The Environment Team, also known as the Environment Committee, met in September to plan activities for the new year. Topics discussed ranged from pipelines to Sunday lunches, exciting new monthly Forums, another Intergenerational gathering of old and young activists, educational events on Alternative energy sources, a small appliance repair table, Religious Education workshops on new ways of talking about Climate change and other controversial topics, and brainstorming ideas for Earth Day 2019! We tossed around a lot of ideas for one year but the Enviro Team is a community with a range of different skills, connections, passions, and experience.
From left to right. Back row: Mary, Cindy, Dianne, Elizabeth, Karl, Hanno. Front row: Olga, Catherine, John, Rob, Tamiko
Keep an eye out for announcements in the Order of Service, on the UCV website, and on posters in Hewett Hall this fall as we put on some highly entertaining and educational events!
One more thing–We are high energy but we are also friendly and welcoming! If you want to join us or just learn about what we are up to, come to our monthly meeting in Biddle room every third Sunday at 12:30 pm.
Four UCV members chose to cross the injunction line at the Kinder Morgan site and face arrest, jail time, and fines. One other member faces a lawsuit and potential bankruptcy. Why did they do this? Hear their personal stories and their experiences with the police and legal system. We will also hear from a lawyer who will speak on the legal implications and potential future developments now that the company has been bought by the Canadian government.
Do you have a small household appliance that does’t work? Do you feel bad at the idea of throwing it in the garbage? Do you wonder if it would be possible to repair it?
“Repair Matters” (facebook) http://repairmatters.ca/ Vancouver (B.C.) is an all volunteer service started by four women university students from Simon Fraser and Emily Carr – back around 2015. They have taken a few breaks over time, and have started up again just recently. Repair Matters invites people to bring their domestic appliances, and related items, (gadget, toys, tools, sport ‘stuff,’ etc.) to their repair events. They find that with their shared knowledge, and experiences, they are able to repair many of the items brought to them.
“Repair Matters” is looking forward to setting up a repair event at Vancouver Unitarian Church. We will let you know the time and date for this event when we get our schedules coordinated.
Are you a ‘fix it’ type person who’d enjoy volunteering your time, talent and skills to help members and friends at UCV?
The Environment Team is exploring the idea of creating space for having small household appliances repaired or adjusted. If you have such items hiding out somewhere that you’d like to have repaired, or if you would like to fix those items (or teach people how to fix them) we’d love to hear from you!
The test for real climate leadership is simple: leave fossil fuels in the ground and commit to 100% renewable energy. With hundreds of creative actions on September 8, the climate movement showed the world that we will not accept anything less.
On September 8, 350.org organized over 900 events around the world to demonstrate our passion for stopping Climate Change. One reason for this world wide event was to pressure the Global Climate Action Summit meeting in San Francisco, Sept. 12-14 to co-ordinate climate action. California Gov. Jerry Brown invited professionals and volunteers to co-ordinate and build renewable energy infrastructure, and divest from fossil fuels.
In Metro Vancouver, religious and environmental groups put on three diverse events on Sept. 8th and UCV members were there at all of them!
Reconnect to Life: Reflect Renew Rejoice
The Multi-Faith Action Society, Be the Change Alliance, and InterSpiritual Centre joined forces at UCV and several UCV members took part. The keynote speakers were Chief Phil Lane (Four Winds International) and Rabbi Laura Kaplan (Vancouver School of Theology), participant-lead circle dialogues were facilitated by Maureen Jack-LaCroix (Be The Change Earth Alliance); and Aline Laflamme and the Daughters of the Drum closed the event with a powerful song for the Earth and all her children (including the foolish human ones).
At least 10 Vancouver Unitarians joined the global Rise for Climate events on Sept. 8 by participating in the Suffering Salmon event hosted by BROKE Burnaby Residents Opposing Kinder Morgan Expansion and Protect the Inlet at Kwekwecnewtxw (Watch House) at the Burnaby Mountain tank farm.
It was a very informative and educational event with speakers, videos, live music, and a visit to the local salmon streams that are threatened by the Trans Mountain tank farm. We all came away with renewed appreciation for the resilience of our salmon, for their critical roles in our forest ecosystem, and for the many ways they are threatened by climate change and the proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. We celebrated the August 30 decision of the Federal Court of Appeal that quashed the Trudeau government’s approval of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Project and stopped all ongoing work on the project, while at the same time recognizing that there are many challenges ahead to protect our coast and the cherished salmon.
Go to the link above and type in your city for local events or check out the following events:
At UCV, faith leaders and community from Metro Vancouver will gather for a meaningful, multicultural dialogue on the power of ‘spiritual activism’ to engender global peace, sustainability and harmony in the face of an uncertain future. Sat. Sept 8, 9:30am,-3:30pm.
Why: We need people to step up and let leaders know what we are already doing to prevent climate catastrophe. The Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, Sept. 12-14 needs to hear from the grass roots: us. We need to join forces to fight the Kinder Morgan / Trudeau Pipeline Expansion (TMX).
Who: Everyone who cares about the impacts of Global Warming.
Harry Potter Camp at Vancouver Unitarian campus was a huge success this summer. How do I know? Mainly because the kids were talking about “next year at Hogwarts” at the end of day one and were still talking about it at the end of the week. They also arrived each day with smiles and excitement bubbling up and together built a real sense of community. They worked through conflict and resolution as well as through games, classes, and creativity.
