Green SANCTUARY BLOG
The Green Sanctuary Ministry Team is committed to building awareness of environmental issues and generating an interest for personal lifestyle changes among our fellow UUs as well as the general community. Its members strive to build a sustainable world as well as a connection between spiritual practice and environmental consciousness.
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April 5, 2021
SPRING BIRD WALK
May 8th | 9am | Marblehead
Our annual Spring Bird Walk will be on May 8th at the Marblehead Neck Wildlife Sanctuary on Risley Road in Marblehead.
Meet at Risley Road to begin the walk promptly at 9am*
*John Benson will wait at our church parking lot from 8:30 to 8:45am to provide information for those who are not familiar with the Marblehead Neck location. Otherwise, we will all meet there.
Since the Marblehead Sanctuary designated parking area is rather tight (room for maybe eight cars, max), some participants may have to park along the side of the road.
Children accompanied by parents/guardians are most welcome. No pets, and no bikes or cycles.
Due to COVID, the event will be limited to 25 people and pre-registration will be required. Social distancing and masks will be mandatory. Please do not carpool unless you live in the same household.
Notice of cancellation due to inclement weather will be posted on the church website.
March 18, 2021
BIRD QUIZ
Test your knowledge of winter shorebirds! Match the picture with the corresponding name in the list below:
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Bufflehead
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Common Loon
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Brant
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Common Eider
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Black Scoter
February 25, 2021
WINTER BIRD WALK
Shake off the winter blues with us!
March 13th | 8:30am | Nahant
Join members of UUCGL for the annual Winter Bird Walk in Nahant! In the past, we have been treated to sightings of Snowy Owls, Common Loons, Black and White-Winged Scoters, Common Goldeneyes, Buffleheads, Mergansers, Scaup, Eiders, Brants, Cedar Waxwings, and Hawks, among other birds. There have been recent reports of a bald eagle in town.
Meet at the parking facility on Nahant Road across the street from the Life Saving Station at 8:30am (Note: not the parking lot at the LSS, but the lot across the street.) Nahant Police will be informed, and each car will be supplied a notice to be put inside the front windshield.
Due to COVID, the event will be limited to 25 people and pre-registration will be required. Social distancing and masks will be mandatory and pre-arranged carpooling from one site to another in Nahant will not be offered.
Notice of cancellation due to inclement weather will be posted on the Church’s website, uucgl.org
January 6, 2021
SNOW PERSON CONTEST IS ON...
The Annual Snow Person Building Contest is back!
There’s bound to be more snow coming, so get ready to plan your entry to participate in this winter’s Green Sanctuary Ministry Team’s ‘20-’21 Snow Person Building Contest!
Through April 1st, you may email a photo of your snowperson to tbandrowicz@gmail.com. Prizes will be awarded and photos of the winners will be posted on
the website for all to enjoy!
November 13, 2020
PUMPKIN DECORATING CONTEST
Congratulations to June Carlson the winner of Green Sanctuary’s Pumpkin Decorating Contest for her adorable kitty cat pumpkin! She will be receiving a gift certificate to A&J Bakery as her prize.
Stay tuned for our Snow Person Building contest this winter!
JANUARY 3, 2020
CLIMATE CHANGE AND FAITH
WEDNESDAY SPEAKER SERIES
Join us as we explore how our faith calls us to respond to the climate emergency. Sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lynn in conjunction with the Swampscott Conservancy.
Download the flyer here.
March 18, 2021
SHAKING OFF THE COVID BLUES
It was a breezy and bracing Saturday morning but that didn’t prevent a hardy group of UUCGL members and friends from venturing out to the shores of Nahant for the Green Sanctuary Ministry Team’s annual Winter Bird Walk. Led by John Benson the group spied a much hardier group of winter avian visitors bobbing in the chilly surf — including Red Breasted Mergansers, Goldeneyes, Loons, Black Scoters, Common Eiders, Brants and Buffleheads. These seabirds spend most of the year as far north as the Arctic but come down to Massachusetts for the winter so the time to see them is now. After a year of the COVID lockdown it felt invigorating to be outdoors and see friends live and not on a screen — masked and socially distanced of course. The Green Sanctuary Ministry Team will be hosting another bird walk on Saturday, May 8th at Audubon’s Marblehead Neck Wildlife Bird Sanctuary, a haven for migratory birds, especially Warblers, during the spring migration. We hope you can join us!
