“Never let a good crisis go to waste!”
By Rev Dr Jordan Redding
Orginally shared in the Bush Telegraph, Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand.
As painful as our current fuel crisis is for the economy and for many Kiwi households, it may well provide the impetus needed to transition away from fossil fuels.
One way that Presbyterian churches can encourage this transition is to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. Rethinking transport can be a good place to begin. Here are some things you could explore:
Encourage carpooling to worship services and other events.
Carpooling is already common in most churches, typically for pastoral reasons. We will often coordinate rides for people who are homebound. Why not extend this to include the whole congregation? After all, we’re all going to the same place on Sunday.
Manage travel to/from meetings to reduce the amount of travel required.
For church staff, this may mean having some work-from-home days. It could also mean coordinating jobs so that multiple trips can be combined into one.
Encourage public or active transport wherever possible.
Stop driving wherever there is a bus, or you can bike or walk. This not only makes good environmental sense. You save money on fuel, get healthier, and have “space” during the commute to think and pray.
Offer mileage rebates per km for public or active transport.
Incentivise staff by offering mileage rebates even if someone isn’t driving. So, if one staff member walks and another drives, they would both get the same reimbursement.
Changing driving habits can be very difficult in New Zealand. Our towns and cities have been designed to make us car-dependent. But there is a unique opportunity, as people look to save on fuel, to change habits and behaviours in ways that are good for us and our planet.
Rev Dr Jordan Redding
Convenor
PCANZ Emissions Reductions Workgroup
