Congregational Focus 2021Environmental Action Group Engagement Strategies 1- Earth Speaks April 18th 9 AM - Indigenous Seed Sovereignty - Decolonizing our Food Supply -SeedChange Canada (formerly USC Canada) 2 - EAG Advocacy & Workshops & Webinars Chalk River Nuclear Waste Facility: There has been much news coverage concerning Councillor Theresa Kavanagh’s motion opposing the proposed nuclear waste sites at Chalk River. In the end, the motion was changed to reflect concern about the proposals rather than the opposition to the sites. Donna Bowen-Willer attended the 8-hour-long public discussion at the Standing Committee on Environmental Protection and Waste Water Management and spoke for First U supporting the original motion. The amended motion of 'concern' was passed and will go to city council. READ INDEPTH INFORMATION REGARDING THE MOTION HERE:info_for_climate_catastrophe_page.docx 3 - Green Sanctuary ACCREDITATION ** SCROLL DOWN ** |
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Sunday Earth Speaks Series
Presented on the Second Sunday of each month, 9 a.m.
CLICK TO GO TO THE EARTH SPEAKS PAGE FOR UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS
Presented on the Second Sunday of each month, 9 a.m.
CLICK TO GO TO THE EARTH SPEAKS PAGE FOR UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS
Lower Your Carbon Footprint Around How You Eat
Eat your way to Earth Day! Participate in our Footprint Around Food Challenge! Prizes for Participants in Wk 10!
Click here for the Food Challenge Chart Click here for 'Enviro-Bites' Recipes!
Eat your way to Earth Day! Participate in our Footprint Around Food Challenge! Prizes for Participants in Wk 10!
Click here for the Food Challenge Chart Click here for 'Enviro-Bites' Recipes!
Can we chart the course for Climate Resilient Agriculture? Farmers for Climate Solutions think so. With government support and the will to implement certain cost effective programs , like more efficient nitrogen use; adoption of cover cropping; the protection of wetlands and trees on farms; and clean energy use to name four, farmers would be able to reduce megatonnes of GHGs while building resilience and looking to an agriculture sector which prioritizes farmer livelihoods and food security for us all. Read more https://farmersforclimatesolutions.ca/budget-2021-recommendation Big meat and dairy companies have spent much time and money downplaying the link between the farming of animals and climate change . Yet their impact is enormous. While the Paris Accord focuses on the ability to reduce the emissions of an individual country, these studies compared the emissions of the giant agri-companies to those of their home countries. For example, the emissions produced by Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, would consume the entire budget of its home country Switzerland. Read more https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02042021/meat-dairy-lobby-climate-action/?utm_source=InsideClimate+News&utm_campaign=70892f649b- &utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-70892f649b-328276720 Diets high in fibre rich plant foods tend to produce lower greenhouse gas emissions, so are better for our planet. They may also be better for our health, encouraging a healthy weight, improving our digestive health and seeming to protect us against heart disease, diabetes and colorectal cancer. Check out 22 high fibre foods and some linked recipes https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/22-high-fiber-foods Should the Ottawa River be given legal rights? Meredith and George Brown, co-Founders of Ottawa Riverkeeper, believe that in this time, when we are challenged to find new ways to solve complex problems of climate change and biodiversity loss, we could learn much from the Indigenous peoples. They have always known that human beings are only one part of a complex, interconnected community, to which they, animals and nature all belong. Granting Kichi Zibi legal personhood and rights would transform our relationship with both the river and the Indigenous peoples. Read more Brown and Brown: The Ottawa River should be given legal rights | Ottawa Citizen 
ENVIRO-ADVOCACY BE HEARD!
