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Minnesota Valley Unitarian
Universalist Fellowship
A liberal religious congregation in the Minneapolis area If the Menu on the Left Hasn't Appeared |
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| GREEN SANCTUARY Home | Calendar Updated July 21 2010 |
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Sometimes, when a designation has been around for awhile, we tend to forget why or how it came about in the first place – and what it means to us.. The Green Sanctuary program was begun by the Unitarian Universalist Ministry for the Earth (UUMFE. )and is now admininiterd by the Unitarian Universalist Asociation (UUA) and is the first environmentally focused program in UUA history. Our own Green Sanctuary committee had 12 core members plus our then minister. The mission was to engage the interest of the entire congregation, receive their support and work toward the final prize – the designation of a “Green Sanctuary” for our Fellowship. After a few years of intense work through example, education , fairs, exhibits and on and on, we achieved the much wanted certificate in 2008. And that may have been the easy part! Attaining the certificate doesn't mean it's all done. Our obligation is to continue the process and ensure that we do everything in our power to create and maintain a green atmosphere in our bulding, our activities, the food we buy and in our lives in general... Not so easy in these days of increasing prices for environmentally friendly cleaning products, paints, paper products, and particularly, food. We just hope that each of you can help in some small way to maintain the greenness of our little corner of the universe. You can find ways to help via handouts on the Green Sanctuary Table in the Social Hall – or by contacting a committee member. Kermit may be correct in stating that it is not easy being Green – but we've done it and with your help, can contine! Top of Page Our Fellowship is Green and Clean! Here is a list of the products that we use in the Fellowship that both clean and are Green:
Our wonderful custodian, Kathy Zimmer has been using these products for over two years and loves them. She also has stated that she is grateful that we use products that clean but do not harm her health. Try them - you'll like them! For questions, contact Mary Ann Dean, mdean6@comcast.net. What IS a Green Sanctuary? For those of you new to the church – or those who have forgotten - here's a brief rundown of what Green Sanctuary is and how it came about. :In 2006, MVUUF, by way of a congregational vote, determined that we wished to become a Green Sanctuary thus committing us to promoting and living a Green lifestyle within our building. This process was begun by Lisa Herschberger and her hard-working committee. I enterd the scene about 2 ½ years ago; we continued the process and attained the certifiction in 2008. One thing being Greenp involves is using no petroleum based products if substitutes are available. This means no Dawn, Palmolive, etc for dishwashing, no SoftSoap or antibacterial soap for handwashing – and basically none of the major brand-name cleaning products. Our wonderful custodian, Kathy Zimmer (who keeps our building spotless) uses no toxic products – and no petroleum based products. Mark Clary (Operations Manager), Kathy and I have worked together to find altenatives that are healthy for us and our planet - and effective. It can be done – and it's not rocket science. Top of Page |
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Top of Page Did you know? Major cleaning products are made with petroleum? Using “Green products like “Restore” and Seventh Generation can reduce petroleum usage.(Mary Ann Dean) Nearly half of the total amount of water used annually in the U. S. goes to grow feed and provide drinking water for cattle and other livestock. Producing a pound of beef protein often requires up to fifteen times more water than producing an equivalent amount of plant protein. (Francis Lappe - Diet for a Small Planet ) Each weekend, about 54 million Americans mow their lawns, using 800 million gallons of gas per year and producing tons of air pollutants. A traditional gas powered lawn mower produces as much air pollution as 43 new cars each being driven 12,000 miles. Under a little-known international treaty called the Convention on International Civil Aviation, fuel for international travel and transport of food, is exempt from taxes, unlike trucks, cars and buses. There is also no tax on fuel used by ocean freighters. Checking your home's insulation is one of the fastest and most cost-efficient ways to use a wholehouse approach to make the most of your energy dollars. Back to Green Corner Contents Top of Page COMMERCIALLY GROWN FRUITS AND VEGGIES WITH THE HEAVIEST LOAD OF PESTICIDE We’ve received questions concerning organic vs. non-organic foods. To help make decisions, The EWG (Environmental Working Group - a well-respected non-profit environmental research group) has created a list of commercially grown fruits and veggies with the heaviest load of pesticide and those with the least. The five worst and most heavily loaded with pesticides are Peaches, Apples, Sweet Bell Peppers, Celery and Nectarines. Those with the least amount are Onions, Avocados, Sweet Corn (frozen), Pineapples and Mangoes For all of those in between and more information, go to Environmental Working Group. Back to Green Corner Contents Top of Page REUSE, RECYCLE, CONSERVE LOOK FOR THE DROP OFF BOX IN THE SOCIAL HALL FOR
NOTE on plastic bag recycling: The times they are a'changin'. Six years ago when we offered to accept plastic bags for recycling, there were not many options available. Now, some stores accept them for recycling and better yet, canvas and reusable bags are available just about everywhere. Some stores like Ikea and Whole Foods no longer even provide plastic bags. In light of these changes and the very few we now receive, we will no longer provide recycling. There is information on the Green Sanctuary Table as to where alternatives may be found. Thanks for doing your part before others were even aware! Back to Green Corner Contents Top of Page COMPACT FLUORESCENT LIGHT BULBS The advantages of CFLs over regular incandescent light bulbs include both long life and savings in electricity costs. CFLs should not be thrown away with normal trash. They contain trace amounts of mercury. The amount in them isn’t large enough to pose the users a hazard, but it does become a concern at landfills. Please bring back the used CFLs to the church recycling bin, or bring used CFLs to a local recycling facility. Back to Green Corner Contents Top of Page GREEN POWER Buy GREEN Power & Reduce Global Warming and Air Pollution Did you know that buying as little as $2/month of green power per year can reduce air pollution as much as driving 2,400 fewer miles in a car? Or that buying 100% of your electricity from green power is like taking a car off the road? Green power is electricity generated from renewable, high-efficiency, or low-pollution energy sources, such as wind or solar energy. Minnesota utility customers can buy small amounts of green power or sign up for 100% of their electricity usage from clean energy sources. It's clean, it's simple to sign up, and it's now available to all Minnesotans! Sign Up Today! It's Simple!
