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By Fletcher Harper and Stacey Kennealy

Earn a Degree
Adjusting the thermostats one degree lower in your church, parish hall, and other facilities can cut your congregation's heating costs 5% over the course of the heating season. Using more efficient lighting, like compact fluorescent bulbs, can help your institution cut electricity use. The U.S. Department of Energy has an online energy audit tool that can help you get started at hes.lbl.gov

The Gift of Gab
Through sermons, bible studies, or religious education programs, share the Word about Creation's goodness, the universe as a revelation of divine creativity and power, humanity's responsibility to care for the earth, and the pastoral benefits of a strong relationship with nature.

Even St. Stephen's
Purchase carbon offsets to make your parish "carbon neutral." A growing number of companies offer electricity from renewable energy projects such as solar arrays or wind farms that generate electricity without any carbon emissions or air pollution. See green-e.org for a list of renewable energy providers whose generation projects have been certified for their environmental benefit.

Survey Says
Don't stop at looking into just your parish's use of energy — conduct an Environmental Justice survey of your community. The website scorecard.org provides an Environmental Justice Mapper which documents the distribution of environmental health threats in every U.S. county. By entering your zip code, you can learn about which communities in your area are hardest hit by pollution and build awareness about opportunities for local or regional advocacy.

Paper Cuts
From newsletters to worship bulletins, parishes use lots of paper. Consider using at least 30% post-consumer recycled content paper and print on both sides of every sheet.Manufacturing paper from recycled material, instead of virgin timber, produces 35% less water pollution, 74% less air pollution, and uses 40% less energy. Place recycling bins in easy-to-find places, so that when Sunday services and other events are over, bulletins can go right in.

Clean Green
Clean bathrooms, polished pews, a sparkling kitchen—these are hallmarks of a well-kept parish.Green cleaning products are as effective as conventional cleaning products withoutmany of the chemicals that are harmful to human health and the environment. See greenseal.org for a list of environmentally-friendly products.

Sunday Dinner
Consider making your parish's food-related events vegetarian,which reduces the environmental impact of meat production and witnesses against the cruelty with which farm animals are often treated. Also, purchasing locally-grown, organic produce is a delicious way to reduce the "carbon footprint" of your food, and supports practices that are better for the environment,worker health, and local farms.

Be an Informed Advocate
Invite a local environmental justice leader to speak at your church. Contact local environmental groups to identify your community's environmental justice leaders. Meet with them to learn howyou can support their work.After you've analyzed your local situation, putwhat you've learned into action. Conduct a letter-writing campaign, or schedule a visit to local or state environmental regulators asking for action in relation to the environmental issues in your region.

The Rev. Fletcher Harper is Executive Director of GreenFaith, an interfaith environmental coalition based in New Jersey. Stacey Kennealy is Director of Sustainability for GreenFaith.