Environmental Concerns
Friends have traditionally maintained an active concern for the well being of the planet and its finite resources. Midcoast Meeting addresses these concerns directly.

Photos: George Waldman, Guy Marsden

 

Solar Power
On August 12th of 2008 we installed 3 solar panels on the south facing roof of the building.  that can generate up to 510 Watts, and an inverter that converts the solar energy to 120 Volts.  This power will likely offset a significant amount of the electrical consumption of the building on an annual basis.  During daylight hours in the summer the electric meter spins backwards much of the time.  Guy Marsden assisted Naoto Inoue of Solar Market in Arundel in installing and wiring up the panels.

Heating with biofuel
Midcoast Meeting currently heats the building with a biofuel mixture provided by Harvest Fuels. Biofuel is a renewable resource that is made from processed soy or other vegetable oils. It burns cleaner, is nontoxic, and can be blended with normal heating oil. Typically in the warmer months we are supplied with B50 (a 50% mixture), and the mix is reduced to B20 (20% biofuel) in the colder months, since biofuel will congeal at lower temperatures. To learn more about biofuels visit, Harvest Fuels web site.

Green electricity
Midcoast Meeting purchases green electricity from Maine Clean Power. Visit their web site to learn more. This 100% renewably sourced electricity is from low impact, low head, hydro plants and wind generators.

Reducing consumption
We instituted a project in the fall of 2003 to replace all 25 of the high wattage incandescent flood lights in the meetinghouse with energy saving compact fluorescent (CFL) lamps. These lamps consume about 20% of the power of an incandescent lamp. Incandescent lamps also waste over 80% of the energy they consume as heat.

The project called for members and visitors to "sponsor" the replacement of each lamp. This engages and educates the community and allows a sense of participation.  Click here to learn more about energy-saving light sources.

Reducing oil usage for hot water
 In the summer of 2008 we changed the plumbing in our building because the water was being heated buy the oil boiler that also heats the building.  This meant that the big oil burner was coming on throughout the warm seasons just to heat a 40 gallon tank that is rarely used.  So we disconnected that system and installed a small 4 gallon electric heater that is fed from the original oil heated tank which now tempers the incoming well water.  We had a switch installed in the basement so that we can still use the oil boiler to heat water if we need to use a lot of hot water.

Thoughts and questions

Quaker Eco-Witness is a project of the Friends Committee on Unity with Nature and the Environmental Working Group of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. The committee offers these observations:

We believe the human-earth relationship in all its aspects inseparable from the divine. We are convinced that the current economic system should be of urgent concern to the Religious Society of Friends. It is intensifying economic and social inequities throughout he world, causing structural and physical violence, driving many species to extinction, and leading our own species toward ecological self destruction.
Quaker Eco-Witness has prepared a series of questions concerning the restoration of the earth's ecological integrity, and the economic policies that affect us all.
  • In the light of Friend's testimonies, what is God calling us to do about the continuing and increasing marginalization of so much of the world's population, the extinction of the species, and other environmental degradation?

  • How do we integrate our human community within the natural world so as to provide for the physical and spiritual needs of future generations?
  • What chances in the institutions of economy and governance are needed to promote effective stewardship of the natural environment and caring for people and communities?
  • What is it in nature and human knowledge that we have the right to own?
  • How best can we provide the values expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Earth Charter?
  • How can we promote the understanding and awareness of the consequences of increasing global interconnectedness and the urgency of addressing the dangers an opportunities that these present?
  • As we earn, spend, and invest money, as individuals and as Meeting communities, how can we live in the "virtue of that life and power" that leads us to treat all humans and the Earth as a manifestation of the Divine?
  • Are we aware of the true cost of our consumption?
  • Do we take into account our concerns for social justice as we earn, spend, and invest money?
  • What information, tools, and skills do we need to equip ourselves to work effectively for public policies that restore Earth's resilience, increase social equity, and strengthen our community?
  • How can we engage with others in ways that help us discern God's will for us, at this critical stage in Earth's history, as we labor with these concerns?