St. Gregory the Great Cited for its Good Green Works

If some members of St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church were writing the Ten Commandments, they would probably add an 11th: Thou shalt reduce thy carbon footprint.

The church has installed a cistern big enough to hold 422 gallons of rainwater. They've saved more than $1,000 on the building's electricity bill by installing a solar power generator--and putting in place motion sensor lights that run on solar power. They've been composting and recycling--"Tithing for Trash"--for years, and have recently been cited for their great work in recycling.

Terracycle, Inc., is a company that collects used products that are hard to recycle and changes those things into eco-friendly products. The company has been partnering with St. Gregory the Great in its recycling programs.

TerraCycle has cited St. Gregory's congregation as one of the top five collectors in Georgia. The church collects diaper packaging, lunch kit, Elmer’s Glue, and Colgate Oral Care.

The five Geogia collectors have helped TerraCycle donate $7 million to schools and charities across the country and around the world. Since 2008, the company diverted 2.5 billion pieces of waste from landfills.

“Groups like St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church and JA Maxwell Elementary (in Thomson) are instrumental in helping TerraCycle accomplish our mission of eliminating the idea of waste,” said Tom Szaky, Founder and CEO, TerraCycle.  “Without their dedication to environmental protection and resource conservation, we would never have reached this milestone.”

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