Eco Church
Action is needed urgently to address the climate emergency, to restore and protect the environment, and to safeguard the future of life on earth. All Saints' is part of the Eco Church community whose churches are committed to care for God's world through their services and communications, through the way church buildings and land are managed, through engaging with the local community and in global campaigns, and through their own personal lifestyles.
Making progress
Here are some of the ways that we're trying to get better at caring for God's world at All Saints', though we know there's more that we need to do.
- Caring for God's world is a focus for prayers, talks and songs in church services
- All Saints' uses green electricity from renewable sources, and gas on a green tariff which offsets the carbon emissions
- We've calculated the church's carbon footprint and we're aiming to improve energy efficiency
- All the lights in the church and the church centre use LED bulbs
- We're encouraging wildlife in the churchyard with a wildflower meadow, bird boxes and bird feeder, bug hotel, hedgehog box, woodland path, log pile, and eco-friendly management
- We're a Fairtrade Church, committed to supporting and promoting Fairtrade in the church and the community
- We encourage better lifestyles through the website, the Eco Church notice board, and in articles in All Saints' monthly magazine 'in touch' - see below, Eco Church articles
- We press for government action on climate change and environmental improvement
- We've received an Eco Church Silver Award to recognise the progress we have made
How you can get involved
- Keep up to date with what All Saints' is doing through our services, activities and What's on pages
- Look out for the Eco Church article every month in All Saints' magazine
- See what's new on the Eco Church notice board in the Church Centre
- Think about what you can do yourself to help care for God's world - see below, The Eco Church Top Ten
- Join in with what's happening locally on environmental issues, using these links to help:
Love Your Chelmsford (LYC), LYC Video Gallery, 'Essex is Green' Facebook Page, Love Essex, Essex Wildlife Trust
The Eco Church Top Ten
Please see the Eco Church articles below for more information on these top suggestions.
- Enjoy green spaces and wildlife, and take care of them in practical ways
- Travel greener when we walk, cycle, use buses, coaches, trains or car-share
- Use energy efficiently for heating and electrical items, and use LED light bulbs
- Enjoy some vegetarian meals, and eat less meat and dairy food
- 3Rs: reduce how much we buy, re-use what we've finished with, and recycle what we can't re-use
- Try to buy things which are Fairtrade, eco-friendly and ethically-produced
- Improve home insulation where possible - loft, walls, windows and doors
- Support charities who care for the environment, and campaign for climate action
- Find out how to improve our environmental footprint - go to footprint.wwf.org.uk or to climate-calculator.climatehero.me
- Go green with money through ethical banking and savings - see justmoney.org.uk
Download this 'What can I do?' guide for more good ideas on how to care for God's world.
Eco Church articles
Every month in All Saints' magazine 'in touch' there is an interesting Eco Church feature article. You can read previous articles here:
- Away with the birds (December 2024)
- 'Please pray' - tree planting in Kenya (November 2024)
- Days of Creation Walk (October 2024)
- United for people, climate and nature (September 2024)
- Caring for creation together (August 2024)
- 'Love Your Springfield' (July 2024)
- The Great Big Green Week (June 2024)
- 'How I see it' by Sue Potts (May 2024)
- Hanningfield Nature Reserve (April 2024)
- Reflections on the Eco Church journey from silver to gold (March 2024)
- Climate Change and Inhalers (February 2024)
- Prayers for the earth (January 2024)
- Why should Christmas cost the earth? (December 2023)
- Churches Count on Nature (November 2023)
- Environmental Footprint (October 2023)
- Toilet Twinning (September 2023)
- The Pre-School Garden (August 2023)
- Car sharing (July 2023)
- 'How I see it' by Sally Smith (June 2023)
- Going green with money (May 2023)
- Green Hearts (April 2023)
- Fairtrade Fortnight (March 2023)
- Love Your Chelmsford (February 2023)
- Green Living (January 2023)
- Focus on Christmas (December 2022)
- A Christian view of Climate Change (November 2022)
- 'How Green is our Lifestyle?' Questionnaire (October 2022)
- The Good Food Guide (September 2022)
- Enjoying Our Open Spaces (August 2022)
- Don't Step on a Bee Day 2022 (July 2022)
- Eco Church - by Sunday Special (June 2022)
- Cutting the Cost of Living (May 2022)
- Greening Our Gardens (April 2022)
- Saving Energy (March 2022)
- Fairtrade (February 2022)
- Review of 2021 (January 2022)
- Green Christmas (December 2021)
- 'Caring for Creation' Course (November 2021)
- Green Travel (October 2021)
- Green Energy (September 2021)
- Eco Schools (August 2021)
- Climate Action (July 2021)
- Caring for God's World (June 2021)
- Eco Homes (May 2021)
- Avoiding Plastic (April 2021)
- Connecting with Nature (March 2021)
- The Climate Emergency (February 2021)
- Introducing Eco Church (January 2021)