Module 08 - Greening church spending

Could your church become a hub for recycling?

Try contacting your local council to ask how they are supporting community groups wanting to set up recycling initiatives. You could be involved with recycling:

• computers (eg Computers for Charities)

• hearing aids (eg Lions Club International)

• mobile phones and printer cartridges (eg Oxfam, Action Aid, Christian Aid or raise funds for your church

• spectacles (Vision Aid Overseas)

• stamps (eg Oxfam)

• tools (Tools for Self Reliance, Tools with a Mission)

• Tetrapak cartons (see Tetrapak)

Selly Oak Methodist Church have a leaflet which explains how to get involved with recycling.  Word 221kb. 

Other useful websites:

• Alupro - Information on aluminium recycling.

• Community composting network - supports and promotes the community management and use of waste bio-degradable resources. 

• efreeko - a free recycling contact service - similar to Freecycle but national.

• Freecycle - local electronic networks for recycling between people rather than going straight to the tip (no money changes hands - all free!)

• WRAP - not-for-profit company created as part of the Government's waste strategy, helping to reduce, reduce and recycle.

• Recycle Guide - all you wish to know about recycling at home.

• Recycle-more - one stop recycling info centre.

• Reuse Networks - local electronic networks for local people to give, sell or lend.

• Recycle Now - a WRAP website to help people begin recycling.

• Recycling and waste - Government (defra) website

Reconditioned Computers are available from the Arthur Rank Centre:  contact John Bennett at the Arthur Rank Centre for more details (024 7685 3066).

Christian Ecology Link have been running a campaign to persuade people to buy food that is:

L ocally produced

O rganically grown

A nimal friendly

F airly traded

There are plenty of resources available on the LOAF page of the CEL website.

If you are wondering where to get hold of environmentally friendly cleaning products, or wholesale wholefoods for your church cafe, then you could try these organisations for buying in bulk (you could then sell on to those wanting to use these products at home):

• Suma - a workers' co-operative - based in Elland, W. Yorkshire

• Essential Trading Co-operative Ltd - based in Bristol

• Single Step Wholefood Co-operative - based in Lancaster

• Daily Bread Workers Co-operative (Northampton)

• Daily Bread Workers Co-operative (Cambridge)

Recycled paper 

• You could try Evolve Office available through many distributors or Evolution from Premier Paper.

• The Green Stationary Company

• Recycled Paper Supplies

• Paperback Co-op

Is your church a Fairtrade Church? What about your Diocese, District, Parish, Village, Town, City, Borough...? The Fairtrade Foundation has the criteria for encouraging places to take fairtrade seriously, and the resources to help.

You can find out about how UK farmers are faring under the supermarkets by reading this document published by the Church of England:

Fairtrade begins at home - Supermarkets and the effects on British Farming Livelihoods PDF  1.8mb

Have you considered using Fairtrade wine for communion? Have a look at the Poterion website for communion wine from the Stellar Organic vineyards in South Africa.

Try contacting Nigel Dawes at Warmmead lighting in Coventry (http://www.low-energy-lighting.com/). He stocks low energy light bulbs, including external. Having worked with his own church on their lighting system, he is happy to be consulted: 024 7659 2126.

Also Ultimastore has low energy bulbs for purchase cheaply http://www.ultimastore.co.uk/ or just put 'low energy light bulbs' into a search engine. You will find that there are an increasing number of bulbs which are coming down in price all the time.

How do you organise transport for church events? Do you choose locations for meetings which are accessible by public transport, or co-ordinate lifts to minimise car use? Could you begin a car share scheme, where the community shares a car or two? Do you make details of public transport available for those using the building regularly? Just putting up a few local bus timetables on a noticeboard might encourage people to use the bus. 

Useful transport sites:

• Carplus - help in setting up car sharing schemes (where a number of households share access to one or more cars)
• Liftshare schemes (where people going on a particular or regular journey offer the space in the car to other travellers) eg Liftshare, Carshare.com, National Car Share, Freewheelers, Mylifts.
• Traveline - this site helps you plan your journey on public transport.

Waterwise has lots of information on water saving - particularly for the home, but the issues are similar in church buildings. You might like to put in a water meter to reduce bills, and water saving devices to ensure low water usage.

God has given us a beautiful world. Now its climate has begun to change very fast.

Millions of people are suffering as droughts, floods and storms increase. Wildlife is at risk as habitats disappear. Many plants and animals have already vanished.

Act now to care for our children, our neighbours and creation.

• Find out what you can do: use the Climate Stewards site to calculate the carbon dioxide you are emitting
• Donate to the work Climate Stewards, assessed by the Rainforest Alliance, and working with local communities to plant trees which will give them social and community benefits
• Check the evidence on climate change
• Sign up for prayer updates on climate 
• Find out more about Christians and climate change

If you have vending machines in your church centre/community centre, then why not have a Fairtrade vending machine with 100% Fairtrade ingredients?

Try FairtradeVending for starters.

Churches often hold significant sums of money in banks and investment funds. While many of us do our best to avoid investment in activities of which we disapprove there are now many opportunities to take a more positive approach with our investments and to invest in activities which deliver a positive return in areas beyond the purely financial. This could include social and environmental returns.
The EIRIS Foundation (www.eiris.org) is a leading UK charity working in the area of responsible investment. Their YourEthicalMoney website is a resource providing independent advice on ehtical investment.
The National Ethical Investment Week is an annual focus on the issues, similar to Fairtrade Fortnight. Their website will provide a downloadable Church Action Pack.
The Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR) is a church-based investor coalition and membership organisation working for economic justice, human rights, environmental stewardship, and corporate and investor responsibility. Their website is useful resource of current ethical hot topics and issues.