Welcome to Unitarian Universalist Society East
Sunday Services at 9:00 and 11:00
Sustainable Living & Climate Action
UUSE is committed to ongoing efforts to save our planet through green action. We are a certified Green Sanctuary.
Green Sanctuary News
November 2026
UU Ministry for Earth
The latest community read from UUMFE is RADICALLY REFRAMING CLIMATE CHANGE, A Guide to Saving Ourselves by Will Hackman
He writes about how we can change the way we talk about Climate Change with people who agree with us, and especially people who don’t agree with us. He also reminds us that saving the Earth is misleading because the earth will survive in some way, but Humanity is what we need to save. It’s Humanity that is threatened by more severe storms, by air pollution, by unsafe water, by wildfires, flooding, drought, and all those other things that threaten our existence.
He reminds us that we may need to change at the personal level and how we talk about climate with people who don’t agree that it’s important. We need to talk with parents who worry about the future their children are facing, and those grandparents who want the world for their grandchildren to be better than it is now, and especially young people who want to know if they have a future.
Learn more about the Community Read program, which continues for several more months, at the UUMFE website: uumfe.org.
If you’re interested in the book, it is available from Bookshop.org or Barnes & Noble if you don’t want to order it from Amazon. Or check your library.
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Do you have small appliances or other items that need to be repaired? We now have The Fixery at the Work Space on Main Street. Signups are required. https://www.manchesterct.gov/Government/Sustainable-Manchester/Resident-Resources/The-Fixery-WORK_SPACE The next one will be Saturday, December 12. Volunteer “FIXERS” are needed too. Attendees may have to pay for parts.
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If you still have jack-o-lanterns or pumpkins left from Halloween, there’s a farm here in Manchester that would love to have them, and you don’t have to throw them in the trash! Here’s their info:
Aussakita Acres Farm, 555 Lydall Street, Manchester, 860-646-5151
For more info on any of these items, contact Anne Vaughan at uuseoffice@uuse.org
Don’t forget, the Sustainable Living Committee sells Equal Exchange products on the 2nd Sunday of the month. Help support small farmers who grow sustainable products!
Go Solar!
The Sustainable Living Committee is thrilled to report that UUSE has contracted with Connecticut solar provider, Savkat, to resume our popular solar program! Savkat has agreed to donate $25 to UUSE for every appointment and $1,000 for every signed solar contract. The program begins immediately, and is available to all UUSE members, family, and friends. Just tell them you were referred by UUSE!
We will be hosting several informational sessions with our Savkat representative on Sunday mornings during coffee hour to answer any questions congregants may have. If you're interested in learning more about getting solar installed, you can make an appointment at this time.
Already know you want to reduce your carbon footprint by installing solar? You can contact our Savkat representative, Jordan Bernstein, right away! His contact info is below.
Thank you for caring about our planet!
Jordan BernsteinLead Manager
203.441.7961
Schedule a Meeting
Green Actions You Can Take
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Join our ecological landscaping team
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Help with recycling and composting
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Help sell "Fair Trade" coffee, tea, and chocolate after Sunday services
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Help with the annual organic veggie garden
About the Green Sanctuary program
UUSE has been a certified Green Sanctuary congregation since the spring of 2006. The Green Sanctuary program was developed and begun by the UU Ministry for Earth for UU congregations. The program at UUSE was led by the Sustainable Living Committee with approval and involvement of the policy board, staff, various committees and the full congregation. Goals and projects were developed in four different areas: worship, religious education, sustainable living and social/environmental justice. Our Action Plan for 2005 included 15 different projects, heavily focused on our response to global warming. It included implementing recommendations from an energy audit, starting our children’s organic vegetable garden program, starting recycling and composting programs, working with other state and local organizations on common goals, and much more. The congregation-wide support and success of the program led us to seek out the greenest way we could afford to implement our planned building and expansion project.
Between 2007 and the spring of 2010 we were deep into the planning, fundraising for and implementation of our building project. The Growth of the Green Sanctuary Program allowed it to become a project of the UUA. And by 2011 we were encouraged to apply for Re- accreditation. Our application for Re-accreditation included various projects in the areas of worship and celebration, religious education, sustainable living, and active environmental justice efforts, such as helping to pass CT’s first environmental justice law, working with local groups to start school and other community gardens and to help low-income residents benefit from CT’s Home Energy Solutions program. We documented all the work done in the UUSE building project including energy conservation work, the geo-thermal system and eventual solar panel system, and Energy Star certification with a 98% score in 2013, as well as various ecological landscaping projects. On February 17, 2013 we received the notice we were awarded Green Sanctuary Recertification. We were encouraged to continue our efforts to become a net zero facility and continue with our outreach and advocacy work.