We recycle Glass Bottles, Paper, Plastic Bottles, Cans, Plastic Tubs and Food Waste

Our new Paper recycle bins are owned by River Valley. Our Rust belt Rider Bins, and Repeat Glass bins are located in the the Southeast corner of our parking lot. We also have a trashcan in our outdoor recycle center .
Inside our building we continue to recycle: cans, bottles, paper and plastic tubs.
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Why do we Recycle

7th Principle: Respect for the Interdependent Web of All Existence of Which We Are a Part

The reason why recycling is so important is that it prevents pollution, reduces the need to harvest new raw materials, saves energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, saves money, reduces the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, and allows products to be used to their fullest extent. As UU’s most of us acknowledge this ideal. But the reality is that recycling is a “Market” and we can only recycle items that have a “Market”. So here at UUCC we do what we can. Ministry for Earth offers some recycling options for the congregation and for our nearby neighbors.

Recycling is good but its better to Reduce, and reuse.

Recycle Plastic Bottles and Cans inside our building:
you will find 5 recycle stations in convenient locations in our building. These bins are for plastic bottles, and cans, with a separate bin for paper in 4 of the recycle stations. There is a picture on 4 of the bins telling you what is acceptable. Plastic and paper cups are not recyclable, no matter what the manufacturer tells you. This is a “market issue”. Glass bottles and Paper can be recycled in our outdoor recycle center.

Recycle Plastic Tubs inside our building:
Save your plastic tubs and recycle them here. That would be your cottage cheese, yogurt and butter tubs. Most members of the congregation have recycle haulers that do not recycle these items. This is a limited market and we have found a hauler who wants this type of plastic. Bring your clean plastic tubs, and their lids and place them in the large blue recycle bin found in the east end of the 1st floor across from the Impact office. Do not put flower pots or other types of plastic in this bin.

Glass Bottle Recycle Bins in our Parking Lot:
We recycle bottles of all colors in 3 bins. Repeat Glass , opened for business in Cleveland in 2022, to provide an effective and reliable glass recycling stream for homes and businesses in Northeast Ohio. The problem is that the majority of glass recycling in Northeast Ohio is comingled, which means that it it mixed with other recyclables (i.e. paper, aluminum, plastics) resulting in highly contaminated glass which is not recyclable as bottles. It is sent to land fills as mass cover or used in sidewalk cement and other non-bottle uses. Uncontaminated glass can be recycled and made into new bottles forever. Repeat Glass has 3 cans, blue with yellow lids, 64 gallon plastic rolling bins, in our parking lot next to the Paper bins and the Rustbelt rider bins. These bins are for glass only and are available for free to UUCC congregants and the community.

Paper Recycling In our Parking lot:
River Valley has 2 Paper recycling bins in our parking lot. Any money collected by this program goes to our Ministry for Earth to support their programs which includes the church permaculture gardens and orchard. Due to low market prices for recycled paper the funds are very limited. This is a service that we offer to the community. These bins accept paper and flattened cardboard. Please do not put plastic bags in these bins. Shredded paper should be placed in paper bags so it doesn’t blow around.

Compost all your home food Waste with Rust Belt Riders In our Parking lot:
The Rust Belt Riders Neighborhood food-scrap drop off program , a fee based program, is available in the UUCC Parking Lot. Three Bins are in the Parking lot next to the paper recycle bins and and glass bins are available 24/7/365 for collection of household food-scraps.

Participation requires you to sign up online HERE. Members are asked to pay $12 per month and may bring as many or as few food-scraps as are produced in their household. Rust Belt Riders recommends using a 5-gallon bucket lined with a BPI-Certified compostable bag or brown paper bag to collect your scraps in. you can drop off when it is convenient as often as you like. If you want a “special bucket” Rust Belt Riders buckets and bags can be purchased at any Phoenix Coffee Cafe, but any transport container that allows the scraps to breath will keep down bad odors and provide easy transport to the bins. Remember use only the acceptable compostable bags, paper bags or no bag. .

Upon signing up, participating members will receive a 4-digit code in their welcome email that can be used to open the padlocks securing the lid of the collection container.

Their program can collect all food-scraps and any BPI-Certified compostable product. This includes raw and cooked foods, animal products, and bones. 

