Greening Sacred Spaces
Frequently Asked Questions
This FAQ provides answers to many of the questions we’ve received about our Greening Sacred Spaces program.
- What is “Greening Sacred Spaces?”
- How do I set up an environmental group in my faith community?
- What are some things my Green/Environmental Group can do?
- How can I communicate with the rest of our faith community about our Green/Environmental projects?
- Can I get any funding to help my faith community become more energy efficient and/or environmentally-friendly?
- What will the energy audit cover?
What is “Greening Sacred Spaces?
Greening Sacred Spaces (GSS) Waterloo Region is a project of Faith and the Common Good & the Residential Energy Efficiency Project (REEP). GSS helps Waterloo Region faith communities to make their buildings more energy efficient and educate members to be more environmentally aware.
Contacts:
www.faith-commongood.net and/or www.reepwaterlooregion.ca
Tel: 519-747-5139
Email: jsnyder@faith-commongood.net
How do I set up an environmental group in my faith community?
- How to get started:
- Invitation/letter/notice in bulletin or newsletter
- Setting up an initial meeting
- Who to invite:
- Faith leaders
- Facilities/property committee
- Faith teachers & children
- Motivated, keen people!
- How often to meet:
- Monthly?
- Quarterly?
- On an as-needed basis?
- How to keep up communication with your green group members:
- Regular meetings
- Email/telephone
- Other?
Other things to consider:
- Will your green group be an approved committee, or an ad-hoc group?
- Do you need approval to launch projects? Whose approval?
- What types of projects do you want to do?
What are some things my Green/Environmental Group can do?
- a) Reflection
- Incorporate concerns for creation in faith practices and worship
- Prayers for restoring the earth and preventing degradation (ie Climate Change)
- Music to celebrate the earth and inspire individuals to action
- Meditation, sermon, or discussion during worship to reflect on the earth
- b) Education
- Invite your members to walk, bike or use public transportation to your place of worship
- Place announcements for environmentally-related events in your bulletin or newsletter and invite others to join you
- Encourage the use of reusable cups/plates/etc. at social gatherings
- Organize environmentally-themed movie nights or other discussion nights
- Invite speakers to speak on environmentally-related topics (water conservation, alternative transportation, recycling, composting, eating locally-grown food)
- Information table/display/bulletin board or web-page at your place of worship
- Organize around seasonal events. Spring or fall could see a launch of a transportation challenge: challenge members of your community to walk/bike/carpool/take public transportation to your place of worship for a week/month/season
- Read environmentally-related books to children (or adults!) at story circles, or in religious education (for example, Dr. Suess’ book The Lorax)
- c) Action
- Deliver educational workshops, events, liturgies to introduce eco-spiritual issues
- Greening Sacred Spaces workshop
- Other workshops include: Green Rule workshop available through Faith & the Common Good website
- Find 20-25 participants for the GSS Energy Action Planner (see www.faith-commongood.net)
- Join or work with other environmental organizations
- Sell compact florescent lights or other green products
- Get government and corporations to become more green through:
- letter writing or petitions
- submit news articles, opinion pieces or write to the editor
- Start a composting and/or recycling program
- Develop long-term strategies such as environmental/energy audits, retrofits, renovations, adopting green policies, and green investment
- Make your faith community an idle-free zone; ask people to turn off their car if they are waiting more than 10 seconds
- Organize around seasonal events: eg. spring or fall could see a launch of a composting project, installation of bike racks; summer could see installation of curtains/blinds to keep your building cool
- Develop an eco-buying collective with other faith communities (for example, the Greening Sacred Spaces Ottawa project has incorporated a business called Ecological Distributors to buy from wholesalers)
- d) Greening your Sacred Space
Please see the Faith and the Common Good website for inspiring Greening Sacred Spaces projects!- Discuss the GSS program and its benefits with your property committee, board, interested volunteers
- Get an audit and/or building inspection (call the Residential Energy Efficiency Project at 519-744-6583)
- Establish and prioritize your building’s needs - determine weaknesses
- Develop a budget, understand payback of green investments
- Research and secure funding sources
- Establish providers for technical equipment and services
- Set timelines and goals and develop a system for tracking your savings
- Announce and celebrate each success
How can I communicate with the rest of our faith community about our Green/Environmental projects?
Communicating your message within your faith community
- Newsletters
- Bulletin/order of service/etc.
- In-person announcements
- Meetings/workshops
- Person-to-person/Word of mouth
- Your website or bulletin board
Can I get any funding to help my faith community become more energy efficient and/or environmentally-friendly?
Greening Sacred Spaces Waterloo Region Funding Possibilities: Please note that there are a limited number of grants available for faith communities in Waterloo Region, and grants will be awarded on a first-come, first-served bases. Call or email Jane Snyder at 519-747-5139, jsnyder@faith-commongood.net to discuss funding possibilities!
1) Host environmental activities at your place of worship, or your worshipers' homes ($200 grant), such as:
- start an environmental committee
- hold an environmental event (eg. educational event, environmental movie, etc.)
- encourage your parish members to 'green' their own homes (eg. have worshipers sign up for a REEP home audit, switch the lighting in their house to compact florescent lights, complete a 'Nature Challenge', etc.)
2) Have an energy audit done of your faith community's building (grants of up to $1,500 to subsidize the cost of an energy audit).
The price of a REEP audit is between $2,500 to $3,000, depending on the size of your facility. Faith Communities receiving a grant towards an energy audit are required to perform double the amount of the grant in energy retrofits.
For example, if you receive a grant for $1,000, your faith community would commit themselves to spending $2,000 on retrofits to your building, which can include the balance of the audit. If the cost of the audit is $2,500, and you receive a $1,000 grant, your faith community would contribute $1,500 for the audit, and a further $500 in actual retrofits.
Please note that in order to ensure that as many faith organizations as possible are able to participate in this program, organizations can only access one of these subsidies for any given audit.
What will the energy audit cover?
Computer modeling of your building’s heat loss and the energy used by the heating and cooling systems forms the basis of the detailed Greening Sacred Spaces Energy Audit. Comprehensive electricity and water audits are also performed to identify potential savings.
If you have any questions about the program please contact Jane Snyder, the program’s coordinator at 519-747-5139, or Julian van Mossel at the REEP office at 519-744-9799.