Our Vision 2050 document reminds us that UUAA has a long history of social action and involvement in environmental issues, We are called to learn all we can; we are called to seek new ways of being in relationship with our natural world.
Learn more about the Climate Action | Climate Justice team
Coming Up!
SUNDAY, Aug 24th: Save Money and Save the Planet!
Sunday, August 24th, 1:00 – 2:30 pm in the UUAA Fahs Chapel. Rich Fein from Citizens Climate Lobby will tell us how to SAVE MONEY and SAVE THE PLANET – A non-technical presentation introducing practical tips on how to: -reduce home energy consumption -use cleaner energy -SAVE $$$ with federal, state, local & utility incentives.
The FLYER is available at this link. Pass it along to friends and neighbors. All are invited.
Rich will try to have the most up-to-date information, given the constant change in federal incentives. He has given presentations at several other congregations and we have heard great feedback from them on how informative and practical it was.
Rich is the Chair of the Building Efficiency & Electrification Action Team, Citizens Climate Lobby – Ann Arbor Chapter; and CCL Statewide Representative – Michigan Building Decarbonization Coalition)
September 21st: National SUN DAY
SUN DAY in Ann Arbor: A Multifaith Day of Climate
Hope and Inspiration
Organized by the A2 Climate Teach-in Team
9/21/25, 2:00 – 3:30pm, at UUAA!
Rise Up for a Sun-Powered Planet!
As part of the national SUN DAY climate initiative (www.SunDay.earth ), local Ann Arbor area faith communities will join in community to share their inspiration and actions that address climate change.
By “showing up” for SUN DAY, we will be joining with others across the country who are “standing up” for the climate and demonstrating resistance against those who are creating roadblocks to a clean energy future.
2:00-3:30 p.m., First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor, 4001 Ann Arbor Saline-Road. Free Preregistration required at www.a2climateteachin.com. Event sponsored by the A2 Climate Teach-in Team – info@a2climateteachin.com
Past Events
UUAA hosted the 2025 3rd Annual A2 Climate Teach-In on Sunday, May 4th
UUAA got to show off our new solar panels and our congregation’s climate action culture to the 180 attendees of the A2 Climate Teach-In on May 4th. The annual event is sponsored by 10 area congregations and 10 civic and environmental groups, with generous sponsor support from A2 Zero and VegMichigan.
This year’s teach-in was designed to turn climate anxiety into climate action, with practical information on taking building green, getting involved in advocacy, learning about resilience hubs and making your personal action plan.
The keynote speakers gave inspiring, upbeat, personal stories spotlighting local and Michigan-wide successful climate work. The speakers were Julie Roth (Ann Arbor Solarize), Jan Culbertson (Washtenaw 2030 District), Beth Gibbons (Resiliency Office, Washtenaw County) and Dr. Denise Keele (Michigan Climate Action Network).
A couple of key take-aways: 1- Climate Activists need to start acting like the majority that they are! 89% of the world wants more climate action. 2- If you are going to take personal action on something, why not look for a way to increase your impact by spreading the word to others — cause a ripple effect.
Something new this year — a workshop especially for youth — and designed by the youth members of the Freeman Environmental Youth Council. Middle-schoolers and high-schoolers took part in a hands-on exploration of their trash. They reported out on their findings in the closing session. Their thank you gift was a certificate for ice cream donated by Washtenaw Dairy. [photo credit DVXCreative.com]
Ed Lynn held two breakout sessions on Buildings Going Green, sharing UUAA’s experiences with other congregations and organizations. [photo credit DVXCreative.com]
Thank you to the UUAA staff and to the many volunteers from UUAA, St. Clare’s Episcopal Church and Temple Beth Emeth who made this event run smoothly.
Earth Day 2025 – A Celebration for All Ages On April 13, 2025
We celebrated our beautiful planet Earth on Sunday, April 13th at both services. The all-ages worship service included the annual Dirt Communion, music by the bell choir, stories of ways animals can teach humans, the blessing of the ancestor’s grove and more. The hallways and social hall spotlighted
- Nature Art & Poetry from UUAA Painters and the Community of Writers
- Kids Craft Table brought to us by the Friday Fun Night Folks
- Info from UUAA Climate Justice and Food Justice Teams
- Postcards to send our legislators– made easy by our UUCivs group
- Nature note cards to purchase
- Climate books to peruse and discuss
Photos of UUAA Earth Day Celebrations 2025
Reflections on the Sept 28-29, 2024 UU CLIMATE JUSTICE REVIVAL
“Re-imagine Together: From an Extractive Age to a New Era” is a project of the UU Climate Justice Coalition and Friends. The Revival builds on decades of faithful and visionary UU climate and environmental leadership and is designed to encourage collaboration amongst congregational teams and break down silos. Together, we can move past systems and cultures of extraction to usher in a new era with love and justice at the center of our climate actions.
