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WHAT'S A UU TO DO?
Thanks to Julie Rogers for reading and tabulating ALL the many responses to the question, “What’s a UU To Do?” from the Earth Day Service at UUCE, April 23, 2006!
See also: your Carbon Footprint calculator (pdf).
See also Green Tips 2007
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Suggested donations for
FOOD FOR LANE COUNTY include: • Low-fat peanut butter |
1. Turn off heat at night and layer your clothing, to conserve energy. Reduce heat settings generally.
2. Eat less meat (which saves water, gas, etc. in food production).
3. Choose more organically grown foods (to reduce chemical use).
4. Buy locally, especially fruits and vegetables in season (saves transportation, fuel).
Shop at our many farmers’ markets and stands
5. Buy into a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) plan.
6. Create a comprehensive recycling system at home, and seek ways to recycle your waste wherever you go.
7. Ride your bike to work 1 or more days a week (or other places you go).
8. Consolidate your car errands.
9. Grow your own fruits, vegetables and flowers.
10. Compost your yard waste; take a free composting workshop - Lane Co. Extensions Service has them.
11. Ride the bus more than you do now; walk to friends’ houses, to do errands.
12. Replace burned out light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs.
13. Refill/recycle computer printer cartridges.
14. Turn off TV and find simple pleasures.
15. Re-use “zip-lock” and other plastic bags, or buy/make your own vegie grocery bags from cloth.
16. Carpool to work and to church.
17. Consider the extent and necessity of your computer and internet use.
18. Re-use backs of paper for computer paper.
19. Take your own re-usable silverware and plates to picnics and potlucks to cut down on paper use and trash generation.
20. Keep car tires inflated properly to reduce fuel consumption and maintain your car well.
21. Prepare “real food” from scratch; cut back on “take-out” food.
22. Winterize water pipes; wrap water heater; insulate your home.
23. Enhance home lighting: paint with light colors, place desk and reading chairs near windows, turn off unused lights, go to bed earlier!
24. Use warmer blankets, layers, and abandon electric blanket use.
25. Be willing to sweat in the summer - avoid use of air conditioners.
26. Use an outdoor pantry in winter months in place of fridge.
27. Learn to co-exist (or even cherish) your weeds.
28. Use cold water for laundry; use phosphate-free biodegradable products.
29. Create a workable system to always have your cloth bags with you for purchases. Re-use paper and plastic bags, and when they wear out, recycle them.
30. Get into garage sale visiting to buy usable second-hand items. Join Freecycle Eugene to both get and give away items, to avoid sending them to the landfill!
31. Be sure to recycle hazardous electronic waste (phones, TV’s, computers, etc.) and compact fluorescent bulbs. Computer Reuse and Recycling Center, 682-2366; BRING Recycling, 746-3023 - call with questions.
32. Get a home energy audit (from EWEB or SUB).
33. Use the public library more for books and magazines; donate your used ones to the Friends of the Public Library book sale, at Eugene library.
34. Install low-flow faucets and shower heads, and low-water-use toilets.
35. Use cloth napkins, handkerchiefs, rags, rather than paper products.
36. Fix all leaking faucets, toilets, etc. in a timely manner.
37. Launder full loads only; hang clothes to air dry.
38. Drive under 70 mph on highways, 5 mph less than you currently do at all times, to save gas.
39. Check over-use of soap, shampoo, detergents, cleaning products; switch to natural alternatives as much as you can (vinegar, baking soda, etc.).
40. Purchase and use reusable pens and pencils.
41. Cut down on computer use and be more physically and mentally active.
42. Reduce frequency of toilet flushes, according to your comfort level.
43. Re-heat small portions of food on the stove top or in toaster oven, rather than large oven.
44. Only run dishwashers when full.
45. When buying new appliances, get energy-efficient ones.
46. Cover pans on the stove when bringing foods or beverages to a boil or when re- heating.
47. Develop safe driving habits and slow down more gently for turns and stops, avoid speeding right up to stop signs or lights that are turning red, avoid fast acceleration, etc.
48. If paper product purchase is necessary, buy “post-consumer waste” recycled paper products. This really supports recycling businesses and conserves resources.
49. Buy in bulk (nuts, raisings, syrup, toilet paper, etc.)
50. Wear natural products clothing; use natural personal care products (avoid synthetics, petroleum).
51. Put together and USE a Potluck Pack (napkin, silverware, cup, plate, bowl) and encourage others to do so.
52. Wear clothes multiple times before laundering.
53. Learn to can or dry (solar?) food in season to store for later.
54. Buy “recycled content” items to support the recycling industry and to use up fewer resources.
55. Put TV and computer on surge protectors BUT turn them off when you turn off the appliances (unplug when not in use). They keep using energy even when “off”.
56. Use reusable water containers rather than plastic throw-aways. Carry your own coffee cup, rather than accept paper/plastic cups! Stainless steel water containers are now considered safer than plastic.
56. Spay/neuter your pets.
57. In summer, air out your dwelling with Oregon’s cool morning air; then close it up.
58. “Walk, walk, walk! Bike, bike, bike!”
After the Basics
1. Sign up for renewable energy plans with EWEB (484-1125) (wind power)
2. Shower on a less frequent schedule; learn to sponge-bathe.
3. Use a focused light for tasks rather than an overhead light.
4. Replace lawns with a garden or native plant cover.
5. If the lawn is important to you, use a push mower and “grass cycle” your clippings back i n. Replace chemical inputs with natural ones.
