CATEGORY ONE.  WORSHIP AND CELEBRATION 

1.  Mention Every Sunday.  At the start of our efforts, to make sure that an environmental emphasis was apparent in our worship services, we asked our ministers to mention the Seventh Principle in every service. They have continued to do that.

2. Earth Day Services. Action Plan said we’d incorporate a major Earth Day program into the church’s annual services and celebrations. We did this on Earth Day, 2008: on that day our committee members Dell Gerster and Dana Powsner served a vegetarian brunch and made available recipes and information on reasons to go vegetarian.

In 2009 and 2010, we had several earth-centered services, and at the summer solstice in 2010, we held a celebration honoring the installation of the solar panels on our Sanctuary and the lighting changeout, described later (Appendix A).

3. Interfaith Celebration.  We participated in an Interfaith Earth Day celebration, most of which was held at the Presbyterian Church and on the Princeton University campus.  About 30 people from area churches viewed the film, “Everything’s Cool,” and about 50 adults took the “Meet the Trees” walk led by members of other churches and our congregant Ellie Whitney. Four families took the children’s walk led by our congregants Ray Nichols and his wife. An article about this was later published in the UUA magazine.

CATEGORY TWO.  RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

1.  Sense of Place Program. We discussed and the Adult Program Committee approved congregant Pat Ramirez’s proposal to present an eight-week program following the New Jersey Earth Institute’s outline for Discovering a Sense of Place. The class was a moderate success with about seven members faithfully attending. Out of this class the idea emerged of creating a “rain garden” on our grounds. The committee members saw this as a way to involve some of the youth in the church in a “hands-on” activity that would also provide a learning experience and improve the water quality in a local stream.

2.  Film Series. Throughout the first five months of 2009, we offered a film series on environmental issues on every weekend, two different films each time, for a total of more than 25 films (Appendix B).

3. Rain Garden. In the November 2010, Billy Wymer, who had participated in the Religious Education Program, installed a rain garden on the church grounds as an Eagle Scout Project.  With guidance from Ruth Tomlinson and Ray Nichols of the Grounds Committee, Billy designed a rain garden to capture and treat runoff from the two downhill parking lots on the church grounds and installed the garden with the assistance of Troop 10 of South Brunswick. We posted an educational sign in the garden, visible from walkways, which said in part that “Rain gardens catch and hold stormwater and allow it to filter into the ground, thereby preventing pollution of nearby surface waters. Native plants (Blue Flag Iris, Swamp Milkweed, and Shallow Sedge) attract birds, butterflies, and other animals.”

CATEGORY THREE. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Since 2006, the membership of UUCP has made a long-term effort involving three specific major Social Justice Projects:

•   to support the efforts of Habitat for Humanity at the East Trenton Center;

•   to engage congregants in tutoring children in need of additional assistance; and

•   to contribute both leadership and financial support to the creation of a statewide UU Legislative Ministry.

Therefore, when the UUCP Green Sanctuary Committee got started the following year, we realized that our congregation had already considered, and was already involved in, several activities that could be classed as Environmental Justice projects.  Furthermore, all are “long-term or ongoing projects involving the entire congregation and carried out in collaboration with one or more groups in the broader community.”

1.  Fair and Auction.  As part of its historic Social Outreach efforts in Mercer County, UUCP has held both a Spring Fair and a Fellowship Auction for many years from which the proceeds are given as grants to non-profit organizations that pursue environmental justice.  In recent years, these two events, which involve most of the members and many friends, have generated some $15,000 to $20,000. In 2009, the Social Outreach Committee awarded $20,200 to 18 community organizations. Approximately 60% of the funds supported economic justice activities in the Trenton area.

For example, for many years we have supported Isles, a community development organization based in Trenton that fosters self-reliant families in healthy, sustainable communities. We planned to continue this effort in two ways: First, to support the expansion of their Environmental Education Program; and second, to support their new Green Jobs initiative which provides training for Trenton youth in solar panel installation.

