TERRA meeting notes # 2

Wait in anticipation for a post talking about the Environmental Justice tour with GreenFaith in Newark and some pictures. Coming soon.


TERRA meeting notes
February 12, 2008

The meeting went very well yesterday! Here's what we discussed, and need to move forward on:

TERRA Week:
We would like to put together a three-day campaign for the week before Spring Break, March 4-6th, which we will call TERRA week. We want to set up a table in Sem Hall (probably the Atrium) and take turns sitting at the table. We hope to accomplish the following:
• Publicize TERRA’s existence as an organization
• Distribute reusable shopping bags for free to students (Whole Foods will donate 200 bags)
• Collect plastic grocery bags from students, to be delivered to a recycling collection center
• Encourage the use of mugs with some educational materials about waste
• Provide some information about recycling procedures in Sem Hall
• Collect student signatures on a letter to be sent to Drew’s food service provider (see below)

In conjunction with this campaign/event, we would like to make TERRA t-shirts, which will help to advertise our existence. Susie, Margi, and Derek (?) are working on a logo for the t-shirt, and would welcome any input.

NEXT MEETINGS:
Tuesday, Feb 19th, from 12:10-1:10 pm, in Sem 210
Tuesday, Feb 19th, from 6-7 pm, in Sem Hall Atrium

In order to keep our momentum up for the TERRA week event, we'll have two brief meetings next week to organize and distribute the tasks that we must accomplish to pull off the event. We agreed to meet next Tuesday, the 19th, from 12-1 pm. Because that conflicts with a candidate lunch/lecture, we'll have an alternative meeting time from 6-7 on Tuesday evening.


In order to push for more improvement in the Dining/Catering Services offered at Drew, we want to write a letter offering our student feedback to Sodexho. In a positive, non-antagonistic tone, we will encourage Sodexho to implement certain changes regarding the kinds of products and containers they provide. We will collect student signatures on this letter during our TERRA week tabling campaign.

We talked about the GreenFaith Eco-Justice Tour this Saturday. Mary Rachel, Natalie, and Laura will participate, as well as Dr. Kearns. The tour takes place on Saturday, Feb 16, from 9 am to 1 pm.

In January, Drew University’s President Weisbuch signed the Presidents’ Climate Commitment, joining other university presidents around the U.S. in pledging to work towards carbon-neutral campuses. Attached you will find a copy of the commitment. Also, Drew is in the process of hiring a full-time staff person as a Campus Sustainability Coordinator.

Gene suggested that we go beach camping in late April as a fun group activity. He is checking into some campsite information for us, for beaches on Long Island. We discussed going on either the 12th or the 19th of April.

Recyclemania is going on right now on campus. It has not yet been advertised very widely. Natalie will check with DEAL students about posters and/or flyers to post about this campus-wide campaign, and will either put up posters that they give her or make some herself. We have the contact info for the person who is in charge of Morris County recycling, and she will be coming to campus soon. We intend to ask her for some more specific information about what and how Morris County recycles, because they are the ones that process Drew’s recycled materials.

We'd like to plan an event around Earth Day (April 21) that will coincide with FernFest (an annual event sponsored by DEAL). We discussed putting together an event for children of students/faculty/staff, as well as a workshop on Religion and Ecology.

We also discussed doing a video series this semester, but we didn’t actually settle on any plans for this.

TERRA meeting notes #1

From Margi based on our last meeting! Next post will be the notes and minutes from our meeting on 2-12. And a big thanks for those who came to my chapel service two weeks ago!

For those of you who do not know what TERRA week is, we have decided to make a whole week of education, making t-shirts, raising awareness of eco-theology and what TERRA is all about.

Hi everyone! As you know, TERRA week is coming up very soon (March 4-6)!! That means we have to get everything ready asap. At yesterday's meetings, we divided up the tasks that need to be accomplished for TERRA week to happen. If you have not signed up to help with something and you would like to, just email/speak to the person(s) already working on that task. And, if you need help with a task, don't hesitate to ask! Also, we will need to take turns sitting at the table during the event. Just to remind you, we'll be tabling from 10am-2pm and from 5:30-7:30 pm on Tuesday thru Thursday in Sem Hall. Please try to sign up for at least one hour, or more if you're able. To sign up for a time slot, email Drea at anelson@drew.edu.

Tasks:
1) Reserve the atrium with Housing, Conferences, and Hospitality office--Susie Thomas
2) Coordinate cloth bag donations with Whole Foods--Margi Ault-Duell
3) Publicize the event--Natalie Finch, Calvin Miller
4) Make educational materials (flyers, posters) about recycling, waste, mugs in Cyber cafe, etc--Tai Bonilla
5) Research and write letter to Sodexho--Sam Laurent
6) Coordinate t-shirt making--Mary Rachel Moore, Laura Goldenbaum
7) Communicate with Dean's office--Susie Thomas
8) Schedule tabling--Drea Nelson
9) Coordinate plastic bag collection/recycling--Laura Goldenbaum, Nate Nims

Please let me know if I've forgotten anything that needs to be done!!! If you're unclear about what your task entails, please ask! I think it's gonna be a fantastic event! Go green team! :-)

Related events:

On Monday night, the 3rd of March, there will be a World Cafe event hosted by the Sustainability Committee in UC 107. This is a round-table discussion of Drew campus sustainability issues. It starts at 7:30 pm.

