Westminster seeks to align itself with the commitment which the United Church of Canada made to The Paris Agreement of 2016. This requires reducing our carbon emissions by 80% by 2050.
Westminster’s policy, approved in 2020, requires all decisions and subsequent actions taken by staff, committees and interest groups to be considered through the lens of climate disruption mitigation.
The committee’s mission is to engage the congregation, both individually and collectively, in the mitigation of climate disruption and to facilitate other faith groups to do the same.
It is also to act as a resource to Council, committees and interest groups as they develop and implement annual goal plans that will focus their activities.
All who are concerned about this global issue are welcome to join the committee.
Join the Earth Month Ecochallenge! Register Now!
The Climate Disruption Mitigation Committee is participating in an Earth Month Ecochallenge in April, and we would like invite you to join us!
The Earth Month Ecochallenge is a month-long online challenge to learn about and commit to sustainable actions. Ecochallenge is an online educational platform that challenges participants to take action on environmental and social issues. For this year’s Earth Month, challenges relate to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Ecochallenge has transformed the 17 SDGs into five categories of actions that individuals can make. The challenge runs from April 1-31, and its intention is simply to be a fun and social activity to encourage us to take action to create a healthier world. For more info on the challenge, see https://earthmonth.ecochallenge.org/about/event-info.
The Ecochallenge offers one-time challenges as well as daily challenges, and when you complete them, you earn points. The points are JUST FOR FUN–as is the whole challenge. You can participate in the Ecochallenge as often (or as little) as you like or have time for. As you complete challenges, there is a discussion board where you can share what you have learned with our group, respond to group members’ posts, and congratulate each other on challenges achieved. There is also another board to see your accomplishments and our team’s collective accomplishments.
When you register and join our church group on the site (we are called the “WUC Challengers”), you will see a dashboard where you can add an optional avatar/image, your choice of background image, and your choice of a motivational quote. You can then read through one-time and daily challenges you can participate in (e.g., Under the Climate and Security challenge area, a daily challenge is to reduce your use of single-use plastics; OR under the Basic Needs and Security challenge area, a one-time challenge is to calculate your water footprint using tools they provide). Each challenge has a “Learn More” section with background info and resources.
If you’d like to participate and join us, here are the basic steps:
1) Click on the following link: https://earthmonth.ecochallenge.org/participants/join?referral_code=e10ea210-d8ca-4a60-964d-da65f4bfbf32&team_invitation=true&team_id=wuc-challengers
2) Register as a participant and then proceed to join our team, WUC Challengers.
3) Click on “Dashboard” to watch the “How-To-Video” by clicking on the button on the left side of your screen.
4) Next go to “Edit Profile” to create your own personal profile, with banner, photo/avatar, & mission statement. This can be created, updated, or changed anytime.
5) Then choose your Challenges – give yourself a bit of time for this. Go to “Edit Challenges” and take some time to read through all the challenge areas & possibilities – note that some are daily challenges and some are one-time. To start, consider choosing just 1-3 challenges (you can add more once you get going!).
There is no pressure to do any challenge. Just see what you think, and hopefully we’ll have fun. If nothing else, we can learn about options of actions we can take to contribute a healthier, more sustainable future.
I look forward to doing the challenge with you in April!
Kathleen Ffolliott