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All Souls Are Green!

All Souls Are Green is our parish environmental stewardship committee.   Please join us as we help All Souls Church and our members go green, save energy and respond to climate change.  Many of us are also involved in Interfaith Power and Light http://interfaithpowerandlight.org/ and its local affiliate Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light http://gwipl.org/ both of which help provide a religious response to climate change for people of all faiths. 

All Souls Are Green is active September through June.   Right now, we’re looking into alternative sources of power for the church and ways to replace aging, inefficient appliances like our water heater.  We would also like to become an Energy StarÒ Congregation (https://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=small_business.sb_congregations) and hope to begin the application process soon. 

In the last three years, we:

 ·         Re-lamped much of the parish education wing with compact fluorescent lights and installed programmable thermostats throughout the church that have saved thousands of dollars in avoided energy costs.

 ·         Installed weather stripping around doors, windows and window air conditioners.

 ·         Started a recycling program for plastic, steel, aluminum, paper and other recyclables.  (Sign up for the Sunday rotation to take out the recycling to the recycling bin in the parking lot!)

 ·         Organized an environmentally-themed Rogation Sunday service complete with “beating the bounds,” an old Anglican rogation tradition that dates back hundreds of years.

 ·         Eliminated Styrofoam cups at coffee hour.

 ·         Visited St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, to learn about their photovoltaic panels and learn whether All Souls would be a good candidate for solar (we’re not). 

 ·         Distributed a “carbon fast” calendar for Lent.

 ·         Sponsored an adult forum where Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb of Adat Shalom Temple in Bethesda spoke about the call in the old and new testament for environmental action and responsibility for people of all faiths.

 ·         Raised over $400 dollars during Christmas 2010 for compact fluorescent light bulbs that we donated to the Episcopal Center for Children and to Habitat for Humanity working here in DC.  These bulbs add up to over $6,890 savings in avoided energy costs and replacement incandescent bulbs for these charities, enabling them and their clients to spend more of their scarce resources on programs that help people instead of utility bills.

Come join us!  There is still a lot to do.  Talk to Tony or Martha Domenico who lead our group to learn more.  Or just attend the next meeting - look in the bulletin for an announcement.  All are welcome and the only expertise you need is an interest and a willing hand to offer help.