The Green Team

Make Your Mark - Green Day!

Saint Mark has changed its light bulbs and programmed our thermostats. We recycle our worship folders. Now it's time to do what we do best - serve our community! In an effort to make a difference in the fight against climate change and increasing utilities costs, the Saint Mark Green Team is sponsoring a Make Your Mark - Green Day to help two local family shelters improve their environmental stewardship and energy efficiency. On Saturday, July 26, volunteers will visit shelters in the Grant Park and LaVista areas to replace light bulbs, install weather stripping, water heater blankets, thermostats and light fixtures. The only skills required are the desire to help and the willingness to serve - although if you are an electrician or know how to properly change a light fixture, we'll be sure to keep you busy!

Thank you for a great Make Your Mark Green Day

A heart felt Thank You to the thirteen volunteers who helped make the recent Make Your Mark Green Day a success. Our team helped two local family shelters improve their environmental stewardship and energy efficiency by:

• Replacing over 100 incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs (CLFs)
• Installing light activated occupancy sensors in storage rooms
• Installing motion detectors on exterior lights to prevent lights from being on unnecessarily all night
• Using weather stripping to better insulate doors and windows
• Replacing over a dozed shower heads with low-flow shower heads and installing sink aerators to reduce water consumption
• Installing five programmable thermostats
• Insulating water heaters with thermal blankets

These energy efficiency improvements are not only actions toward environmental stewardship but also in social justice. Any money these shelters save in utility bills can instead be used towards their main focus which is providing help to families in need.

The Make Your Mark Green Day proved to be a unique way for Saint Mark to serve our community and to do what we are called to do - to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.