Green Team Meeting Notes 9-17-2019

Green Team Meeting Notes 9-17-2019

Reminder that our new meeting night is the 3^rd Tuesday of the month – next meeting is 10/15

Attendees: Bill Schroeder, Steve Fink, Mark Bohrer, Candy Dann (phone)

Away: Graham Long, Janet Clarke, Tim Smith, Fran Fink, Susan Johnston,

New adds to the invite: Mary Pritchard, Marty Mason

Agenda/Notes

1)     Climate Strike

-        Learn more at strikewithus.org/boston

-        Meet at church ~8:45 AM Friday 9/20

-        Take train at 9:22, Train arrives 10:10 AM

-        Currently planning to go from South Church: Susan, Janet, Bill, Mary Pritchard, Mark & Debbie Bohrer

-        10:00 – 11:30 gathering with speakers and music at City Hall Plaza

-        11:30 – 1:00 march to Massachusetts Statehouse

2)     UCC Super Saturday Plans – Oct 5^th in Framingham (see email from Bill Schroeder)

-        Mass Conference runs this event

                                                    i.     Now joining with RI and CT conferences

                                                   ii.     Environmental Ministry – Ted Wade and Barbara Darling

                                                  iii.     Steve will represent Green Team and talk about SC Green Retreat

3)     Faith Forums

-        Climate will be a topic on the first Sunday of every month throughout the year

4)     Climate Justice in Sunday Services -

-        Can there be “Climate Justice” or “Climate Witness” moments in church regularly?

-        ACTION – Mark contacted Dan and she said she would get back after talking to church staff

                                                    i.     Dana has not replied with

                                                   ii.     Jenn has several green events planned this fall with HS and MS students

5)     Harvest Dinner – is tentatively schedule for Saturday October 19^th

-        Purpose is to celebrate the year of food harvested by our Interfaith Giving Garden

-        Share Vegetarian dishes and ideas

                                                    i.     Pasta machines were a big hit

                                                   ii.     If we are going to have this we need to have Giving Garden on board

-        Then we can invite families and promote the event

-        ACTION: Steve – talk to Fran and Emily and confirm the interest of the Giving Garden team

-        Mark is available to organize and promote the event

6)     Andover Green Energy Options - discussion

-        Massachusetts State government has a program promoting Community Choice Aggregation

                                                    i.     Includes green energy options for citizens in a town

                                                   ii.     North Andover has implemented a CCA – but the main focus is not necessarily on green energy, although North Andover has an aggregated  green energy choice option

-        Steve is working with Anil to promote this option for Andover

                                                    i.     Can we have a session at South Church to share information on this?

-        See AndoverCCA.org

7)     Fellowship “greening”

o   Having a compost service was useful to get people to see it and think about this option

§  Could church benefit from compost service? The best option for when we do need to use disposable cups and plates would be use compostable ones.

o   David Strong was going to bring this up to council –

§  ACTION: Candy will followup with David

8)     Church sanctuary insulation – August 2019 notes –

-        No updates this month month, but serious plans are under consideration

-        Ross Lenway of RISE Engineering  - MASS-SAVE contractor, with gas customer balance paid by Columbia gas

                                     i.     working in conjunction with natural gas crisis – has worked with 30 churches in Lawrence/Andover/ North Andover area in the past year

                                    ii.     A series of updates was performed to South Church earlier this year – steam traps replaced, other stuff

-        Attic insulation –

                                     i.     Ross talked about how the attic would air-sealed & insulated after plaster replaced

-        Side wall insulation

                                     i.     RISE previously had said that the walls could not get blown in insulation

                                    ii.     On further review – on the invitation of Andy Brien to an Insulation contractor said that we COULD get the sidewalls insulated

1.      Estimate of this insulation contractor said walls and ceiling would cost ~$87,000

2.      Estimate of “therms saving” is ~4-5,000 therms, each therm is approx $1, payback is ~20 years

3.      THIS IS DO-ABLE, although it exceeds the standard amount that Columbia Gas pays (approx $50,000)

4.      Looking forward: the paperwork was submitted to request full payment by Columbia Gas – there seems a reasonable chance to get this.

