Eco ChurcH
Eco Blog by Chris Marshall (Member of our church)
Eco Church - Our progress continued
The third category in the Eco Church Award is based around how churches use their land and outdoor space within the church grounds. Trinity Church does not own any land outside the footprint of the building so the challenges for our consideration in this category do not apply. We are not penalised for this but this does not mean we cannot do anything to link in with the surrounding area of the church or indeed our own home spaces either.
Over the past few weeks the girls in the Girl’s Brigade have been making and decorating bird boxes, thanks to the assistance of some of our more practical church members, as well as planting up seeds and vegetables. The central outside patio area now has some pots and pallets ready for planting up and the compost bin is being well utilised. We also held our annual plant sale last week, where members of our church family sold various plants and produce they have grown and nurtured. This not only encourages us to get close up to flowers and plants but also to gives us a chance to share knowledge and information about nature to each other. Any opportunity to talk about the wildlife that will then visit the garden or patio due to a few choice plants has to be good.
This month has been ‘No mow, let it grow’ month. It is often so tempting to tidy up the garden and cut the grass to neaten it all, but it is far more beneficial to wildlife if we can create less manicured areas where insects, bees, butterflies can all flourish. This in turn will provide more variety of food sources for all those hard working birds looking for grubs and caterpillars to feed a hungry growing brood of chicks. Hedgehogs and frogs will also be attracted to a slightly wilder garden which in turn will help control the slugs and pest and thus save use on pesticides or chemicals; it really is a win all round!
Whether you have a large garden or just a small window box plants can have such a beneficial impact not only to the wildlife but to ourselves as well. You don’t have to be an expert to enjoy plants, you just need stop and look and then marvel at the wonder of nature.
For further information on Eco Church please speak to Chris Marshall or visit the A Rocha website.