{"id":19041,"date":"2026-04-15T15:49:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T19:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/?page_id=19041"},"modified":"2026-04-15T16:01:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T20:01:29","slug":"bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"BRUU Carbon Footprint Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/curve.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-19043\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/curve.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"442\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/curve.png 900w, https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/curve-420x206.png 420w, https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/curve-768x377.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In 2021, BRUU was one of the first two UU congregations to earn reaccreditation with the Unitarian Universalist Association as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uua.org\/environment\/green-sanctuary\">Green Sanctuary<\/a> under the <strong>Climate Justice Program<\/strong>. BRUU has been at the forefront of the Green Sanctuary movement from the beginning; we earned accreditation in 2004 as one of the pioneering congregations in the original program.<\/p>\n<p>Ever since, we\u2019ve been on a sustained journey of reducing our environmental footprint.\u00a0 Our general approach has been to demonstrate approaches at the congregational level, and then to challenge our members and friends to pursue the same goals at home.<\/p>\n<p>At the congregational level, we\u2019ve<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Funded a professional energy audit for our building, which produced a detailed action plan and list of priorities.<\/li>\n<li>Worked through the audit\u2019s priorities, implementing a series of energy efficiency projects on lights; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC); building insulation; motion-activated switches; appliances; and other equipment.<\/li>\n<li>Bought an infrared camera to detect areas with poor insulation in the building envelope, and improved our insulation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These measures have helped us reduce our energy use, which is the biggest driver of our carbon footprint. To neutralize the remaining footprint, BRUU has been purchasing high-quality carbon offsets <a href=\"https:\/\/terrapass.com\/\">Terrapass: Verified Carbon Credits to Offset Carbon<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Having shown that this approach is effective, we\u2019ve encouraged our members and friends to do their part to fight climate change through our <strong>Carbon Footprint Challenge. <\/strong>This challenge, launched in 2021, is still underway, and many of BRUU households have taken the challenge!<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s how it works:<\/p>\n<p><u>Step 1<\/u>.\u00a0 Calculate your household\u2019s carbon footprint.\u00a0 The main drivers of emissions are typically home energy use and your vehicles.\u00a0 You can use the <a href=\"https:\/\/www3.epa.gov\/carbon-footprint-calculator\/\">EPA Greenhouse Gas (GHG) calculator<\/a> or the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.terrapass.com\/carbon-footprint-calculator\">TerraPass calculator<\/a>\u00a0to figure out your baseline.<\/p>\n<p><u>Step 2<\/u>. Decide which actions you\u2019ll take to reduce emissions. The types of actions you can take include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Turning your thermostat in summer to 75 degrees F or above.<\/li>\n<li>Buying Energy Star lights and appliances.<\/li>\n<li>Using BRUU\u2019s infrared camera to determine and fix heat loss in your home.<\/li>\n<li>Buying \u201cGreen Power\u201d from Dominion or NOVEC to get renewable energy as your source of electricity<\/li>\n<li>Installing solar panels on your house to get zero-carbon electricity<\/li>\n<li>Buying high MPG vehicles and using public transportation when it\u2019s available<\/li>\n<li>Recycling everything that can be recycled<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><u>Step 3<\/u>. Estimate what your footprint will be after you take these actions, and buy carbon offsets to neutralize your remaining footprint. The EPA calculator provides a menu of actions and allows you to estimate how much you\u2019d reduce emissions through each.\u00a0Terrapass and other reputable offset providers sell offsets.<\/p>\n<p>BRUU\u2019s current carbon footprint is about 66 tons of Carbon Dioxide per year, and we pay about $660 ($10 per ton) for offsets.\u00a0 Household carbon footprints are much smaller.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve already joined the BRUU members and friends who have taken the challenge, thanks for your support!\u00a0 If you haven\u2019t, the Green Team respectfully requests your consideration.\u00a0 This is a relatively straightforward and inexpensive way to do your part to fight climate change. Mother Earth thanks you!<\/p>\n<p>(<em>More about the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/about-us\/social-justice\/the-green-team\/\">Green Team<\/a> at BRUU.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/epacalc.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-19042\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/epacalc.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"358\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/epacalc.png 900w, https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/epacalc-420x167.png 420w, https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/epacalc-768x305.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/curve.png\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In 2021, BRUU was one of the first two UU congregations to earn reaccreditation with the Unitarian Universalist Association as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uua.org\/environment\/green-sanctuary\">Green Sanctuary<\/a> under the <strong>Climate Justice Program<\/strong>. BRUU has been at the forefront of the Green Sanctuary movement from the beginning; we <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\/\"><strong>&#8230; read more<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/template-full.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19041","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>BRUU Carbon Footprint Challenge - Bull Run Unitarian Universalists (www2)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BRUU Carbon Footprint Challenge - Bull Run Unitarian Universalists (www2)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In 2021, BRUU was one of the first two UU congregations to earn reaccreditation with the Unitarian Universalist Association as a Green Sanctuary under the Climate Justice Program. BRUU has been at the forefront of the Green Sanctuary movement from the beginning; we ... read more.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bull Run Unitarian Universalists (www2)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-15T20:01:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/curve.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"442\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\\\/\",\"name\":\"BRUU Carbon Footprint Challenge - Bull Run Unitarian Universalists (www2)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/curve.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-15T19:49:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-15T20:01:29+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/curve.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/curve.png\",\"width\":900,\"height\":442},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BRUU Carbon Footprint Challenge\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bull Run Unitarian Universalists (www2)\",\"description\":\"Bull Run Unitarian Universalists (BRUU) in Manassas, Virginia. &quot;A Safe Community for Seeking and Service&quot;\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Bull Run Unitarian Universalists\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/BullRun_logo_square_true.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/BullRun_logo_square_true.png\",\"width\":2801,\"height\":2800,\"caption\":\"Bull Run Unitarian Universalists\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bruu.org\\\/www2\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BRUU Carbon Footprint Challenge - Bull Run Unitarian Universalists (www2)","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BRUU Carbon Footprint Challenge - Bull Run Unitarian Universalists (www2)","og_description":"In 2021, BRUU was one of the first two UU congregations to earn reaccreditation with the Unitarian Universalist Association as a Green Sanctuary under the Climate Justice Program. BRUU has been at the forefront of the Green Sanctuary movement from the beginning; we ... read more.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\/","og_site_name":"Bull Run Unitarian Universalists (www2)","article_modified_time":"2026-04-15T20:01:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":442,"url":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/curve.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\/","name":"BRUU Carbon Footprint Challenge - Bull Run Unitarian Universalists (www2)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/curve.png","datePublished":"2026-04-15T19:49:47+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-15T20:01:29+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/curve.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/curve.png","width":900,"height":442},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/bruu-carbon-footprint-challenge\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BRUU Carbon Footprint Challenge"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/","name":"Bull Run Unitarian Universalists (www2)","description":"Bull Run Unitarian Universalists (BRUU) in Manassas, Virginia. &quot;A Safe Community for Seeking and Service&quot;","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/#organization","name":"Bull Run Unitarian Universalists","url":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/BullRun_logo_square_true.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/BullRun_logo_square_true.png","width":2801,"height":2800,"caption":"Bull Run Unitarian Universalists"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19041"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19041"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19050,"href":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19041\/revisions\/19050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bruu.org\/www2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}