Glenn Memorial UMC
Friday, May 18, 2012

Environmental Committee

Laying Sod on Good Neighbor Day
 
Use fewer plastic bags!
 
Announcements

Links and Resources

The Glenn Environmental Committee meets on the first Wednesday of each month from 7:35-8:35PM in the Glenn School Building, Room 422. New members and new ideas are always welcome. Our Chairperson is Lydia Stewart Castle and our Secretary is Dawn Francis-Chewning.


Announcements

For sustainability events at Emory, click here!
 
We are composting now! If you have a Glenn event coming up, please contact us so that we can send you step-by-step directions so you may compost at your Glenn event.

We had a professional energy audit in 2011, thanks to Georgia Interfaith Power and Light's Powerwise program, and we were successful in getting a matching Powerwise grant for $14,480 to better insulate the Church School Building. Find out more about the GIPL energy audits and Glenn's specifically at the video here.
 
 
Check out this simple yet eloquent video created by Jim Gibson - "350...for the Least of These."
 
God's Renewed Creation: A Call to Hope and Action (UMC Bishops' Letter)

DeKalb County Extension Service
Gardening Series 2011 - Homeowners Gardening Series
For more information and additional information, please contact the DeKalb Extension Office at 404-298-4080 or uge1089@uga.edu.
http://web.co.dekalb.ga.us/portals/news-room/a_release.asp?filePK=1096
 
City of Decatur Library "Green Living" Series, please contact 404.370.8450 or use http://www.dekalblibrary.org/newsflashes/year-long-program-series-will-focus-on-green-living.html
 
Emory Farmer's Market - Tuesdays 2-5 pm at the Cox Hall Bridge. Buy and support local, organic and sustainably produced fruits, vegetables, and more! For more information, visit http://sustainability.emory.edu/cgi-bin/MySQLdb?VIEW=/viewfiles/view_press.txt&pressid=556.
 
Electronics Recycling Event - Every second Saturday of the month from 10am-3pm in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood at the former Walden Middle School.
320 Irwin St., Atlanta, GA 30312 (this replaces the former Grady HS drop-off.)
For more details on what can be recycled, click here.
 

Recycling to Benefit the Boy Scouts - A new green and red recycling bin for newspapers, magazines, etc. has been placed in the YAAB parking lot. This is not for trash but for newspapers, etc. If you have questions please call the church office at 404-634-3936. 

We now have Kill-A-Watts! You can borrow them from the Glenn Library and see how much electricity your appliances use, sometimes even when they are "off." These are helpful in calculating your carbon footprint.
Click here to download the Kill A Watt consumption sheet.

Check it out! We have dramatically increased the Caring for Creation resources in the Glenn Library with Kill-A-Watt devices and books on green home improvement, harvesting your own renewable energy, gardening, climate change, the environmental impact of food, green business practices, and more. Check out the Caring for Creation/Environmental Section in the back right corner of the library. Don't miss the additional resources in the media section, including DVD copies of "An Inconvenient Truth", "Renewal", "Story of Stuff", and "Kilowatt Ours" for the education and viewing enjoyment of Glenn members.

Keeping It Wild Free Guided Nature Hikes (RSVP for any: 404-872-9453 ext. 13, or keeping_it_wild@tws.org)

Each Saturday morning and other weekday mornings, the Audubon Society offers free birdwatching walks.

For more information about upcoming nature outings, check schedules at these web sites: Atlanta Audubon Society, Georgia State Parks, Georgia Botanical Society, Georgia ForestWatch, Georgia Sierra Club, and the Wilderness Society's Keeping It Wild.

Other announcements can be found at the Georgia Interfaith Power and Light web site.
 
 

Volunteer Opportunities

Help the Environmental Committee in planning activities and educating our congregation by participating on the first Wednesday of each month from 7:35-8:35PM in the Glenn School Building, Room 422.
 
