As part of the island's Interfaith Climate Action Team, the Rev. Stephen Harding, rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Vineyard Haven, meets with a group of a dozen or so people who have gathered regularly since COVID to brainstorm ideas around climate and ecology, and turn those ideas into action. The idea is to not allow doom to set in, to try to jump-start hope through faith and to recharge a sense that change is possible in addressing issues even as big as climate change.
Most everyone in the group talked about real changes they’ve brought to both their congregations and into their own lives. It’s hard to miss the solar panels on the rectory grounds at Grace Church, and they’ve also converted to using heat pumps. No more Styrofoam coffee cups, plastic tableware, or milk jugs, and no more throwing away food waste. Members are switching to practices that are more ecologically sound.
One way they do this is by offering composting bins to their worship communities, making it easier to get started.
Jo-Ann Taylor from St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church said they’re getting started with a similar program now. Parishioners can pick up and drop off compost buckets on Sundays, then the material is taken to Island Grown Initiative farms.