We believe that God has given us the responsibility of caring for Creation. On this page you will find some of the actions we are taking to fulfil that commission.
Our association with Eco Church enables us to look at the way we worship and work and to think about making changes to become more environmentally friendly.
It invites us to reflect on five broad areas
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Worship and teaching
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Buildings
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Land
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Community and global concerns
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Lifestyle
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We have completed the Eco Church audit and are currently at bronze award level.
Next stop - silver!
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Here's what we are currently doing:
Buildings
We use a green energy tariff for St James' Church and Church House, and for St John's Church.
We're working towards using eco-friendly cleaning products and recycled paper products.
Land
We have a plan for the eco-management of St James' Churchyard here.
We are taking advice on how we can best manage the garden at St John's, Tidbury Green.
Community and Global concerns
We are working towards becoming Fair Trade churches.
See here for a short video about how choosing FairTrade coffee can make a difference to the lives of those who grow it.
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Our Lent 2020 appeal raised funds for Toilet Twinning.
We have now raised enough money to twin all the toilets in our buildings. See here for a photo of our linked loo in Malawi.
Lifestyle
Carbon footprint
.....is a measure of how much carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere as a result of our actions and choices. Carbon dioxide is a major contributor to the increase in average global temperature.
You can calculate your carbon footprint here.
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Food and drink
"Healthy food for a healthy planet." Reducing our consumption of meat and dairy products helps to reduce our carbon footprint. Click here for this month's tasty alternative, and here for a preview of next month's.
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Use your LOAF where ever possible, buying food which is
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Locally sourced (reduces use of fossil fuels / transport costs)
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Organically grown (reduces use of fertilisers and pesticides)
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Animal friendly (raised according to healthy farming practices)
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Fairtrade (offering producers a fair price for their produce)
Photo credits
Jason Leung
Marisol Casben
More about Eco Church
Eco Church is one arm of the charity A Rocha ('a rock'
in Portuguese), a network of Christian environmental
organisations. It was founded in the Algarve in 1983, and is now active in 20 countries.
The Eco Church vision is for churches of all denominations to care for Creation as an integral part of loving their neighbours and following God faithfully. Caring for the environment is one of the five 'marks of mission" of the Anglican Church, and reflects our Biblical call to be good stewards of Creation.
Eco Church produce lots of resources for support Caring for God's Creation, which can be accessed from here.
More about other environmental organisations
We also have links with other Christian environmental organisations​:
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And with other environmental organisations
Find out more by clicking the links in the text above.