As things turned out, Isles requested that our annual grants be devoted to expanding their Community Gardens Program, which has happened.  Then Isles received some major grants to institute their Green Jobs training program, and did not need our help.  Lastly, they decided to drop their support of the Environmental Education Program for Trenton’s elementary school children and adopt, instead, a “Trees for Trenton” project, which would be sponsored by another nonprofit. Later, when in 2008, Trees for Trenton, Inc. approached UUCP for a grant to help fund these field trips, the Social Justice Outreach Committee gave them $1,000.

2.  Habitat.  In our ongoing work with Habitat for Humanity in Trenton, crews of volunteers from UUCP have helped to construct 9 new homes for poor, working families who had never owned their own home before.  We established a special partnership with one such family, and have been providing emotional, physical and substantive support as they learn about the challenges and joys of home ownership.  In addition, several members of the congregation have made regular weekly trips to the East Trenton Center to tutor neighborhood children from that neighborhood.

We have also encouraged Habitat to install energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) in its new homes; have helped help them maximize their use of recycled/reused materials in their buildings; have helped to minimize the volume of construction waste sent to landfills by recycling it wherever possible; and have helped expand their ReStore, where spare construction materials are offered for sale to local people at bargain prices so they can renovate other homes in Trenton.

CATEGORY FOUR.  SUSTAINABLE LIVING We vowed we would do everything we could to make our church building more environmentally friendly and, especially, energy efficient, following the actions identified in our own internal environmental audit, in the professional energy audit we contracted for later, and in a subsequent lighting audit that we conducted on our own.

1.  Solar Power.  We won state approval for a $110,000 rebate to solar-power our sanctuary and installed the solar PV system to do it. By the end of 2009 the PV system was complete, up, and running, saving energy, saving money, and reducing the sanctuary’s carbon footprint. This was one of our congregation’s major successes.

2.  Green Purchasing.   Throughout 2008 and periodically since, we sold “green” products at the Green Sanctuary table: fair trade coffee, compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), reusable Christmas-gift bags that a couple of us made out of colorful cloth),  and energy conservation signs (see Appendix C). The display of these items made members of the congregation aware of the variety of environmentally friendly items available in stores and online  that would be beneficial in their homes.

3.  Professional Energy Audit: We proposed to the Executive Team the large-scale professional energy audit offered by GreenFaith. The Executive Team approved the energy audit proposal and funded it using money given to UUCP anonymously. Angela Clerico, who is a certified LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) inspector, vetted the proposal. Then we selected a five-member Energy Team (Bob van Schaick, Ellie Whitney, Jeffrey Fadden, Ray Nichols, Tom Prusa)

In January 2009, together with a committee member (Ellie), the auditor inspected every aspect of the energy and water systems and early in February he delivered his report.  Then the Energy Team had a conference call with GreenFaith’s executive director to discuss the energy audit, and from that, we developed our plans for improvement (see 4., next).

4.  Lighting Change-Out. Since the energy audit did not provide usable detail about lighting in the building, which represents a major portion of our energy demand, team member Jeffrey Fadden, who is a lighting specialist,  audited this aspect of our energy use and reported back to us. We concluded that, whatever else we did, we should replace all of the T8 fluorescent tubes in our lighting fixtures with T10 tubes and install new ballasts wherever necessary. Jeffrey made an itemized list of exactly how many tubes and ballasts we had to buy, and Bob put this list out for bids to his suppliers and chose one. Altogether, we replaced 78 old fluorescent tubes and ballasts with new, more efficient ones. The job was completed by an all-volunteer crew from the congregation, saving $5,000. Savings in electricity are worth about $2,300 per year and we got a $1,400 rebate.

5.  Permanent Coffee Cups. Since February, 2008, we have stopped using disposable coffee cups on Sunday mornings. We have divided up the task of setting out, washing and putting away permanent cups, which we already owned, after every service. This has produced a ripple effect: Many of the brunch makers are using permanent dishware for their brunches and the RE classes are using the congregation’s permanent coffee cups for their juice.

