Creating a Playbook for Climate Action is a tool for Friends and meetings to work in five areas: activism, education, reducing our carbon footprint, finances, and mourning loss & instilling hope. The playbook gives a framework to set goals, share ideas, and track progress.
The playbook connects with Climate Witness: Let Our Actions Speak! Thread Gathering on Saturday, October 25, at Arch Street Meeting House with participation also available online. The day is intergenerational, with workshops and activities for children, youth, and adults. The playbook may not be named in every workshop, however Friends will find that each workshop touches one or more of the five action areas and can be carried into their own planning for themselves or their meeting.
The Friendly Households workshop lifts up education by helping Friends share reliable knowledge about climate change. It also supports carbon footprint reduction through everyday choices at home and finances through spending that aligns with sustainable living. Together, these practices open space for mourning loss and instilling hope as households and meetings take steps side by side.
The Decarbonize Your Meetinghouse workshop centers on carbon footprint reduction. Friends learn to measure energy use, plan improvements, and lower emissions. It also builds education through practical skills and touches finances by using incentives and savings to make changes possible.
The Spiritual Climate Witness: Embracing Discernment and Collective Action workshop speaks to activism, defined as public witness through advocacy and nonviolent action. It also carries mourning loss and instilling hope by naming grief and drawing strength from shared worship and discernment.
The Clean Energy Policy Throwdown workshop brings activism, education, and finances together. Friends consider how policy shapes local energy choices, how advocacy can guide decisions, and how financial choices affect the shift to renewable power.
The Quaker Earthcare Witness Mapping Project workshop links to education and activism by offering stories, resources, and grants opportunities. It helps meetings see themselves as part of a larger network of Friends who are working on climate care.
Workshops for children bring education and hope together through stories, art, and tree planting. Young Friends take part in the sessions that speak to them and also gather as a group, carrying the Playbook’s five areas into their own practice. The Playbook supports each of these areas by giving Friends and meetings a way to set goals, assign roles, and track progress after the Thread Gathering.
Registration for the Thread Gathering is open, and the Playbook can be downloaded in advance, and participants will be able to access the playbook at the Thread Gathering. For questions, contact Tara Rubinstein at trubinstein@pym.org.
