The journey so far ...

In our first phase of ‘Going Green’ we introduced recycling to all areas of the church and became a recycling point for Terracycle. In addition to this, we exchanged all our disposable cups for compostable ones and will only use the remaining plastic cups we have in stock before finding a green alternative. We also encourage people to bring their own cup as much as possible when we are having tea and coffee in the church. In 2019 we began replacing old IT equipment with more energy-efficient appliances. In winter and spring at the Old Church we allow a wild garden to grow giving insects a place to feed and thrive.

We intend to reduce our carbon footprint regarding fossil fuels to a minimum. This will take time to achieve and cannot be completed in one go. We have already taken the first steps by reducing our energy consumption for lighting. Over 95% of our lighting has been changed or converted to LED in both the main church and also the Old Church. We will soon have achieved 100% LED.

The second phase, as detailed in our document Praying for a Greener Future deals, with converting our church heating from gas to electricity and offsetting the consumption by generating electricity from solar panels. We will also further improve the insulation of parts of the building to ensure we use less energy.

In a future phase it is anticipated that we will replace our existing large gas boiler with an electric boiler of a smaller size to heat the radiators in the meeting rooms, office and lounge, while replacing the hall boiler with similar electric heating or an air source heat pump. We will also consider the installation of more solar panels on the main church building’s south aisle roof and adding battery storage to the system.

Whilst the responses above have already been initiated, there are more approaches which could be implemented in the coming days and years, as we look to further offset our carbon footprint and reduce our waste.