6. Replacing Bottled-Water Coolers. While focusing on water and energy conservation, we became aware that the use of bottled-water coolers in the building was wasteful and unnecessary in several ways. It is not an ecologically sound practice to pump water out of faraway springs for local use. It is unnecessary to truck water in from far away when our own local tap water can, by appropriate filtration, be made satisfactory for drinking. In considering proposals to replace the bottled-water coolers located upstairs and downstairs, we thought of simply eliminating the coolers, but abandoned this idea because so many groups use the building and expect cold water. We investigated options for replacing the bottled-water coolers with tap-water coolers by making a comparison of the types, features, and costs of replacement coolers. Finally our two bottled-water coolers were removed and two tap-water coolers were installed in their place. The filtered water is local, it is of excellent quality and taste, and it requires no trucking and no bottles. A sign recommending use of permanent water bottles for personal use in posted on top of the coolers.

7 .  Eliminating Small Plastic Bottles. This became common practice at brunches, more or less spontaneously. It is now part of the published policy that no brunch beverages will be offered in small plastic bottles.

8. Clean Power. We made leaflets available on our table so that people could sign up with their utility for clean power. Rev. Forrest joined the clean power program and spoke of it from the pulpit, which raised interest and awareness.  A survey of people stopping by the Green Sanctuary Table in the Lounge in 2008 indicated that:

a.   15 UU families were in, or considering joining, the NJ Clean Power Choice (NJCPC) program

b.     7 or more individuals were each pressuring 5 Washington politicians about climate legislation

c.    24 families (and probably many more) had taken the NJCPC’s Five Light Bulb Challenge

Doubtless, although we haven’t followed up, more congregants are now enrolled in those programs.

CATEGORY FIVE.  OTHER FOCUS AREAS  

1.  Educational Signs.  We designed and posted “sustainability” signs for the congregation explaining the dozens of energy-saving, water-saving, and other practices and devices we already had or were adding to our building. (See Appendix D.) These are colorful, entertaiining and ubiquitous. They are noticed and appreciated by the entire congregation, by visitors and by those who rent space in the building.

2.  Music for Change.   We use more music celebrating the Earth than formerly in promoting the idea and reality of the Green Sanctuary.

ACCOMPLISHMENT OF PROGRAM GOALS

1. Building awareness of societal-environmental issues among UUs. Through the environmental film series; through worship services that celebrate the full moon, the changing seasons, the equinoxes and solstices, and the service that highlighted the installation of solar PV panels on our buildings; through introduction of the tap-water cooler with its informational signs; through the conscious use of lights and water and the signs encouraging this consciousness; through the promotion of Fair Trade coffee; and in many other ways, we promoted awareness of social-environmental issues. In the RE program, classes now use the new UU Tapestry of Faith curricula, which highlight environmental awareness and concerns. RE classrooms are littered with scraps and posters showing environmental awareness. Our three-month summer program (Summer Chalice) offers exploration of, and reverence for, nature each Sunday in a different way; and during the Christmas holiday season, we had a children’s worship service on environmental issues centered on re-use of gifts and recycling wrapping paper.

2. Generating commitment for personal lifestyle changes. New Jersey’s PG&E utility offers abundant support in auditing home energy use and installing renewable energy resources. We published articles on these matters in our newsletter, Skylights, and between services, congregants exchange information about energy audits, use of solar panels, use of geothermal energy to heat and cool our homes, and use of energy-efficient appliances. Hybrid gas-electric cars abound in our parking lot and SUV’s are scarce; a number of congregants bike and walk to Sunday services.  Congregants have purchased, from the Green Sanctuary table, compact fluorescent light bulbs, Fair Trade coffee and chocolates, and energy-conservation signs to post in their homes and give as gifts.

