The Jewish Environmental Initiative (JEI), a committee of the Jewish Community Relations Council, Missouri Interfaith Power and Light and the U.S. Green Building Council-Missouri Gateway Chapter are co-sponsoring the event Make a Difference: Greening Your Home and House of Worship from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, July 31 at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park’s Mildred E. Bastian Center for the Performing Arts, 5600 Oakland Avenue, in room T203.

Organizers say the goal of the program is to encourage individuals to look at their homes and houses of worship, measure their energy use and make changes to conserve energy, save money, improve building occupant experience and protect the environment. 

Registration/networking is from 6:45 to 7 p.m., followed by the program runs from 7 to 9; light refreshments will be served.   

“We are so excited about this event because it will both inspire participants to understand why we should care about the problem of excessive greenhouse gas emissions and give them concrete ways to address the problem,” said Susan Mlynarczyk, Chair of JEI and a member of the Steering Committee of Missouri Interfaith Power and Light.  

The event will feature two keynote speakers and two breakout sessions. 

The first keynote speaker, Rev. Dr. Gerald Durley, is a civil rights leader and environmentalist from Atlanta. Durley serves on the national Interfaith Power and Light Board and is the former pastor at the historic Providence Missionary Baptist Church of Atlanta, where he served for nearly 25 years. In 2011, Durley was inducted into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame for his contributions during the civil rights movement. 

The second speaker is Mike Roberts, meteorologist for KSDK News Channel 5, multiple Emmy Award winner and adjunct instructor at Saint Louis University in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. He is also active in his church, which recently installed solar panels. 

Breakout session topics will address the basics of greening your home and greening your house of worship and will include panelists with personal experience and practical tips to convey. The event will also kick off participation in the regional 25×20 Voluntary Energy Benchmarking Campaign for houses of worship. 

The event is supported by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs  and the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life. The event is free, but registration is required at usgbc-mogateway.org/events.