“We strive to be good stewards of God's creation, through education and action.”
Our next meeting is on March 16th after Sunday Worship, please join us as we plan our spring events!
As we enter Lent, please remember to look at the calendar “Give up Plastics for Lent” to guide you through the season. There are extra copies available in the Narthex for those who missed the presentation or misplaced the calendar.
For information about "What Goes Where" for recycling, please visit this site by our friends at SWANCC
In 2024, the Green Team:
- developed book share carts for the congregation to swap books.
- provided Children’s books from our book share carts to the Des Plaines truck roundup.
- presented a SWANCC presentation on “Why Recycling Right Matter”.
- created a Butterfly Garden in Garth with native and pollinator plants and flowers.
- promoted the congregation collecting of plastic bags for an inter-faith challenge and turned in 1000 pounds to earn a bench from Trex and diverted that waste from landfills.
- introduced using ceramic mugs for weekly Coffee Hour to reduce use of disposable cups.
- provided weekly green tips and advice on Reduce, Reuse and Recycle that are posted in Trinity Weekly and the Bulletin.
- presented a presentation by Todd Gustafson “To the Ends of the Earth” showing why are world is a precious and worth saving.
- hosted a Fair Trade Table at the annual Craft Fair.
- added Rain Barrels to the Butterfly Garden in the Garth.
- follows current bills concerning environmental issues and climate actions. The team promotes advocacy for the bills and proposed laws.
- worked with electric and gas company contractors for Energy Audits on the church building and premises to complete changes for more sustainable usage.
- identified area to reduce single use plastic for Fish and Loaves and the Backpack project.
- provided lawn soil testing -for soil to be analyzed for sustainable lawn practices. Applied sustainable treatment to the lawn.
- promoted a Textile Recycling Drive to divert old clothes for filling landfill.
- Hosted a Regifting event and repurposed children and youth robes into Christmas gift bags.
Coming in 2025:
- February 23rd presentation “Giving up Plastics for Lent” speaker Sharon Starr (Illinois Sierra Club)
- Earth Day sustainable and green products introduction.
Stay tuned for more!
Updates for the Week of March 23rd
Spring is here and the Green Team has come up with some exciting events for the coming months. We are reaching out to other local congregations to share information and activities related to preserving our environment. You may see their events listed here from time to time, and you may see some unfamiliar faces as they attend our events.
April is Earth month and we are planning a special Earth Day event on April 13. It will be an opportunity to explore earth friendly products we use every day. More details will be coming in the next few weeks.
We are also exploring the possibility of a butterfly release sometime in late spring early summer. If you are interested in participating in this event, please talk to one of the members of the green team.
Green Team Tips
Easter is coming and baskets get filled with plastic grass. Here are some substitutions that are healthier for the planet as we try to reduce our plastic consumption.
* Buy Easter grass made with 100% recycled paper.
* Use your shredder to shred brown paper bags, wrapping paper, construction paper, junk mail or other paper that you have at home.
* Natural raffia, produced from palm trees, is a great alternative to plastic Easter grass. It is available in a variety of colors.
* Fabric, scarves, and even cloth napkins, make a unique alternative to plastic grass, and you can reuse them over and over.
Updates for the Week of March 10th
Sharon Starr shared with us the 4th R! Maybe we should consider it the first R, in Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Trinity continues to do a great job recycling our plastics, Styrofoam, and electronics, but recycling is the least effective method of controlling our consumption and carbon footprint. The following tips may help you Refuse plastics.
Green Team Tips
* Refuse disposable plastics whenever possible
* Specify no straws, stir sticks or plastic cup lids, when ordering beverages
* When shopping don’t accept plastic bags and buy produce in bulk rather than prepackaged
* Patronize carry out restaurants that use cardboard rather than polystyrene containers
* Refuse to buy items individually wrapped or in single serving packets, such as tea and snack foods
* Thank those merchants who offer eco-friendly products and packaging
Lent may be a time when we consider reducing our consumption of meat. This helps reduce our carbon footprint, and in many ways is healthier for us. There are many vegetables that make amazing soups, including butternut, mushroom, carrot, and onion. Vegetable soup is a wonderful way to use up leftovers and those, wilted vegetables sitting in your crisper. You can find an amazing array of recipes on the Internet.
Green Team Tips
* Make your own vegetable broth by saving peelings and scraps when cooking. You can freeze them until you have enough to simmer into a lovely broth.
*You can make your soup creamier by using an immersion blender, or placing some of the soup in a blender, then returning it to the pot.