On Tuesday night, the 4th of March, the Beatitudes Society is hosting a casual get-together from 5:30-6:30 in Sem Hall 210, and we TERRA folk have been invited to participate. They will have some food and a discussion on social/eco justice resources and events that we could work on. The Beatitudes Society and TERRA could cooperate on some activities/events.

Peace,

Actively updating!

Today's posting:

A few things I will try and remember to let you all know of going on at or around Drew coming up soon.
-one result of the Sustainability committee: if you either buy or bring in a plastic mug to the snack bar and get the Green Mountain coffee, it is only 99 cents. I don't know how much it is normally, but I know this is a discount. They have new Green mountain cups that are available to purchase, fyi.
-there is a FOCUS the Nation event at Chatham Presbyterian church where there will be a screening of the live webcast at 8pm eastern, with actor activitst Edward Norton, a Stanford climate scientist, Van Jones the green jobs pioneer, and Hunter Lovins, a sustainability expert. If we do not go as a group to this event, then I highly recommend that we host our own screening at Drew. You can check out the website for Focus the Nation, it is www.focusthenation.org

You can also check out a little message from Edward Norton talking about Focus the Nation on You Tube.

I heard from Facilities that the Loantaka houses will soon be getting new recycling materials. Perhaps if we call and badger, that will happen sooner.

Recycle Mania 2008 is coming soon, and I want to work with the undergrads to really push this and get the theo school involved even further this year.

I hope those of you who stuck around and took some jan term courses that you enjoyed them and didn't get bogged down too much in the work. I wish I could have spent more time with Dr. Kearns and Dr. Keller's class last week, but I did enjoy the course with Dr. Jay McDaniel on Spiritual Foundations for Ecological and Sustainable Initiatives. well, more than like 45 minutes to watch Renewal with the class last week. Which is GREAT and y'all need to see it, as well as the whole Seminary should. I hope Laura and the others who were in that course would be willing to share some highlights from the course, and some of the resources that Dr. Kearns shared with them that we might not know about yet. I would be willing to post them here. I truly enjoyed getting to know the Dmin students, Green Faith people, and all those in the class. I felt uplifted to be surrounded by so many who care so much about making a difference with how all of us care for our earth. I also felt hopeful to feel connected in some way to those who know more than I and how to get stuff done.

A second thing: I hope your break gave you a time to feel refreshed and renewed to our commitment to help change the ecological environment at Drew and to raise awareness to do anything from small to radical change to help take care of the earth the way God would want us to. I hope that we as a group can come up with things to focus on this next semester and can work together to get stuff done, now that we have a semester under our belts.

With the new year, I thought about challenging us all to three-fold pledge. First, think of one or two things we can think about in our personal lives that we can pledge to reduce or change in our lifestyle that would help us live more simply and reduce our footprint on the earth. I know I'm going to try and buy new clothes only when I truly need them this year. Which means I really have to stay away from the mall and places like Kohl's because I can't resist a sale. I'm trying to be more comfortable with what I have and give away what is still good that I just don't wear. That's just one example. Secondly, in our communities, either Drew, where we live, whatever, and pick one thing to focus on helping with or changing in that community. Lastly, I challenge us all to become more knowledgeable on global warming, creation care, sustainability, etc. I know I feel like as much as we all know stuff, we might be open to learning new things, exploring new websites, reading new books, anything.

That's my challenge to y'all. I hope I can live up to it. I'll report how my struggles are going, and I want to hear how y'all are doing with it too.

oh and I promised Antonia I would put this on the blog, a link to a survey about attempting to
identify the emotional triggers and language that support or hinder ecologically sensitive intitiatives. I hope it still is going.
www.socratesinsights.com/socrates?login=DrewU&pass=Conference

Anyways, I think that's all for now. And a selfish plug: Make sure you are in chapel Feb. 12th, Tuesday, 11:10 for a chapel prepared by me on my summer experiences in Glacier and with A Christian Ministry in the National Parks. It will be like a service we would have done in the park with an eco-theology theme (hopefully) and a sermon to follow suit. It's part of a tutorial that I took with Dr. Kearns last semester.

Thanks for reading!!!

White leaves

Well since the title of my original post that I started like 2 weeks ago was Green leaves, I thought it would be more appropriate for the title to be white leaves since we've had a bit of snow since I took this picture.
I know it's been awhile since there has been a post from myself or anyone in TERRA, so forgive me. Now that the semester is winding down, I can get back to writing.


This is a big time of year for at lot of us in school and in churches. The semester is ending and we are preparing our time and hearts for the birth of Jesus. We think of ways that we can give to others who are in need of food, shelter, clothes, so that they can live without going hungry or being cold. Most of the country become crazed with buying Christmas presents and businesses hinge themselves on their profits from this time of year. We can easily get caught up in the feel of the season and get wrapped up in the Christmas spirit. And forget about most of our efforts to help out the Earth.