5.      Worth Noting: our church does NOT have certain architecture, old wiring & hazardous material issues that some OTHER chuches have that may complicate what can be done for them. We have this simplifying situation.

Green Team Meeting Notes and Plans 6-20-2019

Green Team Meeting Notes and Plans 6/20/2019

Attendees: Bill Schroeder, Steve Fink, Fran Fink, Mark Bohrer, Susan Johnston, Candy Dann

Away: Graham Long, Janet Clarke, Tim Smith

Agenda/Notes

ACTION – Mark – after input received – followup with church staff – what dates do we have?

News: New meeting night! We will now be meeting on 3^rd Tuesday of the month – next meeting is August 20^th!

1)      Green Bee

-          Discussed new topics

                                             i.      Energy audit by Mass Save is worth checking even if you’ve done it before!

Candy had her 4^th – and they found an additional thing to do – they added insulation in her attic. Residents of Andover benefit from additional support by Columbia Gas. Instead of 75% coverage by MassSave, insulation is now covered 100% with Columbia Gas contribution. So now is the time to think about an Energy Audit! This program by Columbia Gas is only good for

                                           ii.      Energy in NE - Bill

                                         iii.      “Zero Waste” Picnic followup – talk about what we what we did as a church! Less than 5 lbs of trash was leftover. Everything else was composted or recycle.  - Bill

                                         iv.      Lupine Road energy saving  - Steve

                                           v.      Greater Lawrence Technical HS programs – Steve

                                         vi.      Carbon Offsets for travel – Mark

2)      How can we have a climate prayer moment in every service

-          More positive messages than concerns is important – what people are doing that is succeeding, how people are coming together around the world, Good news “Eagles return to their places along the Merrimack!”, etc

3)      Picnic - Followup

o   Education value was useful – people learning about what can be composted, recycle, “it’s easy” conversations….

o   Having a compost service was useful to get people to see it and think about this option

§  Could church benefit from compost service? The thought is probably not…

4)      Retreat followup – people talked to Steve about it positively – we should think about Fall 2020…new location?

5)      Bio-Mass Energy Discussion  - Bill

o   There is a proposed plan in the state to add bio-mass energy prodution in western Mass.

o   Mass DOER is proposing treating bio-mass energy sources as a Class 1 renewable energy source

o   Bill find out some more and share info

o   Movie “Burned” was very enlightening about how this is not a good idea environmentally

6)      Church Year Plans

o   Harvest Dinner – is set for Saturday October 19^th

§  Celebrate the Giving Garden, sharing what they did, how they did it.

o   Fall Sunday Service – Social Justice and Climate Crisis – no feedback from pastoral staff as of yet

§  This is an opportunity to have the youth be involved

§  Can this be a community event?

§  The Green Team is ready to assist

o   Earth Day Sunday (50^th year of Earth Day) – no feedback from pastoral staff as of yet

§  Any Sunday April 19 through mid-May

·         Green team is ready to support pastoral staff and contributing in any way we can

·         Can the service be a community event?

o   Can one of the monthly contributions go to a local conservation or environmental group?

7)      Discussion on possible microgrid plans in Andover – Steve has plans in progress

Parking Lot - Not discussed

8)      Renewable/Electric options for church

-          Long-term Plan to get the church off gas completely

2019 Annual Report of the Green Team

2019 Annual Report of the Green Team

---

The Green Team is an ad-hoc committee within the Church. Its purpose is to promote good environmental stewardship in the church's facilities, in our homes, and in the wider community. The committee works to foster action on the Climate Crisis and on Climate Justice. Our motto is “We can do this!” We meet once a month during the regular church year. We welcome new members and new ideas. Everyone is welcome to participate!

All-Church Retreat: We hosted an all-church retreat on nature, the environment and creation care. It took place on Oct 5-7 2018 at the AMC Highland Center at Crawford Notch, NH. All ages took part. We were both outdoors and in. Rev. Jim Antal, the outgoing Mass UCC President, was the special guest speaker. Because of the recent Columbia Gas crisis, the discussions and workshops took on added importance. From this came Mary Pritchard founding the group Working to Educate for Climate Action Now (WECAN).

