19th November 2021
One straightforward way of reducing our carbon footprint is choosing the vegan option. When it comes to biscuits this is even easier than you would expect. Many traditional brands of biscuits sold in supermarkets are vegan and in many case have always been so! Their vegan attributes as a consequence are not always highlighted. Jeni from the Choose Vegan website has complied a lost of all the commonly sold biscuits which are also vegan.
18th November and fifth day since the finale of COP26.
If COP26 marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next in the campaign to resolve the climate crisis, are we as individuals and our appointed local and national government leaders do what is necessary to achieve our objectives?
The Climate Coalition invites is to email our MP on this very issue, and provides a template in which we can express for ourselves as individuals what concerns us, what we are doing, and what we would like our leaders to be doing. Follow the link and add your personal plea.
Now is the sky blue!
Now is it framed
by a fretwork of branches
where leaves still linger –
some as big as dinner plates
some as small as butterflies.
Jackdaws riddle the earth
harvesting riches that lay below.
And squirrels skip and skitter
their autumn dance.
All is now, and now, and now!
But tomorrow, next week, next year?
Merciful God will they still be there?
Will our apathy,
our slowness to act,
our aversion to change
allowed all this
to be threatened,
diminished, and
evicted from life?
Have mercy.
But not just mercy –
rather prod us, prompt us,
push us into action.
Renew our hearts and minds,
reverse our expectations
so that we change the future
and once more
be restorers of creation.
Amen.
This prayer or psalm gives a seasonal update to one written in the summer
This is just a selection of possible sources of information and groups you might wish to join.
A Rocha UK’s Wild Christian scheme is a community of families and individuals exploring the connections between our Christian faith, the natural environment, and how we live.As we journey together, reflecting biblically and acting boldly, we invite you to share your story, ideas and learning so that collectively we can live more joyfully and sustainably with the rest of God’s Creation.
Sign up and each month we’ll send you something to think about and some practical actions that you can take to help you enjoy, nurture and protect nature. You’ll also have the opportunity to share your own stories, if you wish, and to help us generate ideas for future editions.https://arocha.org.uk/wildchristian/
Green Christians offers various resources including Nine Ways of living gently in the earth; using LOAF as a means of eating in an environmentally friendly way; the Seven Rs plus prayer resources etc.
And offers ways to get involved in campaigns about caring for the environment.
Also The Way of Life: Many spiritual communities have Rules or Ways of Life involving a set of disciplines to assist believers in living out their faith in a deeper and more structured way.
The Way of Life is a calling for deeper engagement and shared encouragement. Followers of the Way are called ‘Companions’.
Friends of the Earth offers local groups where you can meet and exchange ideas and take part in action, as well as resources for green your lifestyle: https://friendsoftheearth.uk/take-part/switch-greener-lifestyle
The WWF offers advice on changing lifestyles – including a carbon footprint calculator and app – as well as working to protect and enhance the natural environment. https://www.wwf.org.uk/what-can-i-do
The RSPB, as well as campaigning for and supporting and protecting biodiversity, provides guides about following a greener lifestyle. https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/community-and-advice/green-living/
16th November 2021
Adopting a plant based – ie vegan – is one easy way of reducing our carbon footprint. Here is another vegan cake recipe – vegan baking is straight forward!
Golden Parkin (sorry – no picture as we ate it all up!)
1 tbsp camelina or chia seeds soaked in 3 tbsp of warm water
100g margerine, 6 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp syrup
2 tbsp oatmeal, 8 tbsp flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 2 or 3 tsp of ground spice (I used a mix of cardamon, all spice and cinnamon
150g grated squash
Method: melt the margerine and add sugar and syrup. Add all the other ingredients and mix well. Add oat milk if needed to create a dropping consistency.
Bake: tip into a lined tin, approx 180 x 300mm, and bake for 25 – 30 minutes until form to touch.
15th November 2021
“Every year we produce about 3% more waste than the year before. This might not sound much but, if we carry on at this rate, it means that we will double the amount of waste we produce every 25 years.”
One of the facts from C B Environmental’s fact sheet – do check out the rest of the facts.
If we aim to live sustainably then we must aim to use only our fair share of resources – both a fair share when shared across the globe, and a fair share when measured across time. At present we we use the earth’s resources faster than they can be replenished.