World Leaders at Earth Day Summit April 22 and 23: President Joe Biden has called an Earth Day Summit to demonstrate the USA is serious about climate action. Sign the petition below to encourage our own Prime Minister and other world leaders to strengthen their climate targets to limit warming to 1.5 degrees C.; put a stop to the funding of fossil fuels; transition with investment in job creation, renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure; and ensure no one is left behind. On this Earth Day Advocate for a Green and Just Society. https://act.350.org/sign/biden-summit-april/?akid=147765.3298060.mTFCpt&rd=1&source=350canadablast1&t=6 April 19 is budget day! Write to our leaders to underline the need for a Green and Just Recovery! While recent support for a basic income has been promised, we need to encourage our leaders to ensure it is a progressive, adequate and unconditional program, and that it is not just shelved. Sign the petitions supporting M46 for a Guaranteed Livable Basic Income at https://www.leahgazan.ca/basicincomemotion and LeadNow in their fight for a guaranteed, livable basic income, coupled with investments in social programs at https://www.leadnow.ca/basic-income/ . Link to the CUC’s sample letter and link of addresses of political leaders More petitions for a Green and Just Society. https://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/story/37870/what-is-a-green-and-just-recovery-4-simple-actions-to-make-it-happen/ and https://davidsuzuki.org/action/green-and-just-recovery-budget-2021/ The David Suzuki Foundation is one of a number of environmental groups joining to advocate for a green and just society. READ more on the Chalk River Nuclear Waste Issue by Donna Bowen-Willer 
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Call to Action - updated April 17th Lower your carbon footprint around how you eat! 1. Earth Day is April 22. This is the last week of our Food Challenge! Week 9 Action: Give yourself a point for each food grown or produced locally. Buying locally decreases the carbon footprint of long distance transport and supports farmers, growers and producers in your area. Admittedly, this will be less of a challenge in a few weeks. Next week we will tell you how to send in your challenge results. And don’t forget, you can still send us your favourite vegan recipe for our booklet. There was an issue with our link last week but please send your recipes to Suzanne Schaller, suzanneschaller@gmail.com, before our challenge ends on Earth Day, Thursday April 22nd. (You may contribute one each week for the last 3 weeks.) We will collect them in a PDF booklet to share with the congregation. Please choose a plant-based recipe that you have made successfully in the past. Include an ingredient list with measurements, clear instructions and approximate time to prepare. (If your recipe is from a book or a website, please indicate the source so we can give proper credit.) We will include your name as the contributor in our recipe booklet. Breakfast, main dishes, sides, dessert or snack – we hope to collect a variety of vegan recipes to share. See our Enviro-bite for one example. Challenge chart, instructions and recipes above. 2. Participate in PhotoVoice: Hope in Action. Join the PhotoVoice Group on Facebook at Unitarians for Climaction (contact Maury Prevost at photovoice@firstunitarianottawa.ca to be invited to join). Post your carbon footprint action and/or your photos and story at PhotoVoice . If you are not on FaceBook, send these to Maury at photovoice@firstunitarianottawa.ca. He will post them for you. Hope in Action. See below for the photos and story of one of our participants. Find LINKS to related Earth Speaks Forums HERE: Reducing our Carbon Footprint (Dec 13/20) and Hope in Action: Transforming Environmental Anxiety (Oct 11/20) Photo Voice Feature: Nico Redecopp My name is Nico. I am 9 years old. I chose the picture of an outdoor cat scratching itself from the public domain website. It has a rash. Flea disease is living longer now because the weather is hotter for a longer time. I am afraid it will kill the cat. My gramma says that “cat scratch fever” is a disease spread by fleas and I can catch it too. My parents tell me not to pet outdoor cats and that makes me feel good and mad because when I see outdoor cats scratching I feel soft and want to hug them. I used my gramma’s cell phone to take a picture of my pet cat named Adara. She is so cute. She lives with me in our home and makes me feel good. We protect her from fleas. I love her so much. My dad says we should not waste water. So from now on when he gives me a drink of water in a glass I will drink it all. I will not throw any of it away so I can help Mother Earth get healthier again. 
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Pension Advocacy:
The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan manages 200 billion dollars. Student activists have prepared a four-minute YouTube video where they encourage their teachers to push OTPP, to stop investing their retirement savings in oil, gas, coal and pipeline companies to help build a zero-carbon economy by 2025. Read more: https://www.benefitscanada.com/news/ontario-teachers-facing-pressure-from-students-to-divest-from-fossil-fuels-155364 Read still more on Shiftaction’s response to OTPP’s net-zero emissions promise: https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/02/04/opinion/breaking-down-ontario-teachers-2050-net-zero-emissions-promise
Go to: https://www.shiftaction.ca/shiftotpp to forward a letter to OTPP.
Last fall, the CEO of the Canada Pension Plan wrote that ”climate change is the crisis beyond COVID-19 that we can’t afford to ignore”. Yet the CPP continues to invest our money in fossil fuel development and infrastructure. LINK https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/10/05/news/canada-pension-plan-fuels-climate-crisis-our-own-retirement-savings. Write them at https://www.shiftaction.ca/take-action encouraging them to divest from fossil fuels, and invest in companies which are compatible with a safe climate.
In addition you can sign Leadnow’s petition: https://you.leadnow.ca/petitions/stop-the-canada-pension-plan-investing-our-money-in-fossil-fuels-4
For more on green investing: see Adam Scott’s Seminar: https://group78.org/
Ongoing Action: Fridays for Future Ottawa
FirstU on Social Media Unitarians for Climaction
The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan manages 200 billion dollars. Student activists have prepared a four-minute YouTube video where they encourage their teachers to push OTPP, to stop investing their retirement savings in oil, gas, coal and pipeline companies to help build a zero-carbon economy by 2025. Read more: https://www.benefitscanada.com/news/ontario-teachers-facing-pressure-from-students-to-divest-from-fossil-fuels-155364 Read still more on Shiftaction’s response to OTPP’s net-zero emissions promise: https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/02/04/opinion/breaking-down-ontario-teachers-2050-net-zero-emissions-promise
Go to: https://www.shiftaction.ca/shiftotpp to forward a letter to OTPP.