3. Congregational engagement in community environmental issues. Our natural environment was already an area to which our congregation felt connected before we engaged in the Green Sanctuary program. Long ago, one of our members bought a replica of an 1888 sternwheel steamboat, inspired a group of others to form a nonprofit educational corporation, and then proceeded to personally motivate and lead volunteers who regularly bring students aboard to participate in learning aquatic science and history while voyaging on the river. The professional crew conducts environment-based teaching of science, social studies, and technology. Many groups of children and adults of our congregation have taken advantage of these classes and supported the project.

As a Green Sanctuary congregation, we engage in urban community environmental issues both directly and indirectly. Direct engagement takes place through intense activity in the low-income areas of Trenton--educational activities, home building, and responsible disposal of construction materials. Indirectly, but very significantly, our congregation gives funds for these and related projects.  This past year we gave funds to the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed toward bus transport for students taking Trenton Links field trips, and to Trenton Environmental Education Field Trip Program to sponsor in-class environmental lectures and waling field trips for Trenton students to area parks/green spaces.

Meanwhile, another U-U effort was started, this one statewide: the Legislative Ministry. Our congregation has been very active in promoting Social Justice legislation through this ministry.

4. Connections between spiritual practice and environmental consciousness. We continuously build these connections through our choices of hymns and rituals and prayers featuring love of the earth.

5. Building awareness of, and seeking to rectify, environmental injustices. Habitat for Humanity provides our greatest opportunities to improve poor neighborhoods. As we help residents of these areas to improve their own environments, they gain pride in their neighborhoods and this fosters stewardship on their parts.

PROGRAM EVALUATION

1. Most important benefit. We are becoming more aware of what we are already doing to protect the environment and of what others are doing that we could also do. We are also becoming more aware of our negative impacts on the environment and being encouraged to reduce these impacts. We have become more intentional and more focused on efforts, trends, and concerns related to the Seventh Principle.

2. Most difficult and challenging effort. Most difficult, and also most rewarding, was arranging for the purchase and installation of solar PV (photovoltaic) panels for our roofs and for the rebate that made it possible. Delays and changes in the regulations and availability of the panels seemed endless and it took the combined efforts of many congregants, some on and some not on the Green Sanctuary Committee, to get it done.

3. Positive changes in our culture. Attendees frequently comment on the pleasure with which they use permanent dishware and glassware rather than throwaways at brunches. They carefully carry disposables to the correct recycling containers. They turn off lights more conscientiously than in the past. They challenge the leaving-on of air conditioners. During our lamp replacement project people came in independently at all hours to work on their tasks. Brunches nearly always include vegetarian soups and casseroles and the RE children are obviously familiar with and comfortable with these dishes. In these and many other ways, we have sown the seeds of a permanent change.

One of our 3 ends policies focuses on sustainability.  It states: “Our congregation and the communities we touch experience sacred connection with the world and take action that result in greater sustainability. A. Use of the UUCP common spaces, i.e. church building and grounds, becomes more energy efficient and contributes less of a carbon footprint to the world.  B. All who enter experience greater awareness, knowledge, and positive attitudes about energy efficiency and carbon footprint reduction and take actions in their lives at home, work, and the greater world to be more energy efficient and reduce their carbon footprints.” These ends policies guide our actions for the next 3-5 years.

4. Our ongoing role in the wider community. Members of this congregation are involved both as employees of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and as government appointees. Many are also involved as volunteers in local environmental organizations and are influential in providing direction to them.

5. Our ongoing commitment. We continue to have earth-minded services, earth-centered hymns and RE classes. We’ve remained visible through our website, through keeping up a series of articles in the church newsletter (Skylights; see Appendix E) and through notices in the insert (Happenings) in our Order of Services. When the Rev Bill McKibben, now known for his Washington-based nonprofit www.350.org, called for nationwide, and then worldwide, demonstrations to urge our legislators to take effective action against the rising concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, we participated with “350” demonstrations of our own after both services (Appendix F). Many congregants are now members of the Citizens Climate Lobby and the Million Letter March, and the Green Sanctuary Committee is collecting letters for this effort every Sunday at its table. Most recently, on the evening of Sunday the 13th of March, we showed a film to congregants and community members titled Gasland, exposing the pollution associated with gas “fracking” around the Delaware River. Among future plans, we intend to progress further on making our building energy efficient, and to investigate the possibility of creating a “green roof” on the flat tops of our downstairs classrooms.

