Resource Management Ideas:
refuse-reduce-reuse-recycle -- including money
1. Refuse to buy more than you need!
> Do candles have to be new for every service or wedding?
> What other options might you have to refuse over-consumption?
> Can you use industrial surplus from NAEIR or other such agencies for janitorial, art and other supplies?
> Can you Refuse to use styrofoam in favor of mugs, or at minimum recyclable plastic cups? Here is help!
> Instead of buying video curriculum, can you borrow it from the conference United Media Resource Center?
3. Reuse as much as you can. While you can't reuse plastic bags the way one does at home, for the sake of sanitation, can you reuse mugs for coffee? Can you invite folks to bring their own travel mugs to fill with your great fair trade coffee? Can you make it a cultural value for folks to bring their mugs and water bottles and avoid bottled water?
2. Reduce what you use. Is there a way to cut down on paper and toner use for bulletins, directories, meeting agendas and minutes? Can these be recycled?
Can people be gently and humorously trained to use only one towel instead of six when drying hands?
And, do you purchase toilet paper and other paper goods with recycled content? Here's help!
4. Recycle. Does your church have easily understandable recycling bins? In the office, do you recycle paper? Do you return toner and ink cartridges to recycling stores? Do you properly dispose of or, hopefully, recycle the hundreds of microphone batteries that pile up each year?
Do you share VBS curriculum and props with other congregations? Do you donate crayons which have passed their useful life to SCARCE for their crayon recycling?
5. Money. How are you handling your congregation's investments? Is your endowment invested with social responsibility and care of the earth in mind as well as growth? Check out the social responsibility and carbon-free fund options offered by the United Methodist Foundation.