Note: Many of our activities make great Scout activities, so we are always happy to try to work with our Scout and youth groups.

Green Outdoor Activities:

Snowshoeing or Hiking- Dates to be announced - The January snowshoeing was great fun with 17 snowshoers enjoying Rainier area.  The February snowshoeing will take place after this writing.  Once again, it looks like it will be a great turnout if weather holds.  Watch for future snowshoeing or hiking dates. 

Weekday Fair-weather Walkers- Wednesdays at 10AM or later - Lately due to cold weather, we have been walking later, so please call one of the more regular walkers, on Wednesday morning, for the walk plan.  Those walkers are Joanne Flagel, Mary Thayer, Cynthia VanDevender and Sharon Kenyon. We are walking various park trails and neighborhoods. Join us for some healthy exercise and fun fellowship.  Pets are welcome. 

Help is Needed for Wetlands Soil Prep and Planting - Workdays are tentatively February 28 (Thur), 29 (Fri) and March 1 (Sat), 2 (Sun) and other needed days.  We will be working around weather and plant deliveries, so dates might change.

We will continue planting on the slope near the outdoor chapel and begin a major planting by the neighbor’s.  This area, by the neighbor’s, now has most of the weeds and H. blackberries removed, but some roots still need removing.  The soil is very rocky and hard, so we will be adding compost.  We have many donated sword ferns promised.  Please let Sharon Kenyon know what natives you can bring, how you can help, and if you have a pickup or trailer to get compost, or if you have a rototiller. Please, deliver native plants to the wood pile area.

Native Plant Account -  Any donations to the native plant account are very appreciated.  Besides the small wholesale plants, we will be including some larger more mature plants for area by the neighbors.  Write checks to FUMC with memo “native plant account” 

Green Church News and Speakers:

Toxic Toys - Erin Zamzow delivered our postcards to Olympia and visited our legislators lobbying for safer toys for children.  The Toxic Toy Act speaks for children and will update regulations for safer toys.  As an example, currently there is a 30 year old law on lead levels (lead toxic levels are now considered 15 times more dangerous) and there are no regulations on cadmium, phthalates or toxic tin.

To check the safety of 1200 tested toys go to www.HealthyToys.org

These toys were tested for lead, cadmium, phthalates and toxic tin compounds. Other information can be found at Washington Toxics Coalition website www.watoxics.org

Priorities for a Healthier Washington - Earth Ministry encourages us to contact our legislators as “Congregations concerned for Caring for God’s Creation”.  All bills are doing fairly well as of this writing, but your legislators need to hear from you.  Legislation is only 60 days this session, so will it will be winding up about mid March.  Watch for any updates on bills as they progress.

For more details, see handouts on priorities in the Narthex or go to www.environmentalpriorities.org

The four priorities chosen for 2008 are:

• Washington Climate Action     
• Local Solutions to Global Warming
• Evergreen Cities                      
• Local Farms - Healthy Kids-

Blue Recycling Wastebaskets update - In the parlor, we now have a blue recycling basket for paper and plastics and a blue with green trim yard waste basket for food, napkins and cups.  They are both labeled.  If you happen to notice items in the incorrect baskets, please don’t hesitate to help us out by putting them in the correct wastebaskets.  Also, if anyone would like to help out with taking yard waste home, that would be greatly appreciated, since our church yard waste bin is usually filled to the brim.

Recycling Collection this summer - Dates to be announced - We will be collecting recycling items this summer thanks to Gregory Johnsen.  There is a list in the narthex rotating kiosk of where you can recycle the items that cannot be put in recycling bins.  Save any items you don’t recycle, and this summer Gregory will deliver them to correct recycling areas.  Last year’s collection recycled 230 lbs of items, which include 42 lbs of lead, 26 lbs of sulfuric acid and 1.3 lbs of cadmium. Items we will be collecting are:

• Athletic Shoes,
• Batteries (Including regular alkaline batteries, rechargeable Ni-Cd or NiMH, and Button/Hearing Aid)
• Batteries (Li-Ion types such as cell phone, laptop, camcorder, and power tool)
• Batteries (Automotive)
• CDs, DVDs, and cases
• Cell Phones
• Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
• Inkjet and Toner Cartridges
• Medications (Prescription, Over the Counter, Vitamins, Inhalers)
• Packing Peanuts, Bubble Wrap
• Plastics #1-7, any of which you cannot recycle in your bin, like medicine bottles. 

Green tip: If every American household replaced just one 28-ounce bottle of petroleum-based dishwashing liquid with a vegetable- based product, the savings would amount to 82,000 barrels of oil.

“A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy”
    -John Sawhill, former president and CEO of Nature Conservancy