6. The Influence of our Green Sanctuary status on our position in the community. We are a respected Princeton institution and we are known to be “green.” Through our solar PV equipment, we have made a highly visible statement of our environmental values. We speak often to others of becoming a “green sanctuary”; the very words eloquently express the reverence with which we honor the Seventh Principle, keenly feeling our kinship with all of the creatures in the web of life of which we are a part. Even while we await accreditation, we affirm that we already are a green sanctuary.

 Solar Panels

Energy Efficient Lighting

Generating and Selling Electricity back to the Utilities!

AND Getting Rebates for doing the right thing!

The congregation decided in 2008 to place solar panels on the roof of the sanctuary.  The total cost was $188,325.  We received a state rebate for $110,845, cutting actual cost to about $79,000. This was financed by with a loan from the UUCP endowment fund.  In the first 16 months since the switch was turned on, on January 26, 2009, we received $23,345 for the electricity that the panels have generated and that we have sold back to the public utility!

This past year we replaced 142 lights in the building.  This was not a mere changing of light bulbs.  We replaced all the old “T-12” ballasts and lights with “T-8” electronic ballasts and lamps.  The total work plus materials would have cost about $8,000.  But with congregants doing the work during the course of this year, the cost came down to the materials at wholesale, which was approximately $1,600.  In addition we save about $2,300 a year in electricity.  And we are currently waiting for a $2,200 rebate, as the work was just recently finished.    

So many dedicated people both on the GS committee and other congregants who came in to do all the hands-on work made this all possible.  As a congregation, we recognize and thank them all.  They include:
Ellie Whitney, Ray Nichols, Jeffrey Fadden, Polly Ramstad, Bob Van Schaik, Doug Radtke, Tom Prusa, Tim Trumbo, Rick Smith, Thaine Shetter, Pat Ramirez, David Harper, Carol Haag, Bill Gillum, Henry Powsner, Beth Nichols, Peter Macholdt, Dana Powsner, Nancy Fiedler, Amanda Gillum and Pete Gerster.

From a report to the congregation by Reverend Chris Reed as part of the Sunday worship service on June 20, 2010. 

Green Sanctuary Committee
of the
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton

History of Our Journey Towards Becoming a Green Sanctuary

March 2007

Origin: In the course of a discussion about global warming, we decided to form a committee and attempt to win accreditation as a Green Sanctuary from the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.

First Steps: We set up a schedule of monthly meetings and asked for a "Green Corner" in our congregation's monthly newsletter, Skylights, for various one-topic pieces on sustainable living/clean energy each year. Appendix A lists the titles of the articles that have appeared since then.

April 2007

Study of Requirements: We reviewed the certification steps published by the UU Ministry for Earth, ordered Green Sanctuary manuals from UUA, and began working on our plan of action to be admitted to candidacy for Green Sanctuary accreditation.

Self-Audit: One requirement for the candidacy application was to complete an audit of our current environmental practices. We decided to conduct a self audit and assigned each of the following areas to one of our members:

Energy conservation & use

Waste reduction

Water conservation

Reduction of toxic substances

Environmental education/ nature contact

Use of organic and fair trade products

Socially responsible investing  

Our findings are presented in Appendix B. 

Request for Approval: We agreed that one of us would approach the Executive Team (our two ministers) to request approval of our committee and its mission.

May 2007

Approval of Mission: We received approval of our mission from the Executive Team, became a Standing Committee of the UUCP, and launched our email ListServ to ease communication among ourselves.

