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4 December 2024
Silver Eco Church award for Farlington churches
Two Farlington churches each received Silver Eco Church awards in November, following two years of ... read more
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19 September 2024
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9 April 2024
Diocese office wins Silver eco award
The diocesan office at Peninsular House has been given the Silver Award by A Rocha ... read more
Silver Eco Church award for Farlington churches
TWO Farlington churches each received Silver Eco Church awards in November, following two years of progress since achieving Bronze awards in 2022.
The eco-initiatives in their churches were led by a small group of enthusiastic volunteers who meet monthly to consider how they can improve their care for God’s creation and reduce their carbon footprint.
Miriam Sampson, who leads the eco group, shares some of the key initiatives that led to both churches gaining their Silver awards.
Worship and Teaching
“Both churches regularly include prayers for creation in their intercessions, and during the season of Creationtide we share a different prayer each week in our pew sheet with a creation focus. Teaching about creation care has featured in sermons and we have held a number of Café Church services on this theme, with discussion about how we can reduce our personal carbon footprints.”
Buildings
“We have completed the Energy Footprint Tool over the past two years, so we are now able to get a clearer idea of where we are using the most energy and how we can reduce our usage. We have been replacing light fittings with LEDs where possible, and improving insulation – for example, by putting reflective foil behind radiators on external walls. We are also taking action on draught-proofing. We are using environmentally-friendly cleaning products across our premises.”
Land
“We have developed the area beside the Church of the Resurrection as a meadow with a wildflower area, planted fourteen trees and some shrubs, and installed a water butt and a compost heap (see the photo at the top of the page). We have also installed bird boxes and a ‘bug hotel’. In St Andrew’s churchyard we have hung bird feeders from mature trees and the roots from a large fallen tree have been preserved as a natural ‘bug hotel’.”
Community and global engagement
“We have become a ‘Fairtrade’ Parish and we have held Café Church services featuring Fairtrade during Fairtrade Fortnight. We have also engaged with Great Big Green Week and Churches Count on Nature, documenting the trees and wildlife we have on our land. The Brownies that meet in St Andrew’s Church Hall joined in with a ‘bug finding’ activity which contributed towards one of their Brownie badges. We have also raised awareness of the impact of climate change in poorer communities across the world – for instance, during Christian Aid week and when the annual COPs are held – and we have written to our MP about this. Most of the toilets in our churches are ‘twinned’ with toilets in communities in Africa.”
Lifestyle
“We held a Café Church service where we calculated our individual carbon footprints and another in Great Big Green Week where we looked at lifestyle ‘swaps’ we could make to reduce them. We promoted the “Great Big Plastic Count” and several of us counted the plastic we used at home in one week and worked on how we could reduce this. We provide recycling facilities at the church for many items, and signpost people to other recycling opportunities (e.g. the Boots’ blister pack scheme). Meals served at our church always include vegetarian and vegan options and we have acquired a food waste recycling bin for the church.”
The eco group has several other initiatives in hand and more plans for the future, including getting a detailed energy audit, installing a bike rack at St Andrew’s, replacing more lights with LEDs and exploring alternative heating options for when their gas boilers need replacing.
For Church of the Resurrection and St Andrew’s it’s onwards and upwards towards a Gold award!
You can find out more about Eco Church here, and sign up to the Eco Church scheme at the A Rocha website. We are a Fairtrade diocese, and you can out more here. The Energy Footprint Tool opens in January 2025 to submit energy data from 2024 – find out more here, including some results on our diocese’ carbon emissions in 2023.