news article
Caring for God’s Creation at Buffalo University UMC
April 8, 2025 / By Rev. Merle Showers, Creation Care Team / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
University UMC in Buffalo has chosen to be concerned about being a GOOD Steward of God's Creation. We want to do all in our power to do as little harm and as much good to the great gift God has given us.
In 2013, our gas bill for the year was $10,179.82 and our electric bill was $3,706.53. That was very alarming as far as our budget was concerned, but for us, it was also very alarming because of all the damage we were doing to the environment by burning all that fossil fuel. We first searched our building to determine what was burning so much fuel. We found we had a very large kitchen range with six pilots burning 24/7, but we only used that stove two or three times a year. We shut off the gas. We found we had two space heaters and a furnace with pilots burning all year around. We shut them off from May to October. We found we had several heating devices with old-fashioned thermostats that could not be programmed. We put in all programmable thermostats for all heating devices and programmed them for 55-degrees, except when the space was needed for meetings. We realized we only had two inches of insulation in the attic, and we added three times as much. When our old boiler died in 2022, we put in two smaller boilers heating each only a smaller section of the building so we could better control what was heated and when.
Fast forward more than a decade, and in 2024, our gas bill for the year was $2,829.51. That was great news for our budget, but was even better news for the amount of gas we were not burning. Think of the plants, animals, and humans we didn't kill by being GOOD stewards.
In 2017, we had 33 solar panels installed on the roof of our building. In 2018, we converted all of our lights to LED (well over 500 lights) with the help of National Fuel. We made the decision that we were also going to replace our gas-powered hot water heater with a hybrid heat pump hot water heater. We went around the building turning off things that didn't need to be running.
In 2024, our electric bill for the year was $493.32. Although our electric in WNY is created by about a third from the burning of fossil fuels, we were continuing our efforts to do as little harm to this great earth God has given us.
Five years ago, our lawn mower died. Instead of purchasing a new gas power lawn mower, we purchased a battery-powered lawn mower. The following year, we bought a battery powered snow blower. Now we seldom get our gas-powered snow blower out. This last winter, we didn’t use it once.
Here at University UMC, we no longer use disposable cups and as little plastic materials as possible. We have recycling boxes all around the building. We encourage everyone who uses the building to turn out lights and close doors. We believe being GOOD stewards is a constant effort and a labor of love.