St Peter’s Church, Lodsworth

St Mary’s Church, Easebourne

St James’ Church, Selham

‘in FAITH we FOLLOW + in HOPE we LIVE + in LOVE we SERVE’

Eco Church - Net Zero Carbon 2030

For the Church of England, being ‘Net Zero Carbon 2030’ means that the carbon emissions of our buildings and travel will be reduced to less than 10% of our baseline levels. The remaining emissions will be offset in verified schemes that reduce carbon. That means overall, our buildings and travel will not contribute to rising carbon emissions: their contribution will be ‘net zero’. Responding to the climate crisis is an essential part of our responsibility to safeguard God’s creation and achieve a just world. The short animated video on the right highlights many of the steps that churches can take to achieve ‘Net Zero Carbon 2030’.

The Priory Churches journey towards Net Zero Carbon

    Actions completed so far (updated July 2025):

• Energy Footprint Tool completed for all Priory Churches; St Mary’s 8.4 tonnes gross of CO2 produced, 87% of emissions from gas
• Creation of Priory Churches Net Zero Carbon forum with first meeting in Oct 24
• Reduce boiler burn at St Mary’s by 20% a week and maximum temperature reduced to 18⁰c
• Attend Portsmouth Cathedral Net Zero Carbon conference (18 January 2025)
• Replace lightbulbs with LEDs: completed at St James’ Selham and St Mary’s Easebourne
• Energy champion to monitor bills and ensure switch off of equipment when not in use.
• At St Mary’s, reduce use of east door, encourage use of main north door to reduce heat loss and draughts
• Net Zero information on the weekly church bulletin
• Arrange Energy Audit for St Mary’s - completed 25 Feb 25 and report issued May 25

A Rocha UK’s Eco Church scheme has made significant progress in encouraging local churches to care for creation as a core tenet of faith and to integrate this across every aspect of church life. It has played a significant role in enabling congregations across all denominations to embrace the responsibility of creation care and to see it as an expression of love for God and others, including the natural world.

A Rocha UK’s approach to Eco Church is one of facilitating the movement, encouraging a learning community, and ensuring that the programme behind it is dynamic, continuously developing to keep up with the science and options for action.

You can find out more from their website: https://arocha.org.uk

Climate Change - the facts - Sir David Attenborough

BBC documentary

ECO CHURCH TIPS

FOR THE PRIORY CHURCHES BULLETIN

April 2026

05-04-26

New life – get growing!

Celebrate new life this Easter and have a go at growing something! April is the perfect time to try to grow something edible or, if you are a seasoned gardener, to encourage someone else to try. Salad leaves or herbs are a great place to start and will reduce your reliance on those oh-so-convenient supermarket salad bags. For indoor space, try ‘micro-greens’ (vegetable leaves harvested soon after they open) For greenhouses, try sowing salad leaf seed mixes. For outdoors, beetroot, lettuce, onion and pea plants are frost-resistant so can all be planted outside in April. As you sow, thank God for the opportunity to grow food, and pray for those communities that are facing food shortages and famine.

12-04-26

Turn off the tap

Turn off the tap while you brush your teeth - if you brush your teeth for the recommended two minutes twice a day, you’ll be using approximately three gallons (12 litres) of water. So turning off the tap in between rinsing is a small change that’ll have a big effect! This simple habit, when done twice daily, prevents wasting roughly 240 gallons per person per month. It is an effective, easy way to conserve water, saving enough daily to supply millions of people. 

19-04-26

Earth Day

On April 22 it’s ‘Earth Day’ when we are encouraged to lift our voices, take action and show our love for Planet Earth. When we stand together, our planet has a future. Each year, Earth Day highlights a global theme, often focusing on areas such as renewable energy, biodiversity or environmental justice. Find out more here: www.earthday.org

26-04-26

Save Meat for Weekends

Dropping meat from your diet altogether can be a daunting and unrealistic change. An easy way to start is by saving meat for weekends and eating plant-rich meals during the week. You don’t have to give up your favourites, just have them less often. In the bigger picture, for the same amount of protein, beef produces 25 times more greenhouse gas emissions than tofu and 50 times more than beans. Read more here: www.nhm.ac.uk/take-part/find-your-climate-action/eat-plant-based-on-weekdays-and-save-meat-for-weekends.html

Net Zero Carbon

Phil Stringer, chairman of The Priory Churches’ Net Zero Carbon Committee, reports that St Mary’s Church has received accreditation for the Eco Church Bronze Award in March this year - well done!