How Cool is Your Congregation?
Use the new Cool Congregations calculator to estimate your congregation's environmental footprint. It is an easy-to-use tool; just enter your congregation’s energy use, travel, waste, food, and purchases for a year. Gathering the data may require a bit of detective work, but it is a great opportunity to get a more comprehensive look at your congregation’s footprint. It will give you a great idea how you measure up, help you to identify opportunities to work to be a good steward of creation, and enable you to be in the running for a wonderful prize!
Interfaith Power and Light is nationally sponsoring a contest, with two cash prizes of $5,000 for the congregation with the lowest overall emissions per congregant and the biggest looser. To be eligible you must enter your baseline data by December 31, 2008. For more details and to measure your footprint, visit www.CoolCongregations.org.
Make Your Voice Heard - Protect our Mountains and Streams!
In Appalachia, one of the poorest regions in our country, more than 1,200 miles of streams have already been buried due to destructive mountain top removal mining for the extraction of coal. A proposed change by the Environmental Protection Agency would remove the critical Stream Buffer Zone, which since 1983 has protected the nation's headwater streams from being buried by valley fills from mountaintop removal coal mining.
We have the opportunity to stop this rule change by asking the Environmental Protection Agency to reject it and stand up for mountains, clean water, and healthy communities. Send a message to EPA Administrator Steve Johnson - we have provided sample text which you can personalize.
Congregation in the Spotlight
St. Columba’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC: Rain Barrels
An inch of rain over a 1,000 square foot roof yields some 625 gallons of water! This storm water runoff can overwhelm a city sewage system, spread pollution, erode lawns, and contribute to building damage and flooding. To prevent these devastating consequences and help to maintain and beautify the grounds, St. Columba’s recently installed the first of what they hope are many rain barrels. This effort is under the leadership of Kate McLynn and the Environmental Stewardship team, with the encouragement of their Rector, Rev. Janet Vincent.
St. Columba’s worked with Steve Saari, of the District Department of the Environment, for their first rain barrel. To find the best solutions for your congregation’s property, DDOE is available to partner with DC religious institutions that are interested in reducing their environmental impact through sustainable stormwater management. Mr. Saari can be reached at steve.saari@dc.gov or 202-535-2961.
MORE FROM ST. COLUMBA'S
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| The corner of the building before the rain barrel installation. |
How it works: Catch the rain from the large church roof in a cistern or rain barrel; then, by attaching a soaker hose to the rain barrel, let the rainwater soak into the ground at a very slow rate, nurturing the plants around the church.
"It’s a very low tech way to be more in harmony with nature," said Kate McLynn. "It models practices which parishioners and passers-by can easily follow and it’s a chance to nurture our children’s care for our environment. If we have rain barrels in places accessible for the children they will be able to discover sustainable rain water practices. And have a lot of fun watering gardens, etc."
The plan: The environmental committee would pay about $200 for the first two barrels after seeking approval from the Buildings and Ground Committee, who wanted to make sure they were safe and not an eyesore. Pictures of the proposed barrels and simple discussion convinced them of both. "No one objects to seeing downspouts on buildings," observes Kate. "A lot of the issue is what we’re used to seeing. The barrels are certainly more attractive than an eroded lawn." The first St. Columba’s barrel is tucked discreetly into a corner, behind bushes.
Then D.C. Department of the Environment offered one free rain barrel to the congregation, the exact "Riversafe" model they had decided to use. The St. Columba’s committee was able to fill out a small amount of paperwork, working with Steve Saari in the DC DOE, and receive its first barrel at no charge. Drew Hullinger, who installed the barrels, found his biggest challenge was sawing off the lower section of the church’s thick downspout. (Residential downspouts are considerably thinner.) After that, it was basically a mater of setting the barrel in place and attaching the hose. The only maintenance is checking and cleaning the filters about once a month. An overflow valve allows for excess water flows to follow the same path over the ground as it would have before the rain barrel was installed.
The first rain barrel has been working beautifully and the grass and plants around it look noticeably healthier.
Learn More:
Nominations Being Accepted for 2008 GWIPL Awards
This year we are once again pleased to present honors to faith communities and individuals for their commitment and good work to be good stewards of the planet -- and we need your help to nominate worthy candidates! Self-nominations are welcomed and encouraged. All nominations are due by Nov. 14. Click here to access the nomination form. |
Highlights from Last Month
GWIPL ’s Second Annual Summit
Thanks to everyone who attended our second annual summit and to our amazing presenters from All Souls UU Church, Immanuel Church on the Hill, the Alice Ferguson Foundation, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Industrial Areas Foundation, and Dayspring Church. A special thanks to Carbonfund.org for the donation of the great ChicoBags.
 Celebrate Christmas with Energy Efficiency
Incredibly efficient LED Holiday Lights use only 1/10th the energy of mini-lights. At around $10.00 a strand, not a bad investment, particularly when the bulbs last over 100,000 hours-that's over ten years of continuous use. Buy some for your home, congregation, or a friend today and have a low impact holiday! Visit ShopIPL.org |
Support GWIPL today
You can make a secure online donation at http://www.gwipl.org/support_us.asp. Every dollar helps us to protect creation.
