As good stewards of the environment, our parish has made the following Eco-friendly choices that will benefit the current and future generations.  These products are biodegradable which breakdown quickly in the landfill as opposed to Styrofoam and plastic.

  • We use disposable plates and bowls made from  baggase which is the fibrous matter that remains after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice.
  • Utensils made from potato starch
  • We use beverage cups made from bio polymer, a renewable plant based resin
  • We use paper napkins and cups made with recycled content.

All of the above items are available for sale to our parishioners for use at private events at a minimal cost.

  • We purchase missals that are printed with soy and vegetable-based ink.
  • We buy goods locally to reduce transit pollution.
  • We have partnered with Waxie and use only “green” cleaning chemicals and solutions.  WAXIE GPS® (Green Partner Support) is an ideal platform that we use to implement a green cleaning program which combines low environmental impact cleaning products with good sound cleaning procedures, along with the training and consultative expertise needed in order to create a more effective and safe cleaning program.
  • We do not purchase bottled water.  We serve fresh water from dispensers using eco-friendly cups.
  • We strongly urge that only eco friendly disposables be used at all functions. We make these products available for sale.

The OMC Knights of Columbus generously provide the parish with most of the disposable products that we use.

  • Behavioral Changes HVAC now more closely monitored and controled based on outside air temps and duration of events.   System placed on standby in between Masses.  Use outside air to cool sanctuary when possible.   No cost only savings.  Turn lights off when you leave a room.
    Solar panels Installed 156 panels on the church  roof using a ballast system.     Able to monitor production online or on a smart phone.  Saved over $35,000 in electric costs per year for the past 3 years.  System costs $188,850.  Recvd $48,176 as incentive rebates from California.  Payback on the system will be less than 5 years.  There is no maintenance necessary
    HVAC A web enabled controler was installed.  Now able to start, stop or adjust remotely.
    Interior lighting in Hall and classrooms Using the Direct Install program offered by SDG&E we replaced all T12 flourescant light bulbs with T8’s and changed out all magnetic ballasts with electronic ballasts.  Labor and materials worth over $10K at no cost
    Exterior lighting to LED Replaced all exterior lights with LED fixtures using SDG&E no interest on bill financing to fund project
    Sanctary lighting to LED Replaced all sanctuary lights with LED fixtures using California rebates to fund project.
    Irrigation and Landscaping
    Irrigation The timing and duration of the watering cycles were drastically reduced. We capped 384 sprinkler heads and installed 484 drip emitters and micro spray heads
    We replaced timers, valves, filters and pressure regulators throughout our property.
    We looked at each of the 21 zones and determined the type of soil, the amount of sunlight, the slope of the ground, the type of plant, the root depth of each plant to establish a water budget for each zone.
    Our web enabled controllers monitor rain, wind, temperature and humidity.  If rain is foretasted, watering is suspended.  After a rain, an algorithm calculates if any additional water is required to bring us up to our budgeted amount.  20% reduction in water used over the past 4 years
    Irrigation Installed sensors that can detect leaks and auto shut system until repairs can be made
    Irrigation Able to start, stop and monitor online or by smart phone.  Landscape company monitors and maintains entire system
    Landscaping Removed all turf using the$1,500 rebate from the state of California to install gravel and succulents.  200 cubic yards of mulch was delivered and distributed.  We removed overgrown Kangaroo paw plants, and non-native shrubs and replaced them with drought tolerant species such as Portulaca, Bougainvillea, False red yucca, Phormiums and Birds of paradise.
    Landscaping Hired a Landscape company to maintain grounds and irrigation systems.  All landscaping waste now removed from the property reducing our waste disposal costs by 25%.  All zones routinely checked for leaks and breaks.
    Waste stream Waste disposal company now provides annual bulk pickups, e waste collection and shredding for all parishiopners
    Window Tinting Applied window tinting on the south and west facing windows of the rectory and hall classrooms to reduce heat gain and reducing our need of air conditioning.  The film installed on the classrooms is a security film which will prevent breaking and entry into the classrooms
    Green cleaning chemicals
    No gas powered blowers or mowers Now use battery powered blowers
  • 8 things to know about LED lighting8. A light-emitting diode, or LED, is a type of solid-state lighting that uses a semiconductor to convert electricity into light. Today’s LED bulbs can be six-seven times more energy efficient than conventional incandescent lights and cut energy use by more than 80 percent.7. Good-quality LED bulbs can have a useful life of 25,000 hours or more — meaning they can last more than 25 times longer than traditional light bulbs. That is a life of more than three years if run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

    6. Unlike incandescent bulbs — which release 90 percent of their energy as heat — LEDs use energy far more efficiently with little wasted heat.

    5. From traffic lights and vehicle brake lights to TVs and display cases, LEDs are used in a wide range of applications because of their unique characteristics, which include compact size, ease of maintenance, resistance to breakage, and the ability to focus the light in a single direction instead of having it go every which way.

    4. LEDs contain no mercury, and a recent Energy Department study determined that LEDs have a much smaller environmental impact than incandescent bulbs. They also have an edge over compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) that’s expected to grow over the next few years as LED technology continues its steady improvement.

    3. Since the Energy Department started funding solid-state lighting R&D in 2000, these projects have received 58 patents. Some of the most successful projects include developing new ways to use materials, extract more light, and solve the underlying technical challenges. Most recently, the Energy Department announced five new projects that will focus on cutting costs by improving manufacturing equipment and processes.

    2. The first visible-spectrum LED was invented by Nick Holonyak, Jr., while working for GE in 1962. Since then, the technology has rapidly advanced and costs have dropped tremendously, making LEDs a viable lighting solution. Between 2011 and 2012, global sales of LED replacement bulbs increased by 22 percent while the cost of a 60-watt equivalent LED bulb fell by nearly 40 percent. By 2030, it’s estimated that LEDs will account for 75 percent of all lighting sales.

    1. In 2012, about 49 million LEDs were installed in the U.S. — saving about $675 million in annual energy costs. Switching entirely to LED lights over the next two decades could save the U.S. $250 billion in energy costs, reduce electricity consumption for lighting by nearly 50 percent and avoid 1,800 million metric tons of carbon emissions.