Submitted by James Babcock The congregations of Oak Park and River Forest have been invited to participate in a pilot program to begin implementing the PlanItGreen Sustainability Plan. Many of us in the faith community were very active in the development of this plan which was formally adopted in June, 2011. Now is our opportunity to continue to show leadership in the community by putting the plan into action. To support this work in congregations, the Interfaith Green Network, along with PlanItGreen consultants from Seven Generations Ahead and Delta Institute, will host a Benchmarking Workshop, March 5, 2012, 7-8:30 pm, Oak Park Main Library, Veterans Room, 2nd Floor.Participating congregations will work collaboratively on the three topic areas of Energy, Water, and Waste. The first step is for each congregation to accurately record recent usage—to determine in a unified way benchmarks against which future performance can be measured. The next step is for each congregation to identify steps to reduce use of energy and water, and to reduce the amount of waste that goes into the landfill. This will be an opportunity both to save money over time and to become better stewards of earth’s resources.
Subjects covered at the workshop include:
--detailed instructions on how to collect the data
--relevant strategies on how to achieve our goals for energy, waste and water reduction
--hands-on training
--we will break out into small congregation teams to discuss next steps and pledges for annual energy, water, and waste reduction
--we will share experiences with other congregations and gain encouragement and inspiration from our collective actions
Congregations are encouraged to have a team a 2-5 representatives at the workshop including faith leaders, trustees, members of environmental/stewardship committees, business managers, building and grounds committee members, and all others who understand the sacredness of the Earth and who feel called to exercise their responsibility for its protection.
Please join us and share this invitation with others in your congregation! To register or for more information email sallystovall@gmail.com.