A huge THANK YOU to all of the volunteers and all of the participants in our very successful, first ever, UU Climate Justice Revival over the weekend of Sept 28-29th, 2024. There were many meaningful conversations during the Saturday Workshops and great spirit during the Community Sing. And at the Sunday services we were treated to a sermon from our special guest Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt, UUA President. We also sang and heard the Chalice Singers and Chalice Sparks perform new music commissioned especially for the revival. AND, UUAA proudly waved colorful flags as we received our Green Sanctuary 2030 Recognition from Rev Dr. Betancourt and Rachel Myslivy, Climate Justice Strategist, UUA’s Side With Love Organizing Strategy Team.
And what came out of the revival?
We collected many thoughts and ideas during the Revival workshops. Take a look at this spreadsheet of some of the ideas, organized by categories.
Two primary themes jumped out of the workshop conversations — A focus on various transportation issues we might want to address, and the idea of becoming a local resilience hub for emergencies. Later discussions have added to our climate goals. There will soon be an updated Climate Action Plan.
Breakout workshops
Pair and share
Pair and share
Breakout workshops
Breakout workshops
Breakout workshops
New Commissioned Music
Green Sanctuary 2030 Presentation
Rachel Myslivy and Revival Map
Green Sanctuary 2030 Flags
Rev. Dr. Sofia Betancourt- Closing Words
Some of the Revival Team – in uniform!
View the recorded Sept 29th service at uuaa.org/service
Want to explore more connections between Climate Justice and other justice issues like economic justice and gender justice? Watch this Side With Love series of videos ” Climate at the Intersections.
2024 was YEAR ZERO at UUAA
Why did we call 2024 Year Zero? Because it was a year of amazing progress on UUAA’s Vision 2050 climate goals to get as close as possible to
ZERO CARBON
27 years ago we designed the roof of the UUAA building to harvest the sun. The generosity of this congregation has made that beautiful goal a reality. Thank you capital campaign donors and thank you visualizers.
Installation of Our New Solar Panels Began on Earth Day
On April 22, 2024, Homeland Solar began the installation of 268 new solar panels on our roof. We now have 370 rooftop solar panels. With the 10 panels on the tracker in front of the building, our total of 380 solar panels is capable of producing almost 160,000 kWh of electricity annually.
Before Covid we used about 200,000 kWh per year. In the last few years, we have modified building use, installed energy efficient lighting and addressed all of our energy audit issues so that we are now using135-140 kWh annually – total, including solar. Significant progress… with more to come. (Contact climate@uuaa.org if you have ideas for getting closer to zero.)
Thank you to Mike Halerz for this inspiring drone view of our solar array!
ZERO WASTE
We have been recycling and working on reducing waste at UUAA for a long time. Then we doubled down…NEW in January, 2024– We contracted with a composting service (MyGreen Michigan) and have been expanding our care for our planet by reducing what we send to landfills. You can even bring your food scraps from home if you aren’t able to compost.
Everyone has been helping UUAA get to Zero Waste by learning what should get recycled and what goes in our compost. A team of volunteers has helped this work go smoothly. UUAA’s Food Justice Team is leading our Zero Waste efforts– Volunteer to help: ZeroWasteInfo@uuaa.org.
You probably want to reduce food waste at home, too! For tips on Zero Waste at home and in the wider community, click on this link.
Other ways UUAA is reducing waste include using ceramic mugs for coffee and reusable dishes for events (backed up by compostables), adding a 2nd dishwasher to support the move to ‘real’ dishes, and more. The Fiber Arts Group now has a box where congregants can leave excess yarn and craft materials for others to use.
Use the right bin- Compost! Recycle! And last..Landfill
Coffee mugs – use ceramic!
If not re-usable, then compostable
Scraps from home can go in these green cans at the UUAA entryway.
