~by Gary Hedden
It may require Divine Intervention to solve the challenge of climate change, but the Green Team at St. Nicholas/St. William Church isn’t waiting. The Green Team is a small but energetic group of four – Maureen Lane, Liz Lilly, Karen Shea-Daly and Joan Sain. They have decided to take the words of Pope Francis to heart, “There is a nobility in the duty to care for creation through little daily actions.” One little action is the recycling of waste at the Church. This is indeed a daily task and the question of what goes where is not always obvious. To help, the Green Team created clearly marked bins – compost, recyclables, and landfill – complete with examples and written guidelines. They find that people still get confused, so often they show up at events to help monitor the waste stations and keep people on track.
Recently, the Church’s Green Team reached out to GreenTown Los Altos and asked, “What else can we do?” GreenTown was happy to oblige. Margie Suozzo suggested switching their compostable plastic juice glasses to paper, as compostable plastic actually isn’t very compostable. Gary Hedden suggested getting an energy audit. These are free from Home Energy Analytics and can save money as well as energy. We noted that one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gases by individuals in suburban communities is driving. Ride-sharing can help so we suggested creating a map for people interested in ride-sharing to Church events. The map will help people locate neighbors to team up with. The consumption of beef is another major source of greenhouse gases so we suggested starting a Meatless Monday campaign to cut back on red meat. Finally, we urged them to join the GreenTown Challenge, a web-based program that offers lots of ideas and a platform to help people cut their carbon footprint.
The Green Team knows they can’t do everything, but they agreed to keep working on recycling and consider adding one more activity. They have our support and our heartfelt appreciation! We LOVE talking with local groups about going greener, so please reach out if your green team needs a boost and a reminder that you’re not alone.
The clearly marked waste bins at St. Nicholas Church.
Karen, Joan, Maureen, and Liz – the Church Green Team – with Margie.
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