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2008 Faith in Action Report Sample Profile: Cedar Falls, Iowa Inspired by their priest's counsel "to keep the faith, we must keep the earth," a small group of dedicated parishioners at St. Luke's Episcopal Church set out to combat energy-related environmental degradation. Church members created the "Cool Congregations" program to help people of faith take practical steps to slow global warming. "Cool Congregations is a way to put your faith into action," says co-founder Sarah Webb. Participating congregants attend a series of training sessions and make a pledge to their faith community to conserve energy within their own households. Participants calculate their carbon footprint, a measure of how much one's lifestyle contributes to global warming. They then identify four or five actions that will reduce their personal global warming impact by 10 percent. After one year, participants meet to recalculate their carbon footprint and submit their total carbon dioxide reductions to Iowa Interfaith Power and Light, an initiative of Muslim, Christian, Jewish and other faith communities to mitigate global climate change in order to "protect God's sacred creation and safeguard public health." IIP&L is offering a new resource this year for purchasing energy efficient products at a discount, ShopIPL.org. In 2007, 35 families at St. Luke's achieved their goal to reduce global warming emissions to an amount equal to what 18 average cars produce in one year. Speaking of her participation in Cool Congregations, Sarah Webb relayed: "I want to provide my kids with a clean and healthy environment to grow up in. When I learned they were proposing a new coal plant in my community, I was heartbroken. I didn't just want to oppose it; I wanted to offer a solution. If we reduce energy consumption, there will be less need for new coal plants." Cool Congregations trained 90 congregations in 2007 and will be holding more workshops in the future. Cool Congregations is a program of Iowa Interfaith Power and Light, in partnership with the Sierra Club's Cool Cities program and others. More Sample Profiles Birmingham, AL Albuquerque, NM Dallas, TX Dunmore, WV West Bend, WI Download the full report (PDF, 3.6mb, 36 pages) Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club