Engaged Organizations: GreenFaith: The Interfaith Partners for the Environment

The GreenFaith logo taken from greenfaith.org.

GreenFaith is one of the oldest religious-environmental organizations in the United States. They were originally named Partners for Environmental Quality and were founded by Jewish and Christian leaders in New Jersey. They believed communities needed an organization to connect religious traditions with the environment. Their early work included promoting the use of renewable energy in religious institutions, convening a conference that drew leaders from religious, academic, governmental, and business sectors to talk about environmental protection, and encouraging the use of green energy to the general public. In the early 2000s, they had their first Environmental Health and Justice Tour in Newark where they explored the different proportions of suffering to urban communities. It was then that they changed their name to GreenFaith.

Since then, GreenFaith has launched programs all over the state of New Jersey and beyond. Lighting the Way is one of their programs that installed solar panels on religious institutions around the state. Between 2004 and 2006, they organized Sustainable Sanctuaries and Green Flag, GreenFaith Schools Pilot Program. Both took initiative to integrate environmental care into the worship of religious communities and faith-based schools to help “green” their establishments. Since then, the have been honored at Windsor Castle, featured in documentaries including Renewal, and recognized with the Energy Star for Congregations Special Award from the EPA.

In order to accomplish these impressive goals, GreenFaith has stayed committed to their beliefs that protecting the earth is a religious value and environmental stewardship as a moral responsibility. Additionally, their three core values, spirit, stewardship, and justice, are what they use to guide their work and define their goals. Spirit is their belief that religious traditions are sacred and that people grow spiritually through a strong relationship with the Earth. Stewardship is their belief that religious members have the opportunity to lessen their impact on the environment. Justice is their belief that all people deserve a healthy environment regardless of their race or income. To read more and explore their efforts, click here.

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