Green Sanctuary Past Activities
The Green Sanctuary Task Force has hosted annual community Earth Day Fairs, created "Eat Your Values" lunches emphasizing eating whole, local, seasonal and organic foods with minimal packaging, distributed fair trade coffee, tea and cocoa, and sold blue bird boxes and native plants to encourage wildlife and watershed-friendly gardening.
The church has been certified as an official
Backyard Habitat. To facilitate both sustainable living and religious growth, the church has hosted environmental speakers, led environmentally-focused church services, and organized a regional environmental symposium to share information and success stories among Unitarian congregations and leverage regional environmental efforts.
Fairfax County Funding for Watershed Improvements
The Mount Vernon area is arguably one of the oldest, most highly developed, and therefore most environmentally degraded sections of Fairfax County. Starting in 2003, Fairfax County held a series of community meetings in Mount Vernon focused on improving and protecting local streams. The county solicited community input to determine what problems and issues faced the area, and worked with the community to develop an extensive plan to improve water quality and habitat in Little Hunting Creek, the largest local stream, and its watershed. MVUC members participated in these community meetings, where the church became known for its commitment to environmental action.
In 2005, MVUC was selected as one of the first entities to participate in implementation of the Little Hunting Creek Watershed Plan. Fairfax County provided more than $60,000 for projects at MVUC because of the great benefits these improvements would provide the county and its streams. (
To see the project details click here.)
Environmental Consortium
Starting with the participation of Mt. Vernon Unitarian Church in the
Little Hunting Creek Watershed Plan community meetings, the Green Sanctuary Task Force began cultivating an "environmental consortium" of entities supportive of MVUC's environmental actions. This consortium - which includes the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District - offers a win/win situation for all of the groups. The consortium facilitates ongoing networking and helps everyone stay informed about the latest environmental developments and opportunities. The connections that have formed and synergies that have developed benefit all.
The church's Earth Day events and recent regional Unitarian Universalist symposium have extended the efforts of the consortium. Representatives from Huntley Meadows Park, Bolling Air Force Base, local hybrid car dealerships, the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the National Wildlife Federation, the EcoStewards Alliance, and the Raptor Society of Virginia, just to name a few, have become partners and friends that help support MVUC's environmental efforts.
Jeannette Stewart, with the non-profit
Lands and Waters, Inc., is one such friend whose relationship with MVUC grew out of local watershed planning efforts. As well as presenting at the recent church symposium, Jeanette has participated in multiple Earth Day Fairs at MVUC where she has provided information about the abilities of green roofs and rain gardens to successfully manage water runoff.
Through Jeannette, MVUC met Bob Slusser from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, who linked the church with potential grant funding for the green roof being considered on a church addition and also introduced MVUC to Terry Clements of the Virginia Tech Department of Landscape Architecture. Terry held her landscape architecture class on the church's seven-acre property this spring. Her students' two outstanding design projects included recommendations for environmental improvements to limit water runoff from the church property, environmentally friendly parking pavers, and the use of native plants in landscaping.
As a result of these efforts, MVUC gained certification as a
Green Sanctuary in 2008.
