Go Green Committee
January 2008
Caring for the Earth is a biblical mandate and we have a moral obligation to take concrete steps to reduce, reuse, and recycle. The mission of the Go Green Committee is to educate and advocate for the environment. Current efforts include increasing energy efficiency in our building, stepping up recycling efforts, promoting environmental stewardship in church publications, and organizing special eco-friendly events for our congregation and the Sudbury community at large. For too long we have ignored the effects of wastefulness and inefficiency. This proposal outlines some of our immediate concerns.
REDUCE
Energy Audit
In order to save money and reduce our carbon footprint, we are working to increase our church building’s energy efficiency. An energy audit is the first step to assess how much energy we consume and to evaluate what measures we can take to make our building more energy efficient. We received the following email from Keyspan:
Thank you for your recent request for an energy analysis from the “Gas Efficiency Experts” program. The program offers incentives for a variety of improvements which can help your business save money and protect our environment. The energy analysis is an important first step towards that objective.
One of our “Efficiency Experts” will contact you within the next 30 days to arrange a time and date for the energy analysis. If you have any preferences or restrictions on when the visit can be made, please let us know at that time, so that we can accommodate your request.
To get the full benefit from the visit, it will be helpful if you can accompany our auditor during the visit as much as possible. It will also be helpful if you have a copy of a recent gas bill available. In preparation for the visit, please feel free to review the program information and incentive applications available on the website listed below.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the program at one of the contacts listed below. Please reference your Customer Number (071102) when contacting the program. We look forward to serving you.
“Gas Efficiency Experts”
Phone: (800) 843-3636
Fax: (401) 784-3710
Email: save@keyspanbusiness.com
Website: www.keyspansaves.com
REUSE
Dishwasher
We have traditionally used styrofoam food and beverage containers for the Coffee Hour and other special occasions. Although styrofoam is inexpensive, members of the congregation have questioned its use as a disposable product. Styrofoam contributes to landfill pileups (25% of America’s landfill waste by volume) and, unlike paper, stryofoam is not biodegradable or recyclable. It is also worth noting that although styrofoam is a good insulator, two of its ingredients, benzene and styrene, are toxic chemicals. According to OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), “The principal health effects due to styrene exposure involve the central nervous system. These effects include subjective complaints of headache, fatigue, dizziness, confusion, drowsiness, malaise, difficulty in concentrating, and a feeling of intoxication.” The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has also determined that styrene is a possible human carcinogen.
In light of this information, we need to explore other options. In the interim, we’ve decided to use up the styrofoam cups we have and then begin using disposable paper cups. The most sensible long-term choice is to purchase reusable ceramic mugs. Several members of our congregation have generously volunteered to buy the mugs. Unfortunately, the church doesn’t have a dishwasher in the kitchen. In order to accommodate functions of 80-200 people, we need a dishwasher that is efficient and fast. According to John Thies, our septic system would not be overloaded by the installation of a dishwasher; we believe a low-flow dishwasher is still preferable for the sake of water conservation.
Our research revealed that the best option for our church is the Jackson Avenger HT, a stainless steel industrial dishwasher that runs a two-minute automatic cycle and uses 1.1 gallons (4.2 liters) of water per rack. The Jackson Avenger HT uses regular dishwashing powder or liquid, so we do not expect it to present a problem for our septic system.
As you will see in the attached documentation, the Jackson Avenger HT is a commercial-strength machine of the highest quality and the cost is considerable. One Framingham distributor, KCR, quoted us $3,900.00 for the machine, which includes freight but not installation. We need to research the cost of installation. We also need two permits from the Sudbury Building Department – one for plumbing ($55) and one for wiring ($30).
The dishwasher is the key to solving our waste issues in the kitchen. It is absolutely the biggest “green” contribution we can make right now in the church. If we could find funding, this would be a major victory.
RECYCLE
Recycling bins
To preserve our natural resources, we must divert recyclable products (paper and mixed) from the wastebin. The only way to do that is to create a recycling system. The church’s only paper recycling bins are located in the office. Not surprisingly, church members who bring their bulletins downstairs after the service simply throw them in the trash because there are no recycling bins in the fellowship hall.
Our waste disposal company, Allied Waste, picks up recycling every Thursday - paper one week, mixed glass-plastic-aluminum the next week. Unfortunately, we have only been using the paper recycling service. All other recycling we've treated as trash. This is a habit worth changing.
We would like to purchase five clearly-marked upright indoor bins, for quick disposal after coffee hour. Slim Jim bins cost about $50 each, and we need three for the Fellowship Hall and two for the church office. Plus we need two lids, at $40 each. That’s $330 total. We can find the 23-gallon Slim Jim bins at stores like Staples and Office Depot, but we won't find lids. Click here.
We will need to write guidelines for the bins' usage in the Fellowship Hall. We need a system that is easily learned and implemented; mixed recycling (aluminum, plastic, glass) must be rinsed before being placed outside.
We should also return at least one outdoor trash bin and replace it with several open outdoor recycling bins (for pickup). Allied Waste offers these bins for $7.50 each. Gaiam Living offers a Recycling Cart that would be perfect for stacking the bins.
Here’s how the company describes its product:
No more sorting through headed-up piles of recycling in disintegrating cardboard boxes. The efficient, space-saving cart is rust-resistant and can be height-adjusted to have two or three tiers. The strong, tubular steel frame mounts on a wheeled base to make rolling to the curb easy. Three large-capacity plastic bins (sold separately) securely hang with sturdy metal hooks. Cart is 62""H x 19""W x 17 1/2 ""D. 9 lbs. Bins are 13""H x 23 1/2 ""W x 16""D. 2.5 lbs.
