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Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
| Hoosier United Methodists together |
May/June 2005 |
United Methodist Women kick off Green Team Program
By Yvette Moore
STAMFORD, Conn. (UMW) - A new program activating local United Methodist Women members to work on environmental issues in their communities was launched at the spring board meeting of the Women's Division of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries in Stamford, Conn., April 7-11. The Women's Division is the national administrative body of the one-million member United Methodist Women organization.
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The Green Team's advocacy goal is to realize environmental justice. |
Twenty-four United Methodist Women members, including one male pastor, were selected for the Green Team program after a three-month month application process. Pastors of United Methodist churches are ex-officio members of United Methodist Women.
Toting green bags, coffee mugs and scarfs, team members marked the program's orientation and kick off at the Stamford Marriot Hotel, and adopted AA Voice for the Voiceless as the motto of their work.
The Green Team's advocacy goal is to realize environmental justice, explained Sung-Ok Lee, executive secretary for community action for the Women's Division and coordinator of the program. Environmental justice is the fair treatment and involvement of all people, regardless of race, ethnicity or economic status, in the decision-making process on environmental public policies. The Green Team is a diverse group in areas of expertise, race, age and geography. Members hail from cities, suburbs and rural areas of the five geographic jurisdictional areas of The United Methodist Church that cover the United States.
During the orientation meeting, team members shared environmental concerns of their local communities then separated into jurisdictional groups to develop strategies for addressing area problems. Water pollution and conservation emerged as key concerns in local communities around the country and globally.
In the 1990s Michigan became the largest importer of Canadian trash, said Linda Schramm, Green Team member and Women's Division director from the Detroit Conference of The United Methodist Church. About 200 trucks of trash a day come into Michigan; 100 trucks through the Detroit area. Each day, Schramm passes mountains of trash landfills as she drives along the interstate highways and the area's waterways, including the great Lake Michigan. Schramm said when people in her area tried to organize against the dumping, they found the state's hands tied because of NAFTA agreements.
What I thought was a Michigan issue, then a national issue, I found was really an international issue, Ms. Schramm said. What's this dumping going to do to the water in this area - not just Lake Michigan, but the rivers too in 20-25 years? That's my number one reason for wanting to work on environmental issues."
The Green Team adopted a national campaign to continue work on a chlorine free products campaign - because of the dioxins caused by chlorine - and to work on the U.N.'s global WASH campaign, which calls for water, sanitation and hygiene for all.
Last updated on 25 Apr 2008