This weekend, the social justice committee of our Unitarian Universalist Fellowship will be holding a retreat to set our social justice agenda for the next year. I would like to sway our committee toward actions that will address climate change, as this is, in my opinion, the most pressing social justice issue of our times. But what can a relatively small congregation do to affect change in this arena? We are currently engaged in Inter-faith Power and Light's "Cool Congregations" program, attempting to help congregants reduce theirs and their families carbon footprint, and advance knowledge and understanding of the issues. As one might expect, a UU congregation is largely already engaged and active in this endeavor, so no big results are expected.
We also use the EPA's Energy Star Portfolio Manager to track the utilities for our buildings. We've been awarded the Energy Star designation as a result of these efforts and plan to continue energy efficiency efforts for our facilities.
I am developing a program to train congregants in basic weatherproofing for houses. This program will engage volunteers to train, then work together to make improvements to folk's homes that may not be able to do it themselves. If successful, I hope to take the model to a larger community, through an inter-faith coalition, to train more volunteers and create teams to make improvements for more folks in our area.
So, we are doing some things, but as we meet to set our priorities, I'd like to have additional ideas to present for consideration- what we can do to move the ball in regard to climate change in a social justice context. The purpose of this diary is to pose this question to the mighty minds of the community. What are your suggestions for action we can take to make a difference?
Thank you for considering this request!