On Friday July 21,2023, Dell Salza convened a meeting of four members of the Building & Grounds Team (Ken Kuehm, Tom McKenna, Ray Gonzales), our Facilities Manager, Victor Young, and Joe Hofstetter of Karpinski Engineering and Peter Bohan of Perspectus Architects. They had a productive meeting to begin The Energy Audit that is funded by a MCKimm Fund Grant. The Audit will result in a detailed plan to thoroughly tighten the envelope of our UUCC building, reduce our energy use, and in the future install an efficient, no fossil fuels heating AND COOLING system. Joe Hofstetter is a former certifier of LEEDS buildings and Karpinski Engineering did the installation of the geothermal systems at Trinity Cathedral and CH-UH High School.

Following through on this plan will enable us to continue to efficiently use the building in the summer despite high temperatures, reduce our use of fossil fuels, and provide a cooling center for vulnerable people in the community as the heat continues to rise.

So far, we have money to develop the plan. We do not yet have the money to actually do the work but funding possibilities are being researched. Anyone who wants to help Dell with that is more than welcome.

These are examples of what a home energy audit looks at. The UUCC Building is just a big home.

In our parking lot is an array of solar panels, developed in partnership with Cleveland-based Solar Action, that supply electricity for our building. Solar panels are not often talked about as an expression of religious conviction.  But in 2012, as the debate over climate change started to heat up, First Unitarian Church of Cleveland (now Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cleveland) decided to put up Solar Panels in their parking lot as an expression of our call to environmental stewardship, an expression of our belief in the 7^th principle:  

Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
 

Ministry for Earth sought this system as part of the Green Sanctuary certification which was awarded in 2011. The system includes:
1. Solar array with 380 panels, each producing 240 watts of power
2. An Electric Car Charging Station
3. 38 covered parking spaces under the solar panels
4. Gutters and cisterns to collect water coming off the panels for use in our garden, diverting some water from the storm sewer (paid for by a grant from the NEO Sewer District)

The solar panels have generated 120% of the congregation’s electrical needs since its installation in 2012. The 380 panels generate over 90,000 kilowatt hours per year – enough to supply the yearly power needs of about 10 homes and eliminate 77 tons of CO2 per year.  Excess electricity is put back into the grid. Due to the timing of our requirements for electricity vs. when the panels generate power, we still purchase electricity from CEI. 

This project, costing over $500,000 for the solar panels and installation, was developed in partnership with Solar Action, a Cleveland-based company whose objective is “to minimize the financial burden associated with the construction of large-scale solar installations by governments and non-profit institutions.” Solar Action made the upfront investment in the panels and installation, with UUCC and its predecessor congregation paying for it through the purchase of the electricity generated by the panels at a rate designed to produce savings over the purchase of all power from CEI.

In December 2021 Solar Action generously donated the panels to UUCC, several years earlier than originally anticipated.  This means that the power generated will be essentially free for the rest of the life of the panels.  We have engaged Solar Action to provide the needed maintenance to keep the panels operating efficiently

In June 2022 we refurbished the electric charging station. We now have 2 changing stations. It does cost money to maintain these stations. We offer the electricity for free but We do accept donations for the electricity used to charge your car. donate

In the future we will continue to explore more ways that we as a congregation can reduce our carbon footprint.

In 2023 we are pursing a grant from the NEO Sewer district to add cisterns to collect the water that runs off the west side of our building.

Remembering that: We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children….. and we share it with all living things.

The Playground is a collaborative project between the congregation and the community. It was originally built many decades ago and, while still attracting UUCC members, students from the IMPACT program, and neighborhood kids, it had areas of rotting wood, protruding nails, and other signs of needing repair. In 2018, a group of neighborhood kids wrote to the Congregational Board stating that they loved playing in the congregation’s playground, but it was unsafe and they wanted to help fix it. With the support of their parents, they also offered to raise money for the repairs.

Playgrounds are a great way to bring people together, build social connections, and be active outside. The UUCC and its neighbors created a committee to explore what it takes to make a good neighborhood playground for people of all ages. Over a period of 2 years, meetings were held to create a shared vision and develop a plan. The plan included demolishing an unsafe structure, repairing damaged or worn structures, fresh paint, new mulch, building two benches, two picnic tables, and a seesaw, and a plan for ongoing maintenance.