In 2019 each person in the UK on average threw away (via waste bins to landfill sites) 392kg of rubbish. (https://www.statista.com/statistics/322535/total-household-waste-volumes-in-england-uk-per-person/)
How can we reduce that?
14th November 2021
Governments and world leaders have not take action that matches up to the structures of the scientists. Now it is up to us as the people. We are not insignificant. We have money to spend – albeit not as much as governments and the top “5 percenters” – and we have voices with which to speak out.
Consumer power saved dolphins from tuna nets, saved puffins by ending the use of sand eel oil in biscuits, saved veal calves and hens from cages, saved whales by ending the use of whale oil in cosmetics, saved minks from becoming fur coats … Consumer power has swung behind campaigns to wear seat belts, to give up smoking, to end drink driving. Now consumer power is seeing the end of single use plastic straws and plastic bags. Consumer power is feeding the growth of organic and vegan foods, and the popularity of vintage clothing. Consumer power is even increasing the number of cycles on the roads.
We can continue to use our money strategically to shape the world we want to live in. We can band together for greater effect. We can boycott products and service – even entire lifestyles – than damage our future.
We can be influencers and game changers. We can set the example, we can be there trail blazers. We can show others – individuals like ourselves, small businesses and big businesses, schools, civic groups and faith centres, local councils and governments – that this is the way we want to live.
We can write letters and petition. We can make posters and banners. We can write articles, we can blog and vlog. We can hold coffee mornings and parties. We can sing and we can be theatrical. We can inform and enthuse. We can demonstrate. We can speak out and we can speak up.
We can also be game changers by not spending money! Not everything we do, not everything we enjoy has to cost money. And things that are free seldom have a carbon footprint! A walk in the park. A chat with a friend. A wave to a neighbour. Giving presence not presents. Sharing and lending. Swopping and exchanging. Upcycling and cycling. Swishing and re fashioning. Repairing and recycling. So telling and singing. DIY and home baking. Growing and preserving.
We may feel that as one individual we can’t make a difference. We may be unsure what is the best action we can take. We may fear that we might fall under the bewitchment of green wash. We may fear that our best intentions may prove to be unwittingly destructive. We may be overwhelmed by choices before us, the flood of information that is out there, that we don’t even know where to start.
That is why we need to come together, to find like minded companions. To learn from one another, to encourage and support each other. To know that together we can make positive change a reality.
Next week’s Eco Tips will list some of the many organisations and groups that can help you find answers and/ or provide a framework for eco living.
Sunday 14th November 2021
Collect: God, our refuge and strength, bring near the day when wars shall cease and poverty and pain shall end, that earth may know the peace of heaven, through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.
Daniel: 12:1-3 https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=503649379
Hebrews 10:11-14, 19-25 https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=503649490
Mark 13:1-8. https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=503649562
Reflection
Michael the great prince is more usually (for us) known as St Michael or as one of the four archangels. These archangels are said to stand round the throne of God from where they watch over the four corners of the earth. Michael also appears in the Book of Revelation where he engages in battle with a dragon which is Satan, ‘the great deceiver of the whole world’ and drives him out of heaven. In pictures and statues Michael is often depicted with a sword or spear as he attacks Satan.
Michael the archangel – on the basis of this passage from Daniel – has the particular role of protector of God’s people. For the readers of the Book of Daniel the people of God were the Jews, and perhaps in particular those exiled to Babylon and their descendants. For me, God’s people are all people for all are part of God’s creation. If we were to create a contemporary representation of Michael as the archangel who watches over the earth and protects God’s people, I wonder what symbols we use?
Would we still see military arms as a way of protecting people? Would we see confrontation as the way of subduing the great deceiver?
Or would we want tools that suggestion negotiation or justice? Mobile phones and cans of Irn Bru? Rainbow flags and circular seating plans?
Would we want items that could protect people and build peaceable communities? Things like food supplies, tents and roads, sanitation and drinking water, medicines and vaccines, seeds and solar panels?
Would we want arguments and adverts to reveal the deceits and green wash that hold sway across the world? Just and equal access to decision making processes? Scientific explanations rather than political spin and one-up-manship?
Would we want words and actions that united people so that efforts to avoid war and distaste could flourish?
Can we together tackle the crises that beset the world? Can we help each other, value and protect each other?
Can we live and work within the divine plan that establishes heaven on earth?
