Rideau Park United Church - Environmental Action
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Rideau Park United Church

 

Environmental Action

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Environmental Action
Sub-Committee

Contents

Important News/Upcoming Events

  • mug.gif 144x113 “Bring Your Own Mug!” Campaign—In light of the recent changes to the City recycling policy (see below), and in an effort to reduce waste, the Environmental Action committee has initiated an experiment with mugs during coffee hour. We encourage all members of Rideau Park to bring their own mug (and/or juice cup) to church every Sunday. There will be a limited number of mugs available for those who forget their mug or are visiting the church for the first time. If you take a mug, though, you must wash it yourself! Washing facilities have been set up in Beecroft kitchen. If you lug your own mug, please be sure to take it home with you. Eventually we hope to eliminate the use of styrofoam cups at coffee hour and ideally have most members bringing their own mugs to church. Thank you for your cooperation! If you are interested in helping the Environment Committee develop a Rideau Park mug or assist with making mug bags, please contact Kristina Inrig (613-889-8576) or envaction@rideaupark.ca.
  • Energy Audit of Rideau Park is Completed!—The Enviro Centre has completed the Energy Audit of Rideau Park. You can now view the document on-line (as a PDF file). The Environmental Action Sub-Committee is currently working with the Stewards Committee to prioritize plans for retrofitting Rideau Park. We hope to be able to reduce heating and electricity costs in the short and long-term. If you have any comments about the audit or would like to get involved in the retrofit process, please contact Kristina at envaction@rideaupark.ca. Special thanks to Faith and the Common Good for providing funding to Rideau Park to help with the cost of the audit.
  • Call for Members—The Environmental Action Sub-Committee is looking for members to participate in the group. You can have a very limited role of simply sending suggestions and helping out at rare events or you can attend meetings and plan events on issues of personal interest. Please e-mail envaction@rideaupark.ca for details or fill out our online volunteer form.
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Past Events and Actions

  • Greening Sacred Spaces: a special three-part series on renewing the sacred balance of the earth. This event built on the Lenten workshops with Heather Eaton and the growing concerns for environmental issues at Rideau Park. The sessions included:
    Session One (May 28th): Our Faith, Our Earth
    Session Two (June 4th): Greening our Habits and Communities
    Session Three (June 11th): Reconnecting with the Natural World
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  • Free CFC Lightbulbs!  Faith and the Common Good teamed up with Project Porchlight to bring environmentally-friendly lightbulbs to Rideau Park. Bulbs were distributed on Sunday, April 2nd along with information and a call for volunteers. Visit www.faith-commongood.net and www.onechange.org.
     
  • New Bulletin Board for Environmental Issues was put up on April 2nd, 2006. It is located with the Social Action board outside the Parlour.
     
  • RPUC and the One-Tonne Challenge (OTC): This initiative took place in 2005 with a goal of getting 25 Rideau Park families to sign-up for the One Tonne Challenge. Over 45 people took the information books with several families making specific goals to reduce their tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
     
  • Launch of the One Tonne Challenge (OTC) at Rideau Park: This event was held on June 5th, 2005, and explained how 20 places of worship in Ottawa are taking the OTC initiative.
     
  • ssPicSmall.jpg 100x67 A Sunday School Open Session on the Environment was held March 13, 2005. This activity involved a large discussion circle on faith and ecology as well as a craft session to make Climate Change mobiles. For more details, see the Creation and Worship page
     
  • A Faith and Creation Bible Study was held every Monday night was held for seven weeks in October and November, 2004. This study considered many biblical sources for respecting creation. E-mail envaction@rideaupark.ca for details.
     
  • An Environmental Youth Service was held Oct. 31, 2004 at Rideau Park United Church. This service celebrated creation and called members of Rideau Park to consider how their actions impact the environment. For details about this service, see the Creation and Worship page.
     
  • The official launch of the Environmental Action Sub-Committee occurred on Sunday, May 30, 2004 during Canadian Environment Week. As part of this launch, we are pleased to announce:
    • New Webpage!
    • New Environmental Resource Centre in the RPUC Library!