June 2007

Green Sanctuary Website Pages: We began designing pages to create a Green Sanctuary presence on the UUCP website.

Study of Requirements: We continued studying the requirements and process of becoming a Green Sanctuary.

August 2007

Chair Chosen: We appointed a permanent chairperson.

Task Chosen: We chose as our task for the next year, the launching of twelve or more activities or projects spread over these four focus areas as directed in the Green Sanctuary Manual:

a.    Worship and Celebration

b.    Religious Education

c.    Environmental Justice

d.    Sustainable Living

Memberships Proposed: We decided to ask the congregation as a whole to consider joining:

a.   UUA Ministry for Earth ($100/yr)

b.     Sustainable Princeton

c.    NJ Clean Energy Program (NJCEP)

Visibility: With a view to engaging the congregation, we decided to:

a.  Ask the ministers to mention the Seventh Principle in every service .

b.  Set up a permanent table in the lounge with a display varied by week.

c.  Post a permanent bulletin-board display.

d.  Sell CFLs (compact fluorescent light bulbs).

e.  Sell permanent (canvas) shopping bags.

September 2007

Minister Agreement: Rev. Gilmore agreed that he would include a statement reflecting our concern and responsibility for the earth at each Sunday service either within the pastoral prayer or in that segment where he talks about who we are as a congregation.

Display Table: The Green Sanctuary table is  now set up every Sunday. Announcements appear in "Happenings" each week telling the congregation about it.

October 2007

Display Table (continued): The "Green Table" during coffee hour presented CFLs, grocery bags, reusable cloth Christmas wrappings, and Green Power Choices; heralded our presence as a Committee; and generated interest.

Green Service: We began planning a special "green service," with two of our members to work with Rev. Gilmore on it.

Environmental Film Series Planned: We added to our action plan a film series having to do with environmental matters.

November 2007

Congregation Awareness: A poll taken at the Green Sanctuary Table in the Lounge indicated that:

a.  15 UU families were in, or considering joining, the NJ Clean Power Choice (NJCPC) program

b.  7 or more individuals were pressuring 5 Washington politicians each about climate legislation

c.  24 families (and probably many more) had taken the NJCPC's Five Light Bulb Challenge

Green Goods for Sale: Two of our members made cloth gift-wrap bags for the Christmas season. The Women s Alliance agreed to let us sell them at the Holly Mart, Sundays, Dec 9 & 16.

New Edition of Green Sanctuary Manual: We began working from the new edition of the manual in electronic format.

Support from the Pulpit: Rev. Gilmore spoke in his homily of joining the NJ Clean Energy Choice Program and this stimulated several more congregants to join.

February 2008

Preparation for Congregational Meeting: We began planning the congregational meeting to present a resolution to approve the Green Sanctuary's plans and we started designing a flyer about this to post as an email to the congregation.

Logo Chosen: Someone shared with us a beautiful Green Sanctuary logo created by a member of the Long Beach, California U-U Congregation. We obtained permission from him to use it and adopted it as our own.

Link to RE: We connected with the religious education program (RE) through Andrew Galbraith Ryer.

Permanent Coffee Cups: We decided to serve Sunday coffee in permanent cups and divided up the task of setting them out, washing them, and putting them away every Sunday.

Fair Trade Coffee: We agreed to begin selling Fair Trade coffee at the Green Sanctuary table and set ourselves up to do so.

Vegetarian Brunch: We began planning a vegetarian brunch for Earth Day.

Energy Conservation Signs: One of us made signs to post by the light switches of our building with sayings regarding "turning off the juice when not in use."  Appendix C displays some of the signs we posted.

March 2008

Green Sanctuary Committee Charter: The committee/s charter was drafted, signed by Rev. Gilmore, and posted.

Earth Day Worship Service: We planned the Earth Day celebration for Sunday, April 27. Music was selected from a list of hymns on the 7th principle theme.

Interfaith Earth Celebration: Two of us connected with other local churches to plan an Interfaith earth celebration for Sunday, May 4 and a flyer about it to go out via email.

