot makes a statement. I recommend it highly to all churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples of any and every faith.

We are looking into converting other grassy areas into native meadows, bushes, or trees in order to cut down on the fossil fuels that are expended to cut the grass and to provide a welcoming habit for native birds, butterflies, etc. We have bird feeders and bird baths, and our grounds have been certified by the National Wildlife Federation as being wildlife friendly. We also have some native blueberry bushes, whose fruit we consume, and we also share it with the wildlife.

–Steve Johnson
Cell # 864-650-2609
REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

Here’s the link: 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120114002163112121.html?mod=hps_us_inside_today

Once you get past the dumbed-down title of “The dark side of ‘green’ bulbs” (please), there’s some relevant stuff here. For one thing, even when CFLs and other electronics are recycled, there’s a good chance it won’t be done correctly. Particularly disturbing is the claim by one environmental group that “roughly 50% to 80% of electronic waste that goes to recyclers goes on to developing countries, especially China, where it often isn’t properly dealt with. There, workers break apart the items to get at the metals and other components that can be resold and are often exposed to toxic substances in the process.”

If that’s true, there’s no clearer demonstration of how environmental and social justice issues intersect..

Kym, I haven’t read your recycling piece yet, but to the extent that responsible recycling becomes part of the program concept we envision, this article points toward some possible ways to avoid the pitfalls.

• Why changing our individual lifestyles is the fastest way to reduce global warming.
• How we can engage our communities in stopping climate change.
• The keys to creating a tipping point.
• What you can do to make a difference for the planet.
• How corporations can participate in saving the environment.

Here’s the link (you need Real Audio to listen for free):

http://www.ndbroadcasting.org/program.php?id=3224

The second link is to the “Low Carbon Diet” site itself, http://www.empowermentinstitute.net/lcd/index.html, which has further links to the “Cool America” Campaign, http://www.empowermentinstitute.net/lcd/lcd_files/Cool_America.html.

I’m not necessarily endorsing these specific programs (although the UU Ministry for Earth, which sponsors the Green Sanctuary program, seems to be a true believer in the Low Carbon Diet). But as I’ve mentioned before, we strengthen our case when we ask the congregation to imagine the possibilities for eventually translating vision into action. The “Cool America” Campaign, for example, sounds, well, cool. Notice how it starts with engaging households to reduce their carbon footprints 20% by 2010 and broadens its scope to the community and then the policy level – in much the same way we wrote about opportunities for engagement in our 1-pagers:

“With a real ticking clock, substantive and timely change needs to come from both the top down and bottom up simultaneously. Our daily lifestyles represent half of America’s carbon footprint and our purchases influence the other half. Households represent between 50% and 90% of a community’s carbon footprint. It is also the low-hanging fruit because we can make these changes immediately without waiting for major policy initiatives, new technologies or alternative energy sources to scale up. Further, engaging the citizens of a community builds demand for bold policy changes and the green products and services needed to sustain a climate change movement. How we live our lives is a major part of the problem and solution. To successfully tackle this issue at the community level, we need a new motto – city and citizen as partners.

We need to achieve measurable and timely carbon reduction at the residential level so that when the legislative process is finally in place, we have laid the groundwork for rapid change in our communities. If you will, we need to build the Mt. Everest base camp. Cool America is a grassroots campaign to build this base camp in communities across the nation. It is a call to substantive action now … community by community, household by household.” 

Sounds like a plan.

Pete