Green Sanctuary November 2025 News2025.11

Post Author

Jan Weaver, Green Sanctuary

Green Sanctuary Joining with Social Justice

While most folks want to do good works, only a very small number is interested in meeting to plan them. This is the situation Green Sanctuary finds itself in. To make better use of our remaining members’ time and promote coordination with other social justice efforts, GS asked to become a part of the Social Justice team. We are already collaborating with them on the SEJ Sunday postcard campaign, and many of our remaining members are already involved in Social Justice. Becoming part of Social Justice works at UUS because we already have the greenest building (not much left to do there) and because there is a strong and active Land Ministry team that is working to transform our property into a haven for wildlife.

We will be figuring out exactly how this will work over the next few months. For sure there will be no more separate Green Sanctuary meetings for now. There may or may not be GS columns in the newsletter. For now, the contact remains Jan Weaver. You can reach her at [email protected].

How Green is Our Congregation?

We know we have the greenest church (building) in Iowa. How are we doing as a congregation? Since April we have surveyed over 80 members of the congregation to see what green practices they have adopted. There are practices related to food, transportation, energy use, waste, and social engagement organized into three categories, things everyone could do, things only homeowners can do, and things that are definitely a stretch. The results in the table are reported in four categories – practices that less than 25% of us do, things that 26-50% do, things that 51-75% do and things that over 75% do.

Green Practices in Our Congregation

November Better Together – Transform Your Bonds with Stuff

Each month of Better Together we have actions that members of the congregation can take to help the environment. The fall season is about mitigating climate change and our focus for November is about stuff.  Here is a list of local libraries for books, bikes, and tools you can turn to instead of buying more stuff. And if you can’t find a place to borrow stuff, consider renting. Just search for the item and the term “rent”.

Books

• Iowa City Library members can check out books but they can also pick up seeds and check out art, video players, video games, toys, discovery kits (for trying new hobbies), book club kits, and read with me kits. https://www.icpl.org/books-more/more-to-borrow 123 S. Linn St. Iowa City
• Coralville Library members can check out books and pick up seeds. https://coralvillepubliclibrary.org/elibrary/ 1401 5th Street, Coralville
• North Liberty Library members can check out books and pick up seeds. https://northlibertylibrary.org/ 520 W. Cherry St. North Liberty
• Little Free Library World Map – https://littlefreelibrary.org/map/ Is there a little free library in your neighborhood?

Bikes

• Iowa City Bike Library started out as a volunteer run community bike project with the mission of getting more people on bikes. They repair donated bikes and offer them for check out or purchase. They also sponsor community rides and events to make bicycling accessible to everyone. https://icbikelibrary.org 1222 S. Gilbert Court, Iowa City
• North Liberty First United Methodist Church (NFLUM) Bike Ministry repairs donated bikes and gives them to kids and adults with limited options for transportation in the community. In 2023 they donated 130 bikes to the NL Community Pantry and Inside Out Recovery programs. https://nlmethodist.org/shifting-gears-nlfumc-bike-ministry/ 85 North Jones Blvd, North Liberty

Tools

• Friends of Historic Preservation Tool Library members can check out tools, including power tools at the Salvage Barn (next to Habitat for Humanity’s Restore). You must be a member of FHP, and at least 18 years old. https://www.ic-fhp.org/tool-library 2401 Scott Blvd. SE Iowa City
• Public Space 1 Art Equipment Lending Library members can check out tools for making things, displaying things, projecting things, making music, taking pictures, lighting things, and taping things. https://www.publicspaceone.com/library 225 & 229 N. Gilbert, Iowa City
• Iowa City Fab Lab members can use space and tools (after training) for woodworking, fiber arts, silk screening, laser cutting, color printing, stained glass, ceramics, jewelry, and pottery. https://icfablab.org/ 870 S. Capitol Street, Iowa City

Social and Environmental Justice Sunday November 9

Green Sanctuary is collaborating with the Social Justice Team to hold Social and Environmental engagement activities on second Sundays. Help us make good trouble by writing a letter, penning a postcard, or signing a petition for a SEJ cause. (SEJ is pronounced “sedge” like the plant.)