Home › About Pendle Hill › Pendle Hill & the Environment

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting minute on the environment, January 1998
Adopted by the Pendle Hill Executive Board
December 4-5, 1998

"The world is God's creation. How we treat the earth and all its creatures is basic to our relationship with God, second only to how we treat our fellow human beings - the traditional fundamental concern to the Society of Friends. What we are learning about the destructive effects of affluence and technology in our society gives new urgency to Friends historic testimonies on peace, simplicity, and stewardship. Reducing negative human impacts on the earth's air, water and soils, and right sharing within the human family and with all of God's creatures, have become ecological necessities.

We unite in urging Friends and monthly meetings to seek Divine Guidance in considering the limitations and action this concern requires of us. We encourage all Friends to pursue, with other faith communities, ways of bearing witness to the ecological and spiritual imperative that our society transform its relationship with the Earth."

Adapted by PYM from the National Council of Churches Environmental Justice Covenant Congregation Program

What Pendle Hill is Doing to Help Protect the Environment

What the kitchen is doing:

1. We buy coffee from independent growers
2. We have a food philosophy
3. We compost kitchen scraps
4. Our kitchen tries to use more and more locally grown food produced in sustainable ways
5. Compost coffee grounds
6. Buy dolphin free tuna
7. Use rags instead of paper towels
8. Make our own bread
9. Grow bean sprouts
10. Cook from scratch
11. Buy in bulk from Co-op
12. Buy free-range chicken
13. Obtain honey from a farm
14. Buy hormone-free beef
15. Purchase peanut butter from Eastwind

What we are doing in the areas of housekeeping and hospitality:

1. Reuse old and stained linens as cleaning rags
2. Provide indoor and outdoor clothes lines for drying clothes
3. Buy paper products made fully or partially with post consumer waste
4. Reclaim old furniture rather than discarding
5. Donate used clothing and other reusable items to Goodwill
6. Reuse backs of already used paper for scrap paper and billing charges
7. Try to use sanding instead of toxic chemicals for stripping finishes on wood flooring and furniture
8. Sort guest trash for recyclable items
9. Encourage use of china and/or glass service instead of paper
10. Buy cleaning supplies in bulk and concentrated forms reducing packaging
11. Research water treatment

What we are doing in the offices:

1. Recycle expended copy machine toner waste through manufacturer's program
2. Recycle expended computer printer cartridges through manufacturer's pre-paid shipping return program
3. Reuse office furniture and supplies
4. Recycle paper, plastic, and cardboard office waste along with housekeeping/ maintenance
5. Purchase in bulk; purchase used fixtures/ furniture when needed
6. Purchase from local/ small suppliers when possible
7. Be conservative in use of paper and supplies
8. Use external, and internal, e-mail to save on long distance phone charges, postage and paper
9. Pendle Hill Bookstore reuses cardboard boxes and used padded shipping envelopes

What we are doing on the grounds:

1. We have an organic garden
2. Have built a greenhouse that combines healthy, nontoxic and sustainable building methods and materials
3. Use recycled wood chips on Pendle Hill paths
4. Making some lawn into meadow
5. Use organic fertilizers
6. Mulch and compost leaves and grass clippings
7. Compost fireplace wood ashes
8. Tap maple trees for syrup
9. Keep bees for pollination and honey

What Pendle Hill in general is doing:

1. Bought a used car
2. Raise consciousness in orientation to shutting window & doors, conserving water, and turning off lights
3. Have an Environmental Working Group that serves as a research and consulting group to other work groups on environmental issues
4. Have a recycling program that recycles: newspaper, brown and clear glass, plastics, miscellaneous paper, cardboard, aluminum, and bimetal cans

What we are doing in the area of programming:

1. Offering a class on organic gardening
2. Offering short courses on themes such as ecology and simple living

What we are doing in the area of buildings and maintenance:

1. Have a heating policy
2. Have a geothermal heating and cooling system for the Barn and Chace
3. Supply showers with water-conserving shower heads
4. Have low flow toilets
5. Installed storm windows
6. Gradually installing more energy efficient lighting
7. Use cedar wood rather than pressure treated (chemically treated) wood
8. Use low-toxicity paints and stains
9. Phase out the use of carpet
10. Donate supplies to low income projects
11. Recycle lumber
12. Researching energy efficient heating systems

Benefits the Environment by Living in Community:

1. Use less transportation
2. Less consumerism