Church will offer education on energy conservation

The community is invited to learn more about how consumers can conserve energy and reduce carbon footprints at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva. The church is at 102 S. Second St.

Sandy Justis of Elgin will present "Winds of Change," offering information on how homeowners can power the electricity for their houses through wind power.

In addition, Jen Walling of the Environmental Law and Policy Center in Chicago will discuss wind energy legislation in Illinois. Participants can learn about existing legislation and also what is still needed.

According to Justis, the seminar will also teach consumers how to be a bigger voice for change.

She will be speaking from personal experience about wind power.

"My home is powered 100 percent by wind energy," Justis said. "People ask me all the time if I have a turbine in my back yard. I don't -- that isn't necessary."

She buys her wind energy from Community Energy Co., which has wind farms with turbines in Bureau County, Ill. The energy is delivered to her home through a contract with Commonwealth Edison, which permits Community Energy to use its power lines.

"Our family converted to compact fluorescent lights (CPL) about 10 years ago, and we pay for our wind energy with what we save on lighting," she said.

Justis is a retired special education teacher. In 2001, she attended two national conferences on conservation and the effects of climate change.

She founded the Illinois Interfaith Council on Climate Change with Linda Sonner of Batavia about eight years ago with the goal of raising awareness on climate change within faith communities. Justis and Sonner now work with other environmental groups such as the Spiritual Green Connection.

"I think we finally turned a corner because of Gore's movie," Justis said, referring to Al Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."

"We are no longer talking about if we have a problem with climate change, but what to do about it," she added.

According to Ann Drover, a member of the Unitarian Church and a member of the Spiritual Green Connection, the church building has been powered by wind energy through Community Energy since 2004. The Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva was one of just six churches in the Chicago metropolitan area to subscribe to wind energy that year.

For information, visit www.newwindenergy.com or contact Justis at (847) 695-0840, or sandyjustis@aol.com.

Early spring cleaning

With cold January winds blowing and the Christmas decorations barely put away for another year, it seems too early to be planning for the 2008 barn sale.

Yet St. Peter's church has already opened a center in order to accept donations for the annual bargain extravaganza. The center is at the Campana building at the northwest corner of Fabyan Parkway and Route 31 in Batavia. The barn sale is scheduled for Sept. 20 and 21 at the Kane County Fairgrounds in St. Charles.

Donations can be dropped off between 8:30 a.m. and noon Saturday, and on Feb. 23, March 22 and April 19. After April 19, donations will be accepted every Saturday through August.

Pick-up service for large household items or furniture is available in Geneva, St. Charles and Batavia. All items are subject to inspection.

For information, visit www.stpetersbarnsale.com or call (630) 232-0124, ext. 325.

ngier@dailyherald.com