Our UUCNH Farm Stand Project finished its second year at the end of October 2014. From June 8th through October 26th, on 21 consecutive Sundays, UUCNH members, friends and children came together to share our vegetables, peach butter, herbs, flowers, muffins, mulberries, cupcakes, seedlings and CSA shares, to produce over $1800 in donations. These [...]
Lawn Alternatives When I go for an afternoon walk on a lovely summer day, I often see people mowing their lawns; but I don’t remember once in two decades seeing people enjoying their lawn; so it’s a mystery why people compulsively maintain these spaces that don’t seem to enrich our pleasure in life. Apparently, the [...]
We all enjoy listening to bird songs or watching a hummingbird in our backyards. But birds are not only decorative. Some species pollinate flowers or help other plants to reproduce (imagine a world without squash, tomatoes, apples, peaches, and strawberries!). Many birds provide pest control by eating aphids, Japanese beetles, European corn borers, and [...]
Here at UUCNH we experience and share in many traditions, with the common threads being loving and sharing. Mother Teresa says it best: A Lifelong Sharing Love cannot remain by itself – it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action and that action is service. Whatever form we are, able or [...]
It’s easy to rush out to the home supplies store to find chemical solutions to get rid of pests in your home or garden. But the first site below warns that these “may be more harmful to you and the environment than the pests” you wanted to get rid of in the first place. [...]
If you’ve been hoping to get rid of the potentially toxic cleaning substances in your cabinets, you are in luck; there are dozens of sources that can offer you ideas for safe, natural, non-toxic replacements. Many use common ingredients like baking soda, white vinegar, and rubbing alcohol. The list below is not exhaustive but [...]
Fire retardants are toxic to our environment and our families. Fire retardants are in a lot of things, furniture, electronics, appliances, and even baby products. One particularly toxic form of PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) has been taken off the market (2005), but there are new ones that are also linked to cancer and endocrine [...]
We know that plastics contain chemicals that are toxic to our environment and unhealthy for our families. Some have been proven to be harmful – BPA and phthalates are potent hormone disruptors that are linked to behavior changes, cancer and reproductive damage. Others are less well understood, but we know chemicals in plastics routinely [...]
I wanted to contribute to the recently approved Green Sanctuary program at UUCNH. In the kickoff meeting for Green SanctuaryI volunteered to do the weekly green living idea. People would send me green living ideas. I would write them up and put one in the newsletter each week. It seemed straightforward enough. I was [...]
The world is really looking like a mess right now, so you’re motivated to do social justice work. It doesn’t matter which issue motivates you. When you find your passion, go for it. But if you’re not passionate, stop right here. This work takes deep passion and long-term commitment. Tearing down systemic racism, reversing [...]
