Carbon Footprint 101:
STF is entering into a season where we are trying, as a church, to reduce our collective carbon footprint as a way to care for creation, love our neighbors, and honor God. Our carbon footprint is the amount of heat trapping gasses that we are adding to the atmosphere as a result of our daily activities. Heat trapping gasses are a problem because they are making our world warm, throwing off the delicate balance of life on our planet and making weather patterns increasingly unstable and inhospitable. This growing environmental instability is what we call climate change, and scientists tell us that we need to reduce our world’s global carbon footprint by half by 2030 and bring it down to zero by 2050 at the very latest in order to avoid increasingly catastrophic levels of excessive heat, drought, storms, floods, fires, and the associated refugee crises, crop shortages, and political and economic stresses (all of which we are already experiencing the beginnings of). The more we can reduce our carbon footprint, the less we add to global warming and climate change, and the better we show stewardship for God’s creation and the future generations who are inheriting it.
Changes We Can Make
A - Improve your home energy efficiency:
(1) Beginner: Learn how to make your home more energy efficient:
Watch Hunting Park Community Solar Initiative’s (HPCSI) Workshop on Energy Efficiency here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrSf1EiuuMs
Find out about free public home repair and weatherization grants by call Hunting Park Neighborhood Advisory Committee (HPNAC) at 215-225- 5560.
(2) Intermediate: Get a PECO energy assessment: Get a PECO energy assessment ($49) or free energy audit ($0 if you qualify) to
get all your lighting replaced with LED and get an in-depth analysis of how to save energy in your home. Go to:
https://www.peco.com/WaysToSave/ForYourHome/Pages/Assessment.aspx
(3) Advanced: Do more significant weatherization work on your home:
Silvercoat your roof to reduce heat in the summer.
Apply for a public grant to get free weatherization work done on your home.
Improve insulation or get other weatherization work on your home.
B - Reduce waste:
(1) Beginner: Start Recycling: Start recycling your metal, plastics, paper, and cardboard if you don’t already.
(2) Intermediate: Reduce and reuse single-use plastics:
Use only reusable shopping bags.
Stop buying bottled water.
Use re-useable cutlery, plates, and cups.
Clean and reuse Ziploc bags.
(3) Advanced: Reduce food waste:
Organize your fridge so food doesn’t get lost in the back and spoil
Make it a practice to consistently eat leftovers before they spoil.
Start composting your food waste (all except meat, fish, eggs, and dairy).
C - Clean your electricity:
(1) Beginner: Reduce your electricity usage (the cleanest energy is the energy you don’t use)
Set your thermostat 4 degrees warmer in the summer and 4 degrees cooler in the winter.
Lower your hot water heater temperature to 120 F.
Turn off lights consistently when you leave a room.
(2) Intermediate: Do a simple provider switch. Go to one of the following: www.greenmountainenergy.com, www.theenergy.coop, www.cleanchoiceenergy.com,
www.communityenergyinc.com/products/peco-offers
(3) Advanced: Explore rooftop solar for your home. Go to www.solar-states.com/hpsolar for a free solar evaluation. Going to Solar States saves you $200/kW of installation size through the Hunting Park Community Solar Initiative. You can also learn more about the benefits of rooftop solar by watching HPCSI’s video on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6XhMOWdnrk
D - Clean your heating:
(2) Intermediate: Switch your gas to renewable natural gas (RNG). Go to:
https://www.theenergy.coop/services-we-offer/natural-gas/
(3) Advanced: Electrify your heating and cooling with an air source heat pump system. Contact New Spirit HVAC (very highly recommended): www.newspirithvac.com
E - Clean your travel:
(2) Intermediate: Change your travel behaviors: Take public transit whenever you can. Carpool if you have to drive. Try biking to work (start with one day a week). Choose a bus or train instead of a plane for regional travel.
(3) Advanced: Make your next vehicle purchase an electric vehicle.
F - Divest from fossil fuels:
(2) Intermediate: Remove all of your investments from fossil fuels and put them in Environmental, Social, and Governance friendly funds (ESG): Go here to find a list of good fossil free ESG funds: www.fossilfreefunds.org Parnassus has excellent ESG investment funds. Go here to learn more about the impact of your retirement plan on Creation: www.asyousow.org
G - Be a voice for the voiceless.
(1) Beginner: Pray regularly for the climate crisis.
Intercede on behalf of God’s abused world, and on behalf of those who are suffering most as a result of our abuse.
(2) Intermediate: Talk with your friends and family about the climate crisis.
One of the most important things we can do is keep talking about the climate crisis. We have all the technology
necessary to transition towards a more hopeful future – we just need the social and political will.
(3) Advanced: Join in political advocacy for legislation that drives a just transition to a clean energy economy.
Individual action is very important but we also need laws to drive the change at the speed and scope that is needed. Contact Allen Drew at to find out how to get involved.
H - Get involved in climate justice action locally.
(2) Intermediate: Local initiative you can get involved in:
Get involved with the Spirit and Truth climate team.
Join the Hunting Park Community Solar Initiative team.
Become a part of the Hunting Park Environmental Steering Committee.
Become a Tree Tender or help out with a TreePhilly yard tree giveaway.
Help out with Beat the Heat.