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The Congregational Church No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here. |
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JUSTICE AND PEACE MINISTRY TEAM
Meetings are held the first Monday of the month at 6:30 p.m.
MISSION STATEMENT The mission of the Justice and Peace Committee of the Congregational Church UCC, Rochester, Minnesota is to provide opportunities for awareness, education and action in response to God’s call for peace and justice in our community and the world. We seek to empower each person to walk in the footsteps of Jesus as agents of God’s power of peace, justice and love that binds instead of divides.
UCC Justice & Ministries Link:
EVENTS: January 17, 2010 - Annual Peace Service 10:00 a.m.
February 14-20, 2010 - Interfaith Hospitality Network
March 3, 2010 @ 6:00 p.m. - Interfaith Dialogue with Guest: Rabbi Michelle Werner, B’nai Israel Synagogue
March 14, 2010 @ 11:15 a.m. - “The Real Energy Story”, Norm Erickson
April 25, 2010 - Annual Electronics Recycling Day, before, during, and after service
June 6-12, 2010 - Interfaith Hospitality Network
June 19, 2010 - Carefest
Summer-Fall, 2010 - Habitat for Humanity Interfaith Build
August 15-21, 2010 - Interfaith Hospitality Network
September TBD - Turkish Scarf Project; Diana and Barry Hanke
October 15, 2010 - Cardboard Box City
October 18, 2010 @ 6-8 p.m. - Channel One Food Shelf Work Shift
November 21-27, 2010 - Interfaith Hospitality Network
November-December, 2010 - Alternative Gifts
“Know Your Neighbor” - Find your neighbors on the map of all of our church members. Located in the Narthex.
Partner Kids Program at Elton Hills School - Do you have an hour or two a week to help our young Rochester students become better readers? Call Greg Caucutt to sign up and make a difference with youth who need your help!
PRACTICAL GREEN TIPS
Washing Your Car in the Driveway- Use Only Biodegradable Cleaners (non-phosphate) When you wash your car in the driveway, all of the soapy and chemical runoff goes directly into the storm water system and the water is not cleaned by going through he wastewater treatment plant. This means that those soaps and detergents used for car washing (and anything else you wash outside) flows directly into our lakes and rivers.
Product Waste Disposal Get rid of stuff the right way. Did you know you can donate or recycle your computer, cell phone, eyeglasses, yard trimmings, and much, much more? By recycling and composting, we keep millions of tons of material out of landfills and incinerators each year. (From the National Zoo)
Paper Towels Did you know if every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of 180-sheet virgin-fiber paper towels with 100-percent recycled paper towels, we could save: 1.4 million trees, 3.7 million cubic feet of landfill space, and 526 million gallons of water, and prevent 89,400 pounds of pollution? Several companies make paper towels from 100-percent recycled paper, with a minimum of 90-percent post-consumer materials. You can find these products at many grocery stores. Better yet, make do without paper towels. Use dish towels instead. (From the National Zoo)
Cleaning Products Switch to vegetable-based cleaning products. Did you know that if every household in the US replaced just one bottle of 28-ounce petroleum based dishwashing liquid with a vegetable-based product, we could save 82,000 barrels of oil a year? This is enough oil to drive a car over 86 million miles. Vegetable-based cleaning products are becoming readily available in supermarkets.
Phosphorus and Phosphates We learned years ago that phosphorus was bad for our lakes and rivers, but did you know that, while laws were passed to reduce the phosphorus from many cleaning products, dishwashing detergents (residential and commercial) were excluded? Choose dishwashing detergents which have no phosphorus or are low in phosphorus.
Tire Inflation Tires have a bigger impact on the environment than you might think. Did you know 50 to 80 percent of tires are under-inflated? Under-inflated tires waste up to five percent of a car's fuel. How much fuel would we save if we properly inflated our tires? Up to two billion gallons a year!
Clean Up Your Coffee Enjoy a cup of joe with a cleaner conscience. Did you know you can reduce waste and help wildlife while you drink coffee? If you brew it yourself, eliminate paper filters by purchasing a reusable filter, available for just a few dollars at natural food stores and elsewhere. White paper filters pollute water with chlorine and other harmful chemicals. Unbleached filters are an improvement but over time, waste vast amounts of paper. If you buy your coffee by the cup, bring your own reusable cup with you. You'll save paper, reduce chlorine used to bleach cups, and reduce your contribution to landfills.
