at St James Church
“The Lord God place man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.”
(Genesis 2:15 New Living Translation)
Eco Church is A Rocha UK’s award scheme for churches in England and Wales. We have taken our first steps in identifying how we care for God’s earth.
We have undertaken an online survey to find out how we score against five areas of church life:
· Worship and teaching
· Management of Church buildings
· Management of Church Land
· Community and global engagement
· Lifestyle
Our current score:
A small working party are now assessing our Garden of Eden and how we can improve our care for God’s world here in Woodley. We will be campaigning for global and local changes to protect the environment and encouraging all church users to alter their lifestyles to better care for the world around them both locally and globally. Initially we will be looking into the areas of worship and teaching, land and lifestyle towards achieving a Bronze Eco Church Award.
New members are welcome to join us, as we continue to work towards our Bronze Eco Award. Please email us here.
For more information see our Eco Church Facebook page .
Ideas you could try this Autumn
…not all at once but perhaps pick one or two ideas and try them out this Autumn and they might become new habits or spark your interest in a particular area….
Harvest and a time to consider reducing food waste
Consider writing a weekly menu plan and then plan your shopping list based on this menu plan. It will encourage you to buy items you need for the week therefore avoiding over purchasing and wasting food … ideas!
Have you prepared too much food, or your family not feeling as hungry as normal? Consider freezing your left overs in individual portion sizes. Then, occasionally, have a menu day of left-over meals form the freezer … minimal preparation and food and money saved!
Compost your (uncooked) food waste such as peelings, apple cores, broccoli storks, or invest in a wormery to make fertiliser from your waste. Wormery ideas!
Cook only the amount of food you will need for each meal time, portion control during preparation by weighing portions of rice, pasta etc.
From April 2019 Wokingham Borough Council are planning to collect food waste from the curb side.
As the clock’s change and the darker nights are on us, is it time to consider the lighting in your home?
Light Bulbs! If an average household replaced all of their bulbs with LEDs it would cost about £100 and save about £35 a year on bills. How?
Use natural light when you can to save energy.
Turn lights off when they are not needed. Try lights set on manual timers or there are bulbs, plugs and apps that you can link to your mobile phone to be able to switch lights off or on in your home from your phone. You don’t need to leave a light on all night if you go out, you can switch the front door light on as your leave to return home!
If you have lights in your garden use solar powered lights that charge during the day and don’t require electricity.
Future Plans:
During the summer we will be starting an Eco Church noticeboard in the Church Lounge. It will display information and ideas on caring for God’s creation including
- ideas you could try
- links you might like to follow
- recommended web sites for you to peruse.
- Future plans
We will also be updating information on recycling at Church, around Southlake and Woodley.
Local Environmental Events:
Creationtide Calendar 1st September – 4th October. The “season” of creation considering God as Creator and Sustainer of all life. Christians around the world unite to pray and care for creation.
Green Christian “On the Road” 6th October 11am – 4.30pm Faithspace, Redcliffe Methodist Church, Prewett, BRISTOL BS1 6PB Cost free but donations welcome. This event is organised by Green Christian.
Green Great Britain Week 15-19th October This year is the first ever Green Great Britain Week, the week has been designed to highlight the opportunities clean growth offer the UK and to raise awareness of how business and the public can contribute towards tackling climate change.
Links:
Here are some links you might like to look up:
The Church of England Environment Programme
Previous Eco ideas
You can find an archive of previously published Eco ideas here.