6. Vacation locally to reduce fuel use.
7. Organize neighborhood cooperative use of tools and equipment.
8. When considering a purchase, get in the habit of asking yourself, “Do I need it? Can I borrow or rent it? Is it durable? Is it packaged minimally?”
9. Drought-proof your landscaping; incorporate native plants; create more “habitat” for our animal relations; for any maintained lawn, learn minimal watering techniques. Plant “Eco-Turf” (less watering and mowing).
10. Collect rain run-off for landscape watering in the summer.
11. Learn to repair rather than throw out.
12. As you reduce your waste stream by “pre-cycling” and “recycling,” consider taking your own trash and recyclables to the Blenwood Depot and stop using commercial services. (Discounts are given for recyclables.)
13. Contribute to or volunteer for NCAP (National Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides) in Eugene, the Nature Conservancy, the Stream Team, and other earth-sustaining non-profits.
14. Install a solar hot water system.
15. When remodeling, “Go Green;” recover old materials and take them to BRING; use earth-friendly products; design energy-efficient systems. This may be more cost- effective in the long term. “Value durability over initial cost.” BRING does deconstruction; 746-3023.
16. Buy a car that will use biodiesel fuel.
17. Work to elect “Green” politicians. Keep yourself informed on public policy effecting the future of human life on this planet. Urge state legislators to support the state natural resources agencies with general fund monies.
18. Buy “vegan” shoes.
19. Put lights on sensors; use night lights where low lighting is feasible.
20. Float the Willamette River and learn its character.
21. Wear out your clothes rather than buy new styles.
22. Get off junk mailing lists. Shelter your personal information when you order items, write checks, fill out door prize stubs, etc. Mail back cards from catalogues and solicitors requesting that you be taken off their mailing lists and not have your information shared with others. (Vigilance pays off here!)
23. “Buy used. Buy recycled. Don’t buy at all!”
24. Avoid travel by air. One round-trip to Europe repesents more than one year’s miles driven. (“If you don’t look at this one, you’re not serious.”)
25. Carry with you your own take-out containers for leftovers when dining out or traveling.
26. Invest in socially responsible investment firms and screen for “green practices.”
27. If raising a small child, investigate “new” method of potty-training that avoids all diapers (involves watching for signs...)
28. “Enjoy more simple living!”
29. If a new car purchase is necessary, educate yourself about alternative-energy vehicles. A used car may be a more sustainable choice (good gas mileage, no new resources used to produce).
30. Learn about nutritious eating. Consider vegan diet, or eating less animal food.
31. Avoid fish-farmed fish, to help maintain genetic diversity and reduce heavy use of chemicals, unnatural supplements.
32. Write legislators of your concerns about “genetically modified foods”.
33. “Stop watching NASCAR! The tracks are an environmental nightmare and the cars are low-tech gross polluters.”
34. If a golfer, urge the courses you play on to “go green” (use earth-friendly practices, rather than heavy chemical use).
35. Check out the new composting toilets (on view at Dharmalaya on Horn Lane).
36. Save water in a bucket when waiting for shower water to warm up, and use it to water plants, flush toilets, etc.
37. If unavoidably served a paper napkin, save it for later greasy clean-up in your kitchen.
Here are some UU Challenges:
1. “Do all you can. It’s all you can do.”
2. Develop car-pools for church attendees and a committee to oversee operations, with a slogan such as, “No UU driver alone!” Let’s empty the parking lot rather than expand it!
3. Pro-actively urge managers of establishments (banks, stores, cafes, etc.) to set thermostats at more moderate and comfortable levels, to conserve energy and promote health.
4. Help develop a barter system, with a local community currency.
5. Share your convictions and the reasons/data behind them with children and young people in your life. Model the positive feelings and rewards of Earth Stewardship.
6. Have the church sponsor an “Energy Conservation” workshop(s) that highlight the tax benefits available for becoming more energy efficient.
7. Have more UU Days like Stream Team on Earth Day, to pick up traxh, replant areas, etc. as a large group.
8. Encourage city officials to provide transportation alternatives; smaller conveyances more often? free-fare zones?
9. Teach others to recycle/repair/pre-cycle/vote green, etc.!
And Now for Something a Little Different!
1. To eliminate packaging, eat the fruit rather than the juice of the fruit. Also better for your health - less sugar, more fiber.
2. “Be HOPEFUL to others that we CAN meet these challenges!”
3. “Do not breed!”
4. “Plant a tree every year.”
5. “You have enough.”
6. “Shower with a friend (Shower with your dog!) (More than 10 of this entry!” Snuggle up with loved ones for heat.
7. “Talk with others to lead by example. Do more for yourself.”
8. Plant decisuous trees on the south side of your home.
9. Promote public urban greenspace; testify about the importance of sustainabnle land use before the Eugene Planning Commission.
10. “Collect urine and coffee grounds for your compost pile, to add nitrogen.”
11. “Downsize whatever, whenever possible; find new homes for what you don’t need.”
12. “Make DOING your favorite activity, not BUYING (gardening, learning an instrument, repairing stuff, etc.).”
Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene, Oregon
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