This week’s green-living tip is to winter-proof your home, parish, or office, and our quotes come from the Episcopal Church’s delegation to the United Nations climate-change conference.
Think having a green corner in your parish newsletter or bulletin is a great idea, but don’t have time to research or write one? Episcopal Climate News is here to help! Every Monday, to help Christians live out our faith, ECN offers a free green-living tip and quote that your parish can copy/paste. Feel free to edit/shorten as your space requires. You can also share this week’s column on Facebook.
Living on God’s Earth
By Episcopal Climate News, facebook.com/EpiscopalClimateNews
This week’s earth-friendly living tip: Winter-proof your home or office
It’s December, and things are getting colder. As winter settles in, here are some tips to weather-proof your home or business and reduce your energy usage. (If you can cut back even just 15% on energy usage, that’s like saving 500 pounds of dirty coal each year!)
- Use low-watt bulbs outside: It’s getting darker outside, but choose the lowest possible watt bulbs. Just 9-13 watts for a CFL should do the trick. Adding a shield above the light will also help make things brighter while preventing light pollution!
- Plug leaks and insulate windows: Hold a lit incense stick near doors and windows to find leaks, then caulk them. Be sure to install weather stripping around doors and windows. (Even just putting down a blanket in front of the door can help a little!) Cover windows with plastic sheeting from the hardware store – or even just some clear wrap from your kitchen! You can also seal entry points for TV, phone, and water lines with expanding foam insulation.
- Turn down the thermostat: Consider lowering the thermostat to 67-69 degrees and wearing that wonderful sweater your aunt gave you last Christmas! If possible, installing a programmable thermostat can also help you lower the temperature even further for times you’re regularly not at home, or sound asleep.
- Use a non-toxic deicer: Some sidewalk deicers use toxic chemicals that aren’t good for God’s earth. Check the ingredients and consider using sand, clay, or kitty litter instead. Also remember that that snowblower uses fossil fuels, so ask the kids to shovel instead, if that’s an option.
Episcopal Climate News quotes of the week: The Episcopal Church at COP24
For the fourth year in a row, the Presiding Bishop has sent a delegation to the annual U.N. Climate Conference. This year’s conference is COP24, held in Katowice, Poland.
“Thinking and acting globally and locally is what we in The Episcopal Church are about. We are a global body doing climate and environmental work at the world and the local levels.” -the Rt. Rev. Marc Andrus, Bishop of California and delegation leader
“Our [climate change] actions in Katowice will strengthen a broader base of UN ministry that includes eradicating poverty through the Sustainable Development Goals, supporting migrants and refugees, defending indigenous peoples, and protecting rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” -Lynnaia Main, Episcopal Church Representative to the United Nations
“Following the Presiding Bishop’s call for life-giving, liberating, and loving care of creation, our witness at COP24 informs our ministry and helps us safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.” – Melanie Mullen, The Episcopal Church’s Director of Reconciliation, Justice, and Creation Care
Episcopal Climate News 
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