Wesley Church (UCIC)
Press Release:
Big Buzz at Uniting Church in the City leads to Environmental Awards Presentation!
Wesley Church (UCIC), in the heart of Perth City, has been presented with two prestigious Five Leaf Eco-Awards this weekend for their role in leading environmental change in the city.
Among other actions, in the last 12 months, the church has installed the largest solar panel installation in the Perth CBD, started a program cooking rescued food to supply a centre for the homeless, installed three 2,000 litre water tanks to flush toilets in their buildings and have built a rooftop garden, including beehives.
They have been recognized for their achievements with the Five Leaf Eco-Awards Basic Certificate and Eco-Worship Awards. This makes them the 29th church in Australia to receive Five Leaf Eco-Awards, and the 11th church in Western Australia.
The awards were presented at the Uniting Church Synod of Western Australia’s annual meeting on Saturday by Five Leaf Eco-Awards Director Jessica Morthorpe, from Sydney.
Moderator of the Uniting Church in Western Australia, Rev. Steve Francis, said “It is a privilege to be able to help present this award, and to recognize the achievements of Uniting Church in the City for the environment, both at Ross Memorial Uniting Church, which was recognized with two Five Leaf Eco-Awards in 2012, and now Wesley Church as well.”
“It is particularly exciting for me to see UCIC Wesley Church taking this leadership role in their community by installing what is currently the largest solar panel installation in the Perth CBD, and with their innovative rooftop garden and bee hive project,” said Ms Morthorpe. “I’m very keen to taste some of their honey!”
Rev. Craig Collas received the awards on behalf of UCIC Wesley Church, saying “There is great passion and concern for the environment within the community, including within churches. This year, Wesley has taken up the challenge of seeing what we could do, even with an inner city site, to reduce our carbon footprint and make a difference for the environment. It has been a rich and rewarding experience. We strongly encourage other churches to also embrace the challenge, and get involved with the Five Leaf Eco-Awards.
Ms Morthorpe added: “Many churches have already done enough to earn Five Leaf Eco-Awards, they just don’t realize it. Even if you have only done a little please fill out the survey on our website and let us know. We can’t give you an award if we don’t know what you’ve done!”
The Five Leaf Eco-Awards are an ecumenical environmental change initiative for churches and religious organisations founded in 2008 to assist, inspire and reward churches for environmental action. The Five Leaf Eco-Awards are non- competitive, with churches completing task from a list of flexible criteria to earn each certificate. There are currently six awards of varying difficulty available. The Five Leaf Eco-Awards operate nationally and across denominations. More information on the Five Leaf Eco-Awards is available at www.fiveleafecoawards.org
Five Leaf Eco-Awards 