You can bring your compost from home
The Climate Action | Climate Justice Team
The Climate Action/ Climate Justice team lifts up, encourages, inspires and celebrates the many ways UUAA groups are working on our Vision 2050 climate goals to build a cleaner and healthier world for our children and grandchildren. We are on the front lines of overseeing the climate & environmentalism goals described in A Congregational Vision, the document that was created from a 2 year congregational visioning project.
UUAA wants to live into Unitarian Universalism’s 7th Principle, “Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part” by serving as an example of sustainable living in right relationship with the natural world. We want to learn about climate issues together. We want to further build on our past renewable energy projects to reach carbon neutrality. We want to broaden our view of climate action to include justice for vulnerable communities most affected by, and least responsible for climate change.
How you can help
The entire UUAA congregation, all ages and all interests, is needed to help UUAA shrink our carbon footprint, work for climate justice in our community and support each other in our climate learning. You can be part of this effort at whatever level of involvement works for you, from becoming more diligent about your home recycling and food waste, to leading a multi-year climate project. To add your address to the climate action email list, contact climate@uuaa.org. Click the button below to read a summary of our multi-year Climate Action Plan, mapping our work together over the next several years!
Recent climate projects throughout UUAA have included: expansion of our rooftop solar, the Zero Waste campaign, planting an “Ancestors’ Grove” of trees, helping plan and run the 2nd Annual A2 Climate Teach-in, holding an all congregation celebration of climate work on Friday Fun Night and Earth Day 2024, a Green Corner column in our Weekly News, a climate potluck last summer and much more.
Green Sanctuary 2030
To help us organize our efforts to lower our carbon footprint, build sustainability, partner with local climate justice groups, and learn alongside other UU congregations, UUAA enrolled in the Unitarian Universalist Association’s (UUA) Green Sanctuary 2030 program. The steps we have completed are:
1- [Submitted March, 2021] Write a Congregational Profile that grounds our work in our congregation’s history and past / current environmental projects. Learn about our foundations in environmentalism by reading UUAA’s Congregational Profile.
2- [Submitted June, 2022] Write an Opportunity Assessment showing potential actions we might take over the next several years. These proposed actions were gathered from a survey of the congregation, many meetings with current UUAA groups, connections with Ann Arbor and UU climate based organizations and more. Please read the “in brief” version of the Opportunity Assessment, or the full text as submitted.
3- An Action Plan to guide several years of work together. The plan is based on our current information… and subject to change and evolve as technology changes, passions of the congregation emerge and the world changes around us.
4- We have been submitting “Action Reports” on the many climate events and projects at UUAA as they occur. We received recognition for our climate work from the GS 2030 leadership at the 2024 UU Climate Justice Revival. UUAA will remain active with the GS 2030 group indefinitely.
UUAA 2021 Collaboration with the U-M Graham Sustainability Institute
A team of University of Michigan students led a project to look at UUAA’s building and internal processes to make recommendations for working toward our energy goals. The team collaborated with six UUAA members, staff, and ministry group leaders, including Ed Lynn, Jeannine LaPrad, Colleen Crawley, Don Hackney, and Dave Friedrichs. Elizabeth LaPorte facilitated the project as part of the U-M Graham Sustainability Scholars Program, which she manages. Their report was submitted in March, 2021 and recommended actions are already underway.
The team divided the analyses and recommendations into four categories.Some of the recommendations are listed briefly in each category below. Full reports are linked under the bulleted lists..
Interested in helping sort out the priorities and do some planning for this initiative? Email climate@uuaa.org.
Zero Waste
- Form a volunteer driven recycling collaboration with other area religious organizations.
- Move to using compostable-ware and hold zero waste events.
- Create a zero waste culture.
— Read the Guide for a path to Zero Waste.
Building & Energy
- Conduct a building energy audit.
- Install more LED lights.
- Install more solar panels on the roof.
- Explore the possibility of geothermal heating.
— Read the UUAA Building & Energy Analysis Report.
Landscaping
- Incorporate more native plants.
- Create learning spaces where people can engage and learn about the environment.
- Plant for carbon sequestration.
- Create landscaping projects and learning guides for all ages.
— Read the recommendations for using landscaping to help reach carbon neutrality.
Building Congregational Engagement in Sustainability
- Use the event toolkit provided to plan sustainability events that engage all ages.
- Make a sustainability checklist that groups can use when planning events.
— Read the recommendations for projects to engage the whole congregation in thinking sustainability.
Time frame recommendations –
