Little steps add up at All Saints Hataitai too!
Contributed by the All Saints Hataitai Creation Care Team.
Inspired by the good story at Grace Vineyard for Eco Church NZ, we update y’all on how All Saints Hataitai is caring for the natural environment. God has placed us in a blessed place, and called us to be wise stewards, or kaitiaki, of it. We believe caring about our world is an integral part of following Jesus. Every day, we see and hear about how our actions are impacting the environment. At All Saints, we want to play our part and make meaningful and environmentally sustainable choices when it comes to the products we use and companies we support. We’re excited to let you know some of the steps we’ve taken recently, to be better stewards. Clergy, staff and ministry leaders have been working together to make exciting changes across our church – and we would love to share these with you.
Paper, Stationery and Operations:
All paper we purchase is now recycled or made from byproduct. We have an array of stationery items in the cupboards, and are being intentional about reusing and recycling the abundance of stationery items such as lever arch folders, file boxes, and post-it notes. Reusing existing supplies, and recycled paper means less trees are cut down, which is better for the nation's air quality, whenua, and wildlife habitats.
You now find the weekly news in your inbox, with one copy printed for the noticeboard. This saves approximately 10,000 sheets of paper per year.
Toilet Paper comes unwrapped and plastic free, and the company is carbon zero certified.
Paper towels come plastic free, and are PEFC certified.
Xero accounting software, banking processes and infoodle contacts database have reduced printing.
We are moving to rechargeable batteries to reduce the number of batteries that we put in landfill.
You will be emailed your tax certificate, with electronic signatures reducing precious time for our staff and also reduces printing.
We have a kaupapa of repair, over replacing where practical. We’re loving the makeover given to the tired leather club chairs in the gathering space.
Hospitality:
Tea is now Trade Aid teabags, which are organic and Fair Trade. This means tea producers are paid a fair wage, the land isn't contaminated by harmful chemicals, and workers are not exploited through the growing process. It also comes in compostable packaging.
Coffee and hot chocolate are from Common Good who are three times as good. $5/kg goes to community transformation in Kolkata, India through Joyya , they use only Fair Trade supply chains, and roast in our Diocese!
Wine at events is NZ grown, and produced by 27 seconds who give away 100% of the profits to help survivors of slavery through Hagar.
We are reducing waste as much as possible by re-using our coffee cups, tea cups, cutlery and crockery, rather than opting for disposables or recyclable packaging. Soft plastic, tetra packs and lids are taken offsite for recycling, and food waste is composted. We have significantly reduced what is going to landfill, with the blue bin often only half full.
Reducing the amount of rubbish going to landfills is a great thing because landfills aren't designed to breakdown products – and like we saw on the West Coast – even though rubbish may be buried, it is with us for life.
Southern Hospitality sell us Ecowise dish wash liquid and cleaning products in concentrate form, which significantly reduces packaging. The products are formulated and manufactured in New Zealand, safe and biodegradable.
We love our reusable communion cups, saving about 80 plastic cups a fortnight.
Our milk now comes in reusable glass bottles from happy cows in Eketahuna, saving the world three 2 litre bottles a week.
Candles are made by a local Wellington candle maker, under NZ employment conditions & they partner with the Whitford Brown Trust offering opportunities to people with disabilities.
Easter eggs are either NZ made or made using sustainable cocoa.
We are so pleased that these changes improve our stewardship of the environment and your generosity. 2021 costs for Photocopying, Consumables and Stationery were approximately $7,800 and only $6,900 in 2022. Sooo good!
Whilst we have a small impact on the environment individually, collectively things add up. There’s a lot of waste produced each week both at church and at home. Becoming more sustainable is something that we’re really passionate about and we are keen to see further changes in this area.
What else could parishioners do?
If you have a compost bin at home and need more brown, feel free to take some of our cardboard or paper waste home each week. We would be so grateful, and we would love to hear from you.
Keep your reusable cup on you, keep it in your car, ready for that spontaneous coffee stop.
Take reusable bags to the supermarket, refuse surplus packaging (plastic bags or bags in general).
Receipts printed on thermal paper go to landfill – so when asked for a receipt at the supermarket – you could say “no thank you”
Take a break from your busy-ness and watch this short video! created by one of the coolest 93-year olds (no, not Betty, Hazel, Avice or Allison this time). Sir David Attenborough gives a great overview of our beautiful planet, and some of the things we are doing that are destroying it. But there is hope - throughout history, humans have solved complex problems - and restoring our planet is one of our next big ones.
We’re keen to hear your thoughts if you’ve got any feedback for us, or would like to dive deeper into stewardship at All Saints – we’re all on this journey together.
Creation Care Team
admin@allsaints.org.nz
vicar@allsaints.co.nz