* Consider adding another meatless meal or meatless day to your week.
Updates for the Week of February 23rd
Thank you to everyone who supported the presentation by Sharon Starr, "Give Up Plastics for Lent." It began with reasons why it’s so important to reduce our plastics consumption, especially single use items, and continued with suggestions on how to reduce our consumption of plastic. A fourth “R” Refuse was added to the trio of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, suggesting that we refuse disposable plastic whenever possible. If you missed the presentation, there are copies of the Lenten calendar available in the Narthex.
There is more and more news reporting of micro and nano plastics in our environment, and in our bodies. Micro plastics are fragments that can range in size from 5 mm or about the size of a pencil eraser, to one nanometer. A strand of human hair is about 80,000 nm wide according to the EPA. Anything smaller than that is considered a nano plastic. It’s hard to imagine how small these particles are, but they are the most worrisome because they can reside inside individual cells. Researchers are looking into how this may impact our health. A March 2024 study, found 1 liter of bottled water, the equivalent of two standard sized bottles of water typically purchased by consumers, contained an average of 240,000 plastic particles from seven types of plastics. About 90% of those were nano plastics. We cannot eliminate plastics from our environment and bodies, but there are ways to reduce our consumption.
Green Team Tips to Reduce Consumption of Plastic
* Reduce or stop using plastic single use beverage containers.
* Take food out of the plastic wrapping and wash before you cook it or put it in the microwave. When you heat plastic, that accelerates the movement of micro plastics out of the wrapping and into the food.
* Bring a travel mug to the local coffee shop for takeout and bring your own silverware and containers to events to cut back on the use of plastic cups and utensils.
* Work with state and local governments to ban plastic bags and other plastic packaging.
* Bring your own plates and utensils to the Mardi Gras Pancake Breakfast this Sunday and then take them home to wash.
Fabric and Textile Drive
Thank you for your continued support of the Green Team initiatives. Our current project of textile recycling has ended. Thank you to all who contributed to this project reducing the amount of waste going into our landfills. For those who missed out, or those who wish to continue recycling their textiles we are including the contact information.
Chicago Textile Recycling has two 24 hour drop boxes available. One is in Hillside, 250 North Mannheim Rd. unit B. Their other location is in Carol Stream, 171 S. Gary Ave. They also work with SWALCO (swalco.org) and have many drop off bins in Lake County, including Buffalo Grove, Deer Park, and Long Grove. Go to the website for addresses and hours of operation. CTR also partners with Sparrows Nest Thrift Store, 275 Northwest Hwy in Palatine. Let them know your items are for recycling and not suitable for resale.
Project Gratitude
If you have leftover yarn sitting around your home, here’s a project for you. Operation Gratitude sends care packages to deployed troops, veterans, and caregivers. In the cold winter months, they include a lovingly, handmade scarf or hat in every care package that is sent to troops. They are knitted and crocheted by volunteers across the country. If you’re interested in finding out more about this opportunity, please go to operationgratitude.com.
Green Team Tips
Waste Reduction in the Kitchen
Make the switch from sponges to washcloths whenever possible.
Reduce the use of paper towels by using one roll a month rather than a week.
Switch to cloth napkins.
Think about the amount of packaging when purchasing food and other items. Choose glass over plastic when available, aluminum over plastic when possible, paper or cardboard over plastic, and bring your own containers when feasible
Tips to Reduce Plastic Use
If you must use single use beverage containers, choose glass, or aluminum over plastic, and be sure to recycle when done.
Avoid plastic packaging whenever you can, especially when it comes to beverages. Bottled water has a much higher concentration of microplastics than any protein. When it comes to proteins go for whole fish and local meat whenever possible. Give it a rinse to remove any surface contaminants before cooking.
Minimize highly processed food like fish sticks, chicken nuggets, and other ground, processed foods that often come in contact with plastic machinery during production. So opt for less processed foods or plant based proteins like beans.
You can use plastic bread ties as scrappers to remove drips and drops off your counter, clean hard to reach places, or label cords to keep them separate and tidy. Even though they are plastic they are too small to go in your curbside recycling bin, so throw them in the trash, or collect them and send them to Danielle Cares for Chairs.
Decline straws when offered
If you put your creamer in first, you don’t need a stirrer for your coffee
Decline plastic utensils when picking up your carry out meals
Bring your own container for restaurant leftovers
Refuse plastic bag to carry your leftovers! Or bring your own
Small Ways to Reduce your Carbon Footprint
· Increase your meatless meals by one or more per week
· Switch lights off when you leave the room and unplug your electronic devices when they’re not in use
· Turn your water heater down to 120°. This can save about 500 pounds of CO2 a year.
