First Parish in Concord

Green Sanctuary Group

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Meeting Minutes

November 11, 2008

The November Green Sanctuary Meeting was held at Bob Andrews and Berni Jenkins home on Tuesday evening. (Also, a belated thank you to John Drew who hosted our September GS meeting on a lovely Sunday afternoon on Main St.. We sat on his outdoor patio and felt very -- green.)

Attendees:

Bob Andrews
Jay Barnes
Berni Jenkins
Andy Proulx
Kathryn Shane

1. Green Sanctuary Application

We agreed to re-engage with the GS application. Jay will review what we have so far and begin making updates to the app where appropriate. Peter N. has also been reviewing the doc and has some ideas.

2. Energy Usage

Peter N. sent word that he has been in touch with Massachusetts Interfaith Power and Light, a non-profit group that helps churches save money on their energy bills. They will send us a proposal.

3. Melrose UU

Peter N. is going to speak with the Melrose UU tomorrow about the Green Sanctuary program as they are considering starting up a GS themselves.

4. Environmental Justice / Social Action projects

In addition to our FP focused efforts, Jay suggested that we take on an environmental justice project. The Concord Housing Authority says there is not much interest from seniors in energy efficient light bulbs. The Lowell Housing Authority would be very interested in our doing something there. But Berni had a great suggestion about taking on a Concord-based project that the Concord CAN group is helping to organize. The project is to help install weather stripping and/or window insulation film in seniors' homes in Concord.

Berni will send us more information. [update from Berni: The community based project that involved many of the town departments, is called Concord Cares. CMLP and other fund raising is providing the funds to supply weather-stripping, plastic indoor storm windows and insulation for electrical outlets. Wearing my ConcordCAN hat, I am responsible for recruiting skilled people to train volunteers on the fine art of installing all of the above. I hope some of you will agree to spend an hour or two to help with this project. Or - be one of the volunteers to go into the designated homes.]

5. Kathryn Shane

It was great to have Kathryn Shane with us. Kathryn's interest is in educating people about how certain foods are environmentally costly and how changes in diet can make an environmental impact. She told us about a vegan (e.g. low-carbon) recipe book. The author of the book is a UU group that is encouraging groups to adopt it, copy it, distribute it, etc. Kathryn will send out an electronic copy.

6. Green Gift Bags for the Holidays

Betty King was not able to make the meeting because of a birthday party. Her birthday party. Happy Birthday Betty. Last spring, Betty helped us with the eco-bag project. Last spring, we decided that we wanted to put the project on hold until Fall.

This fall, several of us were feeling like we had so many eco-bags that the idea of another one was not particularly appealing.

So, we proposed that we proceed with the eco-bag project but skip the custom printed bag and focus on the contents of the bag. The idea is to see if Crosby's would give us green products at a discount or (dare we suggest) for free which we would then sell or give away to First Parish members.

We are thinking that if people try these non-toxic, non-petroleum based products, they might like them and make the switch. It's certainly a good opportunity to do some awareness raising.

Next steps: Jay will approach Crosby's Market (perhaps with a local Concordian?) to see about the products.

7. Communications

Keeping everyone informed and engaged, a challenging task even without the First Parish construction project. Would a monthly GS news email help? Send Jay your thoughts.

8. December GS Meeting - Sunday Dec. 7th?

Our next meeting will have to be in early December to avoid the holiday crush. We're going to return to the Sunday, just after the 11am service meeting time. Sunday December 7th, 12:15pm? Location to be announced.