1.Register to become an Eco Church.
You don’t need to have done anything to reduce your church’s carbon footprint to register. It’s simply a way of saying that this is a journey you want to begin. Check out https://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk/.
2. Have a creation care-themed service during Creationtide (1 September to 4 October).
Check out the free Creationtide worship resources on this page.
3. Ask your knit and natter group or Messy Church to plan a craft project that they will make together without buying any new materials.
Challenge members to dig out unused yarn, fabric and tools from the backs of cupboards; packaging and newspapers from recycle bins. Have fun calculating how much money and carbon you have saved.
4. Serve a vegetarian meal at your lunch club or enquirers’ course.
And explain why you are doing it. You could put out cards on the table letting people know the difference in the carbon footprint of their meals, and include some conversation starters about meat-free Mondays and climate change.
5. Have people donate high-quality unwanted items and hold a tabletop sale.
Promote it as a way of saving carbon as well as money. If you hold it in November, people could reduce the carbon footprint of Christmas gift-giving.
6. Plant some bee-friendly plants.
If you don’t have any outside space, get hold of a simple planter, push it up against the wall of your church and create a mini-garden for bees.
7. Turn your heating off early as an experiment.
Could you turn the heating off an hour before you are due to leave the building? The building will retain its heat even after the heating is off, and you will save money and carbon. Try it and see.
8. Invite your congregation to complete a questionnaire.
It will allow you to find out their carbon footprint, such as this one by the World Wildlife Fund.
9. Buy recycled loo roll
Loo roll in the shops is not strictly recycled from paper, often coming from the sweepings-up of a wood mill processing virgin wood. So why not try bulk buying genuinely recycled loo roll for your church from a company such as this one for your congregation and perhaps your wider community too?
10. Period care
Many churches include baskets of period care products in their toilets so visitors can take what they need. Why not replace conventional products that use plastics and harsh chemicals with organic products in biodegradable packaging such as those sold by this company?
11. Ditch the packaging
Can you buy your fruit and veg loose? If you can’t, leave the packaging at the supermarket – perhaps they will stop using plastic if we make their shops untidy!
12. Buy Seasonal
Do you really need strawberries in winter? Try to buy your veg in season, and from the UK to save on air miles.