THE three churches in the Parish of Horndon, Orsett and Bulphan have all been awarded the Silver Eco Church Award.

Led by their Ecology and Social Justice Action Group, each of the Churches had to complete the unique online Eco Survey about how they are caring for God's earth in different areas of their life and work.

The answers a church provided collected points towards an Eco Church Award – the more each church did, the more points it got!

The survey took church members through five key areas of church life:

• Worship and teaching
• Management of church buildings
• Management of church land
• Community and global engagement
• Lifestyle

Some of the requirements included committing to become Fairtrade Churches, writing an Eco Church Pause for Thought every week in notice sheets, highlighting environmental issues in prayers and preaching, stopping using disposable cups, planting new shrubs in the churchyard and making the churchyards ecologically friendly.