suggestions from the National Capital Presbytery Earth Care Network
Shared for the good of all, by the Earth Care Network of the National Capital Presbytery:
How To Hold A Green Meeting
“…God’s work in creation is too wonderful, too ancient, too beautiful, too good to be desecrated…Restoring creation is God’s own work in our time, in which God comes both to judge and to restore…” —PC(USA) Environmental Policy
Purpose: When the National Capital Presbytery holds it meetings, it should model good earth care practices. The following activities will help the National Capital Presbytery become a better earth care steward.
FOOD
- Serve fairly traded coffee, tea, and *sugar packets* (all available at wholesale prices to faith-based institutions from Equal Exchange).
- Purchase dinners from vendors who covenant to reduce packaging and who use recycled and recyclable containers and sustainable ingredients.
- Consider using re-usable, washable coffee mugs, dinner plates, cold cups, forks, etc. A great brand of lightweight re-usables is called Preserve Products.
- If reusable dishware is adopted, develop and institute a system for cleaning up after meetings.
- Use cloth napkins. Second-hand napkins can be purchased to be recycled for this use. (Develop a process for securing volunteers to wash the napkins.)
- Go vegetarian for dinner.
- Serve tap water in pitchers; do not serve bottled water, or other beverages.
MEETING MATERIALS
- Go paperless to the greatest extent possible.
- Reduce the numbers of handouts to a minimum by emailing all items of business to members in advance.
- Electronically post materials to a TV screen or a computer for those who forgot their handouts.
- Change the current policy requiring print outs of reservations to be brought to the meeting to ensure credit for attendance. A simple electronic sign in method should be created to stop the waste of paper.