ECO-CHURCH
ECO-CHURCH GROUP
Part of our vision is to serve God in His world – and we think that stewarding the planet well is a key part of that.
The church buildings are carbon neutral and we have an Eco-Church Group who lead on the changes we need to make to live sustainably as individuals and as a church family.
St Oswald’s has been awarded a Gold A Rocha Eco-Church award which equips us to express our care for God’s world through:
- our worship and teaching;
- making our church buildings eco-friendly;
- our care for our local environment and wildlife;
- our participation in local, national and global campaigns;
- and in our encouragement of church members to live greener lives.
Click on the buttons to see the documentation submitted to A Rocha.
Nature Trail
There is now a self-guided nature trail around the church grounds. It is aimed primarily at families but we hope that it will be of interest to anyone.
Forthcoming Events
Thursday 12 November at 7.00pm
Spinning – ‘Thinking Thursdays’ event at Rugby Eco-Hub, 43 Clifton Road, Rugby CV21 3QE.
Come along and be fascinated by Chris Pegler talking about spinning yarns, the benefits of wool and other natural fibres as well as spinning recycled plastic and much more.
Admission free. £2 donation requested to help cover costs.
Saturday 14 November
Litter pick. Our next litter pick will start from St Oswald’s Church on Saturday 22 November. All equipment will be provided but please bring gloves. All welcome – under 18’s must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Time will be confirmed shortly.
Please contact Gordon Banks or Malcolm Wright for further details.
Coming Soon
St Oswald’s Repair Cafe. We are planning to open a new Repair Cafe in the Church Lounge shortly. This will complement the existing Repair Cafe held at Rugby Eco-Hub on the first and third Saturday of each month. Details to follow shortly.
Food Waste Collections
Rugby Borough Council now collects food waste separately from recycling (blue bin) and general waste (black bin) weekly in a smaller, green bin.
The separate collection of food waste allows it to be processed through anaerobic digestion rather than standard composting. This produces renewable gas for the UK energy network.
Collecting food waste separately also helps to reduce landfull. Nationally, about 40% of the weight of an average black bin consists og food waste, so diverting it significantly reduces both landfill use and pollution.
Concerned about smells or mess? You can line your caddy with a plastic bin liner. The liners are removed and recycled during processing so they do not interfere with the system. The outdoor caddies are lockable and designed to prevent access by animals, while keeping lids closed also prevents insects from getting in.
Towards a carbon zero church
We have installed an air-air heat exchange scheme to replace our old gas heating system. The new heat pumps will save about the same amount of CO2 per year as 320 mature trees can absorb.
Future plans include:
- Fitting solar panels on our south roof. These should generate 21,000kWhr per annum making us a net energy generator
- Adding roof insulation to minimise heat loss
- Double glazing most of our windows
Our care for creation also includes:
- Regular prayer and worship for God’s creation and our stewardship of the Earth
- We are a Fair Trade Church and use eco-friendly products whenever possible
- Encouraging re-use, recycling, repair and refurbishing in all aspects of our church and community life
- Supporting local flora and fauna through bird and hedgehog boxes, butterfly and bee feeding stations and planting bee-friendly plants
- Engaging all ages of the church community in prayer walks, cycle rides and litter picks
- Encouraging engagement with nature through participation in initiatives such as the Great British Garden Bird Watch and the Big Butterfly Count
- Working with other churches and local environmental groups to promote our care for God’s creation.
Our responsibility for the earth
We are stewards of the God’s earth and are called upon to protect our planet. Human activities have led to dangerous climate change, pollution, damage to the environment and biodiversity.
Our responsibility to protect the earth is included in our worship and prayer lives, including in special services such as at harvest each year and our all-age service focusing on ‘Caring for God’s Creation’ on 7 July 2024.
Appropriately, our 2024 harvest service was our first carbon-neutral service with heating supplied by our new heat exchanger system – you can watch this service via the link on the left.
One way to learn more about how we can take practical steps to protect creation is through ‘Wild Christian’. This provides opportunities for individuals and families to enjoy and learn about nature together, take practical action at home and in their local areas, and join with other voices for national impact.
The programme offers opportunities to connect with others passionate about caring for creation. Their events and regular emails will help you explore some of the critical challenges around climate and biodiversity.
