Commitment to Sustainability

PVCC Environmental Stewardship

Hospitality Spirit Team Goes Green!

The Hospitality Spirit Team, under the leadership of long-time 'greenie' Monty Fuller is often serving using reusable tableware, and composting food scraps. Please support these efforts to become better stewards of the earth, and of the finances of Pine Valley Christian Church by reducing waste.

Several PVCC Church Family/Friends Promote Sustainability in the Wider Community

GREEN activists, energetic advocates of sustainability, at PVCC include (in alphabetical order):

• Frances Hurley, an early co-founder of the PRoKansas Miller Recycling Center in Wichita.
• Billie Knighton, currently promoting sustainability using her influence as a Kansas State legislator.
• Bonnie Johnson, representing the PVCC congregaton with the Kansas Interfaith Power and Light, the local component of the nation-wide Interfaith Power and Light (IPL) Campaign, working with congregations to put faith into action promoting energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.
• Terry McLachlan, a sustainability advocate when serving as a Kansas state legislator.
• Carolyn Marlier, a sustainability advocate for the city government in Belle Air.
• Joel Rutledge, operator of a curbside recycling service, Heartland Recycling.
• Maribeth Yarnell, a Green Building Specialist, accredited by the U.S. Green Building Council as a LEED® Green Associate and President / co-founder of KCAE: Kansans Concerned About Environment a grassroots information-sharing group, online at www.kcae.org

If you would like to be included in this stewardship/activist list, please send an email with your name and area of activity to the office, and request that the office manager forward to the webmaster/webscribe.

Growing A Green Church — Learning to Live Without Wasting Resources

EnergyStar for Congregations — The EPA supported website suggests that most congregations can cut energy costs by up to 30% by investing strategically in efficient equipment, facility upgrades and maintenance. The site provides information for improving the church facilities, and for individual efforts on the homefront.

The first web-based do-it-yourself energy-audit tool. http://hes.lbl.gov/ from the Lawrence Berkely National Laboratory

National Geographic’s Cool Home Energy Audit Tool
www.nationalgeographic.com/everyday/greenhouse/index.html

How can we live lightly on the Earth and save $$$ at the same time? Staff members at the Worldwatch Institute, a global environmental organization, share ideas on how to GO GREEN and SAVE GREEN at home and at work. www.worldwatch.org/

Energy Star website www.energystar.gov// ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] and the U.S. Department of Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.

For church, synagogue, mosque
Because a strategic approach to energy management can produce twice the savings — for the bottom line and the environment — as typical approaches, EPA’s ENERGY STAR partnership offers a proven energy management strategy that helps in measuring current energy performance, setting goals, tracking savings, and rewarding improvements.

For Homes:
Energy efficient choices can save families about a third on their energy bill with similar savings of greenhouse gas emissions, without sacrificing features, style or comfort. ENERGY STAR helps you make the energy efficient choice.

• If looking for new household appliances, look for ones that have earned the ENERGY STAR. They meet strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the EPA and US Department of Energy.
• If looking for a new home, look for one that has earned the ENERGY STAR.
• If looking to make larger improvements to your home, EPA offers tools and resources to help you plan and undertake projects to reduce your energy bills and improve home comfort.

Wanna Be a Cool Congregation?

Interfaith Power and Light sponsors Cool Congregations, online at coolcongregations.com, the Kansas component is Kansas IPL, and Bonnie Johnson is actively corresponding with this group.