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About the Environmental Action Sub-Committee

The Environmental Action Sub-Committee of Social Action and Outreach is committed to making Rideau Park United Church an environmentally aware and green congregation. Our focus is on promoting respect for creation in worship services, church events and practices, as well as encouraging congregants to make ecologically sound choices in their everyday lives. With these goals in mind, we have established objectives in several different areas of activity:

  1. Public Awareness: To raise awareness among Rideau Park members of various environmental issues that are relevant to our lives by:
    • holding public events and discussion groups on ecological topics
    • providing information booths on key issues during coffee hour and at some events
    • providing an information bulletin board about relevant issues and opportunities (coming soon!)
    • establishing an Environmental Resource Centre in the RPUC Library with books and action ideas
    • engaging children and youth in environmental issues
     
  2. Policy Recommendations: To consider various policies at Rideau Park United Church to ensure that we are a leader in respecting creation through our practices by:
    • examining environmental policy statements of the UCC
    • making recommendations that could be implemented in our church; possible areas of interest: purchasing, energy, and renovation policy.
     
  3. Creation in Worship: To ensure that respect for creation is incorporated into our worship services and activities by:
    • making recommendations and assist in planning for specific environmental services (see an example of such a service)
    • emphasizing an environmentally-friendly attitude in our weekly services when possible
    • organizing special mid-week services on environmental topics
    • hosting discussion groups or bible studies on faith and creation
    • considering inter-faith dialogue for certain events or studies

The Environmental Action Sub-Committee works closely with a variety of committees that currently exist at Rideau Park in order to provide an environmental perspective to many overlapping areas such as worship, youth, outreach, and policy development.

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How to Join

For more information on this group, please contact Kristina Inrig at 613-889-8576 or envaction@rideaupark.ca

You can also fill out a brief volunteer form on-line.

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Personal Action — What Can YOU Do?

  • Consider and pray about how your actions may impact the environment
  • Drop by the Environmental Resource Centre located in the RPUC library
  • Join the Environmental Action Sub-Committee or another local environment group
  • Learn as much as you can and decide to reduce your ecological footprint.
Here are some ideas and tools:

Learn more about environmental issues

There are many links below that connect you to environmental groups, government websites, and more! A good place to start is to visit the website for Faith and the Common Good (www.faith-commongood.net), a Canadian multi-faith environmental group.

Find out what’s going on in Ottawa! See a listing of Ottawa environmental groups from the Peace and Environment Resource Centre: perc.ca/groups/. Or pick up the Peace and Environment News.

Learn about the new Recycling Policy in Ottawa: Find out more from the City of Ottawa website (at ottawa.ca/city_services/recycling_garbage) We are currently in the process of determining how the policy will affect Rideau Park and what alternatives there are to styrofoam and other products that cannot be recycled. Please send your comments or suggestions to envaction@rideaupark.ca.

Visit an environmental store or resource centre in Ottawa such as Arbour Environmental Shoppe or the Enviro Centre (see the links and addresses below).

David Suzuki Foundation’s Top 10 Ways to conserve nature and improve our quality of life:

  • Reduce home energy use by 10%
  • Choose an energy-efficient home
  • Replace dangerous pesticides
  • Eat meat-free meals one day a week
  • Buy locally grown and produced food
  • Choose a fuel-efficient vehicle
  • Walk, bike, carpool or take transit
  • Choose a home close to work or school
  • Support car-free alternatives
  • Learn more and share with others

The Challenge is to pick at least three steps and sign up at: www.davidsuzuki.org/WOL/Challenge.

‘One Less Tonne’ Challenge by the Pembina Institute lets you select possible actions to reduce harmful emissions. It shows the amount of money you save by taking these changes as well as the actual amount of emissions you would reduce. Try it out: www.onelesstonne.ca

Get an Energy Audit of your home. Contact the Enviro Centre at City Hall: 580-2582 or check out the website (www.envirocentre.ca/envirocentre_eng.html). You can also visit a showroom at 110 Laurier Avenue. To get some specific tips for your house, try the Office of Energy Efficiency, a part of Natural Resources Canada (see oee.nrcan.gc.ca/houses-maisons/english/homeowners/eneractive/tips.cfm).

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Links

Faith and Ecology

Government Websites

Government of Canada

Goverment of Ontario

City of Ottawa

Non-Government Organizations

Environmental Products: Stores and Resource Centres

Ottawa

Canada

Other

If you know of a link that should be added, please e-mail: envaction@rideaupark.ca.
If you find a broken link, please notify the webmaster.