Greening General Assembly
In concert with our Seventh Principle and with urging from the Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth, the General Assembly (GA) Planning Committee has been working toward the environmental sustainability of our meeting—the “Greening” of GA. To that end, the Committee has entered into consultation with Meet Green, experts in environmental stewardship with extensive knowledge of environmentally responsible meeting practices. Together, the Committee and Meet Green have worked to determine goals, objectives, and achievable environmental practices, and to monitor the implementation of those practices.
Because the Association embraces social and environmental responsibility, then naturally our events should reflect that commitment.
Since 2005 the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) has advocated for greener meetings. We feel this is an important way to demonstrate our commitment to the Seventh Principle: respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. Often times our success is dependent on what destinations can offer, although we advocate to improve practice in each city we visit. Did you know:
- In 2008 we were presented the highest accolades for green meetings: The IMEX Green Meetings Award, recognizing our efforts to green the Portland General Assembly 2007.
- In Salt Lake City we increased recycling by 46% at the convention center, reaching our goal of 50% diversion from landfill.
- We formally advocated for commercial composting options in Salt Lake and the Mayor responding by forming a task force to implement this for local businesses by 2011.
- In 2009 GA attendees produced 1.4 lbs of trash per person, per day. That is 75% less than the typical American produces at home! Over 4,800 lbs of materials were recycled from the event.
- Since 2006 we have offset approximately 6.3 million pounds of carbon dioxide. This is roughly the amount of emissions produced by 575 cars over a one year period.
- 26 trees were saved by reducing printed items and choosing to use recycled content paper at General Assembly in 2009 (even in an election year!).
- 31% of food served in 2009 was certified organic, while 23% was grown within 100 miles of Salt Lake City.
Annual Greening Case Studies
The following documents are PDF files.
- 2010 Minneapolis, MN
- 2009 Salt Lake City, UT
- 2008 Fort Lauderdale, FL
- 2007 Portland, OR
- 2006 St. Louis, MO
- 2005 Fort Worth, TX
For more information contact generalassembly@uua.org.
This work is made possible by the generosity of individual donors. Please consider making a donation today.
Last updated on Tuesday, March 15, 2011.
Updated and Popular
Popular New Searches
For Newcomers
Learn more about the Beliefs & Principles of Unitarian Universalism, or read our online magazine, UU World, for features on today's Unitarian Universalists. Visit an online UU church, or find a congregation near you.
