Eco Church is run by A Rocha UK, a Christian charity working to protect and restore the natural world and committed to equipping Christians and churches in the UK to care for the environment. It is their award scheme for churches in England and Wales who want to demonstrate that the gospel is good news for God’s earth.

Here at St Andrew's we are delighted to say we have already achieved Bronze and Silver awards, and we are working towards Gold! 

What are we doing ... in the church

We are limited in what we can do in the building because it is listed and any change to the fabric of the building, particularly to reduce heat loss, would be difficult to get approval for. But we are determined to become zero carbon.

We have already taken action in the following areas:

  • Replacing some non-LED lights in the church with LEDS
  • Using some environmentally friendly cleaning products
  • Undertaken an energy audit
  • No longer using disposable plates and cups, unless using unwanted donated items

What are we planning to do:

  • Investigate ways of reducing and offsetting our carbon footprint
  • Complete the move to environmentally-friendly cleaning products and toilet paper
  • Investigate offering a facility to recycle ink cartridges
What are we doing ... in the church grounds

So far we have:

  • Arranged a visit and report by a specialist from Suffolk Wildlife Trust to advise us on the management of our churchyard
  • Created a habitat log pile, bug hotel and bird boxes
  • Undertaken wildlife surveys on an annual basis with the Youth Group
  • Planted two native trees

What we are planning to do:

  • Other surveys with youth groups
  • Establish a management plan for the church grounds
  • Encourage our local community to make more use of the grounds, especially around connecting with the natural world
What are we doing ... to encourage church members and others to more aware of caring for the environment

So far:

We are providing information and opportunities to help everyone change something in their lives and reduce their environmental impact by:

  • Providing a Christianity and Climate Change Course
  • Regular information in our Focus news sheet and Outlook magazine
  • Asking our church members to undertake a personal lifestyle audit.
  • Offering Fairtrade products for sale at our coffee mornings
  • Using Fairtrade products 

What we are planning to do:

  • Work more closely with the Parish Council and Baptist Church on initiatives around Rushmere
  • Organise a Green Fair
  • Investigate more ways of recycling
What are we doing ... to engage with global and community environmental issues 
  • We are a Fair Trade Church and we promote the use of Fairtrade products
  • We are making progress in getting more involved by working together with the Parish Council and other organisations 
  • Litter picking
  • Promoting Eco Church to other churches
  • Inviting speakers to talk about environmental issues
  • Twinned two of our toilets 
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What are we doing ... in worship and teaching 
  • Our ministry team are committed to intergrating environmental issues in prayers, hymns and talks, as well as service themes.
  • Teaching in youth and children’s work about the environment.
  • Articles in our parish magazine and newsletters
  • Inviting guest speakers 

What are we planning to do:

  • Invite more speakers to talk on the environment
  • Spread the word about caring for Creation

 

arocha.org.uk/what-we-do/eco-church/