St John's Church has agreed to work towards carbon net zero by 2030 (Editor - what does this mean? See this blog for more information).
We are taking steps to care for God's creation and those who live in it. We have a Eco Church Bronze Award, and this is our first step towards on a journey care for God's earth based on a number of different criteria in the life of the church. These include:
- worship & teaching, we include in our worship Climate Sunday & Creationtide - you can find 2023 Creationtide Sermon here
- ensuring we reduce the carbon footprint of our buildings
- as individuals, encourage each other to reduce our own carbon footprint
- looking after the church land and increasing biodiversity
- making sure our suppliers are green, getting our electricity from renewable sources like sun, wind and water
- using fairtrade coffee, and avoiding use of disposable plates & cutlery in our coffee shop
- recycling - we have the blue bin for paper, the green bin for garden (for the prickly bits we do not compost), and on the wall in the Narthex we have a list of local sites for recycling other materials. But did you know our coffee grounds are used to fertilise our plants (you can try this at home, but please use unbleached papers and remember that they should be used on plants that like acid soil eg roses or hydrangeas).
We have been working hard in our churchyard, with areas where we are taking steps to be greener, increase biodiversity - see our Church Garden pages for more information on our journey to have a #wilder churchyard. In the summer, when we have our coffee outside after a sunday service, join us in our social area for a coffee and talk to one of the team about our aims, and we can help you identify the plants and insects you may find.
Join us as we reduce our use of single use plastics. As a church we have joined 'Plastic Free July' for a number of years, but there are probably still steps we can all take to reduce our reliance on single use plastics. (Editor - I like using my insulated coffee cups for use in the car or when out and about, solid shampoo bars, reusable shopping bags & beeswax wraps, what do you like & recommend?).
Praying with us for the climate crisis, justice and restoration for those living in poverty. Join the tearfund Prayer for Climate & Justice and sign the tearfund petition to call on the UK Government to keep its climate finance commitments.
Images from https://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk/resources/ with permission