Leaflets on Eating Lower on the Food Chain: The brunch subcommittee prepared leaflets to display at the brunch on Earth Day.

Bulletin Board Display: We designed our bulletin board display and edited the wording. One of our members agreed to render it into calligraphy and another agreed to post it on the website.

April 2008

Congregational Approval: We held the congregational meeting on April 13 with a quorum and our entire committee present and received the unanimous approval of the congregation to go ahead with our plans to seek Green Sanctuary status. Our action plan was then published in Skylights and no changes were suggested.  Appendix D presents our resolution and action plan.

Earth Day Service (continued): At the Earth Day service the music was beautiful. Two of our members spoke and their talks were well received.

Vegetarian Brunch (continued): The vegetarian brunch received a number of recipe requests and $340 for the UUA Ministry for Earth.

Interfaith Earth Celebration (continued): This was a success as well.  About 30 people from area churches viewed the film, "Everything's Cool," about 50 adults took the walk led by a member of our congregation together with others from other churches, and four families took the children's walk led by two members of our congregation. An article about this was later published in the UUA magazine (See Appendix E).

Permanent Dishware: The Sunday coffee service using china cups continued to go well.  An offshoot of this project was that most groups offering brunches were by this time using permanent dishware.

Eliminating Small Plastic Bottles. Our congregation had its first event without small plastic bottles. It became part of the published policy on brunches that no beverages would be offered in small plastic bottles.

Energy Conservation Signs (continued): Signs were now posted by light switches and air-conditioning units all over the building and were selling, a few at a time, at the Green Sanctuary table.

July 2008

Clean Energy Study Session: Finding the New Jersey Clean Power Choice Program hard to understand and hard to "sell," we had an information session with the program director of the NJ Clean Power Choice program. We came to understand it better but still find it hard to sell.

August 2008

Sense of Place Program: We discussed and approved a committee member's proposal to present an eight-week program following the New Jersey Earth Institute/s outline for Discovering a Sense of Place; and submitted the proposal to the Adult Program Committee

Environmental Film Series (continued): We agreed upon principles for selecting the films to be shown at our film festival in the spring.

September 2008

Sense of Place Program (continued):  The Sense of Place program was approved by the Adult Program Committee.

Green Sanctuary Candidacy Application: We reviewed, finalized, and submitted our application for candidacy for Green Sanctuary accreditation to the UUA.

Environmental Film Series (continued): We learned about the sourcing, pricing, and legal issues of obtaining and showing films for our environmental film series to begin in January 2009. We agreed to sign a contract with Bullfrog Films for UUCP to rent and show films at $35 each (plus shipping) and to invite the Youth Programs coordinator to see if the Youth Group would like to view any of the films.

Permanent Coffee Cups in RE: Youth from the RE program joined our initiative and began using china coffee cups instead of disposable cups for their snack times during RE classes.

Replacing Bottled-Water Coolers: To eliminate our congregation's use of bottled water in the building, we began considering proposals to eliminate or replace the bottled-water coolers located upstairs and downstairs. We considered simply eliminating the coolers, but abandoned this idea because so many groups use the building and expect cold water. We investigated options for replacing the bottled-water coolers with tap-water coolers by making a comparison of the types, features, and costs of replacement coolers.

Carpooling Survey: A member of the congregation proposed doing a survey to see if people might want to carpool to services. We approved her proposal and posted the survey on the website. (This initiative never took off. Very few responses were received and, as far as we know, none were acted upon.)

Green Sanctuary Website Pages (continued): We reviewed in detail and amplified the information on our website pages.

October 2008

Sense of Place Program (continued): The Sense of Place course held its first meeting with six people and a possible seventh to attend the next time.

Approval of Candidacy Application: The UUA sent a letter approving our Green Sanctuary candidacy application and urging that we obtain a professional energy audit.

