GSC Action Plan

Worship & Celebration

 

Gore's Glaciers & Muir's Mountains  ||  service to express appreciation for and awe of nature

• Contact:  Worship Committee
• Status:  Completed Fall 2006

 

 

Winter Solstice service

• Contact:  Worship Committee
• Status:  Completed December 2006

 

 

2007 Earth Day Service  ||  service celebrating Earth Day and our connection/responsibility to Mother Earth

• Contact:  GSC & Worship Committee
• Status:  completed April 2007 (Order of Service) [pdf]

 

 

Nature-centered celebration  ||  outdoor evening service/celebration at natural date--equinox or solstice--with picnic and nature walk

• Contact:  GSC
• Progress:  none
• Status:  tentatively scheduled for Summer 2007

 

 

2008 Intergenerational Earth Day Service  ||  RE Youth shared what they had been learning about the how the habitat of the Monarch is endangered due to illegal logging in Mexico and that Chesapeake Bay wetlands are also part of the butterfly habitat. Fuel-efficient stoves built with indigenous materials can help to reduce illegal logging and youth sold butterfly-related items to raise money for the purchase of a stove to donate.

• Contact:  Joyce Duncan, YRE
• Status:  completed April 2008

Religious Education

Earth-centered Summer RE program

• Contact:  Joyce Duncan
• Status:  completed Summer 2006 (resulted in article by Joyce for UUMFE newsletter)

Friday Night Forum  ||  Screening of "An Inconvenient Truth" (2 showings scheduled)

• Contact:  Michelle Collins
• Status:  completed October 2006 (~80 attendees)

 

 

Friday Night Forum  ||  Holiday Simplicity discussion and potluck

• Contact:  Michelle Collins
• Status:  completed December 2006

 

 

RE 2006-2007 schedule

• Contact:  Joyce Duncan
• Progress:  December Winter Solstice service - RE student participation; January unit on Global Warming and animal displacement; some grades studying Native American spritual traditions
• Status: completed late Spring 2007

Home Energy Audit Forum || GSC co-sponsored with Adult RE a forum on the benefits of conducting a home energy audit; forum presented by Frank Lee of Terra Logos (firm which conducted TUUC energy audit)

• Contact:  Carel Hedlund
• Status:  completed March 2008

 

 

 

 

Environmental Justice

 

 

Vegetarian casseroles for Our Daily Bread (Maryland Hot Meal Program) | |  located and adapted vegetarian casserole receipes to meet the requirements of Our Daily Bread; made receipes avaialable to all organizations providing food; TUUC members regularly contribute numerous vegetarian casseroles

 

• Contact:  Michelle Collins
• Progress:  actively providing casseroles
• Status:  Completed (receipes available) Spring 2007

 

 

 

 

Banner Neighborhood "Green" Reading Program  ||  reading materials centered on nature or environmental theme

• Contact:  Lois Hybl
• Progress:  $178 in books on gardening and environment purchased for Banner Neighborhood Reading program
  • The Earth Book for Kids: Activities to Help Heal the Environment (Linda Schwartz, Beverly Armstrong)
  • The Everything Kids' Environment Book : Learn How You Can Help Save the Environment--By Getting Involved at School, at Home, or at Play (Sheri Amsel)
  • Common ground : The Water, Earth, and Air We Share (Molly Bang)
  • A Clean Sky: The Global Warming Story (Robyn Friend, Judith Love Cohen, David Katz)
  • Winston of Churchill: One Bear's Battle Against Global Warming (Jean Davies Okimoto, Jeremiah Trammell)
  • Food Chain Frenzy (Anne Capeci, John Speirs)
  • Operation thistle: seeds of despair : plant growth & development (Texas Cooperative Extension)
  • Health and nutrition from the garden (Texas Agricultural Extension Service)
  • Junior master gardener. Level 1., Teacher/leader guide (Texas Agricultural Extension Service)
  • Junior master gardener. Level 1. (Randy Seagraves, Texas Agricultural Extension Service)
• Status: completed April 2008

 

 

Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity "Programmable Thermostat/Energy Efficiency" manual & training | |  purchase programmable thermostats for all 20 Chesapeake Habitat homes (2008); develop thermostat use quick-guide and collect energy conservation educational materials; provide programmable thermostat/energy conversation training for United Churces/Chesapeake Habitat families (2)

 

• Contact:  Uta Hussong / Catherine Morris
• Progress:  10 thermostats purchased and donated; training materials developed
• Status:  10 thermostats remaining for purchase; homeowner education pending

