Green Sanctuary
Being a Green Sanctuary is one of the ways we work toward a vision of healthier, more sustainable future.
In 2009, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach (UUFVB) was certified through the UUA’s Congregational Stewardship Services, as an official Green Sanctuary. This was the result of three years of accomplishments which included action plans of Sustainable Living, Worship and Celebration, Religious Education, and Environmental Justice
As a recognized Green Sanctuary, we live with a deep awareness of our climate crisis and the deep environmental injustices of our time. We commit to four practices, grounded in Unitarian Universalist principles.
Environmental Justice:
We partner with marginalized communities who are hit first and hardest by environmental crisis. In partnering with these communities, we can address human and environmental needs at the same time.
Worship and Celebration:
As we work together towards a cleaner, more just and sustainable world, worship inspires our work and reminds us of what is most sacred and most true.
Religious Education:
Our workshops and programs for all ages shape attitudes and build practices that are sustainable and spiritually-grounded.
Sustainable Living:
We treat the world more gently by using fewer resources and being mindful of the choices we make, both as a congregation and as households.
As part of the accreditation process, the congregation adopted the following covenant,We the Undersigned,
Recognizing the fragility and interdependence of Earth and all living things; Recognizing the need to protect and maintain the quality of life-giving natural resources such as water, soil, and air; Recognizing the need to join with others to develop a sustainable society based on respect for Earth, its diversity of life, and all its life-giving resources:
Do Declare:
To one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations, our acceptance of responsibility for preserving the vitality, beauty, and diversity of this planet Earth and all its life forms.
Therefore, Let Us Resolve:
As members of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach and as participants in the Green Sanctuary Program, we pledge our encouragement to one another in an individual and congregational commitment to living our Unitarian Universalist Principles, especially the Seventh Principle, Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. We make the following commitments:
To incorporate Seventh Principle values and practices into our programs;
To strive to live lightly on the Earth and to continually monitor our environmental impact; and
To affirm and promote programs to raise the awareness of human behaviors that affect the health and sustainability of the living Earth.
