The Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst devotes each month to a new Dedicated Offering (DO) recipient, whose representative speaks to us on the first Sunday. We split every Sunday’s offering plate 50/50 with the recipient organization. This move symbolizes the solidarity we feel with the organizations we choose to support, and it gives us all more opportunities to contribute. As always, please specify whether the funds you send to the office or by PayPal are for the plate, your pledge, or some other purpose.

The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) has launched the Zero Waste Project to protect New England communities from the dangers posed by unsustainable waste management practices. We know that landfills and waste incinerators pose a threat to our health, our communities, and our environment.

Safer, healthier alternatives exist, and we owe it to our families to put them into practice across the region. Through the Zero Waste Project, CLF is raising awareness about the negative health and environmental impacts of our trash. We want to change the way New England deals with waste. That means moving from our current, unsustainable model to a “Zero Waste” approach that minimizes the amount of trash sent to landfills and incinerators. Communities around the world, including Nantucket, Seattle, and San Francisco, are adopting zero waste strategies. These communities are finding new ways to “reduce, reuse, and recycle” as well as encouraging redesign of materials and manufacturing methods. CLF’s Zero Waste Project will work to address the solid waste problem throughout New England and help to protect our air and water from unnecessary, damaging pollutants.

Lauren Fernandez will join us on April 3 to tell us more about this initiative. Based in Boston, she is the Zero Waste Policy Analyst with the CLF project. She writes, “We shift the narrative from individual responsibility to producer responsibility and hold big producers like Coca-Cola responsible for the waste they make through creating good waste and recycling policies. The more we reduce our waste and improve recycling and compost systems, the less dependent we are on landfills and incinerators, which always disproportionately impact low-income and/or Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color. You can learn more about zero waste at Conservation Law Foundation here: https://www.clf.org/making-an-impact/zero-waste/.”