 

 

 

 

Sustainable Living

 

 

Clean Cars Meeting  ||  sponsored and hosted CCAN Clean Cars Town Hall meeting to educate local community on and show community support for Maryland Clean Cars legislation to invited local elected officials

• Contact:  Uta Hussong, Michelle Collins
• Progress:  completed November 2006
• Status:  Clean Cars Bill passed Maryland legislature

 

 

Green Energy  ||  switched TUUC to Washington Gas & Electric with 50% wind energy

• Contact:  Catherine Morris
• Progress:  completed January 2007
• Status:  review at end of guaranteed rate period (May 2007)
• Update (6/2008):  paperwork revealed that "clean energy" switch not made; investigating purchase of green tags to substitute for direct purchase of green energy

 

 

"Green Projects" sale ||  Held sale of "green products" offered by local UUSJ member (UUSJ pilot project)

• Contact:  Carel Hedlund
• Progress: initial sale very successful (nearly $500 in sales); smaller-scale sales offered periodically by GSC
• Status: Completed September 2007

 

 

"Lights Out"  ||  educational signage over light switches encouraging members to turn out lights when rooms are empty

• Contact:  Michelle Collins
• Status:  Completed Winter 2007 

 

 

Earth Day Recycling Drive  ||  collected batteries, fluorescent light bulbs and old cell phones during April for recycling and/or proper dispoal

 

• Contact:  Uta Hussong
• Status:  Completed April 2008

 

 

 

CFB replacement project  ||  replace spotlight bulbs with CFBs wherever possible

• Contact:  Anita Cox
• Progress:  bulbs in need of replacement have been replaced with CFBs
• Status:  continuing to replace spotlights with CFBs whenever old bulb burns out

 

 

Green Coffee Hour  ||  one Sunday/month serve and sell "green" coffee (organic/fair-trade/sustainably-grown)

• Contact:  Carel Hedlund & Uta Hussong
• Progress:  began December 2007
• Status:  ongoing & very successful

 

 

 

Sponsoring/hosting Baltimore Climate Action Network (BCAN) meetings ||  Local chapter of Chesapeake CAN meets monthly for business meeting and presentation or speaker on environmental/sustainable living topics; presentations open to public. BCAN works to promote the MD Global Warming Solutions Act and local sustainability initiatives

• Contact:  Carel Hedlund
• Progress:  ongoing meetings
• Status:  Begin September 2008

 

 

Energy Audit

 

First of all, many thanks to Anita Cox in joining me on Wednesday afternoon (1/23/08)  for a meeting at TUUC with Frank Lee of Terra Logos.  We met with him for about 2-1/2 hours, talking and walking around the church building. 

 

I would describe it as a "high level" energy audit.  We didn't get a written report from him, but he also did not charge us, and gave us a priority list of things to do, where we would get the "biggest bang for the buck", with quick payback in energy savings.   This list is as follows:

 

1.  air sealing the building.  He used his infra-red camera to show where we had substantial air leakage in the building.  He said that reducing air infiltration by 25% would reduce heating and cooling by 25%.   He recommended a contractor to use, and estimated 3-5 days at about $2,000/day.  He indicated that the contractor would do air testing of the building each day and would do the biggest "holes" first, so that we could stop at any time.  For example, he said the first day the air sealing might decrease air flow by 20%; the second day by an additional 10%, and the third day by an additional 5%, so that we might not believe it to be cost effective to continue beyond that (or we could even to stop after day 1).

 

2.  Duct sealing.  We have 3 furnace systems, and on each the ductwork leaks, and thus the heat (or cold air) doesn't get to where it is supposed to. Sealing these leaks for each system would improve the air flow more than a new furnace.  Each system would cost about $2,000 to seal.  If we can only do one at a time, pick the furnace that is on the most.   He recommended  a contractor for this as well.

 

3.  Solar film on those windows where substantial sun comes in during the summer (e.g., window by choir, skylights). This is a quick fix with high payback.

 

4.  Second glazing of windows that are single glazed (I.e., creating some sort of indoor "storm window" or second pane).

 

5.  If after all these are done, the meeting room is still very warm in summer, add an additional A/C unit to be used at peak times rather than replace A/C, if current A/C still has useful life.

 

He also gave us comments on state of current A/C equipment, and recommended some HVAC contractors to Anita, who is in the process of looking for a new HVAC contractor.

 

--Carel Hedlund