FAITH IN ACTION - Sierra Club

18
JESUS PEOPLE AGAINST POLLUTION
COLUMBIA, MS
In 1977, an explosion destroyed the Reichhold
Chemical plant in Columbia, Mississippi.
Reichhold abandoned the plant, and left hundreds
of barrels of highly toxic waste buried
precariously close to a nearby neighborhood.
The waste leaked, contaminating the water
supply of the largely African American and
low-income community.
When Columbia native, Evangelist Charlotte
Keys, learned about the contamination in the
early 1990s she decided to do some investigating.
She was heart broken and infuriated by
what she found. Many community members
lived dangerously close to the Superfund site
where the chemicals were buried. Children
played in streams contaminated by the poisonous chemicals, and
she saw children and their families fall ill. What’s worse, little was
being done about it.
Not one to stand by and do nothing, Evangelist Keys founded the
environmental justice nonprofit Jesus People Against Pollution in
EAT YOUR VALUES
KANSAS CITY, MO
Concerned about ecological degradation,
All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church
in Kansas City, MO. formed a Green
Sanctuary committee to identify tangible
ways the church community could help
restore the environment. “Respect for
the interdependent web of all existence”
is a foundational principle of the
Unitarian Universalist faith. “We’re all
connected. If we cause harm to one part,
our actions affect the health of all species,
all existence,” explains All Souls church
member and Sierra Club volunteer, Terry
Wiggins. “The Green Sanctuary program is a way for our church to
be respectful of that connection.”
In 2001, the Green Sanctuary Committee launched its first initiative,
a church-wide recycling program. Since then, the church has
been engaged in a number of different environmental endeavors
from creating a native plant garden to conducting classes on global
warming and selling fair trade organic coffee, tea and chocolate.
One of the committee’s main efforts is to educate church members
about sustainable food consumption. To demonstrate planet-friend-
1992. Since its foundation this organization has
fought for community access to healthcare and
the relocation of local residents.
Evangelist Keys says her fight is not just a matter
of justice, but rather that it’s about living out her
faith in Jesus Christ. Evangelist Keys describes
Jesus’ model as one of sacrificial love, caring for
the poor and healing the earth. She believes Jesus
demonstrates how humans are to treat one
another and live rightly on the earth. “When we
poison our environment, we’re not only defiling
God’s creation, we’re poisoning each other. Jesus
cares about his people, it’s a sin to stand by and
watch his people suffer,” she said. “I know God
wants me to help the people in my community.”
Evangelist Keys believes that greed is one cause of pollution, and
that those with money should be doing more to help communities
in need. “Humanity has become self-destructive, abusing the environment
and one another for the love of money,” she said. “Wealth
is temporary; we’re all just passing through this world. Why not
use our resources for good instead of greed?”
ly food choices, the Green Sanctuary
Committee hosts “Eat Your Values”
lunches for the congregation where they
serve local, organic fare. “Local food
doesn’t require the packaging, refrigeration,
and transport that generate huge
amounts of waste and pollution,”
explains Wiggins.
The lunches emphasize vegetarian fare
since contemporary methods of meat
production have an enormous impact on
the environment. Most meat comes
from factory farms which generate massive
amounts of manure waste that pollute surrounding air and
water resources. Furthermore, raising animals for food requires substantially
more water and other resources than producing plantbased
foods. The Green Sanctuary committee encourages church
members to eat less meat and buy local, organic meat products.
To eliminate waste at the lunches, they use real dinnerware and
compost all of the leftovers. At the most recent lunch, they created
only one pint bag’s worth of trash! The lunches have generated a
wonderful response and other church committees use the “Eat Your
Values” lunch as a template for their own events.