Earth Keepers

Earth Keepers is an active group dedicated to both a) making our church building and grounds more sustainable and energy efficient and b) to raising awareness and educating members as well as our community about environmental issues and concerns. We believe that environmental stewardship is at the heart of our faith and is connected to all aspects of our lives as reflected in the Natural World, one of the 6 Social Principles of the United Methodist Church.

Special Event: The Climate Crisis: Science vs. Denial a special presentation by Dr. Peter G. Joseph on Thursday March 1st at 7pm with music by BOL starting at 6:30pm in the Sanctuary. This free community event is a collaboration with the Shasta College Teaching Garden, the Shasta College Sustainability Club, Dr. Craig's Climate of Change blog at Redding.com and the First United Methodist Church.

"Earth Keepers," is proud that First Church is a member of California Interfaith Power and Light (CIPL) and hope you'll log on at www.interfaithpower.org to learn more about what we can do to ensure a cleaner, healthier future! And thanks to Peggy Rebol, our Church is included in their list of congregations.

Knowledge is Power: 60,000 plastic bags are used every 5 seconds in the U.S. REUSE!

For more ideas visit "It's Easy Being Green" by Verna Johnson. Her articles offer tips to help us change our behaviors and purchasing patterns to reflect a more robust and purposeful eco-consciousness!

Next meeting: February 17 at 5:30 ~ We will have a potluck and will have a special presentation on Bees. If you would like to find out more about this group or participate in any of the activities, please contact Peggy at 243-2403 or peggy@reddingumc.org

Ongoing Projects:

Whole Earth and Watershed Festival: 2012 SAVE THE DATE

First Church was the organizer of the first Whole Earth Festival held at the church in 2007 in response to our Methodist commitment to the environment as stated in our Social Principles. Since then it has grown into a large community event with 10 organizations forming the

Executive Committee which plans this annual event on the 4th Saturday in April with First Church continuing to take a lead role. The Festival focuses on helping people better understand our responsibility to care for our planet and seeks to provide a fun place for people of all ages to learn ways we can live more sustainably in all aspects of our life. The Festival provides important education about our natural world, more sustainable products, community groups and non-profits working in the community, and actions we can all take to make our northern California region a healthy place to live for both people and the environment. It has been held at Redding City Hall for the past 4 years

Alternative Christmas Gift Faire:

We have been represented at the ACGF (held on the 1st Sunday in December) for the past 5 years offering ideas for sustainable and environmentally beneficial gifts including solar ovens from Solar Cookers International, non-plastic vegetable bags, and reuseable shopping bags.

Solar Screens:

We have raised money and put on solar screens on the west windows on the top level to help cut the cooling costs for our building.

Energy Audit:

We have worked with the Trustees to conduct an energy audit and then to devise a plan for implementing energy efficient solutions and upgrades. Currently we are looking into commercial solar leases.

10-10-10 Sustainable Demonstration Garden:

On October 10, 2010 we held a relandscaping event in conjunction with 350.org's global day of action on 10-10-10. We worked with the Trustee Landscape Group to design, prepare, and then implement a day to remove a section of grass in our front landscaping and to replace it with native drought tolerant plants. There were over 70 people of all ages working on the project that day and it was a wonderful time to teach people about climate change and why the numbers 350 are so important!