Recycle & Fair Trade
Recycle Your Paper at First Presbyterian
First Presbyterian Church is going GREEN! There is now a large green recycling bin (Abitibi Paper Recycling) behind the church.
Save your papers, newspapers, magazines, and junk mail, because by dropping your papers into our bin, we get money back! Unlike recycling with the City of Oklahoma City in your green bin at home, our program will earn money for each ton, and provide extra money for special projects and activities.
This is more than just a fund-raiser – it is we, as a church, setting a tone for excellence in our community, and also a bold statement of environmental stewardship. So help us as we seek to live more deeply into God’s call for us to care for the planet entrusted to our care.
Please contact Rev. Matt Meinke or the church office (405.525.6584) if you would like to join the group of volunteers that will help organize, communicate and streamline our recycling program.
Fair Trade Coffee Served at FPC
The Coffee Crisis: Four Million Farmers and Their Families at Risk
Coffee is big business — it’s one of the most heavily traded commodities in the world. Americans alone drink one third of all coffee produced worldwide. While many people benefit from this big business, the farmers who grow the beans often live in poverty. For the majority of small-scale farmers, the benefits are few.
Conventionally traded coffee involves a lengthy and expensive cast of middlemen between the coffee farmer and the consumer, each taking their share — or more — of the coffee price. What's left for the farmers may not even cover their production costs or basic living expenses. Many farmers earn less for their crops today than their
great-grandparents did 100 years ago.
Coffee prices are notoriously unstable and in recent years have dropped to historic lows, forcing farmers across Latin America, Africa and Asia to give up their farms. Many are unable to provide their families with daily necessities such as food, clothing, health care, or school supplies. Overwhelmed with debt and unable to earn a consistent income in the unstable market, farmers are forced to leave their family farms, moving to cities or migrating to other countries in search of work.
Enjoy the Fair-Trade Coffee at First Pres or in Your Own Home
The Presbyterian Coffee Project provides a special link between our congregation and communities around the world, allowing us to reach out to neighbors overseas not only with prayers and offerings, but with the goods and products we purchase. Fair Trade principles complement our mission and stewardship here at FPCOKC, in that it guarantees farmers will earn the income they need to feed their families, educate their children, and improve their communities.
We are happy to serve Fair-Trade coffee at First Presbyterian Church. Bags of Fair-Trade coffee beans are available for purchase at the office. If you would like to know more about the Presbyterian Coffee Project or Equal Exchange, check out: www.equalexchange.com or www.pcusa.org/coffee