In the last magazine we introduced the Eco Church award, and asked what ideas people have for living more sustainably in order to care for our world and its inhabitants. We’re hoping there will be lots of good ideas sent in for this edition and in future editions too!
Here are a few ideas from me to get you thinking:
- Could we encourage more car sharing for getting to and from church? If you have to drive rather than walk, cycle or use public transport, could you offer a lift to someone who lives on your route so that they don’t have to drive? Perhaps we could have a sign up sheet for those offering lifts and where they are driving from with a contact number to help people pair up? Any drivers willing to start this?
- It’s easy to forget that using water also uses electricity – power for the pumps and filtration systems which give us our wonderful drinkable tap water. How could you conserve water?
Here are some ideas:
- Keep the plug in when you’re showering, bail out the bath with a jug and flush the loo with a bucket.
- Fit water butts (or more water butts) in the garden to avoid the need for using tap water for plants.
- Consider your washing up habits after meals. Could you use less water?
- Collect the run-off water from the hot tap for other uses – flushing toilets, watering plants, soaking dirty pans etc. – rather than running it down the drain.
- Turning tap off when cleaning teeth is another one.
All these require a little bit of effort, but all contribute towards reducing the energy we use in this country, cutting our carbon footprint and thereby protecting lives and livelihoods around the world. Every little helps!
Please let me or Paul know if you adopt any of these ideas as it helps towards our Eco Church award application too.