THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST, PINETOWN

ST JOHN'S AND THE ENVIRONMENT

St John’s has a very passionate core of people who meet regularly to discuss local and current environmental problems, and who are working to have our parish registered as an eco-congregation.  Our leader, Revd Dr Andrew Warmback, encourages other Anglican churches in the Highway area to start their own groups, and we all meet at least 5 times a year.

In our church grounds we have an indigenous, waterless garden (right); all invader plants have been removed and indigenous trees planted to create a green lung in the business district where St John’s is situated.

Paper, glass and metal are collected at the Church to be recycled, and people are encouraged not to waste water and electricity.  People are encouraged to grow their own vegetables where possible, to use waste to make compost and to support local sources, thus creating employment.

The Environment and Ecology group has started a vegetable garden in the church grounds to demonstrate how a small area can be used to grow food.  The Sunday School children are encouraged to take part in this project.  Some of our produce has been given to our AIDS support group to distribute to the needy people they care for.

We have a notice board outside the church hall where we display articles and posters relating to various aspects of the environment, e.g. Arbour Day, the pollution of the oceans, global warming, conservation of electricity and water, eradication of invader vegetation, etc.

The St John’s Environmental Group is very keen to become an accredited Eco-congregation through SAFCEI in the near future. (See 'The Eco-congregation Programme' below)

The earth and its resources are a gift from God that each generation must  preserve and nurture for our children’s children and beyond.

The beautiful gardens at St John's provide a tranquil place to sit quietly, away from the hustle and bustle of the nearby business area. and a safe place for the children.

The Eco-Congregation Programme

SOUTH AFRICAN FAITH COMMUNITIES' ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE
People of faith working together for a sustainable world
"Faith communities committed to cherishing living earth"

What is an Eco-congregation?

An eco-congregation is a faith based community that has made a commitment to try to live more lightly on the earth.  We want to do this because:

• Our faith calls us to care deeply for one another and for our home, the planet.

• We depend on the limited resources of the world but we do not share them fairly and often waste or spoil them.

Eco-justice involves caring for the poor and using the resources of the natural world more responsibly, more sustainably.  Becoming an eco-congregation provides us with a framework to undertake transforming practical activities that can lead to a rejuvenated relationship with creation and the world around us.  Becoming an eco-congregation will provide many opportunities for us to express our faith in meaningful, transforming and joyous ways:

• Ministry and worship:  As people of faith we can foreground gratitude and care for God's world in all our celebrations and acts of worship.  we can do this through preaching, teaching, singing, praying and in small group study and ministry among children and young people.

• Management:  As people of faith, we are called to be responsible stewards of the world's resources.  Places of worship, community meeting spaces and our homes can become centres of good practice where we set an example to our neighbours.  We can turn good intentions into actions by doing things more thoughtfully, saving resources like water and energy and looking after what we have.

• Mission:  Future life on our planet is threatened by human activities.  We can live out our faith and lead the way to a sustainable future by becoming involved in community projects and networks and by lobbying and working for better environmental standards and practices both locally and globally.

How do we become an eco-congregation?

1. Set up a small working group of people who are prepared to co-ordinate the programme.  Get the agreement of the leaders of your congregation.

2. Register as an eco-congregation with SAFCEI and you will receive the Eco-congregation handbook and other resources.

3. Using the SAFCEI guidelines, assess the ecological footprint of your faith community.

4. Choose at least one 'greening' project in each of the 3 categories: Ministry, Management and Mission.

5. Keep a record of the congregation's activities.  After a period of time, which may be as long as a year, re-assess the ecological footprint, reflect on what has happened and plan what you can do next.

6. Report your progress and share your stories with SAFCEI and other eco-congregations.

7. Apply to SAFCEI for an eco-congregation award.

What's in it for us?

The opportunity for us to live out our faith by turning thoughts of a more sustainable world into reality through action.

(Taken from the publicity brochure issued by SAFCEI)

For more information and registration visit the website at www.safcei.org.za

Dot Saunders, the parish councilor for Ecology and the Environment, has applied to SAFCEI to register St John's as an eco-congregation.  We will be audited in due course.

SOME ECO-TIPS

Garden

Generate your own compost from grass cuttings and other plant material.  Best produced if the material is chopped up and placed above ground, the reason being that compost needs air and water to break down the material.  Producing  the compost above ground ensures there is no  smell and rodents will not be encouraged.  It will take 6 weeks before the compost is ready for processing.

The existing material must now be turned over (top to bottom) into the next pile.  Leave for another 4 – 6 weeks.

The material can now be sieved and used.  Stalk items and the like are kept to start the process again.

When planting vegetables, etc., the row must be flat and not conical.  The rain and dew runs off a cone, but filters down the flat top.  Earth worms make the piles of garden waste rich, help to speed up the decomposition process, and also aerate the soil.  They are not harmful to plants or bulbs, as they only eat decomposing material. 

Use all available space to grow vegetables, herbs and other plants.  If no open ground is available, plants (e.g. herbs) can be grown very successfully in almost any container with good soil and compost.

Domestic Waste

         REDUCE AND RECYCLE.

         Use separate, marked bins for paper/board, cans, glass, plastic, vegetable waste, etc., and sort the waste as it is collected.  It can then be sent to various collection sites for recycling – put the vegetable waste on your own compost heap!  On average, a family of 4 people generates 90-100 kg waste per month!

Electricity

1.      Use energy-saving light bulbs.

2.      Use solar energy for lighting pathways, etc.

3.      Encourage the use of gas for cooking.

4.      Set the geyser at 50 – 55 C.

5.      Remember to switch off lights when leaving a room.

6.      Do not let the fridge ice up – defrost regularly!!

7.      Switch appliances off when not in use – do not leave in standby mode as this uses the same amount of power.

Water

1.      Install rain water tanks to collect water for gardens, washing cars, etc.

2.      Check regularly for leaking taps.

3.      Use showers with low pressure roses.  Showers use 30% less water than a bath!

4.      Do not wash dishes under a running tap.

5.      Water the garden with a hose pipe rather than using sprinklers.  Water in the early morning or evening, as evaporation is reduced at these times, allowing watering only every second  day.

6.      Washing machines and dishwashers should be used only for a full load.  This saves electricity as well as water.

If we do not save water NOW, we face a crisis of “NO WATER” by 2020.  At present, South Africa is just below Egypt in the list of driest nations in the world!