Eco Church Silver Award
We are delighted that St. George's has won the Eco Church Silver Award from A Rocha UK. See their website for more details: ecochurch.arocha.org.uk Air-to-Air Heat Pumps installed and working well
As a significant step on the way to 'Net Zero' we have installed air-to-air heat pumps in the church, and the old gas heaters are no longer in use, This significantly reduces the carbon footprint of the church, as well as being more efficient to run. In the cold weather at the start of the year the congregation remarked on how much warmer the church felt as well. Thanks go to the various people who donated towards this, to the Diocese of Coventry for part-funding, and to the Benefact Trust. The photo below shows one of the six heat pumps being installed near the altar. 
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Solar panel installation at St George’s Church, Rugby
We have installed 70 solar panels on the church roof in 2023, with help from the Warwickshire County Council 'Green Shoots' fund. These solar panels will generate up to 25MWh per year. The electricity generated will save over 6 tonnes of CO2 every year, protecting an area the size of 28 football pitches from global warming.
See report on the WCC website about this project:
www.warwickshire.gov.uk/news/article/2605/green-shoots-community-climate-change-fund-solar-panel-installation-at-st-george-s-church-rugby
We have installed 70 solar panels on the church roof in 2023, with help from the Warwickshire County Council 'Green Shoots' fund. These solar panels will generate up to 25MWh per year. The electricity generated will save over 6 tonnes of CO2 every year, protecting an area the size of 28 football pitches from global warming.
See report on the WCC website about this project:
www.warwickshire.gov.uk/news/article/2605/green-shoots-community-climate-change-fund-solar-panel-installation-at-st-george-s-church-rugby
Other Actions
St. George's Environment Group are continually investigating ways to help preserve the natural environment and to cut down on CO2 emissions. If you have any ideas as to how we could do more, please contact us
Other actions planned or in progress are:-
Changing our fluorescent lights to LED: We have nearly 100 fluorescent tubes in the church hall. Changing these to high efficiency LEDs should save around 0.3 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Reducing mowing and wildflower areas: We are leaving the grass to grow a bit longer, and as well as letting the wildflowers grow in the longer grass, we are seeding other areas with wildflowers.
Changing to a 'Green Energy' Supplier: We have changed our gas and energy supplier to 'Bulb' who provide 100% renewable electricity from solar, wind and hydro.
St. George's Environment Group are continually investigating ways to help preserve the natural environment and to cut down on CO2 emissions. If you have any ideas as to how we could do more, please contact us
Other actions planned or in progress are:-
Changing our fluorescent lights to LED: We have nearly 100 fluorescent tubes in the church hall. Changing these to high efficiency LEDs should save around 0.3 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Reducing mowing and wildflower areas: We are leaving the grass to grow a bit longer, and as well as letting the wildflowers grow in the longer grass, we are seeding other areas with wildflowers.
Changing to a 'Green Energy' Supplier: We have changed our gas and energy supplier to 'Bulb' who provide 100% renewable electricity from solar, wind and hydro.
How you can help reduce heating costs and CO2 emissions at the same time
Turn the heating off when you go out or go to bed - There is a myth that leaving the heating on overnight saves energy - it doesn’t! And if you are going out, turn the heating off to save energy too. And turn it off half an hour before going out or to bed as there will be enough heat in the building to keep you warm.
Keep doors closed - not just outside doors, but shut doors to rooms that you don’t use, and turn the heating off in those rooms.
Use a local heater - if you are only using one room (e.g. working from home in an office) then turn the rest of the heating off and just use a small heater in that one room, and keep the door shut.