Churches are a place of peace and harmony. You head toward one when you need peace of mind or when you need to recollect yourself. You go to church to reinvigorate your faith.
Churches should be concerned with love for the environment and nature. Churches should be encouraged to use natural products, to recycle and to make their processes environmentally friendly. Nature is the biggest gift from GOD, and churches can go a long way in adopting and promoting natural products and processes.
This world and its resources are at the brink of extinction. This current generation doesn’t enjoy the same environmental peace as its elders did. There is pollution everywhere and natural resources are being used at a much higher scale than they should be. So all this calls for adopting nature-friendly products and processes. Churches can adopt them and set an example to follow by others.
Churches should follow the philosophy that God gives grace to all life, and every life should show commitment to environmental conservation. peacemaking, wonder, justice, and gratitude. The churches should engage in promoting environmental education and action.
The basic principles for any church should be:
- Adopt environmentally friendly and non-toxic products and processes.
- Conserve natural and energy resources.
- Recycle, reduce and reuse products.
- Publish a full environmental policy on a website and post synopsis of this policy in the church.
- Promote environmental sustainability values in the community as a whole. Green business status should also be mentioned where possible.
Let’s take a look at what churches can do to adopt and promote natural products and processes.
Recycle, Reduce and Reuse:
- Recycling of corrugated, paper, glass, plastics, cans
- Providing recycling bins in all rooms.
- Encouraging washable items like kitchen dishes and towels.
- Providing education-related to being a zero-waste faith.
- Purchasing 100-percent recycled office paper and recycled paper towels and toilet paper.
- Where possible, promote natural lighting.
- Purchasing such products that have minimum packaging, reused paper and packaging or select reusable items.
- Adopting solar energy and trying to get energy for the church through solar-powered generators.
- Use of LED lights, Energy Star appliances, and low-mercury based products.
- Acquire and donate used items, such as furniture.
- For craft projects, use sustainable and reused materials.
- Composting food-related wastes.
- Keep lights and heating equipment off when a certain room is not in use.
- Employing low water vegetation, sink aerators and low-flow toilets.
- Using refillable and remanufactured toner cartridges as much as possible.
Promoting a Nontoxic Community:
- Use cleaning products, hand soaps and dish detergents that are non-toxic.
- When a comparable choice is available, go for metal, paper or glass products instead of plastics.
- When there is no choice except plastic, then look for recycled, recyclable or biodegradable plastics.
- Purchase non-polystyrene, nonaerosol, non foam, no-BPA, nonPVC, lead-free, paraben-free products. Also, try to educate on this topic.
- Using compostable bags if they are affordable.
- Using low or no VOC paint, nontoxic carpets, and other nontoxic products for building improvements and maintenances.
- Use recyclable electronics, batteries, monitors, fluorescent bulbs, etc. Also, look for such materials that do not generate hazardous waste.
- Using and emphasizing the use of non-toxic craft materials, furniture, and building improvements and other products in such areas that are used for activities by youth and children.
- Use non chlorine-bleached paper products, recycled products.
- Try to use such candles that have natural fragrance instead of candles that contain paraben and lead. Also look for fragrance-free or natural fragrance soaps, personal products, and air fresheners. All of this can reduce air toxicity.
Sustainable Environment Connection and Responsibility:
- Incorporating importance for life toward Earth into religious education for children and adults.
- Encouraging the use of natural and local products and food items.
- Trying to create a habit of using vegetables.
- Promoting the use of alternatives to fossil fuels like cycling, walking, solar energy and carpooling.
Social and environmental responsibility is required of everyone. However, churches can perform an important role in adopting environmentally friendly natural products and processes and also promote such things in the community. They are the center of peace and can encourage good practices in society.
