Environmental Policy
In February 2020 the PCC approved the following Environmental Policy for St Nicholas, Nether Winchendon.
We affirm these elements of our faith:
Aim
-
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.
-
As a church, we aim to take the practical steps necessary 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, including any building projects, and programmes.
Actions
-
We will appoint a person as our Environmental Officer to lead our programme and encourage him or her to bring relevant environmental issues and concerns forward to the PCC on a regular basis.
-
We will include our concern for sustainability in our worship and teaching.
-
We will undertake an environmental and energy audit of the church premises and identify the most significant issues and impacts which should be addressed and make and implement plans and programmes to tackle them, recognising that some additional costs may be incurred to minimise environmental impacts. (See partial lists below).
-
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. We will ensure that at any major events, for example cream teas and the fete, efforts are made to consider energy usage and wherever possible to use recyclable materials, even if there is a financial impact.
-
As the church’s energy use is arguably its greatest environmental issue, we will seek to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the electricity used in church premises by switching to a “green” energy supplier, fitting LED light bulbs where possible, improving insulation wherever practicable, turning off lights and appliances.
-
We will seek ways to reduce material consumption and the impact of our activities on the environment by, wherever possible, for example, using email rather than sending hard copies, reusing/ repairing items, using low environmental impact cleaning materials, ensure that waste is appropriately recycled.
-
We will assess our churchyard for wildlife and manage them to conserve biodiversity.
-
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.
-
We will participate in the Eco Church programme.
This policy and programme will be reviewed every three years in light of developments. Next review date February 2023.
Useful Resources