Green Team is a member of the Greater Prince William Trails Coaliton, which sponsors Second Sunday hikes each month

A Green Sanctuary

Being a Green Sanctuary is one of the ways we work toward a vision of healthier, more sustainable future.

As a recognized Green Sanctuary, we live with a deep awareness of our climate crisis and the deep environmental injustices of our time. We commit to four practices, grounded in Unitarian Universalist principles:

• Environmental Justice: We partner with marginalized communities who are hit first and hardest by environmental crisis.  In partnering with these communities we are able to address human and environmental needs at the same time.
• Worship and Celebration: As we work together towards a cleaner, more just and sustainable world, worship inspires our work and reminds us of what is most sacred and most true.
• Religious Education: Our workshops and programs for all ages shape attitudes and build practices that are sustainable and spiritually-grounded.
• Sustainable Living: We treat the world more gently by using fewer resources and being mindful of the choices we make, both as a congregation and as households.

At the Local Level:

Members of BRUU are actively engaged in addressing the challenges of increasing sustainability and resilience, together with increasing equity.  BRUU members are active in crafting local sustainability plans through the Prince William County Sustainability Commission and the City of Manassas Parks and Recreation Committee.

• In 2021, BRUU earned reaccreditation with the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) as a Green Sanctuary under the recently developed Climate Justice program.  For more information, see  visit UUA Green Sanctuary Vision.
• Green Team Report June 6, 2021
• BRUU Climate Change Resolution Aug 20, 2020
• Fair Trade Source for Chocolate, Coffees, Etc.
  Read about the History of the Equal Exchange Co-op and
  Order from our Green Team Equal Exchange Products List.
• The Green Business Council, created by Keep Prince Wiiliam Beautiful, has partnered with local Realtors to produce a New Homeowner Environmental Resource Guide.
• The BRUU Green Team is an official member of the Greater Prince William Trails Coalition which has developed as Aspirational Trails Map for development over the next 20 years. BRUU’s Second Sunday hikes are led by a Green Team member.
• BRUU members are also leaders in other local organizations which advocate for equity when addressing climate change and increasing access to green open spaces. These include
  – Active Prince William
  – Citizens Climate Lobby
  – Prince William/Fauquier League of Women Voters Land Use Study Group
  – Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions (The BRUU Green Team received the 2022 Faith Alliance For Climate Solution’s Sustainability Champion Award in their Faith Community Category. Sustainability Champions exemplify FACS’ vision and mission, lead by example and serve as a model for others through a willingness to share and demonstrate a commitment to equity and inclusion.)
  – Prince William Conservation Alliance

We invite all who share these values to join us on this journey of connection, sustainability, and hope. Contact green@bruu.org to get involved.

At the Personal Level

• Reduce energy use at home.  For ideas, see NOVEC’s Energy Resource Center and the State Corporation Commision’s Tips for Conserving Electricity
• Go electric.  See Rewiring America’s Personal Electrification Planner
• Step up to BRUU’s “I’m Going Green” challenge.  Do a green thing, add the ribbon to your name tag, then chat with others at coffee hour about how even little steps reflect putting our values into action (and incrementally help Save the Bay and save the planet).
• How to turn your backyard into a carbon sink (“We need to stop treating our soil like dirt”)  from ThinkLandscape, August 12, 2019
• What Plants are Best for Carbon Sequestration from All Native Seed
• Use our local Green Gift Guide for holiday and birthday gifts.
  

How to Engage for Solving the Climate Crisis

• National climate issues – Citizens’ Climate Lobby has one of the most effective and constructive advocacy operations in the US.  Their “Take Action” page Take Action for the Climate | Citizens’ Climate Lobby (citizensclimatelobby.org) makes it easy to write your representative on current national climate bills and policy. Their two current “Write Congress” initiatives deal with supporting the Energy Innovation Act and supporting clean energy permitting reform.  If you join CCL (no membership fee) you’ll get updates whenever CCL has new advocacy actions.
• Virginia climate issues – the Virginia Grassroots Coalition brings together over 50 grassroots groups working in Virginia to collectively strategize and support progressive candidates and policies.  Unlike CCL, where bipartisanship is a core principle, the Coalition is avowedly Democratic leaning, and their advocacy is generally left of center.  Their Virginia Grassroots Coalition Climate and Clean Energy Working Group: clean energy, clean water, clean air, climate change reviews the hundreds of bills that come before the General Assembly (GA) each year and sets legislative priorities.  Based on those priorities, they organize email drives (through one-click “Calls to Action”), meetings with legislators, lobby days in Richmond, testimony at GA hearings, and other advocacy. You can join their team (no membership fee) and choose the areas where you want to engage.  With VA’s short legislative session (45 or 60 days), things move fast, so it’s helpful to have a nimble, plugged-in organization giving you options on how and where to engage.
• Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions is a network of people in Northern Virginia, including Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, Mainline Protestant, Hindu, Unitarian Universalist, Society of Friends, and other traditions, that encourages moral climate policies from a nonpartisan perspective

Merrimac Farm Master Natualist Chapter – graduating Basic Trainees on January 18, 2024