Committees

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Environmental Action

The Environmental Action Committee works to encourage and help the congregation live and worship according to the Seventh UU Principle--respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. The committee was established in 2012 to pursue the UUA’s Green Sanctuary program.

The Environmental Action Committee was established in 2012 to initiate and maintain Green Sanctuary status with the Unitarian Universalist Association. The Green Sanctuary program was designed to develop the vision that together we can create a world in which all people share reverence, gratitude, and care for the living Earth, which is so essential to our lives. Adopting a Green Sanctuary Covenant was a critical step in the program. Our congregation voted unanimously to affirm this covenant on January 19, 2014.

As members of this congregation and participants in the Green Sanctuary program, we pledge our encouragement to one another in a personal and congregational commitment to our Unitarian Universalist Principles, including the Seventh Principle – respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

We commit to transforming our church into a beacon of environmental sustainability and justice, and educating and inspiring our members to lead more environmentally sustainable, just, and spirit-filled lives.

Recent Environmental Action Committee Activities

  • Encourage and support services with environmental themes, such as Climate Justice Sunday and Earth Day Service.
  • Encourage and support the youth group in their work learning about climate change and their February 2015 service titled “Environmental Justice and Spirituality.”
  • Organize after-church information sessions on how to calculate your carbon footprint and use rain barrels to collect water.
  • Support and participate in the Solarize Canton campaign, which encourages and assists residents, businesses, and churches throughout the community to install solar panels.
  • Participate in the Village of Canton’s Sustainability Committee, which comprises various members of the community interested in assisting the village to become more sustainable
  • Include the Seventh Principle in Religious Education curricula.
  • Participate in Commit2Respond a coalition of Unitarian Universalists and other people of faith and conscience working for climate justice.

Our church is also a member of the New York chapter of Interfaith Power and Light, an association of more than 60 congregations of various faiths located throughout the state that are working together to address climate change as a religious issue.