By Jane Sharer Maier
The Grove’s sustainability team has been a fixture of The Grove church in Woodbury, Minnesota for over eight years. During that time, we have taken measures to make the Woodbury campus and our sister campus in Cottage Grove more sustainable by improving our buildings’ energy efficiency, installing solar panels and transitioning to 100% renewable electricity at the Woodbury campus and replacing the Cottage Grove campus furnaces with heat pumps. We have removed invasive species from our church property, planted native species, and established a tree committee to secure the health and maintenance of our many trees which are a signature part of our identity.
Our sustainability ministry has developed a Sustainability Pledge, Christmas green gift-giving and sustainable shopping guides, and native planting best practices for our congregation. We integrate environmental teaching in our children’s ministry and environmental information in our church periodicals.
Every year we host a Creation Care Sunday, which spotlights ecology, the threats of climate change and pollution, and environmental justice. We sponsor an assortment of informational events every year, including a fall event open to the community, with topics that have included climate change, water quality, electric vehicles, how to align our voting with our environmental values, and home energy efficiency.
We also organize nature appreciation events such as hiking and participating in Cornell University’s Great Backyard Bird Count. Two years ago, we initiated a collaborative venture with neighboring churches and other religious organizations to create a hub for resource sharing and environmental political action.
We have received awards from our city for environmental excellence, Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light (Climate Justice Congregation), and Interfaith Power & Light (Cool Congregation).
Jane Sharer Maier is the Sustainability Team Co-Chair for The Grove in Woodbury, Minnesota.