Caring for the Environment

We are all aware of the challenges facing us as a planet. We hear often about climate change, and its effects. We are frequently challenged to modify our lifestyles in order to do our bit for the sake of the earth. And while we have noticed changes in our own climate: in rising temperatures, flooding and unseasonal weather; it is the poorest areas of the planet that are most dramatically affected by climate change. However, it is the richest parts of the world whose culture, lifestyle and spending power have helped accelerate those changes.

A Repair Cafe came to Silsden Methodist Church on June 17th 9.30am - 12.00

Working with Climate Action Silsden, there is a monthly Repair Cafe at the Church. Plastic Free Silsden Refill Shop is in the church building at the same time.

The first Repair Café was a great success!

There were lots of visitors and 29 items were brought in. 16 were repaired, advice was given on 7 items and 2 were taken home by volunteers to
repair and 4 could not be repaired. There were 17 volunteers plus Pam Taylor, William and myself who were running the cafe.
The items brought in were various and included ripped clothing & cushion covers, toaster, kids scooter, soda stream, clock, cassette player and lots of items to be sharpened
Sheila was delighted to have the brakes mended on her walking aid and is now safe out and about.

The Pop up Refill shop, having changed from Coffee and
Camaraderie Saturday were also busy and it fitted in well with the Repair Cafe

The café run by the church was busy with lots of teacakes and crumpets
consumed. Not everyone had brought in a repair and people had come from a wide area to see what it was all about

It was a lovely chatty atmosphere and new friendships were made.

The next Repair Cafe is November 18TH
Have you got something that needs repair? Or just pop along and see us.
Nearer the time it will be advertised on Facebook which volunteers will be there and the type of items they can look at repairing

repair cafe V2 (1).pdf

The church has been awarded

The Silver Eco Church Award

The Yorkshire West Methodist District Synod in September 2022 challenged churches to raise issues about climate justice by gaining an A Rocha Eco Church award.

Silsden Methodist Church is committed to caring for the environment and over the past few months has been working towards applying for an A Rocha Eco Award. This is an ecumenical scheme which assesses environmental performance across a number of areas of Church life -
Worship and Teaching, Building, Land and Gardens, Community, Lifestyle

Solar panels were installed in 2015 and recently a review of the savings has taken place.

The graphs below demonstrate the reductions in energy use we have achieved at Silsden since 2015.

The reduction in gas usage is mainly due to the fact we now switch off the boilers in the summer and use electricity to heat the water used in the kitchen and toilets. There was a slight reduction during the reduced activity during covid lockdowns, but we always thought it better to keep minimum heating in the building.

The reduction in electricity purchased is due to the installation of the solar panels in late 2015. You can see in each year we have generated more than was predicted with 2022 being the best year to date. Covid and its impact on activities in church has obviously affected usage in the last 3 years and 2022 has remained at the lower level probably because we have changed all the lighting to LED, and we are also being more aware of when items are switched on.

Financially the feed in tariff from the government plus the saving in electricity over the last 7 years will cover the cost of the investment of £17,000 in the solar panels. The feed in tariff continues for a further 13 years with a potential income of £20,000.
It is difficult to predict energy savings due to the current price volatility but difference in electricity cost pre solar and 2022 based on 2022 prices is approximately £3,500.

Recycling bins for Bras, Stamps, Knitting wool and candle wax
and a collection basket for
The Keighley Salvation Army Foodbank

Carbon Footprint
The average carbon footprint for a single person in the UK is 5.4 tonnes which includes energy use in the home, plus other areas such as travel by car and aeroplane, CO2e generated in the manufacture of the things we buy and the creation of the food we eat.

We have calculated the Carbon Footprint for the church energy, gas and electricity used at church for a year and it comes to 10.5 tonnes of CO2e. This may not seem large considering the size of the building and it’s use when compared to the individual’s average and it obviously reflects the reductions in energy use we have made in recent years.To counter this amount of CO2e it requires approximately 400 living trees so it still has an impact on global warming, so we need to do all we can to reduce it further.