EARTHCARE COMMITTEE

Members of the Earthcare Committee believe that sustaining the Earth, its resources, and all life upon it is a spiritual, moral, ethical, and social concern. Therefore, the Committee’s mission is:

1. to strive to raise the awareness of environmental issues within our Meeting and among larger circles of Friends,
2. to inform Friends about ways to take action regarding environmental concerns and to restore and sustain the Earth,
3. reducing the Meeting’s carbon consumption (with the AAFM Tri-Committee and Carbon Footprint Reduction Group),
4. developing programs on environmental injustice, in collaboration with the Meeting’s Peace and Social Concerns Committee and others,
5. presenting forums and other information to educate the Meeting community on environmental issues including climate change and food security, and
6. influencing state legislation that promotes decentralized clean energy, clean air and clean water (which has led to the formation of “Michigan Quakers for Environmental Action”).

The committee works with Property Committee to implement conservation practices on Meeting property.

Concerns on Carbon Footprint and Climate Change

• AAFM Carbon Footprint: Voluntary Carbon Tax (PDF document opens in separate window)
• Worksheet: Calculating Your Carbon Footprint (PDF document opens in separate window)
• Path to Carbon Neutrality for AAFM (PDF document opens in separate window)

EARTHCARE COLLABORATIONS & PARTNERSHIPS

The Earthcare Committee collaborates and partners with other Quaker organizations.

• Michigan Quakers for Environmental Action (MQEA): coordinates a state-wide network of Quakers that lobbies for Michigan legislation on clean energy and water.
• Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW): QEW vision statement is: “WE ARE CALLED to live in right relationship with all Creation, recognizing that the entire world is interconnected and is a manifestation of God. WE WORK to integrate into the beliefs and practices of the Religious Society of Friends the Truth that God’s Creation is to be respected, protected, and held in reverence in its own right, and the Truth that human aspirations for peace and justice depend upon restoring the earth’s ecological integrity. WE PROMOTE these Truths by being patterns and examples, by communicating our message, and by providing spiritual and material support to those engaged in the compelling task of transforming our relationship to the earth.” See QEW’s online bi-monthly newsletter, BefriendingCreation for current information.
• Lake Erie Yearly Meeting (LEYM) Earthcare Committee: The varied work of the LEYM Earthcare Committee is found under the Resources tab of the LEYM website – leym.org. It includes links to other similar committees around the country and internationally.
• Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) Environmental Campaigns (“We Seek an Earth Restored”): The FCNL website has detailed, action-oriented information on national legislation campaigns. See especially its page on environment and energy legislation.
• Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC): A global Quaker network; see its section on Sustainability, including “Quakers and Climate Change Worldwide.”