Green Sanctuary Committee
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We meet on the 3rd Wednesday of every month, at 7pm.
Come join us!
Green Your Fall Cleaning
- Buy green cleaners at your local natural foods store or via mail order or the Internet.
- Make your own cleaners. To avoid toxic chemicals, consider making your own cleaners. Household items like baking soda, lemon juice, vinegar, and club soda, can be combined to clean everything from carpets to toilet bowls., rather than paper towels.
- Use old clothing and sheets for dusting and cleaning rags
- Install a clothesline in your backyard or basement, and let your clothes dry naturally.
- Avoid cleaners that contain phosphates as a water softener. Phosphates appear in a number of cleaners such as some dishwashing liquids andpromote rapid algae growth which pollutes the water supply.
- If you use mothballs, consider replacing them with a more natural alternative. Try cheesecloth-wrapped cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, or cloves.
- Eliminate the need for chemical fabric softeners by adding ¼ cup of vinegar to your washing
machine’s rinse cycle. - Let your houseplants do the cleaning! Some houseplants—such as Boston ferns, English ivy,
rubber plants, and peace lilies—can help clean your indoor air by absorbing toxic chemicals.
February Tip of the Month: Recycling Plastic
from the Green Team of Fox Valley Pres. Church
1. Rinse out plastic containers and DO NOT replace the plastic caps. THROW AWAY LIDS. Plastic containers with lids are landfilled because they cannot be removed from rapidly-moving conveyer belts at recycling processing plants.
2. DO NOT put plastic bags in recycling bins—not even to contain newspapers. Take them to local stores that have receptacles (usually near the entryway) that are intended for plastic bag recycling. Be certain they are clean and empty (no receipts, please). Better yet, don't accept plastic bags from stores—bring your own reusable cloth bags.
3. Polystyrene (PS, No.6) is NOT recyclable ANYWHERE. The recycling symbol around "6" is a misnomer. Polystyrene comes in two forms—blown (Styrofoam cups, plates, packing material) and rigid (cups and clear clamshells used for salads and cookies, etc.). If it breaks when crushed, it is
polystyrene. Reuse packing peanuts or take them to mailing centers. Try to avoid No. 6 if you can.
"Today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years." - Al Gore
On July 17 at Constitution Hall in Washington, Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore set a challenge "to re-power America." Already, environmental issues are becoming entangled with the day to day lives of Americans as well as those of people around the world. While there are still many who remain unconcerned about these issues, we all are quite concerned about the economic and national security aspects of our current energy use paradigm. Gore summarizes America's situation by pointing out that "we're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change." Take a few minutes to watch an excerpt from this important speech or click here to watch or read the speech in its entirety.
Recycling Resources
Kane County recycling
Curbside recycling
Monthly electronics & book recycling
Used motor oil collection
Annual hazardous materials collection
Used tire recycling
Naperville Household Hazardous Waste collection
For recycling other items, go to earth911.org.
Click here for sources for eating locally.
Talk to your leaders!
THE WHITE HOUSE comments@whitehouse.gov
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
(202) 456-1111
SENATOR RICHARD DURBIN durbin.senate.gov/contact.cfm
Washington DC office Chicago office
309 Hart Senate Bldg. 230 S Dearborn St, Suite 3892
Washington, DC 20510 Chicago, IL 60604-1483
(202) 224-2152 (312) 353-4952
CONGRESSMAN BILL FOSTER http://www.foster.house.gov/
Washington DC office Batavia office
2304 Rayburn House Office 27 N. River St.
Building 2304 RHOB Batavia, IL 60510
Washington, DC 20515-1314 (630) 406-1114
(202) 225-2976 Fax: (630) 406-1808
Fax: (202) 225-0697
Contact Congressman Foster using the web form found here.
Send a message on a variety of topics or compose your own letter.
Check out http://www.congress.org/.. This is an excellent site for keeping tabs on your elected officials. Enter your zip code to get a list of those representing you in various offices. Click on the person you're interested in and get contact information, voting record, upcoming votes, and information on what others using the site are saying to them.
Mission Statement (adopted 11/2004)
Perhaps the most deeply integrated and compassionate expression of our concern for the planet is our recognition of the plight of all life, human and otherwise, which is not flourishing. Some of these beings are humans who suffer environmental oppression from unjust discrimination by the wealthy and advantaged in society. Some are beings of other species whose simple right to exist is not recognized by their oppressors.
This committee is dedicated to working interdependently within the existing organizational structure of the UUSG. The purpose of this group is:
- To build awareness of societal environmental issues within the evolving consciousness of this UUSG community. Awareness precedes attitude change, which precedes behavioral change.
- To generate commitment to personal lifestyle changes, to think globally and act locally.
- To motivate UU's to community action on environmental issues. The all-church project of a Green Sanctuary is one of the primary vehicles for accomplishment of this goal.
- To build a connection between spiritual practice and environmental consciousness because, for many spirituality-grounded UU's, development of a path of environmental commitment is a spiritual journey from the beginning.
- To build awareness of environmental injustices and work to rectify them.
Send us an email at gsc@uusg.org or leave a message for us at the church office (630-232-2350).