GREEN SANCTUARY COMMITTEE
As part of our church's mission to work for environmental justice, TUUC has been accredited as a Green Sanctuary since 2009. The Green Sanctuary Committee focuses on opportunities to educate the congregation and community on environmental issues and recommends environmentally sound practices and responsible stewardship of the TUUC building and grounds. We sell fair trade coffee monthly to support small farmers and the use of fair-trade coffee at our Sunday coffee hours. We continue to cultivate our environmental justice partnership with Amazing Grace Church in East Baltimore, where we focus on food justice and creating an urban oasis by working in the food garden and helping to maintain the labyrinth and rain gardens. Come join us!
Go Native! Information on Maryland Native Plants, Invasive Plants, and an Effective & Environmental Way to Control Mosquitos - April 2024
This 2-page brochure (link below) will give you websites to let you access:
The booklet "Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping,"
It contains information about native plants, including photos of the plants and descriptions of their preferred growing conditions in your yard.
The booklet "Mistaken Identity? Invasive Plants and their Native Look-Alikes,"
It can help you identify plants that are invasive in Maryland and includes photos and descriptions of native plants to replace the invasives.
You can find suppliers who sell native plants.
A "recipe" for an effective mosquito control "brew" (you can easily do this yourself!)
Be sure to check out the second page which gives the "recipe" for a quick, inexpensive, easy, and environmental way to control the mosquitos in your yard. It does not harm other insects or larger animals and does not spread pesticides on your yard. You will want to try this one!
Information on Maryland Native Plants and Where to Get Them - April 2024
The theme of the October 8th, 2023, service was "Let All That Has Breath."
It focused on how we can be good ancestors by working, individually and together, for climate change in a way that is equitable and just.
We participated in the "Let All That Has Breath" campaign sponsored by Interfaith Power & Light. The goal of this is to improve the Maryland EmPower program so that low-income households can equally benefit from the efforts to move from methane gas to all-electric and can make their homes more energy efficient. If you missed the service in person, click on this form entitled "LET ALL THAT HAS BREATH", fill out the form and return it to the TUUC office, so that IPL can then forward it on to your legislators.
We learned about important climate provisions that should be included in the upcoming reauthorization of the U.S. Farm Bill. The UU Ministry for Earth and UUs for Social Justice lobbied Maryland senators last week about these provisions. We prepared letters to Senators Cardin and Van Hollen for our members and friends to sign. If you didn't sign one on Sunday, please click on each of these letters, print them out send them to your Senators. CARDIN LETTER and VAN HOLLEN LETTER.
And what can you do to help climate change? We offered many suggestions ranging from getting tax credits for more efficient appliances to using silicone bags instead of plastic ones, taking containers from home for restaurant leftovers, and more. Click on this RESOURCE LIST for many more suggestions.
Follow up to April 24, 2022 Earth Day Service
Here are ways you can support the efforts of Historic East Towson to make the dream of the "Road to Freedom Trail" a reality:
Contribute by sending a check to:
Northeast Towson Improvement Association, Inc.
436 E Pennsylvania Avenue, Towson MD 21286
Write To Elected Officials To Support The Trail:
Local: County Executive, County Council Representatives Districts 5&6
State: Delegates And Senators
Maryland Department Of Transportation
Federal: Congressional Representatives And Senators, Department of the Interior.
Follow up to April 25, 2020 Earth Day Service
Our speaker Rev. Dr. Terry Ellen mentioned several sources that we can use to educate ourselves about the climate crisis, the need for immediate action in this decade, and how climate change is tied to issues of poverty, racism indigenous genocide, with wealth divide and other social justice issues. Here are the sources he mentioned:
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): https://www.ipcc.ch/
Sign up for Bill McKibben's weekly online articles in the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/newsletter/the-climate-crisis
The UUA's Create Climate Justice resource, with a newsletter to sign up for: https://www.uua.org/environment
NAACP's Climate and Environmental Justice Program: https://www.naacp.org/environmental-climate-justice-about/
Rev. William Barber's Poor Peoples Campaign and environmental justice: https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/forward-focus-climate-change-environmental-justice/
He also urged us all to let our elected representatives know how important it is to act on these issues now, even if you don't have a specific bill name or number to refer to.
Junk Mail/Recycling Options
Are you tired of receiving junk mail and catalogs that you do not use? Does it seem wasteful to just toss it in the recycling bin? You can remove your name from those lists, save trees, and save energy.
Use dmachoice.org to remove your address from direct mail lists.
Opt out of catalog mailings with catalogchoice.org.
Use optoutprescreen.com to stop insurance and credit card offers.
Opt out of Valpak mailings here: bit.ly/1Lf7YxG.
In this time of the COVID virus, many of us have used the extra time around the house to sort through things and clean out items that are just taking up space. However, finding a place to donate them can be difficult. Baltimore County has just put out a booklet listing all sorts of charities, the items they accept, and how those items are used. This is a gem! Your old things get recycled and become someone else’s treasures. However, call or check the websites to make sure the charity is accepting donations at this time.