Last fall, the CEO of the Canada Pension Plan wrote that ”climate change is the crisis beyond COVID-19 that we can’t afford to ignore”. Yet the CPP continues to invest our money in fossil fuel development and infrastructure. LINK https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/10/05/news/canada-pension-plan-fuels-climate-crisis-our-own-retirement-savings. Write them at https://www.shiftaction.ca/take-action encouraging them to divest from fossil fuels, and invest in companies which are compatible with a safe climate.
In addition you can sign Leadnow’s petition: https://you.leadnow.ca/petitions/stop-the-canada-pension-plan-investing-our-money-in-fossil-fuels-4
For more on green investing: see Adam Scott’s Seminar: https://group78.org/
Ongoing Action: Fridays for Future Ottawa
FirstU on Social Media Unitarians for Climaction
GREEN SANCTUARY ACCREDITATION
"The Green Sanctuary Program is one way that Unitarian Universalist congregations in Canada and the United States live out our seventh Principle and recognize our responsibility for environmental and climate justice. Through it, congregations examine their environmental impacts and move toward more sustainable practices grounded in Unitarian Universalism."
In October FirstU Board approved the EAWG's proposal to apply for Green Sanctuary Accreditation. Read on to learn more about this progressive and thoughtful UUA programme.
"The Green Sanctuary Program is one way that Unitarian Universalist congregations in Canada and the United States live out our seventh Principle and recognize our responsibility for environmental and climate justice. Through it, congregations examine their environmental impacts and move toward more sustainable practices grounded in Unitarian Universalism."
In October FirstU Board approved the EAWG's proposal to apply for Green Sanctuary Accreditation. Read on to learn more about this progressive and thoughtful UUA programme.
GREEN SANCTUARY 2020
A UU FAITHFUL, WHOLE-CONGREGATION RESPONSE TO CLIMATE URGENCY
Congregations engage leaders, members, and friends in bold, urgent, and effective climate-action and climate-justice work that moves the congregation in a long-term cycle of congregational work and re-evaluation on climate justice that starts with awareness/assessment, moves to inspire and plan, then leads to bold, effective action that contributes to each of the following three Green Sanctuary program goals:
MITIGATION, ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE and JUSTICE
The EAWG thanks Karen Brammer, Manager UUA Green Sanctuary Program for her climate urgency leadership and service.
MITIGATIONis action to reduce the causes of global warming. Mitigation is essential for climate justice and a livable future without disastrous climate impacts.
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ADAPTATION & RESILIENCEfor natural systems, the congregation and the larger community. Adaptation is the process of (a) reducing vulnerabilities to the harmful effects of the climate-change (b) making the most of potential beneficial opportunities associated with positive responses to the crisis. Resilience is the capacity to maintain function in the face of external stresses created by the climate-change crisis.
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JUSTICE
Working in partnership with communities who are addressing the reality that the greatest impacts of the climate crisis are disproportionately imposed on those (a) least responsible for the crisis (b) with the fewest resources with which to face the crisis, and (c) future generations.
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And in case you missed it..
DID YOU ATTEND ADAM SCOTT’S WEBINARS ON GREEN INVESTING? (available https://group78.org/) How do Canada’s major banks measure up? Bankers say they know they must decrease their carbon footprint and have developed policies to evaluate the environmental, social and governance risk (ESG) of investments, but in the 4 ½ years since the Paris agreement on climate change, fossil fuel lending has grown at all five major banks providing over $130 billion in financing to oil and gas companies.
Desjardins Largest Financial Cooperative in North America to Stop Coal Industry Investments - READ MORE:
https://ieefa.org/desjardins-largest-financial-cooperative-in-north-america-to-stop-coal-industry-investments/
DID YOU ATTEND ADAM SCOTT’S WEBINARS ON GREEN INVESTING? (available https://group78.org/) How do Canada’s major banks measure up? Bankers say they know they must decrease their carbon footprint and have developed policies to evaluate the environmental, social and governance risk (ESG) of investments, but in the 4 ½ years since the Paris agreement on climate change, fossil fuel lending has grown at all five major banks providing over $130 billion in financing to oil and gas companies.
Desjardins Largest Financial Cooperative in North America to Stop Coal Industry Investments - READ MORE:
https://ieefa.org/desjardins-largest-financial-cooperative-in-north-america-to-stop-coal-industry-investments/
