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Saint A's Gets Greener! by Eben and Melissa Cook No, we aren't talking about the annual appearance of our holiday garland—we're talking about reducing our environmental footprint! A few of the exciting projects we're working on are: − More clearly labeled recycling for bulletins and other paper. This will ensure that everyone who wants to recycle their bulletin can do so quickly and easily. − Replacing traditional light bulbs with energy−saving bulbs where possible. Replacing just one traditional light bulb with compact fluorescent will save 150 pounds of carbon dioxide over the course of a year. − Non−disposable coffee service items. A volunteer crew is being organized to handle clean up for coffee hour, where we are switching to shatterproof melamine plates and mugs. This will keep about 60 bulky, non−biodegradable, fossil−fuel−hogging Styrofoam cups from being used every Sunday! Personally, I have found that that it can be a little overwhelming to open the door to sustainability concerns—I've certainly gotten sucked into dairy aisle quicksand several times, puzzling “Do I spend the extra $2.10 for the Organic milk? But it's from Idaho, what about this local brand? But hmm, that's not organic…" Twenty minutes later, I've suffered a “moral aneurism" and considered giving up dairy all together! In my own life, I find that the best remedy for this kind of ethical quagmire is simply to roll up your sleeves and take one of the small and more obvious steps available to us all, leaving dairy aisle guilt behind while you get busy! If you are interested in joining the coffee hour clean−up crew (or if you can't do that but want to help in another way) please email Melissa Cook at sunshinecook@gmail.com. Copyright © 2007 St. Augustine by-the-Sea
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