Tully United Community Church - Tully NY

Tully United Community Church has an active Creation Stewardship mission that includes energy use. Other projects not directly related to energy often indirectly have clean air and global warming benefits. This church is a medium-sized church in a very windy rural area outside Syracuse, NY.

Energy Use

Tully's church building uses an average of 2180 kWh/month.

Here's what they did to conserve energy and use it more efficiency:

  • They replaced four 75-watt incandescent bulbs with compact florescent lamps in their bathrooms. These lights are on 40 hours/week.
  • They replaced nineteen 40-watt incandescent lamps with 8-watt ballasted florescent lamps. Five of these lamps are on 40 hours per week and the remainder are on approximately 10 hours per week.
  • They replaced their eighteen T12 magnetic ballast lights in their kitchen and fellowship room  with T8 lights with electric ballast. These lights are on an average of 20 hours per week.

They have not yet replaced their exit signs with LED signs but plan to do so as the current signs wear out.

Renewable energy

The church building uses an average of 2180 kWh/month. In March 2004 they contracted to purchase 60% wind energy and 40% small hydroelectric power from Community Energy at 1¢ extra per kWh.

The church's parsonage uses an average of 450 kWh/month. In November 2002, they contracted through Niagara Mohawk's renewable energy program to buy 50% hydroelectric and 50% wind power at 1.3¢ extra per KWH. 

In November 2003, they changed to 100% wind power that comes from Community Energy at 2¢ extra per kWh.

For about $30 a month, Tully United Community Church is preventing power plant pollutants that contribute to children's asthma, respiratory illnesses, heart disease, premature deaths, acid rain, and global warming. (NOTE: This does not have to be "new money" added to the church budget. Energy conservation and efficiency savings can pay for all or a large part of renewable energy purchases!)

Recycling

Recycling is part of Tully's energy stewardship mission. Recycling cuts down on the energy used in manufacturing, dramatically reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants, and cuts the amount of materials incinerated.

They recycle everything that OCRRA accepts, including individual milk containers from the Nursery School.

Composting

They have a compost pile that receives all of their organic kitchen waste and coffee grounds. The compost is then used in the flower gardens on the church and parsonage grounds.

And the church's creation stewardship example has inspired members of the congregation to start compost piles of their own.

Besides enriching soil, composting reduces air pollution by cutting the amount of waste collected and transported by large polluting, garbage trucks. This can be significant since even one household can generate about 1/4 ton a year in organic kitchen wastes. (And here's another way to compost kitchen waste ... with worms!) 

Church grounds

Future plans include the planting of a windbreak with native trees and shrubs. Proper landscaping can make a big difference in energy use.

A long term plan is to develop a wildlife habitat on the land behind the parsonage.

Fair Trade products

They sell fair trade and organic coffee from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters to our  congregation at cost. On December 12, 2004 they had a mission fundraiser at Fair World Marketplace in Dewitt. Ten percent of everything purchased by members of the church was donated back to the church for mission projects.