The Green Bee: A new feature in the Weekly Buzz – these short pieces give tips about being "more green" with links to articles that go into more depth about environmental issues.  They have been ranging from 7 to 24 "clicks" when these links have been offered, an excellent response! (Nora is able to chart these.) 

Report on the Solar Panels - after 6 years in service, and with efficiency improvements at the church, the solar panels are now producing MORE than 100% of our annual electricity needs. You can find the report on the solar panels on the church website green team page: http://southchurch.com/green-team/

Divestment: The Green Team raised the issue of Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) and fossil fuel divestment for the church's investments.  At the request of Church Council a separate committee was established to facilitate a church-wide discussion on the topic.  The SRI committee hosted several open discussions, and published its findings on the church website here: http://southchurch.com/socially-responsible-investing/   As a result of this discussion the Trustees of the Trust Funds have begun shifting the church's investments in the direction of SRI (or Environmental, Social and Governance, as it is often now called).  A number of individual church members have also made changes in their investments as a result.

Green Picnic: Last June, we again helped make the all-church picnic a “green” event again by setting up and demonstrating how to compost food waste, paper products and recyclables, and how throw away trash can be greatly reduced, almost to zero. Our goal was to show that it’s easy to do this at your home once you know how.

Earth Day: In 2019 Earth Day fell on the day after Easter, so there was no specific Earth Day worship service. However, there was a church-wide ONCET meeting on April 27 in which church members discussed their visions for the environment and future generations in South Church's future ministries.  Also, Faith Forums hosted a several week study/discussion titled "The Climate Crisis - What Will We Do?"

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Bohrer, Candy Dann, Bill Schroeder, Susan Johnston, Steve Fink, Fran Fink, Janet Clarke, Graham Long, and Iric Rex.                                                 Contact us at greenteam@southchurch.com

Green Team Meeting Notes 5/16/2019

Green Team Meeting Notes 5/16/2019

Attendees: Bill Schroeder, Graham Long, Steve Fink Mark Bohrer, Susan Johnston, Candy Dann (phone)

Away: Fran Fink, Janet Clarke, Tim Smith

Agenda/Notes

ACTION – Susan – call Offbeat Compost to see if they compost paper plates

ACTION – Susan – order compostable plates & napkins

ACTION – Candy – check with contact John Genetti at AHS about composting paper plates

ACTION – Steve – drop off compost bin & cups – either at church or with Susan

ACTION – Mark – contact 3 Giving Garden leads on proposal for Harvest Dinner in Fall

ACTION – Mark – after input received - send church calendar request this month to pastoral staff

1)      Picnic

o   Supplies

§  Paper plates – we need 500 – Susan found a source online - sturdy

§  Cups – re-usable plastic cups - Finks will drop off & coordinate with Susan

§  Bowls –  Candy will drop off bowls

§  Silverware – use church silver & wash

§  Green barrel – Finks will drop off & coordinate with Susan

o   Signs

§  Candy will email last year’s

o   Compost – Roots Compost is now Offbeat Compost – Susan to investigate to have them pickup

2)      Church Year Planning – We need to send input on proposed/possible dates

o   Harvest Dinner

§  Plan to celebrate the Giving Garden, sharing what they did, how they did it.

·         Mark – will contact Emily, Mark A, Fran to suggest us supporting them and ask about their preferences / idease on possible dates mid-September through mid-October

o   Fall Sunday Service – Social Justice and Climate Change

§  The Green Team would like

§  This is an opportunity to have the youth be involved

§  Can this be a community event

o   Earth Day Sunday (50^th year of Earth Day)

§  Any Sunday April 19 through mid-May

·         Green Team believes this is important

·         Green team is open to supporting pastoral staff and contributing in any way we can

·         Can the service become a community event?

o   What about asking for the monthly contribution go to some local green group?

3)      Green Team Annual Report – Mark will draft and send out

4)      Discussion on possible microgrid plans in Andover

Parking Lot - Not discussed

5)      Renewable/Electric options for church

-          Long-term Plan to get the church off gas completely

6)      SC Green Team website

-          Lots more information there now. Anything more needed?