Much of this information is out of date, but the page provides some useful links and perspectives on activities in about the year 2000.

UUCB Resources for the Environment

The Environmental Web of UUCB focuses on UUCB's committment to the 7th UU Principle: "Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part"

We are grounded in this committment by the naturally beautiful gardens and Wellman Canal riparian corridor which we tend.

To get a "sense of place" for the nearby land and water, visit the Graphical Locator for our location (latitude 40.0068, longitude -105.2328). You can also explore the local canals and streams. Our "watershed address" (Hydrologic Unit Code or HUC) is St. Vrain 10190005.

• UUCB Environmental Web - Not your ordinary committee.
• UUCB Resolution on Earth, Air, Water and Fire, 1998-06-28
• UUCB Responsible Consumption resolution, 2000-01-30
• UUCB Green Action - ideas for concrete steps to take.
• UUCB and the Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices - Material from the UUCB Retreat class, 2000-05-05
• Respecting the Web of Existance, Each in our own Way.... - a service at UUCB on 1999-10-17 by members of the congregation.
• The Roots of Living Simply - a service at UUCB on 2000-01-30 by Rev. Kurt Kuhwald.
• In late 1999, UUCB "adopted a road" - the stretch of Lookout Road between Highway 287 and 95th Street. We'll be cleaning it twice a year. Watch the newsletter for details of how you can get involved.
• Alternative Holiday Gifts
• Raw archive of relevant email - resources for children, etc. Hopefully this will turn into a nicely hyperlinked archive when it gets bigger.

UUA and the environment

• UUA Seventh Principle Project - the environmental affiliate organization of the UUA, named after the Seventh Principle of the UUA: "Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part".
• Responsible Consumption Is Our Moral Imperative - a Statement of Conscience adopted after 2 years of study by the UUA.
• Look at UUA Email Lists if you are interested in joining, e.g., the "CSW-L" for discussions about Study/Action Issues and Statements of Conscience managed by the the Commission on Social Witness. Searchable archives of the discussion on CSW-L are available starting 2000-02-27.
• Green Sanctuary: An Environmental Challenge for UU Congregations - a talk by Rev. Fred Small
• Ecology, Democracy, Religion: Essays in Honor of J. Ronald Engel - From the Journal of Liberal Religion at Meadville Lombard Theological School, Spring 2000, Volume 1, Number 2

Interfaith environmental efforts

• The Earth Charter - a Declaration of Interdependence that recognizes that humanity's environmental, economic, social, cultural, ethical and spiiritual aspirations are all interconnected. An international document being presented to the UN in 2002, drafted by a grassroots effort since 1987 in dozens of countries.
• National Religious Partnership for the Environment - a formal alliance of major faith groups and denominations across the spectrum of Jewish and Christian communities and organizations in the United States, including: The U.S. Catholic Conference, the National Council of Churches of Christ, the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, and the Evangelical Environmental Network
• Religious Witness for the Earth - a national interfaith network dedicated to public witness in defense of Creation
• Seeds of Simplicity - A Program of the Center for Religion, Ethics & Social Policy at Cornell University
• Earth Ministry - Christian Environmental Spirituality
• Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life
• Center for Respect of Life and Environment
• Harvard Divinity School--Religion and the Environment
• God's Green Earth - Boulder Daily Camera article by Clay Evans (2000-01-29) on "Creation Care" activists in Boulder and elsewhere.
• Simplify the Holidays from the Center for the New American Dream - alternative gift ideas, heartwarming stories, etc. See also A Hundred Dollar Christmas Holiday - Bill McKibben and the United Methodist Church promote more joy and less money at this important time of year. and the book Hundred Dollar Holiday : The Case for a Joyful Christmas by Bill McKibben.
• Experience The Great Story - also known as the Universe Story or Epic of Evolution, it is humanity's common creation story. It is the 13 billion year scientific epic of cosmic genesis, from the formation of the galaxies and the origin of Earth life to the emergence of self-reflective consciousness and development of human technology.

  THE GREAT STORY is the story that honors and embraces all other stories. It is the sacred epic of an evolving Universe of emergent complexity and breathtaking creativity, a story that offers each of us the opportunity to find meaning and purpose in our lives and our time in history.

Practical resources

• Estimate environmental impacts of purchases you're considering! Select what you're thinking of buying, and it will tell you what the impact would probably be. The technical term is "Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment"
• Renewable, all-vegetable candles for services from Coyote Found Candles - those common petroleum-based candles just don't seem to have the right spiritual karma.... Good old100% beeswax candles would be even better - support those hard-working bees who pollinate the crops you eat. Don't mind the drips - they're natural also.
  
• Use mustard oil with a big cotton wick (from asian markets) for your chalices rather than non-renewable toxic petroleum-based paraffin.

Humor

• Consumer-product diversity now exceeds biodiversity - satire....

General environmental resources

Local:

• Earth Day 2000 in Boulder
• Boulder Community Network Environment Center
• Communications for a Sustainable Future - edited by Don Roper, professor of economics at CU. Lots of information and discussions on the environment, globalization and ecological economics.
• Boulder Carshare: 303-271-3510
• COPEEN: Colorado People's Environmental & Economic Network - Environmental Justice for All. COPEEN leads an excellent tour demonstrating how environmental problems disproportionately affect People of Color and low income communities.
• Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality - Two online chapters from the book by Robert D. Bullard 1: Environmentalism and Social Justice; 2: Race, Class, and the Politics of Place
• The Ethics and Politics of Consumerism: a free conference at CU March 13-18, 2000.

• UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme - big-picture information on the environment: Earthwatch, global climate change, biodiversity, and much more.
• Population and Consumption task force report of the President's Council on Sustainable Development. See the executive summary and the section on "consumption" for good goals and recommended policies.
• The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices by Michael Brower and Warren Leon. Three Rivers Press, New York, 1999. From the Union of Concerned Scientists
• The Circle of Simplicity: Return to the Good Life by Cecile Andrews
• Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things by John C. Ryan and Alan Thein Durning.
• Northwest Earth Institute - source of discussion guides for Voluntary Simplicity, Deep Ecology, and others.
• Determining your "Ecological footprint"
• EHMI: Environmental Hazards Management Institute - a nonpartisan, nonprofit">organization dedicated to resolving environmental problems through education and relationship building. Good material for UU curricula.
• Economic benefits of the Earth's Ecosystems - News and full article from the journal "Nature" about how much it would cost us to replace the services provided by the earth. Good example of economists and ecologists working together!
• CPSR Working Group on Computing and the Environment

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