Practical Actions for Churches

Energy use is one of the main contributors to the Church’s carbon footprint, along with the individual transport component for parishioners coming to church. The worldwide Anglican Consultative Council has urged all churches to, “assist transition to a carbon-neutral world by accepting, year on year, a five percent reduction in the carbon footprint of the churches.” As there is no specific calculator for churches in New Zealand, an estimate can be found by using the Household calculator on the carboNZero website. The carboNZero certification programme is an internationally recognised greenhouse gas footprint measurement and reduction scheme. This free Household calculator is intended for individuals to estimate their greenhouse gas emissions. It is important to note that it provides an estimate only and is not intended for organisations or businesses or to provide a certified carbon footprint. To use the calculator you will need to know your church’s total energy consumption for one year. You can find more information about analysing and managing your electricity consumption in the Resources section.

The Sustainability Newsbites page shares stories from churches around the Diocese who have analysed their electricity bills as part of a sustainability assessment of their church.