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CIPL is proud to announce ShopIPL.org
-- an online store launched by the National Interfaith Power
and Light program, now providing energy efficient products
(at discounted prices!) to the faith community. The site provides
a 10% discount to congregations and their members, which can
be redeemed by entering the discount code "shopipl"
during checkout. This discount is only available to CIPL members.
If your congregation is not a covenanted member of CIPL, you
can easily register online by filling out the CI PL Congregational
Covenant to become one. Membership is free. Individuals shopping
at ShopIPL.org for their homes may also use the discount code--remember
to click on your congregation from the drop-down menu when
ordering.
*National Sign-on Letter in Need
of Clergy Support*
The National Interfaith Power and Light program will shortly
release a document calling on Congress to enact mandatory
limits on greenhouse gases. This campaign has received substantial
media coverage, and was picked up by Reuters. We encourage
more California clergy to support this document. You can add
your signature by going to the National IP&L website or
by e-mailing your contact details to info@interfaithpower.org.
This effort to bring a religious voice to the ongoing global
warming debate responds to a call by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
herself, who, on May 29th at the G8 Summit stressed that faith-based
organizations could play a role in battling climate change.
The United States needs "the spirit of science to show
us the way and faith-based organizations to help mobilize
to preserve the planet," Pelosi said.
Please help us increase California support of this letter
by signing your clergy members on to the document. We have
only a short time left to collect the remaining signatures!
*Responding to Climate Change: Make
Your Congregation Drought-Tolerant*
Climate scientists have predicted increased drought and water
supply shortages in California due to climate change. The
Los Angeles area received 3 inches of rain this past year,
setting a 130-year record low. (L.A. receives about 15 inches
in a normal year.) Sonoma County has imposed a mandatory 15%
reduction in water use, and Marin County has imposed their
first mandatory water use limits since 1976-77. San Diego's
water supply, from the California State Water Project, could
be reduced by up to 40% in coming years. Water conservation
also conserves the energy needed to pump water around the
state. The largest energy user in California is the State
Water Project that provides drinking water to Southern California.
The Metropolitan Water District in Southern California has
a website encouraging water conservation and providing W ater
Wise Rebates for water-conserving appliances and products.
Consumers have the ability to help mediate the effects of
drought, by choosing water-saving products such as rain barrels,
irrigation controllers, and waterless urinals.
- The City of Santa Monica has initiated an "urban rain
harvesting" project to redirect roof downspouts into
specially-designed rain storage barrels, limiting runoff from
homes and businesses while securing an alternative supply
of water for use in landscape irrigation.
- W eather Based Irrigation Controllers can be programmed
with historical evapotranspiration data for different climate
zones, and also prevent excessive watering.
- Commercial High-Efficiency and Zero Water Urinals save 66-100%
water every time they are flushed. A "low-flow"
toilet uses 1.6 gallons per flush (gpf), much less than the
3-5 gpf of inefficient toilets. High-efficiency and/or waterless
urinals use only .5 gallons or less per flush, compared to
3 gpf of pre-1989 urinals. A waterless urinal typically saves
about 40,000 gallons of water per year. The City of San Diego's
recent voucher program for waterless urinals provides discounts
and rebates.
See the MWD's "Be Water Wise" Program
*Bingham Among World's Most Green
and Godly*
California Interfaith Power and Light's President, the Reverend
Sally G. Bingham, was named one of the 15 Greenest Religious
Leaders by Grist Online Magazine this week. Others honored
in the listing are the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I
and the Dalai Lama, and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams,
Richard Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals,
and the Pope Benedict XVI, credited as one of the world's
leaders "spreading the eco-gospel."
Other Green Religious Leaders spotlighted include Fazlun
Khalid, Norman Habel, Rabbi Warren Stone, Sister Miriam MacGillis,
Rev. Fred Small, Rev. Joel Hunter, Karen Baker-Fletcher, Paul
Gorman, Father Thomas Berry, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu,
Sallie McFague, Calvin DeWitt, Rev. Jim Ball, and Allen Johnson.
In the comments section, readers have added some of their
own suggestions for the list, including Dr. Letty Russell,
Ruah Swennerfelt, Daisaku Ikeda, Peter Illyn, and CIPL's friend
Dr. Matthew Sleeth.
*IP&L Conference A (Re)Treat
for All*
Directors of the 23 state-affiliated Interfaith Power &
Light programs gathered July 9-12 in Loveland, Colorado. Your
California Outreach Directors Jessica Brown and Mike Sandler
shared California success stories, hob-nobbed with other state
directors, enjoyed vistas of the Rocky Mountains, and learned
about exciting new resources the National Interfaith Power
and Light's campaign will utilize in the upcoming year. The
Outreach Directors report feeling energized, refreshed, and
rejuvenated by their retreat and the chance to reflect on
the amazing work of IP&L programs across the country.
In other IP&L news, the Regeneration Project is pleased
to announce new state chapters in Alaska and Utah. With the
wide expanses of Creation blessing our friends to the north
and east (respectively!), it's good news that the wilderness
will have faithful protectors through IP&L!
Read about the new IP&L in Alaska
*Harry Potter and the Thankful Forests*
This article is brought to you by CIPL's hard- working summer
intern from the Beatitudes Society, Audrey deCoursey. At midnight
on July 20, millions of Harry Potter fans across the world
lined up to buy the seventh book in the series, Harry Potter
and the Deathly Hallows. Fortunately, the pages of their 12-million
copy best-selling new tome were made of sustainable paper
products. 30% came from recycled paper, and another 65% of
the paper came from wood certified by the Forest Stewardship
Council, which certifies wood harvested without decimating
forest ecosystems. Forests sequester carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere. Remember to follow Harry's example and buy recycled
paper for your congregation's office, and to use certified
wood in building your projects.
To email Audrey about Harry Potter, click here.
Welcome to our new CIPL member congregations!
First Christian Church, Concord
Claremont United Church of Christ, Claremont
Fairfax Community Church, Fairfax
Mira Vista United Church of Christ, El Cerrito
NCNC Earth Stewards of the United Church of Christ, Hayward
St. Anselm's Episcopal Church, Lafayette
Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach, Long Beach
Unitarian Universalist Church of Riverside, Riverside
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