First Presbyterian Church strongly believes that the earth is God's gift to us and that we are called to be stewards of it. This means making good decisions about how we use our building, what we eat and where we buy our products. We want to use this space to tell you a bit about what we are doing so you can benefit from what we've learned.
Energy Conservation
Last fall, three of our church leaders attended a training sponsored by Massachusetts Interfaith Power and Light. The STEM training (Savings through Energy Management) is an energy management program designed specifically for faith communities that examines all aspects of energy use: heating, lighting, water, ventilation, controls and the building envelope.
As a result of the training, we were able to develop a report about our building's energy use, which led us to implement the following immediate changes: replaced all church lighting with energy efficient CFL bulbs, improved building insulation where possible especially around windows and doors, lowered the temperature on our water heater, and reprogrammed our thermostats to save heat. We also made significant efforts to educate our membership and our rental groups about the importance of energy conservation and our new energy-efficient policies. We created signs around our building reminding building users of energy saving practices such as turning off lights, leaving heat at a reasonable level, leaving fans on to circulate heat, leaving interior doors open based on heating patterns and making sure exterior doors are closed tight in winter. We've even had childrens' sermons on how to recognize a CFL.
We are currently considering longer term and more significant energy conservation projects such as re-zoning our heating to make it more efficient.
Gardening
We recognize that food and soil are very important parts of our eco-system and the health of our communities. So last year we implemented phase one of the Eco-Garden initiative. We installed 2 "almost-organic" garden boxes (with the help of eco-adventure campers from Camp Wilmot) to grow herbs and native plants. This year we've expanded our project with the addition of 3 more double sized boxes growing leafy greens, peppers, tomatoes, herbs and flowers.
Our boxes, along with a backyard garden completely installed and managed by Day Center volunteers and guests, will help educate many in Waltham's diverse community about the importance of organic, local farming as well as provide much-needed fresh produce for many of those connected to our building. The boxes are watered by rain barrells installed in the front of our building.
In addition to our garden project, we, in partnership with the Waltham Ministerial Association and Waltham Fields Community Farms, are participating in a Food and Faith Forum, a six week series designed to create local, ecumenical dialog about the connection between our food culture and our faith. Our garden produce will part of that initiative.
Shopping
We've changed many of our procedures at FPC to reflect our concern for the environment. We've made it a policy to buy local food products unless the cost is prohibitive. We use exclusively Equal Exchange Coffee Products for both our church and our coffeehouse. And, for the times when we are unable to use reusable cups and dishes, we have begun buying all the church's disposables from EcoProducts.com which sells sustainably produced, biodegradable plates, cups, napkins and forks.
These are just a few of the things we are doing as part of our commitment to eco-stewardship. If you have thoughts, questions or ideas, please don't hesitate to email us at churchlife(at)fpcwaltham.org.