Eco Church

Fountainhall Church Eco Team was created 15 years ago with the aim to place environmental concerns and environmentally-oriented action at the centre of the life of our congregation. Winning their first award in 2007, the Eco Team also strives to heighten awareness of environmental issues amongst the local community through its members’ personal witness and example.

For more information, please contact us on Eco@fountainhallchurch.org.uk

Eco Tip

Food waste

Approximately 1/3 of the food produced for human consumption is wasted(*1), leading to habitat destruction, decreased biodiversity, overuse of land and water and wasted income.

Here are some ideas we can all use to do our little bit to combat the climate emergency, protect our environment and save money.

Whenever you can, buy loose rather than packaged goods so that you are only purchasing the amount of food that you can use.
If you live in a small household why not seek out others in the same situation to share larger items such as cauliflower or bags of fruit or other vegetables where unpackaged are not available.
If you come to the end of the week and you find that you still have vegetables left why not make them into a nourishing soup.
Plan your meals before you go shopping, check the contents of your fridge, freezer and store cupboard and make a list of what you still need so that you do not buy more than you need.
‘Use by’ dates are for food safety but ‘best before’ dates are only an indication of when food is at its best quality and can often be eaten if it still looks and smells fresh.
When putting your shopping away pull the old items to the front of your fridge or store cupboard and put the new items to the back.
Pay attention to the correct way to store items e.g. potatoes and onions should be stored in a cool dark place.
Check that your fridge is set between 0-5 deg to keep food fresh for longer.
Use leftovers for lunch, freeze for a later date or transform them into new dishes e.g.add to soup or make leftover meat into stovies or add to a pasta sauce. You can find recipes on the www.lovefoodhatewaste.com website
Freeze any other excesses you have such as food nearing its expiration date or fruit and veg left in the fridge before you go on holiday.
If you do have to throw away waste food use the local food recycling service which we are fortunate to have in Aberdeen. Free packs of food caddy liners can be picked up at FHC at the Cross and the Church Centre on Beaconsfield Place.

*1 Energy saving trust

Eco Events

FOUNTAINHALL CHURCH ECO TEAM AND CULTS O50s JOINT AUTUMN RAMBLE

On Friday 3 October, after meeting at Dobbies Garden Centre on the Lang Stracht, 25 of us set off to explore the Bucksburn Valley, a green area between Sheddocksly and Kingswells. In the group were members of Fountainhall Church and the local parish, members of the Cults O50s and a member of the newly formed Eco Group at St Machar. By great good fortune the heavy rain of the previous night had abated and Storm Amy was not due to roll in until later in the afternoon, so we had the perfect weather window.

We headed north along the access road to Gillahill Farm and then continued on a path through mature woodland which eventually descended to cross the Bucks Burn and into a marshy area known as Burnbrae Moss. While the deciduous trees were still in leaf, there were wonderful examples of autumn colours. As we turned west we passed a cherry tree with its leaves a mix of red and green. We then descended to a boardwalk running parallel with the Bucks Burn, and had our first view of a section of a “consumption dyke”. The consumption dykes were set up by order of Dr Francis Edmond in 1850 to dispose of (or 'consume') stones from the fields, and are almost entirely unique to NE Aberdeenshire. The dykes vary in height and width and technically are defined as dykes that are broader than they are tall. From there we entered the outskirts of Kingswells and passed through a gap in a consumption dyke. Our walk then took us through the residential area of Kingswells climbing up to an information board about the Bucksburn Valley. The route then followed an old rough road, now a path heading south and east back to our start point at Dobbies Garden Centre for refreshments.

Events we support

Climate Café - Click here for more information

COMPOSTABLE CADDY LINERS at the Centre and at the Cross

Fountainhall Church at the Centre and Cross are distribution points for compostable food caddy liners. These are available at reception in these buildings. Food caddy liners are biodegradable and environmentally-friendly allowing food waste to be easily separated from other rubbish and then put into the brown garden waste bin.

Looking for a bigger caddy liner?

Free 7 litre food caddies can be ordered from Aberdeen City Council. Food caddy liners and food waste can be disposed of in the brown bin.

RECYCLING POINT at Fountainhall Church

Fountainhall Church supports the recycling of items which cannot be efficiently recycled by kerbside collections. Each of our 3 buildings have a dedicated recycling point for selected items:

Postage stamps for Oxfam
Spectacles for The Lions Club
Mobile phones and ink cartridges for ReBoot of Forres
Unused Plastic Charity Bags for Somebody Cares
Foreign and Pre-Decimal Coins for Oxfam

But where do our Items collected, which cannot be easily recycled kerbside, go? Click here to learn the answer.

We are a Fairtrade Church

What does this mean?

We promote and raise awareness about FT by:

The use of FT tea, coffee and sugar for hospitality in our three buildings
The display of the FT logo
The display of FT posters on our Eco Noticeboards
Having a stall at FHC coffee mornings and events in FHC
Including reference to FT during worship
Participation in FT fortnight

Eco Team's Remit

Encourage amongst our congregation and the local community a concern for environmental considerations in the course of all actions undertaken as part of everyday life
Encourage an appreciation of God’s creation and our responsibility to care for it
Help to bring to the attention of the world at large the centrality of environmental issues
Remain active members of, and contributors to, Eco Congregation Scotland
Encourage our church and congregation to promote sustainable development and energy use
Encourage our congregation to become a more effective Fairtrade community

Eco Team's Actions

The Eco Team’s activities include:

raising awareness of green issues and organising green events for the congregation and wider community;
promoting Fairtrade;
developing our grounds as a quality leisure and wildlife area;
forging links with community organisations and environmental bodies;
having an input into the Fountainhall Church purchasing policy;
promotion of recycling, support for projects to reduce our carbon footprint, inclusion of environmental material in worship and liturgy;
Communication and awareness actions with contributions to What’s On Weekly Digital Newsletter, Intimations and The Source magazine, and campaigning.

We are an Eco Congregation. What does this mean?

Fountainhall Church is a member of Eco-Congregation Scotland (ECS) which is a charity, offering a programme to enthuse and engage church congregations to weave environmental issues into their everyday lives and mission in an enjoyable and stimulating way. ECS achieves this through three strands: Spiritual Living, Practical Living and Global Living. ECS encourages churches to take part in their award process which recognises achievements in these three areas.

ECS has an award scheme with three categories: bronze, silver and gold. Fountainhall Church has been assessed and achieved a silver award.

Fountainhall Church was awarded the first Eco Award in 2007, the second Eco award in 2011 and the third one in 2016. The Award Scheme was then altered to Bronze, Silver and Gold with the criteria becoming slightly more stringent. Our Third Award became then a Silver Award under the new award scheme.

https://www.ecocongregationscotland.org/

Our Eco Awards

Silver Eco Congregation Scotland Award since 2016

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