Where all find a welcome and are nurtured in their journey with Christ

Parish Environmental Policy and Strategy

SECTION 1 – ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

We affirm these elements of our faith:

∙ Through Christ, God has created an awesome and majestic cosmos to bring Him praise and glory. We are but one part of His created order.

∙ Jesus has redeemed the whole earth through His death and resurrection.

∙ We recognise that we have a special responsibility to care for the Earth so that human life and all God’s creatures may be sustained in harmony.

Aim

As a local church, we aim to take the practical steps necessary to realise the Fifth Mark of Mission, which is “to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and to sustain the life of the earth”.

Objective

As a church community, we will take environmental concerns into account in our mission, worship, study, education, training, pastoral, administrative and other projects and programmes.

Responsibility

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is responsible for implementing this policy, but everyone within the church has a role to play to ensure its aims are met.

Actions

1. Environmental issues shall take a prominent place amongst all we do.

2. We will appoint a person as our Environmental Officer who will report directly to the Parochial Church Council (PCC).  

3. We will include our concern for sustainability in our worship and teaching.

4. We will undertake an environmental and energy audit of the church premises and property and report on an annual basis.

5. We will minimise our energy and water usage as far as reasonably practicable.

6. We will encourage our staff, volunteers and congregation to use forms of transport which have minimum or reduced environmental impact.

7. We will seek ways to reduce material consumption and the impact of our activities on the environment.

8. We will manage our land in an environmentally friendly way balanced with our other responsibilities for the land under our control.

9. We will evaluate the environmental impact of all purchases we make for goods and services, including digital services and work on our buildings and grounds.

10. We will encourage individual members of our congregations to take actions in their personal lives to complement and supplement these actions of the church community.

11. We will work with others in our local community to identify environmental issues which should be addressed in our area and help develop actions to tackle them.

This policy will be reviewed every three years from the date shown in the footer below.

SECTION 2 – ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY

Aim

To support the Parish Environmental Policy by identifying those areas of activity that will have a positive impact on improving our environmental footprint.

Reporting – We will report on and publicise environmental matters, including but not limited to:

1. The Environment will be a regular item on PCC agendas;  
2. A statement shall be provided in the church Annual Report on actions taken to reduce our environmental footprint and details of energy usage and estimated CO2 emissions;
3. Regular environmental updates through the parish magazine, church website and social media outlets.

Planning – Identify the most significant issues and implement plans and programmes to tackle them, recognising that some additional costs may be incurred to minimise environmental impacts.

Energy and Water - We will seek to minimise energy and water usage, including but not limited to:

1. Switching to “green” energy suppliers (renewably generated electricity and biogas) and consider their environmental impact when choosing them;
2. Using thermostats and actively controlling heating usage in accordance with building occupancy and season;
3. Fitting LED light bulbs and/or light motion detectors where appropriate;
4. Improving insulation wherever practicable;
5. Turning off lights, appliances and computers when not in use;
6. Replacing old, inefficient appliances where practicable and investigating more energy efficient alternatives;  
7. Monitoring energy and water consumption on an ongoing basis;
8. Completing the diocesan online Energy Footprint Tool as part of the annual Parish Return;
9. Install water meters where appropriate, check for leakages, fit water minimising systems to taps and cisterns wherever practicable.

Transport – We will endeavour to minimise greenhouse gas emissions, including but not limited to:

1. Promoting online meetings to minimise travel;
2. Encourage our staff, volunteers and congregation to use environmentally friendly modes of transport where possible, eg. walk, cycle, public transport, car sharing etc;
3. Provide cycle parking for church and community centre users.

Materials – We will seek to reduce our consumption of materials and to use environmentally friendly products, including but not limited to:

1. Serving locally produced food where possible;
2. Minimising the amount of red meat and dairy products served;
3. Using email rather than sending hard copies where appropriate;
4. Using recycled paper;
5. Reusing/ repairing items;
6. Using low environmental impact cleaning materials;
7. Recycling of waste materials such as paper, carboard, plastics, glass, printer cartridges etc;
8. Avoid single use plastics where possible.

Land Management – We will seek to manage our land in an environmentally friendly way, including but not limited to:

1. Less mowing of grass.  Some areas will be left to grow ‘wild’ throughout the year to encourage biodiversity and only cut back in late summer;  
2. Planting of native species of wild flowers will be undertaken where appropriate;
3. Providing nesting boxes and shelters for birds and animals;
4. Composting of green material rather than it going to general waste.