Mission: Our mission is to provide leadership, education, programs, and opportunities for members of Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (QUUF) to engage in the work of protecting the environment and advancing social justice.

Goals:

• Create a variety of activities for members and friends of QUUF to deepen their understanding of environmental issues.
• Provide opportunities to actively participate in events that promote sustainability.
• Educate the fellowship about pressing environmental issues, including climate change, salmon habitat restoration, dam removal, green energy, recycling, and sustainability.
• Increase awareness and understanding of environmental racism and support opportunities to engage in anti-racist activities.
• Recognize and promote the work of environmentalists in the greater community.
• Collaborate with other QUUF teams as well as environmental organizations outside the fellowship.
• Organize and support ongoing annual events.
• Sponsor Meaningful Movies Port Townsend.

We are inspired and in solidarity with UU Ministry for Earth.

Green Sanctuary Recertification Process

Created in 1989, the Green Sanctuary program is a path for congregational study, reflection, and action in response to environmental challenges. It provides a structure for congregations to examine their current environmental impacts and move towards more sustainable practices grounded in Unitarian Universalism.

To date, 254 or 25% of UU congregations have achieved Green Sanctuary accreditation, with another 70 in process. They support one another as they strive to embody environmentally just principles and improve the condition of our planet.

Each congregation performs a self-assessment, writes a plan, and completes several projects across four focus areas: Environmental Justice, Worship and Celebration, Religious Education, and Sustainable Living. The goal is to engage in a two-to-three-year process of bringing congregational culture into greater alignment with environmentally aware faith and practices. Green Sanctuary accreditation is a formal recognition of a congregation’s service and dedication to the Earth.

Here at QUUF, the original certification process in 2009, led by Kees and Helen Kolff, encompassed twelve projects and involved numerous members of the fellowship. A wide range of projects was implemented and documented, including building codes for the then-new sanctuary, guidelines for kitchen use, intergenerational activities like the Harvest Festival, and ALPS classes on environmental issues.

Congregations like ours that have already earned Green Sanctuary accreditation can be recognized for continuing their work through the Green Sanctuary re-accreditation process. Most choose this route to help refocus and energize their green sanctuary team and congregation.

Our Green Sanctuary Environmental Action Team (GSEAT) has begun the process of identifying both ongoing and new projects (see below for list) which will be submitted in our application for recertification in the spring of 2020.  We anticipate a congregational vote on this application at our Annual Membership Meeting in June.

Ongoing Projects from the Original 2009 Certification

• Harvest Festival (intergenerational)
• Naked Ladies Clothing Exchange (reuse/recycle)
• Annual sermon focusing on environmental issues (congregational involvement)
• Annual speaker/presentation on environment (education)
• Eco-Hero Award (community outreach, recognition)
• Earth Day Service (congregational involvement)
• Bulletin Board (education)
• ALPS Classes (education)
• Outreach and Collaboration (community outreach, congregational coordination)
• Green Kitchen (education, reuse/recycle)

New Projects for Recertification

• Meaningful Movies (education, community outreach)
• Carbon offset project (environmental action, congregational involvement)
• Bicycle shed (lifestyle changes)
• Recycling at Canoe Journey gathering (community outreach, environmental action)
• Procession of the Species (intergenerational, congregational involvement, education)
• Plant Based Potluck (congregational involvement, education)

Eco-Hero Award

Each Earth Day service, we honor a person or group. Past Award Winners are:

2024 – Danielle Fodor and her son Raul Sierra
2023 – Michael Pilarski, founder of Global Earth Repair Foundation
2022 – Ed Chadd, Exec. Chair of Olympic Climate Action
2021 – North Olympic Salmon Coalition
2020 – Students for Sustainability from P.T. High School
2019 – North Olympic ORCA Pod
2018 – Beth O’Neal, plastic pollution activist
2017 – Standing Rock Supporters
2016 – Emma’s Revolution – musicians Pat Humphries and Sandy O
2015 – The Lower Elwah, Jamestown S’Klallam, and Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribes for their millennia of environmental stewardship
2014 – Peri Muellner and Rilke Rutenbeck plus other Students for Sustainability
2013 – Calvin Leckenby – for being the greenest ever in the youth group
2012 – Kees and Helen Kolff – for persisteny “green” leadership
2011 – Kathy Stevenson – for decades of environmental programs in RE
2010 – Kate Dwyer – for eco-conscious landscaping at QUUF
2009 – Wally Works – for eco-consciousness during the new sanctuary construction
2008 – Donna Logan – for making our kitchen environmentally friendly

A Few Ongoing and Recent Accomplishments:

• Sponsor annual Harvest Party & Veggie Car Races, with RE
• Help plan and participate in Earth Day services each year
• Promote CarbonWA, the statewide carbon tax initiative
• Sponsor the annual “Naked Lady” women’s clothes exchange
• Conduct energy audits of QUUF facilities
• Promote carpooling, walking and biking, and do transportation surveys
• Hosted ALPS classes like “Your Thermostat or Your Wallet”
• Sponsored films like “Carbon Nation”, “Return of the River” and “Sonic Sea”
• Hosted “Taming Bigfoot” teams to reduce carbon footprints
• Facilitated NW Earth Institute courses

This page last updated October 29, 2024