Eco ChurcH
Eco Blog by Chris Marshall (Member of our church)
Eco Church - Our progress continued
Following on from my previous blog, which focussed on Worship and Teaching at Trinity, this article looks at our targets under the section of our Church Buildings, which includes the manse where our minister lives during their time of service at Trinity Church. This is a large section that has 33 points or actions for our consideration. I have condensed several of these actions together and combined both the church and the manse as one, where appropriate, as most points apply to both buildings.
Unlike many of the old churches built several centuries ago we are very fortunate that we a have a modern church building and manse that already meet some of the criteria for this category and some energy efficient practices were put in place several years ago.
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We have insulated walls, lofts and ceilings
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The windows and doors are double glazed
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Low energy light bulbs are fitted where possible [CM1]
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·We have a policy designed to limit the amount of energy consumed by security lighting around our church premises
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The water supply to our church premises is metered
We are also challenged to look at our consumables so where possible
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Recycled toilet paper is provided on our church premises
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·Our cleaning products are being phased over to eco products
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·We are reducing our paper usage (through double-sided copying/printing and sending out e-documents)
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In the kitchen we have non recycling and recycling bins
The above facilities and practices currently in place mean that we meet the Bronze level criteria in this section too.
However, there is more we can do going forwards; some are easy to implement such as
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water butts
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compost bins
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installation of bicycle racks
Others actions we have been asked to looked at are more challenging
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·the toilet cisterns could be fitted with water-saving devices
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·air or ground source heat pump, solar PV panels or wind turbines could be installed
These would require finances, planning permissions, management and a commitment from the church to take forward but they are important issues to consider for the future if we are to take tackling climate change and reducing our carbon footprint seriously.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank David Woodbury for all the work he does in managing the church building and ensuring it is a safe, warm and welcoming environment for all those who use these premises.
For further information on Eco Church please speak to Chris Marshall or visit the A Rocha website.