While the United Church of Canada has a long tradition of championing the plight of our planet, St. Andrew's congregation is relatively new to the cause. But we are determined to make up for lost time.

Our Building and Property committee has already made great strides in reducing the carbon footprint of our aging building through regulated use of more efficient heating, installation of low-flush toilets and replacing doors and windows with more energy-conserving models. It was a huge learning curve for us, and we are happy to share what we've learned on this front, offering tours and workshops to other churches and non-profit groups.

We serve only Fair Trade coffee at our social events and are also working on ways to facilitate car-pooling on Sundays to ensure not only that folks get to church with less fuel and lower emissions, but also as a way of assisting those who don't have easy means of transportation to get to worship.

We plan to offer learning opportunities through visiting speakers and eco-fairs to enable our congregation to make a difference as a group and in their individual lives. We recognize that this is just the beginning and that we must strive to shift our consciousness away from the consumer culture toward an enlightened and
responsible stewardship of God's Earth.