Welcome to Unitarian Universalist Society East
Sunday Services at 9:00 and 11:00
Oct 20, 2026
Green Sanctuary News
October 2026
The Sustainable Living Committee invites you to participate in several upcoming events:
Sunday, Sept 27th at 1:00 pm, join us in room 3 and again on Oct. 4 in the children’s chapel, in writing postcards to encourage occasional voters concerned about the environment to VOTE in the upcoming elections. Everything will be provided thanks to Carole Tenny and Third Act’s CT Defending Democracy Team. Get the poster here.
The Chapter 2 version of the Climate Future Film Festival will be shown at UUSE on Sunday, October 18 at 2:00 PM. This new collection of 12 short films from around the world explores the interior response to climate change - visceral, personal, artistic, and emotional. Whether or not you have seen the original, chapter 1 set of films, shown here in Sept. 2025, you will be moved by these powerful short films to renewed action to fight the causes of and mitigate the harms done by climate change. Come early to share info and conversation before the films begin. The films run for two hours, including a short intermission.
An ironic result of the rising prices of oil due to the war with Iran is explained in this interesting article in the free newsletter Yale Climate Connections at https://yaleclimateconnections.org/newsletters/ “We’ve got an Accidental Carbon Tax” You may recall that we had a chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby at UUSE for several years 10 or 12 years ago started by our Sustainable Living Committee, and we held programs and received a unanimous vote at a congregational meeting to support a bill to place a rising price on carbon. The proceeds would be returned to the people based on income, supporting lower-income people and incentivizing everyone to move towards clean energy. Well, we never got that bill passed, though we did help get the major Inflation Reduction and Infrastructure Acts passed during the Biden administration. Now we have a war-forced carbon tax, but it provides no help for lower-income people. It will certainly incentivize some movement towards clean energy, but it is also causing increased drilling for oil and gas and burning coal around the world.
Perhaps you can get help for rising fuel costs by getting a heat pump or mini-splits to help heat and cool your home. I am grateful for my mini-splits and my plug-in hybrid car, which rarely needs gas for around-town traveling. You may find some energy-conservation ideas at https://www.energizect.com/.
Some good news from Manchester is that along with three recently fully renovated schools, our brand-new library is also a net-zero energy building.
~ Janet Heller
Don’t forget, the Sustainable Living Committee sells Equal Exchange products on the 2nd Sunday of the month. Help support small farmers who grow sustainable products!
#OctoberNewsletter
October 2026
The Sustainable Living Committee invites you to participate in several upcoming events:
Sunday, Sept 27th at 1:00 pm, join us in room 3 and again on Oct. 4 in the children’s chapel, in writing postcards to encourage occasional voters concerned about the environment to VOTE in the upcoming elections. Everything will be provided thanks to Carole Tenny and Third Act’s CT Defending Democracy Team. Get the poster here.
The Chapter 2 version of the Climate Future Film Festival will be shown at UUSE on Sunday, October 18 at 2:00 PM. This new collection of 12 short films from around the world explores the interior response to climate change - visceral, personal, artistic, and emotional. Whether or not you have seen the original, chapter 1 set of films, shown here in Sept. 2025, you will be moved by these powerful short films to renewed action to fight the causes of and mitigate the harms done by climate change. Come early to share info and conversation before the films begin. The films run for two hours, including a short intermission.
An ironic result of the rising prices of oil due to the war with Iran is explained in this interesting article in the free newsletter Yale Climate Connections at https://yaleclimateconnections.org/newsletters/ “We’ve got an Accidental Carbon Tax” You may recall that we had a chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby at UUSE for several years 10 or 12 years ago started by our Sustainable Living Committee, and we held programs and received a unanimous vote at a congregational meeting to support a bill to place a rising price on carbon. The proceeds would be returned to the people based on income, supporting lower-income people and incentivizing everyone to move towards clean energy. Well, we never got that bill passed, though we did help get the major Inflation Reduction and Infrastructure Acts passed during the Biden administration. Now we have a war-forced carbon tax, but it provides no help for lower-income people. It will certainly incentivize some movement towards clean energy, but it is also causing increased drilling for oil and gas and burning coal around the world.
Perhaps you can get help for rising fuel costs by getting a heat pump or mini-splits to help heat and cool your home. I am grateful for my mini-splits and my plug-in hybrid car, which rarely needs gas for around-town traveling. You may find some energy-conservation ideas at https://www.energizect.com/.
Some good news from Manchester is that along with three recently fully renovated schools, our brand-new library is also a net-zero energy building.
~ Janet Heller
Don’t forget, the Sustainable Living Committee sells Equal Exchange products on the 2nd Sunday of the month. Help support small farmers who grow sustainable products!