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Financial Stewardship
Financial Stewardship
Greening
Ideas
Educational Resources
Practical Resources
Greening Ideas
Many people have heard the notion of “voting with
your wallet.” When
congregations make purchasing and investment choices, they’re casting
votes for the ways in which businesses operate.
Whether they know it or not, all consumers can cast their
buying/investing votes toward businesses and technologies that lessen
negative impacts on God’s creation. They
can use their buying/investing power to support businesses that work to
promote social justice and ecological sustainability.
The resources listed below will increase your knowledge of these
impacts and how to support businesses and technologies that help solve –
rather than cause – ecological and social problems.
One congregation’s
experience …
“Seattle Mennonite Church Launches
Corporate Witness”
The following is an excerpt from an article that appeared in the Mennonite Central Committee’s “Washington Memo” in the July-August 1997 issue. Sabrina Porter, an Earth Ministry Colleague at Seattle Mennonite Church, is the author.
“In an unusual mix of serendipity and mindfulness, Seattle Mennonite Church has launched a witness in the corporate world. The 160-member urban congregation’s first step was a shareholder resolution challenging an international natural resources conglomerate.
“The opportunity for shareholder activism arose when the church was given a stock portfolio as a donation. Shares in Freeport Copper & Gold and its parent company, Freeport-McMoRan Inc., were included.
“Freeport operated in the world’s largest gold mine and third-largest copper mine in Irian Jaya, Indonesia. …The mining operation produces 125,000 metric tons of mine waste per day that are released into a nearby river. The open-pit mine itself covers a vast area, which forced the displacement of native people. Property rights disagreements led to a confrontation with Irian military forces in 1977, and remain a source of open conflict for some tribal groups. …
“When Seattle Mennonite Church began receiving shareholder reports from Freeport, questions were raised about Freeport’s mining activities. Church leaders decided to query Freeport directly, and sent a request to the company for more information.
“Dissatisfied with Freeport’s dismissive reply, the church leadership decided to attempt to bring a shareholder resolution. With the help of other non-governmental groups working on Indonesian issues, the church submitted a resolution that raised the same issues as its initial query letter. The resolution asked that Freeport: postpone its proposed expansion of the Grasberg mine until the concerns of local inhabitants were addressed; end its cooperation with the Indonesian armed forces in quelling local protest about the mining operation; publicly release the complete results of the 1996 environmental and social audits; and allow independent environmental monitoring of the mining operations.
“Freeport responded by challenging the resolution and asked the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) to dismiss it. Seattle Mennonite refuted Freeport’s challenges, and after a review of the issues, the SEC ruled that the resolution could stand. Thus the text of the resolution … was included in the proxy materials sent to all Freeport shareholders ….
“It is impossible … to measure the true extent of the resolution’s impact. For example, Freeport received a letter supporting the resolution from the Medical Association for the Prevention of War …Also, Seattle Mennonite spokespersons gave interviews to Canadian and British media sources, as well as the local and national press.
“The church plans to continue to monitor Freeport’s activities, and is reviewing other companies in the stock portfolio for possible further action.”
Educational Resources
· For an in-depth exploration of how our daily consumer choices affect our ecosystems, our communities, and ourselves, check out Earth Ministry’s Simpler Living, Compassionate Life.
·
The Union
of Concerned Scientists’
Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices, by Michael
Brower and Warren Leon, has helpful sections such as “Invest in the
Environment” and “Seven Rules for Responsible Consumption.”
Practical Resources
· Click here for Puget Sound-area resources.
· Co-op America links consumers with ecologically- and socially-responsible businesses. They publish a Financial Planning Handbook that contains articles like, “What Kind of World Are You Saving For?”, “Smart Shopping for Financial Services,” “10 Ways to Start Investing Responsibly,” “Can You Really Do Well By Doing Good?”, and many others. It also contains an extensive Directory of Socially Responsible Investment Services. Other Co-op America resources include their National Green Pages directory – searchable on their web site. The web site also contains “resources and tips for responsible consumers,” a green business page with a wealth of resources, a “Social Investment Forum,” a “Shareholder Action Network,” etc.
·
The
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
(ICCR) involves people of faith in shaping corporate decisions
through shareholder dialogue. From
their web site: “ICCR’s membership is an association of 275 Protestant,
Roman Catholic and Jewish institutional investors, including national
denominations, religious communities, pension funds, endowments…. ICCR and
its members press companies to be socially and environmentally responsible.
Each year ICCR-member religious institutional investors sponsor over 100
shareholder resolutions on major social and environmental issues.”
Many denominations have an ICCR representative and/or programs that help congregations to manage their investments in more ecologically- and socially-responsible ways. To find out if your denomination has a representative, go to their Members List.
· For links to environmental purchasing opportunities in Washington and other states, go to King County's (WA) Recycling/Environmental Links page.
· When you and others in your congregation shop for goods – from paper to coffee to rugs – you can look for some commonly found labels (often called “eco-labels”) that help to match your social and ecological standards with companies’ practices. To see a listing of eco-labels go to the Consumer’s Union web site. Examples of these labels include:
o Fair Trade Certified – Indicates companies that have paid workers a living wage, ensured healthy working conditions, and work to protect and restore the natural environment.
o Organic Certified – Indicates foods grown and processed without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, antibiotics, genetic engineering, irradiation, sewage sludge, artificial ingredients, and many other practices.
o Forest Stewardship Council (FCS) Certified – Indicates wood harvested in an ecologically responsible manner.
o
Totally Chlorine Free (TCF) or Processed Chlorine-Free (PCF)
– Indicates paper products that are either completely free of chlorine (TCF)
or have not been re-bleached in the recycling process (PCF) – thus helping
to eliminate dioxin, a highly toxic by-product of the chlorine-bleaching
process.
· The Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment is a “regional collaborative venture of faith-based institutions committed to using their power as investors to shape a more just world. Membership is open to all groups or organizations that share this commitment. Members use their rights as shareholders to dialogue with the companies whose shares are held in their portfolios.” (From their brochure.) They have also produced two excellent resources: Chlorine and Toxic Chemical packets and Sweatshops: If a Label Could Talk.