On June 30th, 2019, UUCC hosted a Common Ground discussion in partnership with The Cleveland Foundation to talk about community connections, including the playground.  IOBY funding was set up to accept donations.

Kids were key workers in every step of this project. In 2021, this congregation/neighborhood partnership continues to  maintain and improve the playground and make it a fun and safe place for our community to enjoy.

The Community Garden was started in 2009. Folks can reserve one or more beds in the spring or fall and organically grow vegetables, fruits, and flowers. The plots are available to members of the community which includes the congregation as well as friends and neighbors in the wider community. The garden is also used to teach gardening skills and information to youth groups and Scouts. Key features of the garden include the following:

• Each bed is 4’ X 8’, arranged with three beds touching each other.
• We sponsor multiple community work days to get to know fellow gardeners.
• There are 10 beds where the community of gardeners works together to raise vegetables that are donated to the local food bank.
• The garden is deer free, protected by a fence.
• It is an organic garden (no pesticides or herbicides).
• Cost per bed is $15 per year. Keeping the same bed from year to year is encouraged.
• There is an initial $20 deposit that is refunded if you leave the garden with your beds in reasonably good condition.
• For now, water is obtained from the building with plans to connect to the water cisterns that collect run-off from the solar array.

For more information, contact Russ Fedewa, 216-704-5105.

The Memorial Garden is a reminder of the inter- connected web of life.  As a final resting place for members who have gone before us, it is a place to hold them close in our thoughts and hearts cherishing their gifts and presence among us.  May we find inspiration from their lives, comfort in our loss, andcourage to live our own lives with integrity and gratitude.

The garden is a sacred space, a place of quiet beauty and reverence. It is a place to connect the living with the past exemplifying a caring community for persons known and unknown to us. The garden invites you to come and stay, to be comforted or refreshed.

The garden honors Dr. Angus MacLean, our beloved minster of religious education from 1961 to 1967 after a long career as Professor of Religious Education and Dean at the Theological School of St. Lawrence University. His significance was in his unswerving service as an advocate and writer in the cause of religious education for children and adults and as preacher, administrator and leader during the final illness of our Minister, Dr. Robert Killam. Scholar that he was, Angus taught us not so much from books as from the example of his own life, with a candor, honesty and  grace that made it always a joy to be in his presence. We shall be eternally grateful that his life touched ours for as long as it did.

The names of those in the garden are engraved on a plaque hanging in the rear of the sanctuary.  A notebook in the church library contains short bios or obituaries of those inhabitants for whom information could be found.

To obtain permission to use the Memorial Garden   for receiving a loved one’s ashes or arranging a Memorial Service, please contact the church office at 216-751-2320.   For those who wish to use the garden for a loved one we request a small donation (currently $75) towards the nameplate on the plaque and the perpetual care of the garden.  This is a discretionary fee that can be waived by the minister.  Our minister and staff will be happy to assist you.

Volunteers appreciated: The garden is cared for by volunteers, and overseen by Jackie Stimpert and John Barber. We emphasize native plants that support biodiversity in our work in the garden.

Cleveland Memorial Society: The Cleveland Memorial Society, with an office at UUCC, is a non-profit, non-sectarian organization dedicated to simplicity, economy, dignity and forethought in funeral arrangements. The brief time it takes now for thoughtful planning and making a record of your wishes will become a lasting gift of your love to your family and survivors. With a one-time $25 fee, the Memorial Society provides access to reduced-fee funeral services with one of our Funeral Directors; planning forms, newsletters and resources to assist you with the process.
https://clevememorialsociety.org/

The Community Garden was started in 2009. Folks can reserve one or more beds in the spring or fall and organically grow vegetables, fruits, and flowers. The plots are available to members of the community which includes the congregation as well as friends and neighbors in the wider community. The garden is also used to teach gardening skills and information to youth groups and Scouts. Key features of the garden include the following:

• Each bed is 4’ X 8’, arranged with three beds touching each other.
• We sponsor multiple community work days to get to know fellow gardeners.
• There are 10 beds where the community of gardeners works together to raise vegetables that are donated to the local food bank.
• The garden is deer free, protected by a fence.
• It is an organic garden (no pesticides or herbicides).
• Cost per bed is $15 per year. Keeping the same bed from year to year is encouraged.
• There is an initial $20 deposit that is refunded if you leave the garden with your beds in reasonably good condition.
• For now, water is obtained from the building with plans to connect to the water cisterns that collect run-off from the solar array.

