By Yetta Jager, Green Sanctuary Committee
The Green Sanctuary team has been busy in the past few months. Several of our activities have now been reported to the UUA as we work toward certification as a Green Sanctuary congregation. We enjoyed the outdoors during the retreat and Earth Church gatherings. We completed a Plastic-free Week to develop good habits that help us reduce plastic use. Prizes were disseminated to households participating (e.g., cloth grocery bags). Ellen Greenwood led a worship service entitled ‘Caring for Our Earth. The theme was to draw insight and knowledge from the world’s religions in our efforts to be good stewards of the earth. In this service we explored ways that many religious traditions honor and protect our planet (see on YouTube www.youtube.com/live/Nc5QuFnu7Oc). Beyond the history of old traditions (e.g., Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity), we learned about Westside’s role as a regional hub in the Wild Church network, The service also included a guided meditation, folk music, and a talk-back session.
With the change in seasons to fall and winter, the committee shifted away from live flowers to decorating with pumpkins and gourds, dried fall flowers and berries, and live winterberry hollies. These hollies are deciduous and dioecious, meaning they drop their leaves and require a male pollinator to produce berries. We will plant them in our landscape where branches can be used as decorations in winter. As we settle into winter, we anticipate hosting a game night including ecology and energy-themed games like Wingspan and Catan New Energies while sipping cider. Let us know if you are interested.
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