March 10, 2021
CLIMATE CRISIS
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Interfaith Climate Crisis Presentations
March 31 & April 7 | 7-8pm | Online
Learn about the ways you can be empowered to help
Moderated by Dick Prouty, Chair of TownGreen2025
Co-sponsored by First Congregational Church of Rockport; Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church; Temple Ahavat Achim, Gloucester; Temple B’nai Abraham, Beverly; Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lynn; Unitarian Universalist Society of Rockport
Register for One Session or Both:
Session 1
Climate Justice: The Climate Crisis and its Impact on Health
with Peter Digre
Wednesday, March 31, 7-8 pm
Pete Digre is a member of Al Gore's Climate Reality Leadership Corps
REGISTER FOR SESSION 1
Session 2
How I Reduced My Carbon Footprint in 20 Steps
with Denny Dart
Wednesday, April 7, 7-8 pm
Denny Dart is an Environmental Engineer and Climate Activist
REGISTER FOR SESSION 2
Questions? Please contact Sam Silverman or Ruth Budelmann.
January 28, 2021
WALDEN WARMING | WEBINAR
Walden Warming: The Effects of Climate Change on the Plants and Animals of Thoreau's Concord
JOIN US!
Tuesday, February 9 – 6:30pm
Richard Primack, Professor of Biology, Boston University
Virtual Webinar via Zoom - Co-sponsored by UUCGL
Henry David Thoreau was a climate change scientist! For the past 17 years, Professor Richard Primack and his team have been using Thoreau’s records from the 1850s and other Massachusetts data sources to document the earlier flowering and leafing out times of plants, the earlier flight times of butterflies, and the more variable response of migratory birds. Most noteworthy, plants in Concord are also changing in abundance due to a warming climate. This work has received extensive media coverage as an example of the biological effects of climate change, and is now being extended to the neglected autumn season. What would Thoreau tell us to do about global warming if he were alive today? Click here for more details and to register.
November 25, 2020
"GO TAKE A HIKE!"
The Green Sanctuary Ministry Team invites you and your family to go take a hike and share photos of your adventure with the congregation. Email photos here and they'll be posted in the Weekly Update.
Read more here!
June 11, 2020
CHURCH-WIDE BOOK READ
The Story of More — How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here by Hope Jahren
Join the Green Sanctuary Ministry Team in a church-wide book read related to the theme of climate change. We’ll read The Story of More — How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here, by Hope Jahren (author of Lab Girl). We’ll discuss in person or via Zoom on Friday, August 7, at 7 pm. It is the essential pocket primer on climate change that will leave an indelible impact on everyone who reads it.
In The Story of More, Jahren illuminates the link between human habits and our imperiled planet. In concise, highly readable chapters, she takes us through the science behind the key inventions – from electric power to large-scale farming to automobiles – that, even as they help us, release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere like never before. She explains the current and projected consequences of global warming – from superstorms to rising sea levels – and the actions that we all can take to fight back.
April 17, 2020
EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY
April 22nd of this year marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Big plans were in the works. There would be worldwide events with mass gatherings in the streets, parks, and public halls. It was, after all, the Golden Anniversary of Earth Day. A day to commemorate 50 years of honoring this fragile spinning orb we call home. But a worldwide pandemic canceled all the grand plans.
There were still worldwide events but they were largely virtual (as with everything else in our lives these days). While we can be disappointed that we were unable to assemble together in the streets, parks, and public halls on the actual date as 20 million in the U.S. did on that first Earth Day in 1970, we should keep in mind, as the expression goes, that “Every Day is Earth Day.”
So, join in on the digital events celebrating this Earth Day 2020 but also consider coming up with a plan on how you and your family will continue celebrating Earth Day every day throughout the year. This isn’t hard to do given the many on-line suggestions and given that we all seem have a little extra time lately to browse the Internet. Bring Earth Day into your home this year, and make it something personal. We think Barney, the Purple Dinosaur, said it all in a song:
Think about the deep blue seas / Think about the plants and trees
Think about the things you see every day / Think about the way you live
Think about the things you give / and what if every day was Earth Day?
Hey! Every day is Earth Day! / Wherever we roam / the earth is our home
(now that’s someone we never thought we’d be quoting)
Stay Safe and Healthy,
The Green Sanctuary Ministry Team