As Scientologists, we aim to apply the ‘common sense’ moral code written by L. Ron Hubbard, called The Way To Happiness. Here’s a story I wrote for NowPublic about how my church is applying one of the precepts of that moral code, “Safeguard and Improve Your Environment”:
MANCHESTER—Representatives of the Church of Scientology in Manchester announced this week the beginning of a new environmental strategy which aims to reduce waste of energy and resources and increase recycling, in line with the council’s current environmental campaigns.
The launch of the strategy comes in the year of the church’s 35th anniversary in the North West, having been founded on 12th March 1974. Now, recognising the need for energy efficiency and responsibility toward the environment, church officials have decided to ‘go green’.
The need for energy efficiency and particularly recycling schemes in Manchester is clear from recent statistics published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which show the North West region as having some of the poorest levels of municipal waste recovery, though the percentage of recycled household waste is slightly better.
Manchester City Council has sought to repair the city’s reputation by launching environmental campaigns to encourage non-household waste producers to increase recycling and to make this part of an ‘environmental business pledge,’ with official recognition for levels of achievement.
A spokesperson for the Church of Scientology said that the organisation was trying to set a good example of what a community organisation should be doing in times where environmental issues rank high on international agendas. Its founder L. Ron Hubbard propounded these principles in his 1980 book, The Way To Happiness, which has a chapter entitled, “Safeguard and Improve Your Environment.”
For more information on Manchester City Council’s environmental campaigns, see www.manchestergreencity.co.uk