Our planet has limited resources, which is why St Mary's Church, Whitkirk is on a mission to reduce its impact on the environment as much as possible, including in our Community Centre. Here are some of the things we're doing:
Renewable electricity
All the electricity we use in our Community Centre comes from renewable sources, meaning we’re not burning fossil fuels to keep the lights on. We even have our own solar panels and batteries, which generate power for use on-site.
In the last week, our solar panels have generated 11.93kWh of electricity. That's enough to take over 10 ten-minute showers.
Turn the lights down low
All of the lighting in our Community Centre is low-energy LED, which helps keep our energy usage down. All of our low-traffic areas have motion-sensing lights as well, so no more forgetting to switch them off.
Keeping it under wraps
Improved insulation in our latest refurbishment keeps down heating costs during the winter months and reduces noise pollution for our neighbours.
We also make sure our heating is automatically switched off when the building isn’t in use.
Recycling at Whitkirk
Where we can’t reduce what we use in the first place, or re-use it as something else, it’s important to recycle materials so that the energy used in their creation can be at least partly reclaimed.
We collect and recycle all our paper, card, glass, plastics and cans, and encourage users of the Community Centre to do the same.
Green bottoms
All our toilet paper is made from 100% recycled material, so going to the bathroom in our Community Centre doesn’t mean more trees will be felled as a result.
Cycle friendly
We support active transport, and have bike parking available outside our Community Centre for those who prefer to cycle.
At the bar
Our bar operates a green buying policy – we actively look for more easily recycled packaging options, and try to keep our deliveries to a minimum. We recycle as much of our packaging as possible, and no longer give out straws (of any kind) except by request.