Creation Care
Through our Creation Care Team, Knox is working to take action in stewarding creation within the context of the climate crisis and the environment. We aim to advocate politically and act locally. We partner with Faith Climate Justice Waterloo Region locally and draw on the expertise of climate justice organizations such as:
Climate Emergency Unit (David Suzuki Institute)
Other valued faith-based climate sources include Green Faith and For the Love of Creation, a Kairos/CPJ initiative endorsed by the PCC and over 30 other Canadian faith organizations.
Creation Care News
by Grant Birks on behalf of the Creation Care Team
February 27, 2025
We are excited to share that Knox has achieved Light Green Status in the Greening Sacred Spaces Certification program, which recognizes faith communities that demonstrate commitment in the care of the environment through action.
What did Knox do to achieve Light Green Status? First, it should be noted that Light Green Status is followed by Medium Green Status and Deep Green Status. So, our greening journey has just begun! Each Green level has a certification checklist which includes the 8 focus areas that Faith and the Common Good lays out as listed below. Several actions are listed under each category: for Light Green certification there are a total of 32 actions listed. To successfully achieve Light Green status, Knox had to complete 12 actions including 4 that were mandatory. Knox actually achieved 17 actions, and the following is a sampling of these:
Spirituality and Worship
Make regular use of environmental-focused prayers and songs in worship.
Use environmentally friendly candles (e.g., beeswax or electric). Note: Medium Green asks for a focus on special times of the year – we already comply with our Earth Day service and our 3 Season of Creation services!
Community
Creation care resources are available in the Knox library and posted in TW@K. Note: A Knox action yet to be promoted is a local neighbourhood clean-up such as the Spring Waterloo Park clean-up.
Operations and Maintenance
Mandated action: that we begin to develop “best practices” documents for all areas of our faith community. As the Creation Care Team coordinator, this is my (Grant) job and the key phrase here is begin to develop which is the current status of this action.
That the faith community has an active paper reduction and recycling policy.
Energy
Mandated action: a review of the Knox building from an energy viewpoint was done with Jim Gerrard, Facilities Committee convenor. An implementation plan is mandated to address energy systems: you can read in the 2024 Knox Annual Report that the Facilities Committee has this in place.
Water
Ensuring that hot water systems are efficient. Knox has just-in-time tankless hot water heaters which are energy-efficient.
Waste
Blue bins are distributed throughout the church.
Composting is practiced through the Region’s composting program.
Kitchen
Reusable, recyclable, and/or compostable dishes and cutlery are in regular use.
Environmental and Climate Justice
The Creation Care Team is a member of Faith Climate Justice Waterloo Region (FCJ), a collective of local faith communities advocating for environmental and climate justice. There are two mandatory actions under this heading:
That Knox has researched the traditional territory and treaty regarding our location and has adopted a statement of land acknowledgement. This has been done and is regularly included in our services as well as being posted in the atrium.
That Knox has formed an environmental discussion group and climate justice themes are incorporated into services and events that are promoted electronically. Our Knox creation services in April and September have environment justice themes and the CCT encourages the congregation to become involved in FCJ events such as the Climate Vigil that has been held the past two years in Waterloo Town Square.