Spread the Word! The Committee will tally everyone’s responses, and calculate our total annual carbon dioxide emission reductions. We’ll communicate our total emission reductions to encourage others to follow our lead. . Buying green power helps our health, environment, and
economy: Minnesota, particularly the southwestern part of the
state, has some
of the best potential for generating wind energy in the nation. More
than
80% of Minnesotans think electric companies should emphasize renewable
energy sources, such as solar and wind power, over fossil fuels when
generating
additional electricity. SUPPORT
MINNESOTA FARMS - EAT LOCAL AND SAVE ENERGY How does one get more involved? Visit one of the local co-ops. Join a CSA, Community Supported Agriculture and be a member receiving weekly deliveries of organically grown produce and meats during the growing season; Plant an organic garden yourself or share one with your neighbors. Enjoy eating out? Patronize restaurants that use local organic produce such as Café Twenty Eight in Linden Hills. Buy your homemade ice cream from Pumphouse Creamery locally made at 47th and Chicago in Mpls. Tell the restaurants you visit you would like to see more local produce on their menus.Back to Green Corner Contents Top of Page PEACE COFFEE:  MVUUF made a decision in 2003 to promote fair trade coffee for our kitchen use. Peace Coffee was chosen for the following reasons:
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| Green Sanctuary Eco-Hero Green Sanctuary will be honoring members of our congregation who have gone above and beyond to help us maintain a livable planet. Dolores Roeder and I served together on a lunch committee for the Women's Group. We decided to do an “Ethical Eating” Lunch in keeping with our UUA Congregational Study/Action Issue. It was then I learned about her wonderful organic garden and her environmentally friendly shoreline. Delores and others who work really hard to help the environment are truly some of today's heroes. I'll let our first Eco-Hero describe how it came about in her own words. Do you know any Eco-Heroes? Someone who actually lives out their green beliefs? Please send your/their name and a brief description of what is done to mdean6@comcast.com. We will select a new Eco-Hero in January, 2009. Mary Ann Dean Chair, Green Sanctuary Committee
When we returned to Minnesota in 1995 we purchased a home with about an acre of land and 150 feet of lakeshore on Clearwater Lake. The lake side of the house was mowed grass to the sandy shoreline. The first summer or two we spent way too much time raking weeds from the sand and we also became aware of the advantages to the water quality if we let native vegetation grow along the shore. We planted a few native shrubs and some native grasses but mostly have allowed it to go back to what likely was here long ago, removing only those species we know to be invasive. We maintain about 25 feet of sandy beach for the grandkids. The boathouse is barely visible from the water today as tall shrubs have grown up around it. At first the neighbors were not happy, but now I notice other more natural shorelines. We also planted native plants on the hill beside the house which had been mowed lawn. It's not only better for the lake, it saves time and energy keeping grass green and mowed! The garden is on the road side and is only about 25' X 30' but I get a lot of produce from it. I have always had some vegetables - even if only a few tomatoes in urban areas (we lived in 8 states) The soil here was way too sandy, but over the years with lots of added organic material has greatly improved. We have two composters and compost kitchen waste as well as leaves and weeds. The compost is tilled into the garden each spring. I lay soaker hoses along the rows and keep everything well mulched. Anything that can be tied to a fence so as to take less ground space, is tied up. I always have extra to send home with our kids, share with neighbors and to add to the freezer. This year I planted pumpkins in rotting leaves across the road and just let them go. We had a bumper crop! I had about 30 different varieties of vegetables in the garden - some planted directly from seed, some I started inside early, some purchased as small plants from the nursery and greens and dill which come each year as volunteers. Top of Page |
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