Earth Care Notes

Many at Sixth Church have been giving thought in recent months as to how we might be better environmental stewards, and we are moving ahead with our application for membership in Earth Care Congregations (Click here for more about Earth Care Congregations). All the data is in from Worship, Education, Facilities, and Outreach, the four categories we’ve looked at to see how effective we’re being as stewards of God’s creation. We are now considering the Earth Care Pledge, printed below, and if we feel we can endorse it, we’ll be ready to submit our application to Louisville.

Earth Care Pledge

Peace and justice is God’s plan for all creation. The earth and all creation are God’s. God calls us to be careful, humble stewards of this earth, and to protect and restore it for its own sake, and for the future use and enjoyment of the human family. As God offers all people the special gift of peace through Jesus Christ, and through Christ reconciles all to God, we are called to deal justly with one another and the earth.

1. Our worship and discipleship will celebrate God’s grace and glory in creation and declare that God calls us to cherish, protect and restore this earth.
2. In education, we will seek learning and teaching opportunities to know and understand the threats to God’s creation and the damage already inflicted. We will encourage and support each other in finding ways of keeping and healing the creation in response to God’s call to earth-keeping, justice and community.
3. Our facilities will be managed, maintained and upgraded in a manner that respects and cherishes all creation, human and non-human, while meeting equitably the needs of all people. In our buildings and on our grounds we will use energy efficiently, conserve resources, and share what we have in abundance so that God’s holy creation will be sustainable for all life and future generations.
4. Our outreach will encourage public policy and community involvement that protects and restores the vulnerable and degraded earth as well as oppressed and neglected people. We will be mindful that our personal and collective actions can positively or negatively affect our neighborhood, region, nation and world. We will seek to achieve environmental justice through coalitions and ecumenical partnerships.

When you read this, the EPA’s Clean Power Plan public hearing will have taken place on Nov. 12 and 13. Pittsburgh is one of four cities to have these hearings, and we hope to have an impact on the quality of our air.

Notes:

• Next steps: an energy audit? What the heck is an energy audit, anyway? Watch this space to find out!
• Cosy Cornelius-Bates is collecting the following hard-to-recycle items with Terracycle.com: toothpaste tubes + caps, floss containers, toothbrushes, deodorant containers + caps, soap packaging, mouthwash bottles + caps, scotch tape dispensers, cereal bags. Contact her to find out where to drop off your hard-to-recycle items.