The passage from Hebrews , like that from Daniel, is imagining a time of salvation, of deliverance, when heaven on earth will be a reality. In Daniel it is a future event; in Hebrews it is an event that has taken place – a promise that has become a certainty through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. As in previous weeks’ readings, this heavenly realm, this place where God’s rule prevails, is depicted as being a heavenly of which the one reverenced by the Israelites during their time in the wilderness was but a temporal version. It is a sanctuary that all, having been sanctified by Jesus’s blood, may enter. It is a sanctuary in which all may be washed clean, consciences cleared of evil. And such is the wellbeing that this destination gives, that the writer urges us ‘provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another…’ Just as we have the image of Micheal intervening to thwart the great deceiver and to actively protect God’s people, so here we have Jesus as the beacon encouraging us to nurture one another’s well being for that is how the rule of heaven is made real.
In Mark’s gospel the disciples are overwhelmed by the scale of the temple and the security and magnificence it projects. They are persuaded – maybe even conned/ brain washed – into see it as the
promise of their salvation and security. Jesus attempts to help them to see things differently. He tells them that those stones, that temple, will not stand for ever and will not protect them. If Jesus is talking about the end of days, the disciples seem perhaps to imagine that they will be whisked out of the way of any impending danger. Not so. Rather they will be faced with famines and earthquakes and all manner of disasters before the kingdom, the rule of heaven becomes a reality.
It can be easy or perhaps simplistic, to think when we hear of disasters, earthquakes and famines, to stand by and wait to see what happens. But I think the example of the archangel Michael, and the words of the writer of Hebrews, tell us that we must face down the deceptions of the great deceiver (in what ever form they may arise) and must proactively encourage good and loving deeds in all people.
Today is Remembrance Sunday and we remember with love and sorrow those who lost their lives because of war. But war is not an acceptable disaster, it is not the acceptable answer to danger and sin. Remembrance Sunday is the occasion that prompts us to build peace, to be brought under the rule of heaven, and to encourage, in and for all, good and loving deeds.
Friday 12th November 2021
Who are we counting on to make a success of the COP26 conference?
The biggest countries or the smallest? The richest or the poorest? Those with most to offer or those who are most vulnerable?
World leaders? Our politicians? Business leaders? Scientists? Investors and financiers? Charities and NGOs? Faith groups? Youth groups?
Ourselves? Ourselves alone or ourselves as communities?
Who is counting on the success of the conference in order to survive? Small islands? Indigenous peoples? The poor? The disadvantaged? Wildlife? Marine life? Plant life? Forests and woodlands? Glaciers and icecaps? Coral reefs? Alpine meadows? We in the developed countries? The comfortably middle class? Our children and grandchildren?
We are all linked as part of a finely balanced ecological network, where it is one for all and all for one.
Do look back at past posts for ideas and thoughts about how we can be part of the solution, and do keep in touch as the Green Tau continues to address ecological issues.
Climate March through London, 6th November 2021
Thursday 11th November 2021
Greening our cities will make them better places both for humans and other living beings, flora and fauna. And it will address the climate crisis reducing our dependency of carbon polluting structures and carbon polluting lifestyle choices.
“Recent studies have highlighted the importance of boosting green urban areas and connecting fragments of green space with ecological corridors to improve biodiversity and animal species dispersal within the urban landscape. If adequately designed, green corridors can improve urban ventilation, allowing for cooler air from outside to penetrate into the more densely built areas, and reducing thus the urban heat island effect. Urban green areas can also have positive effects for human health and climate change adaptation. The capacity of vegetation to retain water is an important flood prevention feature that can reduce peak discharges..
[Where] patches of urban woodlands are generally separated from each other, [this] affects the ability of many woodland species to disperse, or move among different locations with similar habitats. Ecological corridors or connections between urban woodlands, gardens or other green spaces are recognised as a way to limit the negative effects of fragmentation.”
This concept is being developed in London, where there are already many parks and green corridors – the latter often following the course of the many small tributaries to the Thames.
In July 2019 London because the world’s first National Urban Park. 45% of the city is green space which includes 3000 parks, 30,000 allotments, two national nature reserves a s 142 local nature reserves, 36 sites of special scientific interest and is home to about 13,000 different species of wildlife. London’s overall tree cover amounts to 21% sufficient for it to be the world’s largest urban forest! (The UN definition of a forest is anywhere with at least a 20% cover of trees.)
The Green Tau 