Faith Based Creation Care Links
Lutherans Restoring Creation (LRC)
The E.L.C.A. Social Statement on Caring for Creation
What's your congregation's carbon footprint? Visit www.coolcongregations.com to find out.
Creation Care
Stewardship of the Earth
What we have done at Our Redeemer
Creation Care Links
- Click on the link above to watch a presentation about how "stuff" is made, bought and disposed of. This video explores how it impacts the environment and our lives as well as the lives of others. The "Story of Stuff" exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.
- Click on the links above to find information about Global Warming at what you can do about it.
Stewardship
of Creation Booklet
- Part of our Stewardship of Creation here at church
Here at church, we want to make sure that we don't just "talk the talk" - and we want to let you know ways that Our Redeemer "walks the walk."
Our largest and most beneficial project was installing photovoltaic panels to one side of our roof and slate looking tiles made from recycled tires on the other. See article below.
Energy efficient lighting has been installed throughout the building.
An exhaust fan was installed in the attic in the fall of 2008. The fan will automatically draw in cooler, outside air when the attic temperature gets hot. This will lower our summer electricity usage.
We use washable coffee cups during fellowship time (rather than Styrofoam or paper cups).
We have programable thermostates in our building which allows us to create a different program for each day of the week which inables us to have the heat or air conditioners on only when the building or sanctuary is in use.
We collect and recycle used cell phones and ink cartridges to be mailed out to a recycling center.
Of course we recycle glass, cans, and paper throughout the church.
Throughout Lent, rather than purchase flower arrangements, we purchase plant arrangements. The reason is two fold: Flowers are dying, and many are not grown in an environmentally responsible way. Plants are living, and provide the added benefit of purifying the air around us.
On Palm Sunday we purchase eco-palms which are harvested in a sustainable way. More of the money paid for these palms directly benefit the people that harvest them.We continue to explore ways here at church that we can be better stewards of the earth God entrusted us with. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please let us know.
News article from the Schenectady Daily Gazette
Scotia church goes solar to save
State's incentive program pays most of $94K cost
Saturday, January 9, 2010
By Michael Lamendola
Gazette Reporter
|
SCOTIA - Parishioners of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church
in Scotia have found new meaning in the phrase "Let there be
light" - savings.
The congregation is installing a photovoltaic system on the church's roof that is expected to save $2,400 annually in electricity costs. Parishioners tapped into a state green energy rebate program and used a memorial gift to cover the cost of the $94,000 installation. Pastor Dennis Meyer said the system will supply electricity to the church for the next 25 years. "When the sun shines, we will put electricity into the grid and we will draw from the grid at night," he said. The process is called net metering, said Eliot Goodwin of groSolar, which is installing the system for the church. "It is a dollar-for-dollar credit you build during the day. Anyone with a meter can do it." Meyer said the church knows how much electricity it uses annually and so can make comparisons. "When we are making electricity and not using it, the meter runs backward. When we need electricity, we will draw from that grid. At end of year we hope we sent in as much as we drew in." The church will still have to pay a delivery charge. GroSolar is a certified installer through the New York State Energy Research and Development Agency. NYSERDA provides cash incentives through certified installers to individuals, businesses and organizations that install new solar electric or photovoltaic systems. Incentives are through the state's Solar Electric Incentive Program. The program offered $13.8 million in incentives in 2009. "The state pays for two-thirds of the cost of the installation and nonprofits pay the remaining one-third," Goodwin said. He said more nonprofits are taking advantage of the state program in a time of decreasing revenues. "They see it as a way to stabilize tight budgets." For businesses and individuals, the state program pays about 40 percent of the installation cost, but they are also eligible for state and federal tax breaks, which cover about two-thirds of the cost. The state program has been around five years, but has become more popular in recent years as the cost of solar panels and other equipment has dropped by about 40 percent in that time. Meyer said the church obtained a $74,000 grant from NYSERDA and used a $20,000 bequest from the family of Harold and Ruth Walther, long-time members of the church, for the project. "The family supports the use of the bequest in this manner," he said. The church expects to recoup its investment within eight years and also expects to play a role in helping the environment, he said. The system is scheduled to go on line in a couple of months. "Once completed, it will offset 315 tons of carbon pollution over 25 years, which is the equivalent of planting 38 acres of trees," Meyer said. |
Photographer: Peter Barber
Gro Solar worker Peter Hawkins, installs solar panels on the roof of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church on Thursday.
