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

Why do we Recycle

UUCC values and Respects the Interdependent Web of All Existence of Which We Are a Part. Recycling is one way we can express that value.

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:
Cullet Ohio (formerly Repeat Glass) offers a community glass drop off service at UUCC and other drop-off sites across Northeast to recycle glass free of charge. They have 3 bins located in the UUCC parking lot between the paper recycle bins and the Rust Belt Rider bins that collect food waste.

Check out Cullet Ohio’s Frequently asked questions for a complete listing about what they take and don’t take. They take most bottles and jars. They do not take crystal, mirrors, leaded glass or pyrex cookware. Make sure you check the label on the top of bin to confirm what they take. Before the pause in service UUCC was on track to recycle more than 13,000 pounds of glass in 2024.

Why recycle Glass in glass only bins rather than in my curbside recycle bin?
Glass in separated recycling bins can be made into new bottles and jars. Glass put in co-mingled, single stream recycle bins is often contaminated, Limiting its use in new bottles and jars. Often glass from curb side mixed recycling bins ends up in sidewalk filler, cement and roof coating.

For more information check out their website:
https://www.cullet.com/

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. The church uses these bins at no charge.

Participation requires you to sign up online HERE. Rust Belt Riders 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. 

MISSION STATEMENT:
The purpose of the UUCC Ministry for Earth is to inspire our congregation to live in a
way that is environmentally responsible, just, and science-based so that our
congregation does its part to mitigate the effects of climate change on our community
and the world and serves as a model of resiliency and hope in facing the challenges of
the future.

WHAT WE DO:

• We educate ourselves about the climate crisis.
• We share environmentally responsible lifestyle ideas.
• We grow native plants organically in order to protect pollinators and other wildlife.
• We promote 100% renewable electricity and environmentally responsible choices
  for our building and grounds.
• We teach our congregational kids to grow food.
• We are affiliated with UUMFE the national organization, Faith Communities
  Together (FaCT), and soon the Cleveland 2030 District.

We meet as needed to review, advise, and help plan the projects that the sub-committees are working on. We
welcome new members and new projects. If you are interested, please contact us.
We are re-evaluating our meeting times in response to changes in the congregation.
For more information, contact Dell Salza at dell.salza@gmail.com or Anya Ustin.

CURRENT SUB-COMMITTEES:

The Climate Urgency Sub-Committee is chaired by Nancy King Smith and meets as
needed on Zoom. We are strategizing on how to engage more of the congregation in
understanding and acting on the greatest moral and planetary challenge of our time.
The group is exploring how to use the new UUA Green Sanctuary 2030 framework to
work on the goals of mitigation, adaptation, resilience, and climate justice. As we craft a
more comprehensive strategy, we are continuing to provide education and opportunities
for activism in working toward climate justice.

The Gardening Sub-Committee maintains the pollinator garden in the parking lot and
the apple orchard on the southwest lawn. This is a stalwart group of hard-working, often
dirty volunteers who work on Wednesdays, Usually 10 am – noon, during the gardening season
and at other times of their choosing. We weed, water, plant, rake, and replant in the spring, summer, and early fall,
weather permitting. The apples in the orchard are organically grown using permaculture
methods; e.g., planting native flowers and herbs that attract insects that eat the insects
that attack apple trees. These plants also enrich the soil which can then sequester more
carbon. Talk with or email Dell Salza at dell.salza@gmail.com or Debbie Wright at wrightdebbie@hotmail.com want to learn more, especially if you want to help.

The Recycling Sub-Committee manages recycling at UUCC and for our nearby
neighbors. Inside the building, we have bins for recycling paper, plastic tubs, bottles, and cans; and
in the kitchen, there are bins for food waste. The recycling bins get emptied into the two
large paper-retrieving bins in the parking lot, and the kitchen food waste bins get
emptied into the large food waste bins also in the parking lot. Rustbelt Riders, a small,
worker-owned cooperative composting service, collects and composts this food waste,
keeping it out of the landfill. It is a subscription service available to the congregation and
the community at large. To sign up: https://www.rustbeltriders.com/for-your-home

Messages from Ministry for Earth is a column appearing periodically in the UUCC
newsletter and on the UUCC website offering tips for living a more sustainable, healthy,
and spiritual lifestyle. We welcome feedback and submissions. Contact Debbie Wright at wrightdebbie@hotmail.com

UUCC’S OTHER ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY ATTRACTIONS:

Solar Array – Our solar array supplies 70% of our electricity. With the renovation of
our building, it will be more fully and efficiently incorporated into the functioning of the
building.

Electric Vehicle Charging Stations – We have two charging stations for electric
vehicles, and they are often in use. Donation boxes are there for people to contribute to
the cost of them since the solar array does not completely cover our electricity use.

Cisterns in the parking lot collect rainwater and prevent stormwater run-off from
overwhelming the city’s water system and dumping untreated water into Lake Erie. The
water is then used to water the pollinator garden.

Miyawaki Forest – The Miyawaki Forest was planned by one of our young people,
Anya Ustin, as an Eagle Scout project. She organized a group of young people to plant
it in 2023. Miyawaki Forests grow ten times faster than conventional forests. They are
denser and more biodiverse.

Rain Garden on the West side of the building to collect water off the roof. The rain garden was provided to us through a grant called “Brook and Bloom.” This program paid a group of high school students to take a Master Rain Gardener It was a joint project with Doan Brook Watershed Partnership, Anya and Alena’s friends, a couple of UU congregants, and one of Shaker’s City Councilors, Nancy Moore.

The Pollinator Garden and Apple Orchard are overseen by Dell Salza and Ministry For Earth group at UUCC. Ministry for Earth meets as needed to plan for the garden and other activities to enhance environmental awareness at UUCC and care for our grounds. Money to support these efforts is raised through donation, grants, and the collection plate periodically during the year.

Pollinator Garden located between the church building and the parking lot are planned and cared for by church volunteers, . Volunteers weed and maintain the permaculture garden weekly during the growing season. They welcome help at other times also. Occasionally weeding and planting actives are scheduled look at the newsletter for announcement. Check with Dell Salza, or Debbie Wright with questions. Their contact information is in the church directory.

Apple Orchard is located on the west side of the church parking lot next to the Community Garden. Volunteers care for this orchard. Recently a deer proof fence has been installed and the trees are receiving young tree training, trimming to encourage healthy growth. These apples are organically grown using permaculture methods: planting native flowers and herbs that attract insects that eat the insects that attack apple trees. These plants will also enrich the soil which can then sequester more carbon. Please contact Debbie Wright or Jonathan Papcun if you would like to help with the orchard. Their contact information is in the church Directory.

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.
• water is obtained from 3 spigots in the garden during the growing season May to early November usually.
• 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 Green Noble Project – The Noble neighborhood of Cleveland Heights has become a prime site for UUCC’s commitment to environmental justice.  Bordering East Cleveland, this northernmost section of Cleveland Heights faces the challenges of resegregation and sluggish property values. The UUCC has responded with hands-on garden building with the goals of rebuilding both community and soil.  This has led to restoration of the Oxford Community Garden, partnership with the Oxford Elementary School, the creation of innovative front yard pollinator pockets and a community orchard.  Church members meet regularly with residents to foster environmental community.

For more information, contact Tom Gibson, tomgibson7477@gmail.com.