In the spring of 2019, UPC was certified as an Earth Care Congregation through the PC(USA), joining over 220 congregations across the country. Join the team’s efforts in maintaining our certification as we work together to be better stewards of the gifts of our earth. Click here to learn more.
Upcoming Opportunities
Coffee Mugs for Coffee on the Landing: Every Sunday
Help us minimize our footprint by bringing your mug to church. We welcome donations of surplus clean mugs (traditional or travel) to leave at the coffee machine so that we can share with those who forget. After enjoying your warm beverage, take your mug home, wash it, and bring it back for a refill of coffee and fellowship the following week. Thank you for helping the church live out our Earth Care promise!
Triangle Climate Strike: September 20
Join Triangle students, faith communities, and those who care about the planet on Friday, September 20, from 9-11am at Chapel Hill’s Peace and Justice Plaza (179 E. Franklin St.) or 12:30-2:30pm at Raleigh’s Halifax Mall (300 N. Salisbury St.). Millions around the world will walk out of our homes, schools, and workplaces to join young people in the streets for the biggest climate strike yet.
Attendees will learn about the impacts of climate change, interact with Triangle groups taking actions to avert the looming disaster, and take personal action to make our concerns known. Look for UPC’s Earth Care Team near the OrangeChatham Interfaith Care for Creation banner! For more information, visit ncchurches.org/triangle-climate-strike.
Orange-Chatham Interfaith Care for Creation meeting October 7
UPC’s Earth Care Team helped found Orange-Chatham Interfaith Care for Creation (OCICC), which seeks to engage people of faith, congregations and communities to become better stewards of the Earth, address our rapidly changing climate and advocate for environmental justice. The keynote speaker at OCICC’s October 7 meeting (7pm at St. Thomas More) will be William Barber III, strategic partnerships associate at The Climate Reality Project and son of the Rev. William Barber II. Barber III serves on the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary’s Environmental Justice and Equity Advisory Board and is co-chair of the North Carolina Poor People’s Campaign Ecological Devastation committee. For more information, visit climaterealityproject.org
Composting at October 13 Second Sunday Lunch!
A 2017 study revealed that 78% of Orange County’s “trash” sent to the landfill was not trash at all. Almost 50% was compostable! At Second Sunday Lunches, we’ve been throwing all of our plates, cups, napkins, utensils and food waste into trash cans destined for the dumpster and landfill. In September, we generated three enormous bags of trash totaling 82 pounds. For the October 13 Second Sunday Lunch, hosted by the Stewardship Committee and Presbyterian Campus Ministry, UPC’s Earth Care Team will set up composting stations so we can see how much we can reduce what we throw away. For more about composting, visit upcch.org/earth-care