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Nov. 9, 2006
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Blessed Trinity Parish goes ‘green’ |
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Parish’s commitment combines stewardship,
environmental concerns |
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MILWAUKEE — Blessed Trinity Parish is taking steps to “provide for the needs of this generation without jeopardizing the needs of future generations” by establishing the Urban Center for Sustainability.
Coordinator Carol Waskovich, a parishioner and former English teacher who said she’s “always had an interest in nature and global warming” has the new role of developing the Urban Center for Sustainability.
10 ways
to turn your parish green
— Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps.
— Caulk or repair places where air leaks into the building; weatherstrip all doors.
— Tune-up and service all heating and cooling units for optimal efficiency.
— Convert thermostats to time-controlled setback units to reduce heating and cooling.
— Convert all exit signs and emergency lights to light-emitting diode (LED) units.
— When purchasing major appliances, office machines and computers, make sure they are Energy Star certified.
— Replace all fluorescent light fixtures with new low-energy fixtures – at least convert T-12s to two T-8s with electronic ballast.
— Add or increase building insulation, especially the roof.
— Cover stained-glass windows with sealed UV-filtering storm windows for insulation and damage-protection and to protect the lead from being destroyed by UV rays.
— Remove soda machines and shut off drinking fountain refrigerated coolers. If you can’t remove machines, remove the light bulbs used in advertising.
(Information provided by the Wisconsin Interfaith Climate and Energy Campaign)
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But Waskovich has help. The parish was recently awarded a $30,000 grant, payable over the next three years, by the High Wind Association Foundation, a community that educates and teaches groups on the ways of sustainable living. Based in Plymouth, the group was founded in 1977 and provides workshops on environmental sustainability.
“We want to respond to the global warming situation and the situation in our neighborhood,” said Waskovich, speaking about the parish’s ideas to sustain their buildings in an ecologically friendly way, as well as help create career sustainability in the neighborhood.
“Our goals are, number one, to reduce the parish energy costs by 15 percent in the next two years,” she explained. “Having a building built in the late 1960s, it’s a big church and of course there’s a lot of things that would need to be done.”
According to Waskovich, the idea of implementing these environmentally friendly changes originated with the stewardship committee, and “looking at our reality and the huge expense in heating costs and lighting,” she explained. A member of the stewardship committee is on the board at High Wind. The committee wrote the grant proposal to High Wind that was eventually accepted.
The first step in the process of becoming a “green” parish took place Oct. 21, when parishioners visited the High Wind Association to learn how to conserve energy and combat global warming. The parish plans to implement several of those ideas.
Using the grant, Blessed Trinity has already implemented some minor, although cost-saving, changes.
“All our lights are installed with energy efficient bulbs and we’re researching new energy efficient boilers,” said Waskovich, who mentioned she may install barrels on site to collect rain water to be used for watering plants, washing cars and more.
According to Waskovich, the parish hopes to partner with WE Energies, Johnson Controls and the City of Milwaukee, as well as Milwaukee Job Development and other area parishes to get the most benefit on campus, as well as in the neighborhood.
The Blessed Trinity campus consists of four buildings, including one that hosts the Maasai Institute, a charter school. The Urban Center for Sustainability hopes to extend its “green” status to all buildings on the church property.
“We had our first field trip to High Wind and now we’ve got feedback from all the folks who went to that,” she said. “Next, we’ll be communicating the purpose of this center and refine our three-year plan. We’re looking at all possible assets.”
Fr. Michael Barrett, pastor of Blessed Trinity, sent a letter to parishioners in October, informing them of the grant and the new Urban Center for Sustainability. “The dream of our Stewardship Committee is that our parish campus can become a model and a visitation site for others looking at ways to provide for the needs of this generation without jeopardizing the needs of future generations,” wrote Fr. Barrett.
“We have a magnificent opportunity to make a difference in our huge world by making some changes in our own little worlds,” he continued. Those changes may include “compact fluorescent bulbs, faucet aerators, programmable thermostats and restricted time of use energy consumption.
“As a parish, we can also become a new way to be church, tending to the stewardship and care of God’s gracious gift of Mother Earth….”
Waskovich said there are many positive outcomes to the parish’s environmental plan.
“I think the benefits will be (less) cost,” she said. “But more importantly, raising awareness of our global situation. We’re taking global warming seriously and we want to take our part and educate people because each one of us is the solution. We can’t wait for the government to mandate this.
“I think the fact that (Blessed Trinity) has hired a person to do this shows that we’re not dreaming, we’re trying to make this a reality.” |
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