News

Church goes green

Blue Mountains Gazette 21 Oct 2009

Wilf Storm and Louis Maule
Making a difference: Parish warden Wilf Storm (Left) and environment educator Louis Maule at St Georges Winmalee.

Springwood-Winmalee Anglican Church (SWAC) will save 96,0000 litres of water each year when it installs rainwater tanks at two of its main buildings.

Harvested rainwater from two 3000 litre tanks will be used to flush toilets at the church's ministry centres in Springwood and Winmalee.

Energy saving lights will also be fitted at the Springwood Ministry Centre in Lawson Road to offset carbon emissions from the pumps.

Having made a submission to the NSW Government’s Public Facilities Program in April. The church has received confirmation it will receive a grant of $13,645 to cover the costs of the installations.

SWAC will also contribute $1000 to the project which will be up and running later in the year.

Church member and environmental educator. Louis Maule. wrote the submission with a young adults group that meets in his home, and said he is “very pleased” with the outcome.

“The earth and its resources are precious.” said Louis. “Christians, like all people, have a responsibility to treat the environment with respect and to maximise their efforts towards improving environmental quality.

“It’s very positive that our church can both have a direct role in resource conservation as well as be involved in raising community awareness about practical energy and water saving strategies.”

In the coming years SWAC will provide regular updates on the effectiveness of the installations to the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water. In addition the church will educate members of the community on the importance of conserving resources.