UUCR Environment Group

The pictures above are of the UUCR grounds and sanctuary on a spring morning in May. Surrounded by such beauty, how can we not want to abet creation, appreciate it, and do our utmost to preserve it, not only for ourselves, but for our fellow inhabitants on the earth, present and future? To this end, an Environment Group has formed at UUCR -- to discuss environmental issues as they relate to our personal and congregational lives, to inform ourselves, and to figure out how we can best work together to ensure that the next generation inherits the same beautiful world we enjoy today.

Why is this group under Social Justice?

The Unitarian Universalist Association says this about social justice:

Believing in the inherent worth of each person, our mutual interdependency, and the need to create a world in which each person has the opportunity to flourish, Unitarian Universalism (UU) is deeply rooted in social justice as a direct expression of our faith.

When the environment is degraded, it becomes much harder to find an "opportunity to flourish," whether you are a person, a fish, a honeybee or even a large corporation. Because people's livelihoods, living conditions, security and sense of well-being are all directly affected by their environment, our work for the environment is also work toward social justice.

News

Building a Rain Garden (added Nov 11, 2007)

See how the Carletons created a rain garden at their College Gardens home in this video presentation by Ethan (nice work, Ethan! and thanks for sharing it with us).

UUCR Green Market (October 28, 2007)

Gary Mummert from UUSJ brought a vanload of green products, including 100% recycled chlorine-free office paper, fair trade, organic, shade-grown coffee and chocolate, and non-petroleum based dishware and cleaning products, to UUCR for members and visitors to buy after church.

Greentalk Email List (October 22, 2007)

On the 6-month anniversary of Earth Day 2007, the Greentalk email list got up and running, with 21 members who are interested in talking about energy issues, global warming, sustainable business, environmental practices at home and church, appropriate transportation, and more. Join us by sending a note to greentalk@uucr.org (we'll add you to the list when we receive the message).

Global Warming Workshop (October 20, 2007)

During UUCR's annual retreat, several members of UUCR and Sugarloaf UUs met for a workshop led by Charlie Braun on global warming, to discuss what is known about global warming and what we can be doing about it. More details about this discussion will be posted in the near future.

Wonderful Wednesday presentation on Global Warming (October 10, 2007)

Allison Fisher of GWIPL came to give a followup to the energy survey (below), and to convince us that taking seemingly simple steps like swapping compact fluorescents for incandescent lightbulbs really can make a difference in energy consumption. She demonstrated that a string of LED holiday lights consumes 1W, while a normal string uses 36W, using a nifty device that measures electricity consumption (we plan to buy one for the church and make it available to borrow from the library). Susan Kirby from Montgomery County also spoke about the county's Clean Energy Rewards program which rewards those who either switch to clean energy or stay with their current utility company and buy Renewable Energy Certificates.

UUCR Energy Survey (March - October 2007)

In March 2007, Anne Scott arranged for an energy audit to be carried out at UUCR by the Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light (GWIPL) group. Allison Fisher did the survey and delivered a energy survey report (Word doc) to UUCR. Over the next several months, UUCR worked to address some of the issues and implement suggestions contained in the report. This list of steps taken so far was prepared by Sue Hedges in October 2007:

• Installed new LED exit signs in several locations.
• In locations with non-LED exit signs, we have lowered the bulbs from 7-watt to 3-watt
• Purchased a new EnergyStar refrigerator for the UUCR kitchen.
• Purchased a new EnergyStar dishwasher for the lower level kitchenette
• Moved the Hobart commercial dishwasher to the main kitchen. This is a high-efficiency dishwasher that runs 3-minute wash cycles and turns off automatically when not in use.
• Replaced gas and electric stoves in kitchen
• Planted 100 trees on the property as part of our reforestation commitment to the City of Rockville
• Moved professional and administrative staff all into Building 4, and out of Building 1, reducing week-day heating and cooling needs
• Raised funding to purchase blinds for the sunny side of our new sanctuary, to reduce daytime heat gain from sunlight. Blinds will be purchased and installed in coming months.
• Plan to purchase and install blinds in the windows of the 3 lower-level classrooms in the new building
• Working on programming thermostats to recommended settings, and restricting access to thermostats so they do not get reset by building users who do not know what they are doing.
• Rain gardens: We have members with expertise in rain gardens. We are exploring the development of rain gardens in several parts of our property.