Dear Friends,
In honor of Earth Day, I thought it might be inspiring to take a fresh look at our Covenant of Sustainable Purchasing and Use which we wrote together as part of our Green Sanctuary Process. If you have questions or inspirations about “greening” our community, please reach out to me or to anyone on the Board.
Blessings
Darcey
Unitarian Universalist Church of Athens and Sheshequin
Covenant of Sustainable Purchasing and Use
Approved by the Board of Trustees Jan. 20 2013
Whereas:
- We are aspiring to become a green sanctuary congregation
- We covenant to affirm and promote the interdependent web of life
- We want to support, inspire and set a green example as an institution
Therefore:
- We covenant to promote green purchasing practices
Whereas:
- We know that some office papers still come from old growth forests in Canada
- We know that forests provide carbon sequestration to combat global warming
- We want to support the full life cycle of recycling paper
Therefore:
- We will use paper products that include post-consumer recycled fibers:
- Copy paper
- Toilet Paper
- Paper Towels
- We will encourage members to provide post-consumer or compostable cups, plates and flatware or to use reusable dishes when planning a church event. We will use up existing stock of non-sustainable items (e.g., plastic flatware) before purchasing new items.
Whereas:
- We care about the health of everyone who cleans, meets in, and plays in our buildings
- We know that the water used to clean is part of the interconnected water cycle
Therefore:
- We will use green cleaning products.
- We will ask the Building & Grounds team to educate the Board of Trustees about sustainable alternatives when planning maintenance and improvement projects.
Whereas:
- We believe in a fair wage
- We believe in safe, non-toxic working environments
Therefore:
- We will recycle our electronics with companies who practice clean recycling
- We will use fair trade coffee
If the staff or volunteers responsible for purchasing the products or hiring services has trouble purchasing them within the established budget, the Board will offer advice for funding our values-based purchasing.
We acknowledge that sometimes optimal products are not available, or cannot be purchased in a timely way. In those circumstances we will buy a small quantity of the products available, and make plans to return to sustainable purchasing as soon as possible.