"The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." -Genesis 2:15
Just because we are not living in Eden anymore doesn't mean we don't have a responsibility to take better care of this planet. Before meeting with Marie, I did some research on what other church in the Portland area are doing. Here is what I found:
- St. Philip Neri has built a bioswale to filter urban run off from it's building, parking lot and the community around the church.
- Earth Home Ministries aims "to inspire and mobilize the Christian community to play a leadership role in building a just and sustainable future."
- First Unitarian Church built a LEED certified building called Buchan Building
- Plastic Water Bottles - people in Oregon still use these?!? My suggestion, stop ordering them, offer people water pitchers at events. People won't know the difference. And if someone has an issue invest in a Brita water filter for one of the sinks in the kitchen.
- Disposable cups - think about how much coffee we drink as a congregation. Think we could take people into actually bringing their own coffee mugs to church? Or investing in recyable cups...
- Recycling old technology (we just need a labor force do this) Freegeek in Southeast Portland refurbishs donated IT equipment then gives it to charities and non-profits.
- Overprinting - how can we talk people into printing less, using recyclable paper, and recycling the excess. My suggestion, SPC should monitor for one week, how much paper gets recycled. I think thin numbers would be eye-opening.
- Left over food - turning it into a compost. Available for the congration or maybe even a church garden somewhere on the property. I'm sure people would be interested in the coffee grounds alone + we have to have some gardeners in the congreation.
- Changing SPC utilities over to renewable engery
- Investing in solar panels on the roof - free real estate to anyone who wants it?
