Whether you're looking to "green" your congregation's communications, you're sick of seeing waste as you spend your days in the church, or you know there's a committee in the congregation working on green efforts, read on. Actually, if you have ANY kinds of goals, this may be helpful.

When I was at the Religion Communicator's Council convention last April I attended a session on greening communications by Cassandra Carmichael of the National Council of Churches. If you start looking at your communications, your office, or the entire congregation, you'll find LOTS of things that you're doing "wrong." Rather than become overwhelmed, take these steps towards your goals:

1. Start small. Check out short, specific lists like those in the Simply Greener books: 101 Simple Things You Can Do TODAY to Help Save the Planet and 101 Simple Things You & Your Family Can Do TODAY to Help Save the Planet.
2. Make them concrete. Bad example: Use less electricity. Good example: Set office computers to "sleep" when you're gone from the desk for a few minutes.
3. Make them visible. This reminder will not only help you remember to do what it is you're doing, it will also give you a sense of accomplishment. For example, when a school did a drive to cut down catalog deliveries by having students enter unwanted catalog information into Catalog Choice's website, they stacked up the unwanted catalogs.
4. Don't do it by yourself. It's easier to remember to turn off the lights when you leave a room if someone else is there to remind you and to turn them off if you do happen to forget.
5. Celebrate accomplishments. What good is a goal if you never get something done? What good is getting something done if you can't enjoy it?

You're more likely to get something done if you write down your goals and follow these (or similar) steps, so what are you waiting for? Set a goal!