Peace, Environment & Justice

The Peace, Environment & Social Justice Committee grew out of the "Living the Questions" study group which met in the fall of 2007 and the spring of 2008. The purpose of the team is education and advocacy. Their mission is to educate the congregation and community about today's social issues and advocate for justice, peace, and the care of God's creation.

MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY ARE WELCOME TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS GROUP. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH TO JOIN.

The goals of the group include:

  • Implementing programs of community outreach to discuss current topics of interest
  • Offering opportunities to support peace and justice activities
  • Understanding the place of environmental stewardship in our faith and educating the church family and community regarding environmental concerns and ways to decrease our carbon footprint 
  • Investigating the process for becoming an open and accepting church

Over the last year, the committee has hosted a series of events that focused on specific environmental and social issues, supported a church-wide recycling project, provided manpower to the City of Costa Mesa for the city's Arbor Day tree-planting event, sponsored a presentation by the League of Women Voters prior to 2008 fall elections, and explored the issue of homosexuality and the church.
 


  Green Tip!

Count Your Calories (Production Calories, That Is)

Every food product you purchase has two caloric values: the amount of energy you receive from it (the value printed on the side of the package) and the amount of energy required to produce it. In today’s food industry the second caloric value comes from a variety of sources: the sun, the human energy involved in production, and the fossil fuels that drive the machinery used in the farming process and power the production of chemicals.

Some of the statistics are hard to swallow: the modern production and distribution system spends 10-15 calories for every calorie it produces; the United States expends three times the energy per person for food that developing countries use per person for all energy activities.

To reduce production calories, try to buy as few processed foods as possible. Two pounds of flour requires less than 500 calories of energy for processing; the comparable amount of soda requires
over 1,400 calories; chocolate requires over 18,500 calories.

Philippe Bourseiller
365 Ways to Save the Earth

 

Green Tip of the Month:
Be Energy Wise

Clean your microwave oven. Wipe it out frequently - a clean microwave cooks faster than one filled with spills and spatters.