Creating Our Green Sanctuary
Green Sanctuary is an accreditation program offered through the UU Ministry for Earth. Our church community decided to pursue this accreditation in order to reduce our environmental footprint and support our principles, including respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. We also thought that our leadership in this arena could serve as a model for other churches in our community.
Green Sanctuary - Goals
A Green Sanctuary is a congregation that lives out its commitment to the Earth by creating a sustainable life style for its members as individuals and as a faith community. Sustainable living is about choosing to live in a way that nurtures life, builds relationships, and rejects material consumption as the sole determinant of happiness.
PROGRAM GOALS
• To build awareness of societal environmental issues among UU’s.
• To generate commitment for personal lifestyle changes.
• To motivate UU’s to community action on environmental issues.
• To build a connection between spiritual practice and environmental consciousness.
• To build awareness of and rectify environmental injustices.
PROGRAM ACTIVITIES
The Green Sanctuary Program includes a variety of environmental activities in four program focus areas which are explained in detail in the Manual.
These four focus areas are:
Worship and Celebration
Religious Education
Environmental Justice
Sustainable Living
You will complete at least twelve activities or projects spread over the four focus areas. Some projects will be one-time events, others will be on-going over a period of months.
Please note:
• A minimum of two activities is required in each of the first three elements, while at least four must be carried out in the category of Sustainable Living, including at least one energy conservation activity. Two additional activities can be selected from any of the four program elements.
• One social justice project will be a major on-going activity in collaboration with another
congregation or organization to address an issue of environmental justice in your community or in the world.