Caring for God’s Creation
The 8th Rugby Brownies assembled hedgehog boxes which are now in the church grounds
Our Bug Hotel is now ready for its mini-beast guests
The bug hotel is now welcoming its spring guests. To make it more comfy, please feel free to add twigs, tree bark, pine cones, straw to the ‘hotel’ – no need to ask. Our mini-beasts will be most grateful.
Learn more about building your own bug hotel with this helpful guide from the Woodland Trust.
Bird Feeding Station
Our Coffee Break group have set up a bird feeding station in the Church Centre garden.
Butterfly and Bee Drinking Station
Why not set up a drinking station for butterflies and bees during the summer? They are very simple to create and will be attract lots of bees and butterflies. Instructions for one design are available here.
What Can I Do?
Are you and your family living an eco-friendly lifestyle?
We encourage church members to take the Creation Care household audit – find out where your household is on their eco-journey and get ideas for next steps towards living greener.
Click on the short video on the left for a brief introduction to the Creation Care scheme and how you can use it to take the next steps to taking better care of God’s creation.
What can I recycle?
For those living in Rugby, carrier bags, biscuit and sweet wrappers, crisp packets, bubble wrap and plastic sleeves and films can now be put in household blue recycling bins (due to improved facilities at the Sherbourne recycling centre)
It’s not always obvious what can be recycled. This guide explains how to recycle many different items including paper, mobile phones, plastic, metal, electrical equipment, printer cartridges and much more.
Do you have old candles? They can now be recycling by taking them to St Andrew’s Church, Rugby.
Specific information on recycling in Rugby may be found here.
Reducing What We Buy – Use the Library of Things
Library of Things loans out items to members of its local community, promoting a sharing economy. These items can be anything and generally include DIY tools, garden machinery, kitchen appliances and generally useful household items.
The benefits of borrowing items from a Library of Things rather than owning them are multiple:
- saves on storage
- it’s much cheaper than buying the item new
- each item gets a full life of use
- it reduces manufacturing and material usage
- it reduces waste and carbon emissions.
There is a Library of Things within the Rugby Eco-Hub. Here you can borrow items that you might otherwise buy and only use a few times. For more information visit the Rugby Eco-Hub website. Open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10am to 4pm.
Reducing Packaging
Rugby Unwrapped, based at Rugby Eco-Hub, 43 Clifton Road, Rugby CV21 3QE (entrance on Bath Street) stock cleaning products, toiletaries and food items. Bring your own empty containers to be refilled. Open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10am to 4pm.
Follow this link for some further steps you can take to reduce your carbon footprint (and hopefully save some money too):
Litter Picking
Video of town-wide litter pick – 12 July 2025
16 March 2024 Lent Litter Pick video
Caring for God’s Creation Locally
Join us as we work to highlight issues of litter in our local community. Our next litter pick will be on Saturday 14 November – please see above for details.
- Help to keep our community clean and litter-free. We organise regular litter-picks in the area around the church – watch the videos from our 12 July 2025 town-wide and 16 March 2024 Lent Litter Picks by Peter Warren (left).
- Download the Keep Britain Tidy ‘Beginner’s Guide To Litter Picking‘ for suggestions on how you can safely arrange your own litter pick.
- If we all pick up one piece of litter whenever we go to the shops or to church we will have a significant impact on litter in our local area. Advice from Rugby Borough Council on safely collecting litter is available here
- Report any large items of rubbish for collection by the council here. Please note that you will require a Rugby Borough Council online account – it is easy to sign up her
Did you know…
- More than 2 million pieces of litter are dropped in the UK every day
- Almost 48% of people admit to dropping litter.
- The amount of litter dropped each year in the UK has increased by 500% since the 1960s.
- 7 out of every 10 items of discarded litter is food packaging or wrappers.
- Around 122 tons of cigarette butts and cigarette-related litter is dropped every day across the UK.
- 3m pieces of rubbish are dropped on UK roads every weekend. 1/3 of motorists admit to littering while they are driving.
- Cleaning up litter from the streets of Britain costs taxpayers around £500 million. That does not include the amount it costs to clean up parks and other public spaces.
- Orange peel and banana skins take up to 2 years to biodegrade, cigarette butts take to 2 years, plastic bags take 10-20 years and plastic bottles can last forever.
- 500,000 items of litter make their way into the sea from UK rivers every year, impacting on marine life.
Some Other Initiatives We Participate In:
