Announcing NWEI’s Change For Good Award Nominees! Recipient To Be Announced at 20th Anniversary Celebration

Northwest Earth Institute is excited to announce our nominees for The Change for Good Award, which will be given to an organization who in their own right has integrated sustainability principles into the core of their operations and, working in partnership with NWEI, has helped make our surrounding community a healthier, more sustainable place to live. The following five organizations have worked closely with NWEI over the years in engaging students, community members and employees in sustainability discussion and action.

Intel – As the number one purchaser of renewable energy credits in the US since 2008 (according to the EPA) and a strategic investor in renewable energy start-up companies, Intel is helping lead the development of the clean energy industry. Intel supports employee-initiated grassroots efforts, including the Intel Employee Sustainability Network (IESN), a chartered employee group. IESN, in place at Intel since 2004, provides employee networking, volunteering, and educational opportunities that align with Intel’s corporate environmental focus areas. The group’s activities have included Northwest Earth Institute discussion courses delivered at multiple Intel sites around the world, with more than 400 Intel employees having participated in NWEI discussion courses over the years.

The local (Oregon based) contingent of Intel employees are worthy of special recognition for their efforts, both internally and externally. In 2011, 35 Intel volunteers took the NWEI discussion course program into 20 local high schools, engaging over 400 high school students in the Greater Portland area. Using NWEI’s Just Below the Surface discussion course, Intel volunteers mentored high school students and facilitated dialog and critical thinking around the use of energy.

NW Natural – NW Natural is committed to reducing fossil fuel impact on local and global environments. Through promoting more efficient energy use and environmental stewardship, NW Natural is doing its part to limit carbon emissions and slow or stop the greenhouse effect—a proven factor in global climate change. Since at least 2007, NW Natural has been engaging employees in NWEI discussion courses. They have also been an active participant in and sponsor of NWEI’s EcoChallenge with employees committing to sustainability actions each Fall. Their paperless billing campaign donates significant funds to local nonprofits, including NWEI, and encourages customers to go paperless. NW Natural also funded an employee to serve as a consultant for NWEI in 2008. NW Natural is committed to offsetting 100 percent of the CO2 associated with natural gas heating use for the next five years.

Portland Community College – Since at least 2008, hundreds of students have participated in NWEI courses in a variety of classes. SPARC, which promotes sustainability throughout the curriculum, has actively connected faculty with NWEI resources and PCC faculty have organized ongoing NWEI discussion courses for faculty and staff. PCC Student Government has also hosted several NWEI courses on sustainability topics. From environmentally sound operating practices to a curriculum that supports sustainability, PCC demonstrates sustainability leadership. The Rock Creek Campus vermicomposting system creates a closed loop that takes pre-consumer cafeteria scrap, composts it and uses it in the garden to grow food to serve again in the cafeteria; the Sylvania Learning Garden is beginning to create a similar system. PCC has developed programs in renewable energy systems, alternative fuels, solar voltaic manufacturing and sustainable building. PCC Sylvania Campus President Linda Gerber is a member of NWEI’s Board of Directors, providing valuable input about NWEI’s ongoing collaboration with campuses.

The Standard – The story of sustainability at The Standard begins with a handful of employees who had a vision for the company’s future. They had participated in Northwest Earth Institute’s Choices for Sustainable Living discussion course, and it led them to form The Standard’s first Green Team with a few like-minded employees. Since then the Green Team has nearly 100 members, is guided by an executive-sponsored steering committee and is behind significant changes at The Standard, including powering the Tanasbourne Campus in Hillsboro, Oregon by Clean Wind renewable energy and solar panels, their newest building on the Tanasbourne Campus is LEED Gold-certified by the U.S. Green Building Council and is 34 percent more efficient than a conventional building, and the downtown Portland Standard Plaza building is also LEED Gold-certified and is Energy Star rated by the Environmental Protection Agency. The NWEI courses have been an integral part of The Standard’s ongoing Green Team activities, and The Standard has also been an active participant and sponsor of our EcoChallenge each Fall.

Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth – UUMFE has been connecting and inspiring Unitarian Universalist communities across North America to work for for environmental justice, spiritual renewal and shared reverence for Earth since 2005. Since building a partnership with Northwest Earth Institute in 2007, UUMFE has been able to engage over 1,000 members of UU fellowships throughout North America in NWEI discussion courses. In 2011 and 2012, Nancy King Smith, UUMFE Board Member, was able to organize over 20 NWEI discussion courses in Cleveland, Ohio, contributing to the creation of more local and sustainable food systems. In the past two years, UUMFE has brought Earth justice education and action campaigns to their members and congregations (NWEI serving as a primary delivery model) and created an advocacy coalition for environmental justice issues in collaboration with other Unitarian Universalist (UU) partners. UUMFE has been able to collect stories of success from their UU congregations, particularly around Earth Day.

Congrats to our nominees, and thanks to each organization for their continued partnership with NWEI as well as their work to create a more sustainable future! Stay tuned to find out which organization won the first ever Change for Good Award! We’ll announce the winner at our 20th Anniversary Celebration and then here on our blog.

Social Justice and Food Choices: A Letter from Rev. Bill Sinkford

This week we are sharing a letter written to fellow Unitarian Universalists from Bill Sinkford, Senior Pastor at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Portland. As many of you may know, Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth is one of NWEI’s 30 organizational partners. Thanks to Bill and the hundreds of congregations who are putting NWEI programs into action in their communities!

A recent Yale study highlights a significant gap between what we as citizens say we value and the actions we take.  For instance – “76 percent say it is important to buy locally grown food, but only 26 percent ‘often’ or  ‘always’ do.”

I’d like to think that, as Unitarian Universalists, our values and myriad food choices are much closer in alignment. Many of us engaged in the reflective process leading to the adoption of the Statement of Conscience on Ethical Eating last year. But even we have more work to do as we take this process deeper and broader.

How much thought have you given to the social justice implications of your food choices? Have you considered the environmental impacts of the food we waste? What are the real and potential impacts of our food system on wild lands here and abroad?

Shortly after I accepted the call as Senior Minister here at First Church in Portland, Oregon, I was introduced to the Northwest Earth Institute (NWEI). Our church has used its discussion courses for several years and found them to be an invaluable resource. In the spirit of full disclosure, I should tell you that I was so impressed that I agreed to serve on the NWEI’s Board of Directors.

Recently NWEI released a new discussion course on sustainable and ethical eating titled Hungry for Change: Food, Ethics and Sustainability. Many UUs have used NWEI’s previous curricula to create awareness, action and common purpose on these issues. Hungry for Change ties directly to our UU Ethical Eating Statement of Conscience by exploring the social justice, environmental and health components of a food system shaped by our individual and collective food choices.  

A recent UU participant had this to say, “The Hungry for Change course book and the dialog served up a huge dose of reality, but at the same time gave me the skills to take action for a healthier environment, a healthier humanity and a healthier me.” We used the course at First Church this winter.

I recommend Hungry for Change as a resource for your congregation in taking its next steps. More than 130,000 people have tested the self-facilitated process of shared discovery, personal reflection and action. It might also help to know that Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth (UUMFE) gains a bit of financial support with each course started. You can learn more about the course by contacting either NWEI or UUMFE.

 

Serving Up Community Dialogue in Cleveland, Ohio!

One of our long time course organizers, Nancy King Smith, has been busy mobilizing community dialogues around food and sustainability in the Cleveland, Ohio area with a  working group that emerged out of the Sustainable Cleveland 2019 Summit. Nancy not only serves on the board for Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth (one of NWEI’s 30 partner organizations), but also is actively starting courses in the metro Cleveland area via an initiative inspired by NWEI organizers in Port Townsend, Washington. The Lakewood Observer just posted this article with details:

The Menu for the Future project is involving Lakewood residents in learning about and discussing the issues affecting their daily food choices. The expected outcome is to create more literate consumers, which in turn will drive sales of local, healthy food. The program is based on a six-week course developed by the Northwest Earth Institute that involves selected readings and self-facilitated discussion. It is part of the Local Food Celebration Year for Sustainable Cleveland 2019.

In September of 2011, a working group came together at the Sustainable Cleveland 2019 Summit and set a goal to get as many groups as possible to use the Menu for the Future course within their faith community, organization, business or neighborhood during 2012. About a dozen pilot groups, with a farmer or food producer in each one, are meeting in February and March, and plans are in motion to scale up during the remainder of the year.

The course, designed for groups of eight to twelve participants, is based on a source book of readings that includes directions for self-facilitation by the groups for guided conversation about our food systems. The course has been successfully used in Port Townsend, WA, where they ran 25 simultaneous courses with a farmer or food producer in each course (most groups were ten to fifteen people). It changed the nature of the conversation about food in the town and established relationships between producers and consumers that have been of economic as well as personal benefit…

Currently groups are meeting in a variety of settings and geographic areas: River’s Edge, Carnegie West Library, the Galleria, the Catholic Diocese Headquarters, Preterm, Gates Mills Library, Unitarian Universalist churches in Shaker Heights, Akron and Kent, and a Hudson Ecumenical group. The pilot groups and interested conveners will hold a celebration potluck at the Galleria on April 19th. Additional groups will launch in April and May, including a group at the Lakewood Public Library. Anyone interested in convening a group (no special expertise needed) or joining a group should contact menuforthefuture@gmail.org or call 216-264-0181.