Saving Water Put a plastic bottle in your toilet tank. Did you know each time your toilet is flushed, it uses 5 to 7 gallons of water? With a five-minute time investment, you can save 1 to 2 gallons per flush! A small plastic juice bottle or laundry soap bottle works well. Soak off the label, fill the bottle with water, put on the cap, and place it in the tank. Be careful that the bottle doesn't interfere with the flushing mechanism. (from the National Zoo)
Electric Dryers or Paper Towels? There's no contest. Did you know electric dryers are twice as energy-efficient as paper towels, even towels made from recycled paper? Although the production of the electricity that powers electric dryers generates greenhouse gases, the production of paper towels is twice as energy-intensive and creates more greenhouse gases overall. Also, the manufacture of paper towels emits pollutants, including chlorine, and many paper towels are made from virgin wood rather than recycled material. Your small choice can make a big difference.
Saving Water Saving water is simple. Try the following: turn off the water while brushing your teeth, washing your hands, and washing dishes. Take shorter showers (5 minutes or less). Only do full loads of laundry and dishes. If your washing machine has a setting for the amount of clothing you're washing (small to extra-large load), choose a low setting--you'll use less water and your clothes will get just as clean. If your dishwasher has an option to run a "full" or "short" cycle, choose the short cycle. Water your lawn only in the morning or evening. (Water evaporates four to eight times faster during the heat of the day.) Finally, wash your car less often. (from the National Zoo)
Electric Dryers or Paper Towels?There's no contest. Did you know electric dryers are twice as energy-efficient as paper towels, even towels made from recycled paper? Although the production of the electricity that powers electric dryers generates greenhouse gases, the production of paper towels is twice as energy-intensive and creates more greenhouse gases overall. Also, the manufacture of paper towels emits pollutants, including chlorine, and many paper towels are made from virgin wood rather than recycled material. Your small choice can make a big difference. (from the National Zoo)
Plastic Bottles or Aluminum Cans? If you have a choice about beverages to buy, which should it be? Choose aluminum. Plastic bottles may be recyclable, but they take much more energy to recycle than aluminum.
Swap Light Bulbs Replace traditional incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL’s), which now come in a range of sizes, so they’ll fit almost any type of fixture and styles. (Because of the metal in them, these also need to be recycled).
Wish Upon an Energy Star Updating appliances to energy-efficient models can cut your utility bills by as much as a third, with similar savings on greenhouse-gas emissions. When buying new appliances, look for the Energy Star logo; this means they have met strict energy-efficiency guidelines set by the EPA and the DOE. Additionally, side-by-side refrigerator/freezers use roughly 10 percent more energy than similarly sized freezer on top models, automatic icemakers typically increase refrigerator energy use by 10 to 20 percent.
Bring Your Own Bag Next time you go grocery shopping, BYOB—bring your own bags. Did you know it takes one 15- to 20-year-old tree to make enough paper for only 700 grocery bags? What about plastic? They may be more convenient than paper but they're not biodegradable. Plastic bags often wind up in the ocean and kill marine animals that get tangled up in them or swallow them. Paper bags are biodegradable but are often made from virgin paper because, manufacturers say, heavy loads require the long fibers in virgin pulp. Plastic bags can be recycled at many grocery stores, and paper bags can be recycled with other paper, but the recycling process and manufacture of new bags require much more energy—resulting in more greenhouse gas—than the production of reusable cloth bags. Bring cloth bags with you every time you shop (for groceries, clothes, and everything else). If you forget, put your purchases in as few bags as possible, and be sure to recycle the bags. (from the National Zoo)
Rechargeable Batteries Once they're all used up, recycle your rechargeable batteries. Did you know more than 350 million rechargeable batteries are purchased annually in the United States? When these batteries no longer hold a charge and are thrown away, they can cause serious harm to human health and the environment. About 75 percent of municipal solid waste is either sent to a landfill or incinerated. Neither of these methods is suited for the disposal of rechargeable batteries. In addition, do try to use rechargeable batteries, because even if regular batteries are disposable, do we still want to add to our landfills?
Cleaning Products Switch to vegetable-based cleaning products. Did you know if every household in the U.S. replaced just one bottle of 28-ounce petroleum-based dishwashing liquid with a vegetable-based product, we could save 82,000 barrels of oil a year? This is enough oil to drive a car over 86 million miles! Vegetable-based cleaning products are becoming readily available in supermarkets across the country, particularly those that specialize in natural foods. (from the National Zoo)
Provided by courtesy of the Ministry Team of Justice and Peace of the Congregational Church, United Church of Christ. Printed on recycled paper. |
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