March 12th, 2025

Osler Mennonite Church Charts Path to Reduced Carbon Emissions

An Emissions Energy Grant story.

For Dick Braun, the mantra of reduce, reuse, and recycle is simply a way of life passed down from his elders.

The 76 year-old is a trustee at Osler Mennonite Church in Saskatchewan. Like many of his generation, saving energy was a practical way to save money. But a visit to Germany in 1997 sparked a reality check for Braun.

Osler Mennonite Church (photo by Victor Wiebe)

While visiting, he learned of steep fines for drivers caught idling their vehicles. As a mechanic, Braun was fully aware of the hazards of engine exhaust in a confined area. But Germany’s no-idling rules brought home in a new way the cumulative danger of fossil fuel use and related carbon emissions from millions of cars and trucks.

According to data from Canada Energy Regulator, a federal government agency, 86% of Saskatchewan’s electricity is generated by fossil fuels. Thus, any reduction of electricity usage for consumers has a direct effect on carbon emissions.

It’s not hard to connect the dots. In Saskatchewan, reducing electricity consumption directly reduces carbon emissions. Braun said, “You can’t consume, consume, consume. Somewhere down the line you have to start reducing.”

Soon after the Osler congregation built its new meeting place in 1996, they noticed a high rate of light bulb failures in exit lights. Braun crunched some numbers and researched alternative LED light bulbs. At that time, LED bulbs cost around $15 each.

However, the reduced energy consumption of the LED bulbs has recovered the purchase cost many times over, said Braun, who has always been involved in maintaining the church building. In his experience, the LED bulbs can last up to 22 years. They eventually replaced all their fluorescent lights with LED fixtures.

The congregation next turned their attention to hot water heating. It made no sense to keep a 75-gallon tank of water hot during low-use times. The congregation replaced the tank with on-demand hot water system that uses only 1/8^th of the natural gas the tank consumed.

The project, which cost $7,300, was funded in part by MC Canada’s Emissions Reduction Grant, a $1,000 grant from Sask Energy, and additional fundraising within the congregation.

Braun is enthused and inspired by Osler’s youth group, which started a Green Fund. The congregation asked youth if money from the Green Fund could be used for the new hot water system, and they agreed. The youth group has since given a presentation on their efforts to a province-wide youth event.

Braun is one of the congregation’s eight households that have installed solar energy systems. Several others use electric vehicles. And the congregation is anticipating efficiency upgrades to furnaces and other appliances.

“We’re not going to be afraid to spend a little bit more money to be more environmentally friendly,” he said.

Braun is hopeful that his congregation’s support of environmental preservation is being noticed in the community. He freely shares about the church’s efforts with his coffee group of about ten people.

“If each one of those people talks to three people, then we already have 30 people who know about what we did, why we did it, and how we did it,” said Braun.

Photo caption: An installer connects a new on-demand hot water heater (the white rectangular unit on the wall) at Osler Mennonite Church in Osler, Saskatchewan. The new way of heating water uses only 1/8^th of the natural gas the old hot water tank consumed. – photo supplied

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