Home What Can You Do? Join the EarthSpirit Team About EarthSpirit Team Contact EarthSpirit Team Back to First Church Site  
The Green Sanctuary Program
EarthSpirit Action Plans
EarthSpirit Latest News
EarthSpirit Calendar
EarthSpirit Meetings
UU Ministry for Earth
Learn More About Environmental Topics
Links to Environmental Information Resources
Website Disclaimer
 
 
First UU Church has committed to becoming more Earth-friendly by partnering with the UU Ministry for Earth to complete the Green Sanctuary Project. [ More>> ]

Latest News

01/02/2008 -  January EarthSpirit Team Meeting: Wednesday, January 2nd [ More >> ]

01/02/2008 -  EarthSpirit "Global Climate Change" Lecture, January 23rd, at the San Diego Natural History Museum. [ More >> ]

11/06/2007 -  Latest Earthy Encouragement and articles from the EarthSpirit team in the church newsletters, The Window or First Words. [ More >> ]

11/06/2007Action Alert - The EarthSpirit Team expects that a resolution in support of a citywide Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention ordinance will be introduced to San Diego City Council in January. [ More >> ]

Al Gore Receives Nobel Peace Prize !

Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Friday for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and lay the foundations for counteracting it.

He responded saying "I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. This award is even more meaningful because I have the honor of sharing it with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change--the world's pre-eminent scientific body devoted to improving our understanding of the climate crisis--a group whose members have worked tirelessly and selflessly for many years. We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level."


Earthly Encouragements

Hang up a clothsline! The environmental quality of your wardrobe is ultimately determined by the way you wash it. A recent study by Cambridge University's Institute of Manufacturing found that 60% of the energy associated with a piece of clothing is spent in washing and drying it. Over its lifetime, a T shirt can send up to 9 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air.

The solution is not to avoid doing laundry, tempting as that may be. Rather, wash your clothes in warm or cold water instead of hot, and save up to wash a few big loads rather than several smaller ones. When the clothes are clean, dry them the natural way, by hanging them on a line instead of loading them in a dryer.  Altogether you can reduce the C02 created by your laundry up to 90%.

 

Enviro Tips

Honoring the Earth at Holiday Time: Americans throw away 25% more trash during the Thanksgiving to New Year’s holiday season than any other time of year. This extra garbage amounts to 25 million tons of trash, or about 1 million extra tons of garbage per week. [ More >> ]

Check out vintage clothes: Second-hand clothes are more environmentally friendly than new clothes. When you buy something passed down from someone else you avoid consuming new resources and the energy used in producing and shipping new clothes, avoiding the carbon emissions that would have been produced. If you don't like to shop in second-hand stores, invite your friends over for a clothes swap, asking each person to bring a few items to trade.  Have some fun and finish the party with a new wardrobe!

Make a date to ride the trolley : Call up a friend or ask a partner to try out the trolley or bus system in San Diego, making a date out of testing an earth friendly transportation source. Visit a museum in Balboa Park, visit a new part of downtown, or ride to the next sports event you attend. Check out the San Diego Metropolitan System's website for how to use system. [ More >> ]

About EarthSpirit

The Mission of the EarthSpirit Team is to develop environmental awareness and model personal and institutional stewardship of the natural world. [ More >> ]