Green Sanctuary

History:  At the April 4, 2006, meeting of the UUFVB Board, the Social Justice committee received unanimous support for embarking upon the Green Sanctuary program!  Susan Winters and Nancy Stiefel are its co-chairs. The program will lead to the certification of our Fellowship by UUA organization, UU Ministry for Earth.  A Task Force with a broad representation from many Fellowship committees was assembled. 

The next step was to conduct an audit of Fellowship practices in many areas including energy usage, energy conservation, water conservation, recycling, waste reduction, environmentally friendly cleaning supplies, socially responsible purchasing and investing policies, landscaping policies, use of toxic chemicals, and environmental religious education for children and adults.  All of these areas plus our worship services relate to the seventh UU principle: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.  They also relate to the 2006 Statement of Conscience passed at General Assembly in June: The Threat of Global Warming.

The third step was to write an Action Plan of at least twelve projects to be implemented by the congregation and its committees to observe more environmentally responsible practices.  These projects fall within four categories:  sustainable living, worship and celebration, education, and environmental justice.  The Action Plan was submitted in December 2006. Now we begin the process of accomplishing our Action Plan which depends on the participation and support of every member and friend of the Fellowship. 

Join us at our next meeting:  Monday, April 14th, at 1:00 PM in the lobby.  All are welcome to attend.

Our Action Plan:

Sustainable Living (4 required including one energy conservation activity)

1. Switch to Ecosoft toilet tissue and paper toweling with 100% recycled content.
2. Include recipes for green cleaning solutions in the 2007 UUFVB cookbook.
3. Provide information about sources of organic produce and locally grown/caught organic or non-organic food on the website.
4. Reduce overall Fellowship energy usage by 15%.
5. Increase use of recycled-content office paper. Green Sanctuary Task Force will use recycled content copy paper for all of our copying.
6. Participate in the annual Fair Trade Bazaar each December selling environmentally responsible items and providing environmental literature.

Worship and Celebration (2 required)

7. Designate Earth Day as an annual congregational event.
8. Encourage the use of potted plants, native plants, or home-grown and arranged flowers and greens as an alternative to commercially grown non-organic cut flowers for donated Sunday flowers on the chalice table.

Religious Education (2 required)

9. Implement an annual overnight outing (known as Lagoon Night) for our children at the Environmental Learning Center in Wabasso. 
10. Implement a multi-session adult LRE program during the 07-08 fiscal year inviting the public or other congregations.
11. Provide 4^th Friday Potluck program speakers on environmental issues for half of the ten yearly programs including the summer meetings.

Environmental Justice (2 required)