Our St. Michael’s Green Team partners with the Advocacy Action Group to seek environmental justice for all people and ecological justice for all non-human life within God’s good creation. The Green Team also works to improve our collective and personal practices by helping us reduce our energy, water, and toxic-materials use.
The Green Team meets regularly on the first Thursday of each month but are considering new times and virtual alternatives for meetings so that we can be welcoming to all who wish to participate. New members and those interested in working on a one-time project are always welcome.
Recent Accomplishments
- Awarded the ecumenical Greenfaith Certification, a two-year environmental leadership program for houses of worship. The certification goal is to give these communities the resources they need to put into practice a program that inspires, educates and mobilizes people around environmental stewardship with the belief that it is a religious value and a moral responsibility.
- Completed a study of a solar photovoltaic project for St. Michael’s and learned that our electrical utility provider, Pacific Power, offers grants for solar projects. A grant application will be submitted in 2018 and, if awarded, the project will transpire in 2019.
- Purchased energy from renewable sources through Pacific Power’s Blue Sky Renewable Energy Program, which also funds the grants mentioned above.
- Attended Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon’s 2017 Collins Lecture, Wounded Earth, Wounded Humanity: God’s Call to Climate Justice and led workshops on environmental advocacy and stewardship in faith communities.
- Completed an inventory of cleaning and landscaping products and identified non-toxic alternative products to use
- Switched to 100% recycled-content paper for use in printing Sunday bulletins and continued to recycle bulletins and most other paper products
- Completed an analysis of St. Michael’s energy use and are taking steps to further reduce energy consumption, including a transition to LEDs
- Developed a kitchen-use policy to reduce waste by encouraging the use of washable dishes and providing receptacles and instructions for recycling and composting.
- Held a faith-formation program for children using Faith and Nature: The Divine Adventure of Life on Earth as the curriculum.
- Continuing to work for fossil-fuel divestment and socially responsible investing with The Diocese of Oregon.
- Advocating for reduction in fossil fuel use in numerous ways.