Current MLUC Projects (Join us!)

Ongoing Plastic wrap recycling project with Saint David’s Episcopal and Christ Church, Villanova. Help us collect and bring in plastic wrap—the stuff that usually ends in landfills, incinerators or our waterways, polluting our environment and injuring our health—as we collect for TREX, a company that genuinely recycles the plastic into handsome outdoor furniture and long-lasting outdoor decks. If we collect enough, TREX donates a handsome bench as a thank you! Ongoing, click here for more details on what to bring to MLUC.

Saturday, March 2, 2024, 10 am to 1 pm PAR (People Advancing Reintegration) Recycle Works collection of E-Waste. ALL invited to bring their unwanted electronics to be safely recycled. Recycling with PAR is a great way to help the environment and provide much needed employment for former inmates.

PARs accepts: Laptops, iPads, computer towers, mobile phones, small appliances, e.g. toasters, vacuum cleaners, radios, tape recorders, electric shavers, disc players, power drills, power strips, and cords.
PARs doesn’t accept: Large appliances, separate computer monitors, flat screen TV’s, CRT’s, microwaves, light bulbs and alkaline batteries. https://home.par-recycleworks.org/

About this Team

MLUC has a strong legacy of environmental education and action, with the first ECO group (Earth Concerns Organization) founded at the church in 1990. The congregation is justly proud of the Green Sanctuary certification received from the UUA Ministry for Earth in 2003. You can see the church’s commitment to a sustainable planet with its solar panels and other carbon-emissions-cutting efforts in the building, and even at coffee hour with the Green Stripers program providing reusable ceramic cups to save on paper and plastic waste.

The Environmental Justice Team is supported by UUJusticePA, the Unitarian Universalists’ state advocacy group, and participates in the Main Line Interfaith Power and Light green group, which is part of the state and national Interfaith Power and Light, committed to mobilizing a religious response to global warming.

Why Join the Environmental Justice Team at MLUC?

There are a lot of terrific environmental groups in our area, and much that members of our church can and do in partnership with them. So, why join our group? The truth is that climate change, pollution and growing  environmental degradation is real, and when we face it, thinking about our own families and future generations, it is frightening. The work we do supporting environmental justice is vital, but slow progress and setbacks can be frustrating. How can environmental-justice advocates sustain themselves and others in this difficult work? One answer can be found at our church and supportive community, and in a striving for spiritual connection:
We come to this work not from a place of anxiety and fear, but with love, appreciation for nature and the natural world, and one another. This perspective is really important to avoid burnout. The reality is that human-caused climate change presents us with a clear moral problem, and faith-based organizations like ours have a unique role to play in bearing witness and seeking solutions.

What is the Environmental Justice Team Doing Today?

Through the pandemic, the team offered film programs and discussions, writing letters to the editor and editorials, developing testimonials for the PA Department of Environmental Protection, promoting petitions, sharing information with the wider congregation, collaborating with our Garden Committee, joining forces with the regional interfaith green group, and offering Zoom meetings with outside experts. Pooling our resources, we’ve been learning the hows and whys of composting, developing fun and easy eco tips that everyone can use, and even sharing local nature-walk destinations. More recently, outdoor clean ups, tree plantings, aiding with a rain garden planting, a Plastic Free July challenge and advocacy for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) have engaged the team, MLUC members, and friends. Our Environmental Justice Team offers opportunities to connect with the natural world and each other. We strive to build up and support one another as we learn, serve, advocate for, and promote a more sustainable world. We make sure to have fun, too—and are always happy to welcome guests and new members!

Interested in helping in this important effort? Email Pam Kosty, pkosty@yahoo.com.