|
Below is a summary of the Green Team
Accomplishments as of May 2008:
1. Reduce First's
use of non-renewable resources (Consider light bulbs, insulation,
windows, HVAC modifications, toilets that use less water, etc. Duke
may do a free energy audit.) We researched and contracted with an
energy auditor to provide input. The audit is underway now. We are
coordinating closely with the Renovations Committee as the air
conditioning plans continue.
2. Increase our
use of recycled materials for supplies (Consider office, paint, art
supplies, food leftover bags). \We have provided a recycling center in
the Ellen Hall room. We have not done a cost comparison for switching
to recycled office paper. We haven't even discussed the issue of art
supplies, food leftover bags.
3. Replace all
cleaning products with Environmentally Friendly and non-toxic
products. Jeanne started providing us a price list of alternatives
and asked a few IHN volunteers to compare the efficacy of products.
The evaluations indicated that the product were as good as
conventional products--neither better nor worse in terms of
efficacy. We need more cost and efficacy comparison data to present
to the Board. We also need to find a company that provides products
for commercial use that delivers products. Melallucca is a possible
supplier but we haven't explored all possibilities yet. As far as I
know, Leroy hasn't been involved in any of the testing or analysis.
4. Replace paper
products used for food service with washable dishes, cups, etc. This
may require installation of an energy efficient dishwasher. We
already have a fairly new dishwasher. The main complaint is that it is
small so it has to be run multiple times. However, each cycle only
lasts about 2 minutes. We haven't investigated the cost of purchasing
reusable cups/plates for RE use and/or presented a recommendation for
who should be responsible for washing those cups/plates.
5. Educate us
through policies and practices (Consider such actions as composting
church garbage; providing easy member information on recycling of
such things as batteries, print cartridges, cell phones, eye glasses;
a no-paper policy in the kitchen; carpooling website to all
congregants to share rides to church) The recycling center now
exists. However, we have not set up a system/schedule for making sure
items get to their destination (either Ecophones or local battery
disposal). We have discussed the use of cloth napkins only in the
kitchen; however, we do not have a system in place to launder/iron
said napkins if we purchased them. The church does not have an on-site
washing machine or dryer or iron. We haven't really discussed the
ride share issue--websites exist to facilitate this but no one on the
committee has taken this task on yet.
6. Augment
religious education programs related to the environment (for youth and
Adult Enrichment) Both Odyssey and Community Builders have jumped on
the green wagon with the vegan dinner and the discussion of "Animal,
Vegetable, Miracle". However, we decided not to do anything specific
with children's RE until the new director started in June. We did
coordinate with RE for the Earth Day worship service.
7. Extend our
responsibility for litter removal and beautification into the area
around our church We haven't really explored this yet. We have
talked about greater collaboration with the Civic Garden Center and
with the Avondale Community Gardens program but nothing has been
formalized.
8. Prepare UU to
apply for a Green Sanctuary Accreditation from the UUA. Inititally we
decided not to pursue this. However, now that we've already started
down the road to accreditation and have subsequently found out that
the program is now officially a part of the UUSC, we may want to
reconsider this decision.
Areas
that need work are:
-
Dissemination and discussion of the
recommendations of the energy audit. Possibly fundraising or grant
writing.
-
Finalizing price and efficacy
comparisons related to the switch to eco-friendly cleaning products
and recycled office paper and presenting them to the Board
-
Plan for reducing paper use in the
kitchen and RE programs plus feasibility of a composting program.
-
Setting up a car pool system
-
On-going updating and maintenance of
Kiosk
-
On-going coordination of the
recycling center (making sure items get to their intended
destination)
-
Interface with new RE director as
well as several committee chairs to ensure "green-centered"
programming
-
Development of a Green Sanctuary Plan
of Action
-
On-going awareness raising in the
First Church newsletter
-
Deciding if we are ready/able to
outreach to the Avondale community
|