Professional Energy Audit: We investigated the ways other area churches have conducted energy audits and decided to propose to the Executive Team the large-scale professional energy audit offered by GreenFaith. A donation to UUCP by a member of the congregation made this possible.

Rain Garden Idea. We agreed we would like to make the congregation aware of property owners' responsibility for runoff from their lands by creating a rain garden on our own property with educational signage. This idea was tabled for later reconsideration when people would be available and the weather would be conducive.

November 2008

Professional Energy Audit (continued): The Executive Team approved and funded the energy audit proposal and a member of our committee who is a certified LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) inspector vetted it. We selected a five-member Energy Team and scheduled the energy audit for January, 2009.

Replacing Bottled-Water Coolers (continued): Our two bottled-water coolers were removed and two tap-water coolers were installed in their place. One of us contributed a large number of small, permanent plastic tumblers for use with the water coolers and signage to promote their return and reuse.

Solar Photovoltaic Array: Solar PV panels are now up and ready for use on the roof of the building. This was not a Green Sanctuary project to begin with, but our committee will help to celebrate their installation and educate the congregation about the use of solar electricity.

January 2009

Environmental Film Series (continued): The Environmental Film Series, to run from January through May, began as planned. Appendix F lists the films, the times they were shown, and the approximate number of viewers of each.

Professional Energy Audit (continued): The auditor spent a day in the building with one of us, inspecting every aspect of the energy and water systems and promised a report early in February.

Lighting Audit: At the same time, a congregation member inspected our lighting system and proceeded to prepare a report.

February 2009

Coordinating with the Board: Two representatives of the Board met with us for an hour to discuss how our committees goals were related to the congregation's Ends statements, which were being revised. The object was to make sure that the Ends statements would reflect our goals and objectives. Our meeting minutes recorded that:

Committee members agreed that two priority goals for the next few years, upon which ends statements could be focused, are:

1.     Make the common space, i.e. church building and grounds, more energy efficient and reduce the carbon footprint and

2.     Involve the congregation in accomplishing 1. above and through this process raise awareness, educate, change attitudes, inspire and facilitate congregants (and their children) to take action in their lives at home, at work, etc. to be more energy efficient and reduce their carbon footprints.

Committee members also agreed that they want the building and grounds to be a model for the larger community as well, especially those who use the building, in keeping with our mission to be a beacon in the community. Various steps already taken and future activities to reach these goals were discussed.

Another interest of the Committee is ethical or sustainable eating, which is a current UUA study-action issue. This could be expanded to sustainable lifestyles and is felt to be an area that needs more study before setting goals or ends statements.

Ethical Eating: We began planning an ethical eating emphasis for the congregation in 2009.

Professional Energy Audit and Lighting Audit (continued): The auditors' reports were delivered as promised, The Energy Team had its first conference call with GreenFaith's executive director to discuss the energy audit; and met with the lighting auditor to discuss his audit. Then we began meeting as a committee to develop our recommendations for improvements to the building.

APPENDIXES

Appendix A. Skylights Articles about Green Sanctuary to Date

2007:

Would you spend 18 seconds to save the world? [about CFBs] (Summer)

Greening our church and congregation [invitation to join] (September)

Vision statement [looking forward ten years] (November)

The planetary emergency (December)

2008:

Replacing coal, gas, and nuclear power in our homes (January)

We need your vote: Show your support [at a congregational meeting] (April)

Green questions for you [sharing our action plan] (May)

Interfaith event honors Earth with films and a walk (June)

What will become of New Jersey with global warming? (Summer)

Plastic bags and bottled water (September)

Discovering a sense of place (October) 

Environmental Film Series Begins in January (December)

2009:

Green Activists  Needed for the New Year (January)

One Man's Story: An easy way to reduce your energy consumption (        )

TO BE COMPLETED:

Appendix B: Environmental Audit Findings

Appendix C. Energy Conservaton Signs (examples)

Appendix D: Resolution and Action Plan

Appendix E: Interfaith Earth Celebration

Appendix F: Environmental Film Series