· Lower your thermostat in the winter and put on a sweater, and raise it in the summer and use a fan
· Make sure you change the filters and service your furnace for optimum performance
· Check the direction of your ceiling fans, clockwise in winter, counterclockwise in summer
· Sign up to get your energy from clean energy from your local utility or a certified renewable energy provider
· Drive less, consolidate your errands, carpool or walk
Reduce, Reuse, Re-Gift
1. Regift only if the item is in its original packaging with all its parts.
2. Don’t regift a handmade item. Anything someone made for you should not be given away.
3. Only regift if the item is new or unused.
4. Make sure there are no monograms or hidden notes inside.
5. Only regift if you know the recipient would like the item.
6. Put effort into re-wrapping the gift.
7. If you unwrap a gift from a friend and recognize it as something she got from someone else the year before, be gracious. Always assume the gift giver has the best intentions. After all, it really is the thought that counts.
Tips For Reducing Hidden Energy Drains
Unplug! Unplug all chargers and kitchen appliances when not in use.
Use Power Strips! Power strips are one of the easiest ways to stop your electronics from drawing power when not in use. You can connect multiple devices to one strip, like your TV, DVD player, gaming console, and sound system, and with a flip of a switch power them down all at once before you head off to sleep. Smart power strips are now available, automatically cutting off power to idle devices and saving you from manual switching it off.
Skip the Screensaver! Screen savers don’t save energy, in fact, they can keep your computer working harder. Instead, enable sleep mode or power save settings if you step away from your computer for more than a few minutes.
Buying Organic
Buy organic whenever possible. As you know, carbon builds up in the atmosphere and global temperatures rise. Researchers at Kansas State University, discovered how carbon gets stored in the soil, and looked at different farming practices. After comparing their results, the researchers concluded that soil treated with manure or compost fertilizer stores, more carbon than soil treated with chemical fertilizers or no fertilizer. Organics help our bodies by reducing the amount of chemicals consumed and help the planet by reducing carbon emissions.
Home Efficiency
Autumn is here and the temperature is dropping. It’s time to think of efficient ways to keep our homes, warm and cozy during the coming months.
* have your furnace cleaned and serviced for best efficiency
* replace furnace filters regularly
* check for gaps in doors and windows that may require weather stripping
* consider a free Home Energy Savings Assessment sponsored by Peoples Gas, North Shore Gas, Nicor and ComEd. You can visit eesavings.com or call 588–660–9378 to get started. You will receive customized tips, free, or discounted energy saving products, which may include an ENERGY STAR certified thermostat, LED bulbs, WaterSense certified showerhead, and faucet aerators and more. Have your account numbers handy before you start.
Autumn Leaves
Autumn is here and the leaves are beginning to fall. You don’t necessarily have to reach for that rake or worse yet your leaf blower.(Gas powered lawn tools, run on very inefficient engines. The motors put only about 60% of the fuel you put in to making wind, while the rest is admitted as aerosols. This mixture of carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, and hydrocarbons is 300 times more potent than what comes out of the tailpipe of a pick up truck.)
Everything that lives on your lawn, from the insects in the soil to the trees themselves, depends on nutrients in those dead leaves and the habitat they can create within the topsoil. Keeping that plant matter in the system is crucial to the nutrient cycle of your lawn’s micro ecosystem. Not everyone can just let those leaves pile up on their grass. If that’s the case, there are still ways to practice responsible, leaf removal.
Good : Compost your leaves
Pile them into a compost pile on your property. You can eventually spread the compost of leaf litter, which is naturally rich in nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen, around the yard as a replacement for mulch or fertilizer.
Better: Pile leaves in tree beds
Rake the leaves under your trees. This provides nitrogen, sulfur, and calcium that flora feast on. This encourages the nutrient cycle by keeping the leaves on your property, particularly under the trees that made them.
Best: Leave the leaves
Let the leaves fall where they may. That litter scattered across the ground helps, maintain soil moisture, provides winter homes for birds, bats, bees, and bugs and harbors, bacteria and fungi, which together help break leaves down into usable nutrients for the trees and plants.
If you rake your leaves to the curb and have your village, collect them, check and see if they are composted or dumped in landfills. If not composted, encourage your officials to consider this option.