Our Eco Church group is a group of several people from Thaxted Parish Church congregation. It was formed in 2019, following the guidance and inspiration of the A Rocha UK Eco Church organisation. It aims to to raise the profile of climate change and sustainability issues within our church congregations and the wider community, linking faith to environmental issues and practical action.
The congregation of Thaxted Parish Church was delighted to be awarded the Eco Church Silver Award in January 2025. This reflects the many ways in which many members of the congregation have changed how things are done at the church to be more environmentally-friendly, since the Eco Church group was started in. These vary from the catering, flower arranging, churchyard management and energy use reduction to “Ringing out for Climate” events with our “Tree of Hope,” engaging with our wider community in support of personal lifestyle changes and worldwide issues.
A relatively simple and very low-cost insulation and LED project at Thaxted Church resulting in considerable reductions in energy usage, and people coming into church have noticed the difference and feel more comfortable.
The project has been executing as best we are able on the following timeline:
Route to Net Zero Carbon (Target 2030)
Short Term (within 12 months): Optimise background heating (e.g., experimenting with lowering the temperature to 12°C) and flush the central heating system. Switch to an electricity supplier with an eco tariff.
Medium Term: Install Solar Panels.
Long Term (before 2030): Replace the gas-fired heating system with Heat Pumps.
