I like to finish the week on a lighter note. After all, when you spend your working week alternately chasing sheep AND trying to think up new ways to save energy (and therefore the planet) you need a break sometimes!
So this piece I came across earlier this week and initially it made me chuckle, then the more I thought about it the more it made me think...
Here's the essence. Energy Star have a new rating... for Churches. Now the opportunity for puns is almost limitless here, and a quick search on Google finds that most have already been pinched!

This seems to have created a stir in the blogosphere and has generated lots of articles with headlines such as 'Oh my Green God' etc, you get the picture.
Anyway the Energy Star Congregations rating means that Churches have to measure carbon footprints, reduce energy usage and investigate alternate energy sources.

All this is quite amusing until you read on..

By improving energy usage at the 300,000+ U.S. places of worship by 10 percent each, a total of 2 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions could saved each year. This equates to 5.4 Billion Kwh of electricity..

Doing this would make nearly $200 million available annually for other worthy projects.  Amazing stuff eh?

This leads me to thinking that we have still only scratched the surface of energy (and therefore carbon) reduction. Churches are simply a great example of how we need to integrate energy saving into every aspect of our lives, not just business and home.

So this weekend, if you happen to mosey on down to your Church/Mosque/other place of worship of choice, give the boss there a nudge and tell him or her to log onto: ENERGY STAR for Congregation , and turn off that computer in the vicarage!

Amen! (sorry couldn't resist that one)

Have a great weekend

Phil Wilcock

Read the complete post at http://www.1e.com/1EBlogs/post/2009/09/04/Energy-Star-for-Churches.aspx