Green Sanctuary Projects
Earth Cinema!
Clinton's Unitarian Universalists continue their evironmental film series entitled Earth Cinema! (click here to view, download or print the flyer) which is now on a new day and time: the third Sunday of each month at 1 pm, in the sanctuary at their Fellowship building complex, 309 30th Avenue North, Clinton.
Admission is FREE and open to the public.
Earth Cinema! has a new day and time: 3rd Sunday of each month at 1:00 pm. That's Sunday, - February 19, 1 pm.
This month's showing is "KING CORN."
A now-classic 2007 documentary, it begins by looking at some of the obvious ways we consume corn: corn on the cob and canned corn, popcorn and corn chips, corn bread and taco shells. But there are some insidious ways we eat the stuff, most notably via meat consumption and corn sweeteners. It's the sheer scale of the corn-related food economy in the US that is hard for the average person to fathom, but "King Corn" feeds us the complex truth of corn in a manner that is entertaining and educational.
NO CHARGE! POPCORN! GOOD COMPANY!
These movies – some old favorites, some new releases – include feature films and documentaries, ranging from the lighthearted to quite serious in tone.
"All of these films," says UUF board president Pat Everly, "address environmental issues: pollution, energy usage, the ethical treatment of animals, climate change, sustainability, and many others. The more we understand the part we each play in creating these challenges," she also says, "the more we can do to minimize our impact on our Earth home."
Earth Cinema's environmental theme reflects the UUF's mission: 'to provide a welcoming, caring space where we embrace diversity, nurture intellectual and spiritual growth, promote social justice, and encourage stewardship of our planet.'
Hosting this series is also one action step related to the process of attaining "Green Sanctuary" status, a designation marking concentrated environmental activism which is awarded to some congregations within the Unitarian Universalist denomination.
Stream Stomp
The Clinton UUF's application for the Green Sanctuary status has been accepted, as of May 2010! This is just the beginning of the process to help to nurture, repair and protect our planet Earth. One of our first environmental justice actions out in the community was to help with the local Clinton County Waterway Cleanup Project, Stream Stomp, on June 5, 2010. Six of our members (one was not available for this picture) participated in the project in Clinton on that day, and helped to collect nearly three tons of refuse from the Mississippi River between the North and South bridges.
Stream Stomp Update for 2011!
The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Clinton, Iowa, was again a sponsor of Stream Stomp, on July 9, 2011. Again, members of UUF provided the labor to clean up the Mississippi River and its tributaries, this time the creek bed just south of the old Schick Hospital complex, in Clinton. This time, the organizers of Stream Stomp 2011 announced an exciting new partnership for 2011. Volunteers from Stream Stomp worked in conjunction with volunteers from Living Lands & Waters, as part of their 2nd annual Great Mississippi River Cleanup from St. Paul, MN to St. Louis, MO. The new partnership required the Stream Stomp to be on July 9, 2011, instead of June. UUF participants were especially proud of how wet, dirty and sweaty they were, and of the huge pile of trash pulled out of the creek!
UUF Recycling Center--Recycle Energy Bar, Candy Wrappers, Ink Jet Cartridges, Chip Bags
The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Clinton has partnered with Terracycle to help to recycle these wrappers and packages that aren't usually accepted by local recycling centers. Terracycle will give the UUF two cents for every wrapper sent in. The Fellowship has designated all of the proceeds to lessen the carbon footprint in the church building and on the grounds. Our first priority is to replace windows that are not energy-efficient.
"We all know that we shouldn't be buying products that are packaged in these hard-to-recycle wrappers and bags, but we all have busy lives and we often can't buy in bulk or we don't have the time to always make home-made snack foods to take to work or school." says Vice President Pat Walke.We hope you will be able to feel a little less guilty when you bring the used wrappers to the UUF, knowing that they will be recycled. Earth will benefit by not having these wrappers and bags in landfills or floating in the rivers and oceans.
All you have to do is bring your candy wrappers, any size, any brand,
to the UUF. There are receptacles in the basement in the Olympia Brown Room.
For energy bars, you can bring the foil wrappers of any brand of energy
or granola bar. For chip bags, again, any brand, any size is
acceptable. When you eat the snack if you can open the wrappers or bags
in such a
way that they're more in one piece than not, that would be great.
Thank you, dear reader, for all that you do for the environment and for
Earth!
Low Carbon Diet Workshops
Members of the
Clinton UUF are working on a program to inform, cooperate with, and
challenge other community members to do their part in rescuing our
Earth from the effects of years of overuse and abuse. At this point, we
are focusing on using a UUA-sponsored program called ‘A Low Carbon Diet: A 30 Day Program to
Lose 5000 Pounds.’
Experts say that we (inhabitants on this planet) have no choice but to join together NOW to help save Earth as we know it. UUF member Pat Walke will coordinate and lead these workshops, on an as needed basis. All you need is the workbook (available at the sessions, used and recycled, of course) and a willingness to learn and make thoughtful changes to your lifestyle! Call the church office and leave a message to set up a workshop.
Meanwhile, literally the first step on the Low Carbon Diet is to "weigh in" to caldculate the size of your own carbon footprint. Visit the Low Carbon Diet calculator to see how large or small your carbon footprint is right now. If you would like to lose those unwanted carbon pounds, we hope you will join with us to reach your goal.
Special services throughout the year feature programs and collections for environmental concerns and actions.