Help to reduce food waste by getting food to those in need before it expires. You can help sort food donations and get the food to those in need through food kitchens across Georgia by volunteering at the Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB). Glenn member John Montgomery is Senior Development Manager at ACFB, and in 2007 Glenn was awarded for the most volunteer hours of any religious organization at the ACFB. We're also happy that Atlanta Community Food Bank has achieved the U.S. Green Building Council's L.E.E.D. Silver Certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.


Help build energy-efficient houses with good insulation for deserving families through our yearly sponsorship of a Habitat house during Good Neighbor Day and the following Saturdays in the Fall with our new partner, the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer. We have made many houses for struggling families in the past with Cascade United Methodist Church. For more details or to volunteer, contact Jennifer Scott-Ward (phone: 770-413-7751).

Opportunity for youth to serve on the Youth Council of the Georgia Interfaith Power and Light Board--Contact Michael Black for details.


Articles: Caring for Creation

 

About Us

 
Our actions are guided by scripture and the United Methodist Social Principles (The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church). Also read the UMC Bishops' letter "God's Renewed Creation: A Call to Hope and Action."

Within the past few years we've hosted Wednesday night supper talks by Georgia Interfaith Power and Light's President, Katy Hinman (where all participants were given a compact fluorescent light bulb compliments of Home Depot), former CNN environmental correspondent and current Vice Consul for Press, Political, and Public Affairs at the British Consulate-General in Atlanta, Natalie Pawelski, on environmental efforts in Europe, Dr. Dabney Dixon, Professor of Chemistry at Georgia State University on climate change, Sustainability 101 by Addie Davis of the Green Bean Coffee Cart, Dr. Michael Black on Kilowatt Ours, Georgia Watch President Angela Speir Phelps on our electricity and the Public Service Commission, and Rusty Pritchard of Flourish on living in community and how the way we order our lives and create our built environment affects our relationship with each other and with God.
 
We're also recycling aluminum, paper, plastic, and glass in all of the Glenn buildings with new, convenient blue bins. See the Emory Recycles web site for what can and can't be recycled. Want to find a place to recycle other materials like dead batteries, printer cartridges, and paint? Go to http://earth911.org/ and type in what you're trying to recycle.

We also participated in Step It Up's National Day of Climate Action in response to global climate change in April and November of 2007 and 350.org's campaign in October 2009, 2010 and 2011 to educate about a reasonable global CO2 goal of 350ppm or lower. To help individuals to conserve water during Georgia's drought, we handed out free water-saving kits at a First Thursday event in Emory Village. In an effort to make our places of worship and gathering greener and decrease our carbon footprint, we are continuing to plan and implement cost- and energy-saving renovations to our buildings based on energy audit recommendations made last year in February and April. We also had a Green Sunday event, "Festival of God's Creation" in October 2008, with church members and outside organizations hosting environmental education booths and playing African drums on the church lawn before and after the environmental service. In 2009, for our "exemplary work" incorporating Creation Care into the life of the Glenn congregation, Georgia Interfaith Power and Light awarded Glenn Memorial "Congregation of the Year."


Links & Resources


Environmental Links:

Environmental Justice:
Water Conservation Tips:
 
Commuting Tips:

Energy Conservation Tips:
  • Get your power from Georgia Power? Have an energy audit done to save energy and money on your power bill by calling 1-800-524-2421 or filling out a request online.
  • Use a Kill-A-Watt! You can borrow them from the Glenn Library and see how much electricity your appliances use, sometimes even when they are "off." These are helpful in calculating your carbon footprint.
  • Borrow "Kilowatt Ours" from the Glenn Library for more tips and the moving reasons why we should all reduce our power use.
     
Reducing Tips:
       The best thing you can do for the environment is use less.

Reusing Tips:
Recycling Tips:

Organic and Local Food:
Carbon Offsets:
Partnership with Emory University:

Important Upcoming Dates for the Environment: