Green Team
The UCE Green Team puts into action the seventh UU principle: respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. UCE’s Green Team promotes good environmental stewardship in UCE’s facilities, at home and in the wider community.
The Green Team educates and motivates members of our faith community to promote and incorporate environmental consciousness into all activities. Since 2005 the Team has had a significant environmental impact at our house of worship with the following actions:
We are a Green Sanctuary as recognized by the UUA, practicing environmental sustainability in multiple ways.
Led by the programs of the UU Earth Ministry (UUMFE), the Green Team focuses efforts in several areas: Worship and Celebration, Religious Education, Environmental Justice and Sustainable Buildings.
UUMFE helps us learn about and focus on the areas of: activism & organizing, climate change, education, front lines solidarity, stories and actions. Our 2020 UUA General Assembly placed special emphasis on the support of Indigenous People and their struggles to protect the environment. The keynote address was made by Naomi Klein, noted environmentalist and journalist.
Currently, we are engaged with increasing our participation in areas of environmental justice and its intersection with racial and economic justice. In addition to having a UCE member sit on the Environmental Justice Committee of the Citizens for a Greener Evanston, we are monitoring efforts to improve air quality at the Waste Transfer Station and supporting efforts to block the relocation of General Iron’s metal shredder to Chicago’s Southeast side.
Monthly Meeting – All are Invited
The Green Team meets online monthly on the first Saturday at 1pm. Members, friends and guests are welcome anytime to bring issues to the meetings. Contact Shirley Adams or Michael Drennan to attend or to add something to our monthly topics. We could use your help in planning some local hikes, bike rides and hopefully a camping trip! We address environmental issues as well but celebrating the Earth sustains us through the challenges.
Composting at UCE
The EPA estimates that more food reaches landfills and incinerators than any other single material in our everyday trash, constituting 22 percent of discarded municipal solid waste. Food scraps in landfills create methane, a greenhouse gas that is 30 times more damaging than CO2 over the long-term and 80 times more damaging over the short-term! On other hand, food scraps that are commercially composted are given the right environment to biodegrade and thus do not contribute to methane gas production. Rather, composted food scraps are turned into rich, organic soil treatment.
You can become a part of the composting movement by joining UCE’s Compost Coop. The cost is only $60 per person per year (up to a $180 maximum per household). You can also participate during the winter months only (December-March) with an annual contribution of $20 per person (up to a $60 maximum per household.) If you are interested in signing up, fill out the composting signup form and email it to admin@ucevanston.org or return it to the church office. For an additional $10 (please pay for this separately as outlined on the signup form) Collective Resource will provide you with a kitchen counter composting bucket. For details on what is/is not compostable and answers to commonly asked questions, click on this Tip Sheet. If you have further questions about this program, contact Renee Hoff through the Realm Membership Directory or at admin@ucevanston.org.
Organizations with whom we partner and share resources
News & Updates from the Green Team
UCE and Evanston’s Climate Action Resilience Plan
August 28, 2020
Recently the Executive Board unanimously passed a resolution calling UCE to adopt the goals and principles of Evanston’s Climate Action Resilience Plan. The plan sets targets for reducing carbon emissions and waste, and managing the canopy of and stormwater for the city and wider community. “This resolution articulates our shared values of environmental sustainability, accountability and justice” says Eileen Wiviott, acting Senior Minister at UCE. “Though the specifics of how we move toward the aspirations of this resolution will be unfolding, the staff, board, and leadership of UCE are committing to work together toward this important aim.”
Green Tip from the UCE Green Team – 12/13/2019
Here at UCE, many of us love to travel. Others of us have work-related reasons for traveling. Yet, how do we grapple with the reality that traveling has a very detrimental impact on the climate? Per the New York Times, “going someplace far away … is the biggest single action a private citizen can take to worsen climate change. One seat on a flight from New York to Los Angeles effectively adds months’ worth of human-generated carbon emissions to the atmosphere.”*
Limiting travel is the most straightforward way to tackle the problem. However, swearing off flying completely isn’t something that most of us can (or want) to do. So, what can we do instead? Purchasing carbon offsets is an alternative where you compensate for the greenhouse gas emissions your traveling produces by donating to a project designed to reduce emissions by an equal amount. There are a lot of choices when it comes to carbon offset programs. Standards groups like The Gold Standard or Green-e are two ways of verifying that your money is used appropriately. One company that has been vetted by both the New York Times and the PBS NewsHour is Cool Effect. PBS described them as a “nonprofit … with triple-verified, financially strong and ethically sound projects to offset the traveler’s footprint.”** The New York Times travel desk uses Cool Effect to offset airplane travel by staff members on assignment.
To learn more, go to https://www.cooleffect.org and click on the Offset Travel button. The price for purchasing offsets may surprise you: a round-trip 4-6 hour flight carries a carbon-offset price tag of under $8. If you work for a business or university, encourage them to join Cool Effect’s mission at a corporate level – see this link: https://www.cooleffect.org/content/for-business for details.
Per Cool Effect, “At the end of the day, the idea is simple: Do what you can, anything that keeps the planet cooler helps! If your flight length falls between two options, Cool Effect humbly challenges you to round up! Clearly, the planet is heating up and Mother Earth appreciates every tonne that helps to keep her cool!”
References:
* https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/travel/traveling-climate-change.html?module=inline