For more information, contact Russ Fedewa, 216-704-5105.

The Permaculture Garden serves as a greeting to those who enter the church via the parking lot as well as a place for quiet contemplation.  It was built between 2010 and 2012 by 125 church and community volunteers and supported by $70,000 in contributions.  It is based on the principle of minimal soil disturbance and consists of multiple perennial plantings that help enrich the soil, attract beneficial insects, and provide aesthetic enjoyment. It also offers edible harvests (persimmons, currants, rhubarb, asparagus, fennel, and sage). Water run-off from the solar array is captured in giant cisterns and is used during drought to water the garden. In the spring, summer, and fall, the area is maintained by a small group of volunteers who meet ready to get dirty on Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m.  More helping hands are always welcome.

For more information, contact Tom Gibson, tomgibson7477@gmail.com, the tall guy in the overalls, or Dan Homans, danhomans@hotmail.com.

May 2022: Help needed planting perennials between our apple trees.
Come plant alongside IMPACT kids.  We will be planting some 500 perennial flowers in our fledgling apple orchard—all recommended specifically by Cornell University for enhancing pollinator life and apple production in Eastern Apple Orchards.  A great opportunity to build community connections.  Help needed: May 17, 3 PM.  Bring gloves, marked trowels, knee pads, old clothes.

November 2021: Apple Orchard Mulched
Our UUCC Ministry for Earth Committee and the 7th and 8th grade Impact students and our loyal UUCC Garden and orchard helpers have put cardboard around all the apple trees and then covered the cardboard with compost and mulch.In the spring we will be planting pollinator and companion plants to hep with the health of the Orchard and it companion insects and microbes..

March 28, 2021: Apple Orchard Planted
You may notice a new group of chicken wire cylinders just outside the Community Garden facing the Shaker Heights Middle School soccer field. They provide protective covering for 20 new apple tree saplings that 20 UUCC and 6 neighborhood volunteers planted on an emergency basis this past weekend.

The saplings are heritage apple varieties grafted by Dennis Grossman’s and Julie Short’s daughter and son-in-law. The latter have just sold their Ashland-area farm and are moving to the west coast. With April 1 as the date for the property transfer, there was a brief window of time between the thawing of the ground and the closing on the Ashland property to get the trees from Ashland into the congregation’s soil.

Members of the Ministry for Earth analyzed soil, sun exposure, and availability of water and ultimately decided that next to the Community Garden was the optimal location for these trees. Russ Fedewa, head of the UUCC Community Garden, welcomed the orchard as a new neighbor and even hooked up a hose to help our baby trees get watered.

The planting took two days. On Saturday, March 27, 2021, over 20 people (including 4 neighborhood kids and 5 neighborhood adults recruited by Dell Salza) dug holes and mixed mineral amendments into the soil. On Sunday, 12 people planted the saplings and constructed those chicken wire cylinders to protect against rabbits and deer for the foreseeable future. It was not easy work. We exercised our bodies and also our brains doing UU group problem solving. How many UUs does it take to plant an orchard? About 32: Barbara Bradley, Dell and Lou Salza, Debbie Wright, Ray Gonzalez, Jane Montgomery, Jean Martin, Steve Sanford, Nancy King Smith, Alison Bashian, Cliff Wire, Daniel Homans, Daniel O’Keefe, Julie Short, Becky Burns, Marlene and Ken Freeze, Laura Marks, and Tom and Carol Gibson. Our wonderful participating neighbors were Eric Siler, Camille, Isabel, and Lincoln Billups, Umut, Burcu, Grandma, Maya and Talia Gurkan. This planting was a lot of fun and one more link between the church landscape and the neighborhood.

It’s not over yet! The plan is to grow these trees using permaculture methods and without toxic chemicals. We will be planting bugleweed and lavender to attract pests away from the trees, garlic, onions and thyme to discourage the grass from intruding, dill and parsley to attract beneficial insects, nasturtium and chives to repel the bad insects, and yarrow and borage to nourish the soil. We’re told that it is hard to grow apples but the Ministry for Earth is up to the challenge!

Submitted by Tom Gibson, Head Tree Master