So what are we giving to our environments this Christmas? Another year where millions of Christmas trees are chopped down and consequently put out to the curb come New Years? Another million tons of trash produced by families across the country from wrapping paper and several Christmas parties?

I know I've not really thought about consuming less at Christmas, and maybe it's time we start to raise awareness around us as well.

Anyways, what inspired me to post this weekend is something that is coming up today. Friday was Dec. 7th, an important day in American history when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and with that, the United States entered World War II. The United States was trying its best to once again as with World War I try and stay out of it, but it was becoming increasingly impossible to stay out. However, it was this horrific movement by the Japanese that served as the catalyst to throw us into the war. I wonder what horrific event would have to happen in order to throw this country once again into a unilateral action to start seeing that the world is in real environmental danger.

Well December 8th has been declared International Day of Climate Action. There will be a meeting of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol (which is the United Nations Climate Negotiations) in Bali, Indonesia. People from around the world, including youth will be there to show the leaders that stronger action needs to be taken. Check out stories and more info on www.climatecrisiscoalition.org. I think it is a wonderful opportunity for us here who will be no where near where these talks are going to be to reflect on direct action we can take this time of year to try to make a difference in the lives of those around us and change some mind sets. Sometimes I feel completely useless and doubtful that I make any difference when I run up against someone who doesn't believe anything needs to be done to change our lifestyles, especially when it is members of our families or friends. This is the time when we need to be lights of the world and stand out as different to make a change around us.

I know it's hard, especially after events like the Drew theo school community dinner on Thursday. Those at our table were talking and Dr. Kearns and I eyed the servers who were clearing our plates hoping that all of our cans would get recycled. Of course, if you read Dr. Kearns' email, you already know that none of it was recycled because too much trash was mixed in with the recycled stuff. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am so MAD that people cannot be bothered to find a trash receptical (which can be hard at times I know) that they put their trash in the recycling bins. ARG!!! I think the next time I see someone stick trash in the bottles and can bin, I might just go postal on them.

Just don't forget that as we in this season think of the hope of our faith, let us also think about the hope for our world, not to give up but persevere.

Here's some websites you can check out if you are surfing:

www.creationcare.org
www.earthministry.org
www.nccecojustice.org
www.nrpe.org
www.webofcreation.org (The Green Seminaries website)


And look out for TERRA meetings first thing in the Spring Semester. If anyone is around in January and wants to meet, contact me, Natalie and we can get together. I'll be taking the Sustainability course the 2nd week of January.

And look for more posts during the break. Please feel free to email me if you want to be a fellow author to the blog.

Okay, this earth is ruined. We gotta get a new one!

"Quiet! A whale is in trouble, I have to go!"
-Al Gore talking to Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) during guest role on 30 Rock last Thursday night.

The title of today's blog comes from what Liz says at the very end of the episode, when the big earth they had hanging on the set becomes engulfed in flames. Part of NBC Universal's GREEN WEEK. If you normally don't watch 30 Rock, it's a pretty funny show, and last week it was funny with the environmental elements added. I think it was interesting to watch the promos for the Green week and then see all the levels of tips, suggestions, ideas the network had. I don't know what it was like on all the cable channels they own since I don't have cable. Overall, I think it was a good idea if it helps get the message out there, but who knows how effective it was in getting people to change their habits and behaviors.

So anyways, last weekend, I drove (eek!) down to College Park, Maryland to attend the first ever youth summit on global warming and trying to affect change. I got their late morning on Saturday and registration was a little chaotic. But as I went into the field house, I was there just in time to hear Ralph Nader speak. He was promoting his book, but also speaking out as an independent voice against Washington and the choices of Congress. I think it was interesting for him speaking to the younger generations who aren't exactly known for their activism or outspokenness, especially in comparison to the times in the 60's where the baby boomer generation was all about protests and speaking out. But despite the age differences, I think his words rang true for those in attendance at the talk and struck an accord between one another. Nader told a story of when he wanted to speak to Al Gore, he had to wait in line at a book signing in order to speak with him. He too also felt the hopelessness at the end of An Inconvenient Truth and wanted to discuss promoting positive actions that would get people up off their couches and on to their feet. Nader brought the crowds and brought the big political message, which I thought was good to hear, even though the politics wasn't the reason I was there so to speak. And of course, he was all about Solar energy.


Okay, that is part one of this long session on POWERSHIFT 2007. More to come.

But here are some websites to check out:

www.shopipl.org
www.lighterfootstep.com
www.treehugger.com

Until later!

Natalie

Up and rolling...

Attention all members of TERRA at Drew:

We now have a blog!!! At our last meeting, those who were there decided we thought a blog would be a good idea to get ourselves out there and communicating and able to post things to a site where we could all come together, like an online newsletter. So I took the intiative and got one started.

Those of you who already have blogs, I will figure out how to let you post to this site as I discover how to do this.

Come back in the next few days and check this blog frequently this week as we try and get some blogs posted and information flowing!

Enjoy the weekend!

Natalie