Adrienne Hughes, Eco-champion at St Michael & All Angels, Flax Bourton, shares some of their Eco Church journey to Gold.
I’m sure you are aware that a successful journey relies on careful planning and the right footwear!
When the Flax Bourton Church Team started out on the journey to Eco Church Bronze back in 2022, we did a little planning but mainly wandered about in metaphorical flip-flops, letting a dandelion grow here and there, whilst sipping our Fairtrade coffee and dreaming of a greener church!
However, a few months later, with the Bronze award under our belt, we put our best foot forward (in our gardening boots) and started work in the churchyard. Lots of people helped us with this project so that today we have, amongst other things, a bodged bench, herb planters, crab-apple trees, hazel fence and climbing plants. We also added all sorts of homes and feeding places for a host of creatures. Biodiversity surveys indicate an increase in the number of species that can be found in our churchyard, which is great news.
Success with a Silver award in late 2023 inspired us to put on our running shoes and set bigger goals to achieve, such as spreading the word about the importance of creation care beyond the walls of our church. We continue to do this through worship events, eco-talks and community days such as Earth Day, as well as by fundraising to replace the fossil-fuel hungry gas boiler with far infrared heating on a green electricity tariff. We were delighted to celebrate our Gold Eco Church award with Bishop Michael at a ‘Golden Wassail’ earlier this year.
Speaking of running shoes, have you ever noticed how some people run almost on tiptoe? Their footprint on the Earth must be very small indeed. Perhaps this is something we could all learn from? Pop on our metaphorical running shoes and endeavour to tread more lightly on the Earth. If we all took one small step in that direction, it would soon add up to a giant stride. Perhaps you could switch to more ethical cleaning products, take the bus or put up a nest box?
To paraphrase one of my heroes, Dr Jane Goodall,
“We can all make a difference in the world, you just need to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”