Sorting Ceremony
We had 20 attendees who came from the Unitarian Church of Vancouver, North Shore Unitarian, and others who were drawn to the “Hogwarts” page on the website. New friendships were formed, and old friendships strengthened.
Theatre in Action
We approached the camp with the intent to create an immersive theatrical experience for the kids from which they could explore real, pertinent, issues and develop their own power, abilities, and agency. The kids reveled in the opportunity to let their imagination of the Hogwarts world come to life, being sorted into Houses, the decoration of the Great Hall, and the re-naming of rooms—Dormitory of Democracy, Room of Retirement, Chamber of Choice. They were initiated into a chapter of Dumbledore’s Army and, through dotmocracy, chose to focus on fighting the Horcrux of Waste. The theme of how to approach zero waste will be carried through our Sunday activities this fall.
Herbology, Prof. Kiersten
Shape of the Week
Classes were held throughout the week, taught by both our local UCV Professors and local Guests:
Herbology—with Professor Kiersten, exploring the UCV gardens and grounds for “magical” medicinal plants and creating a healing salve from plantain and calendula with olive oil and beeswax.
Potions—with Professor Jannika, creating a Cold-Away Potion from echinacea and an Elixir of Euphoria from Orange Blossom Essential Oil.
Potions with Prof. Jannika
Charms—with Professor Douglas, exploring acting skills through Professor Douglas’ own charms: Interiofocus (stilling the mind and focusing inward), Accion (finding personal power in action), and Connectisaurus (connecting with another person and working together).
Special Guests
Quidditch—with guest Quidditch players and Kidditch instructors from the Vancouver Vipers Quidditch Team.
Defense Against the Dark Arts—with guest artist and actress Professor Bailey, exploring how to face our fears through humour using poetry and spoken word.
Charms lesson with Prof. Douglas
Two Guest theatre artists turned the ground floor of Hewett Centre into Diagon Alley and made appearances as familiar ghosts Moaning Myrtle and Nearly Headless Nick. Together they delved into the complexity of what to do when public art lifts up one culture and ignores oppressions.
Patronus Workshop—with Professor McGonagall, exploring core aspects of their personality and identifying a strength of their own that brings something positive into the world.
Finale
The week ended with a Feast and Sharing with family and friends of all that they had been doing and learning—including spells, skits, games, and a haunted house of their own creation.
Slytherin House Rocks it!
Hufflepuff
Ravenclaw
Gryffindor
Diagon Alley
The Sorting Hat
Floating Candles
Creating Magic
1st Day
Sorting Song
Wandmaking at Hogwarts Theatre Camp Summer of 2018.
Above: Unitarians stand with the Tsleil-Waututh to stop Kinder Morgan’s diluted bitumen pipeline and tanker project. The rally took place at the ancient village site of Whey-ah-Wichen in what is now Cates Park, North Vancouver
At least 12 Vancouver (and Victoria) Unitarians gathered with hundreds of water protectors and families from across the Salish Sea to support the Protect the Inlet Flotilla on Saturday, July 14, 2018.
The flotilla of canoes and kayaks gathered and paddle together from the ancient village site of Whey-ah-Wichen, or Cates Park, North Vancouver, across the Slilwat or Burrard Inlet, to the razor-wire fence that Kinder Morgan had erected in the water without consent.
Tsleil Waututh elder, Ta’ah Amy George, led a water ceremony.
Back in Slilwat/Cates Park, chiefs and other First Nations activists from across BC waited for the flotilla and celebrated their return with shared stories, songs, dances, and inspiring words.
The 2018 Earth Day Service was put on by the Environment Committee today. Guest speaker Aline Laflamme gave a moving, insightful sermon titled “All My Relations”. She spoke of the Indigenous view of what “relations” means as well as the responsibility that comes along with being part of a family that consists of all that is living and non-living in the world. The Daughters of the Drum performed Indigenous songs of thanks and prayer and, just to change things up a bit, rather than being read to, the Coming of Age kids read the Story for All Ages to the congregation!
Aline LaFlamme explaining how the drum is a circle that represents the interconnection of all Our Relations, all that is living and non-living in our world.Daughters of the DrumThe Coming of Age kids reading the All Ages Story to the younger kids and the congregation!
Above: SOS letter writing table at Hewett Hall this Spring, April 2018
The Environment Committee started the Save Our Salmon (SOS) letter writing campaign as a direct result of the great success of the Feb. 16, 2018 Wild Salmon Information and fundraiser event. (Watch the event here.)
Provincial tenures (leases) for 22 open net-pen salmon farms come up for renewal this June; 20 of them are in the Broughton Archipelago and are opposed by First Nations. The peer-reviewed science is very clear and unequivocal – BC fish farms severely threaten the health and survival of our wild salmon. Alaska, Oregon, and Washington ban fish farms; BC should also.
The SOS letter writing campaign invites people who care about the survival of our wild salmon to send handwritten letters to their MLAs, with copies to Premier Horgan and Ministers Donaldson, Heyman, and Popham, asking them to NOT renew the fish farm tenures that come due this June. A letter writing package with information and guidelines for writing this letter to your MLA will be sent to anyone who asks for it from rdainow@gmail.com.
