Judith Russenberger

Resources and support groups for green lifestyles

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’.

Leaflets

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/

Counting On …

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.

Counting On …

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?

Make a note of what you throw in the bin each week.
Could any of it be recycled instead?
Could any of it be avoided by buying alternative products? Eg ones with less packaging or with less non recyclable packaging. Or buy products with a longer life? Or buy less if what you buy is not being used?
Repeat and see if you can reduce the number of things going into the bin the next week.
Alternatively weight the rubbish that goes into your bin each week: Using the suggestions above, can you reduce it week on week?

Click to access Recycling%20Activity%20Pack%20v2%20.pdf

The Green Tau: issue 25

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.

Reflection for Remembrance Sunday

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.

Counting On …

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

Counting On …

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.”

https://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/metadata/adaptation-options/green-spaces-and-corridors-in-urban-areas

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.)

Cake and tray bake recipes

Vegan cakes and bakes: these are all easy to make and it is good to be able to provide vegan eats at church events and the like. It is also a good idea to offer plant based milks too.

Chocolate Cake

100g vegan margarine

150g sugar (I use brown)

1 tbsp chia or camelina seeds

25g cocoa

175g flour (I use spelt flour) plus 1 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

50g dates

Oat milk

Soak seeds in 3 tbsps warm water – they will gain jelly-like texture

Melt the margarine.

Chop the dates and add along with the sugar, cocoa, raising agents and flour.

Add the seed mix (this is an egg replacement).

Add enough milk to bind to a soft dropping consistency.

Tip into a tin (approx 300x200mm) lined with baking parchment.

Bake at 170C till spongey and firm – about 20-25 minutes

Flapjack

100g vegan margarine

3 tbsps of sugar (I use brown)

2 tbsps of syrup

200g oats or thereabouts (NB use gluten free oats for a gluten free bake)

Melt the margarine.

Add the sugar and syrup.

Add the oats – if it still seems very syrupy you can add some more oats.

Tip into a tin (approx 300x200mm) lined with baking parchment.

Bake at 170C till golden brown – about 20minutes . Cut into pieces whilst still hot.

Shortbread

200g vegan butter

220g flour (I use white)

50g polenta

50g sugar (I use white)

Rub the butter into the flour.

Add polenta and sugar and mix.

Tip into a tin (approx 300x200mm) lined with baking parchment.

Bake at 160C till pale gold – about 20minutes . Cut into pieces whilst still hot.

Rockbuns

75g vegan butter

220g flour (I use spelt flour) plus 1 tsp baking powder

50g sugar

75g sultanas/ raisins/ currants

1 tbsp chia or camelina seeds

1tsp ground nutmeg

Oat milk

Soak seeds in 3 tbsps warm water – they will gain jelly-like texture

Rub butter into flour.

Add nutmeg, sugar and dried fruit.

Add seed mix

Add enough milk to create a dry dough.

Place spoonfuls in ‘rocky’ lumps on a greased baking tray. This should make about 8.

Bake at 170C till golden – about 15- 20minutes .

Counting On …

Wednesday 10th November 2021

“Bike is best!” Whether you are young or old or somewhere in between. Whether you are able bodied or disabled. Whether you are super fit or just starting out. Whether it’s simply for leisure or for getting from A to B. Whether it is for deliveries or commuting or the school ‘run’.

Active travel reduces carbon emissions, improves air quality and aids healthy living. What’s not to like?

And what is included in active travel? – walking, wheeling and cycling. The following extract comes from Wheels of Wellbeing, a charity that promotes cycling for people with disabilities.

Walking: foot/pedestrian-based mobility that may incorporate the support of aids to mobility such as stick/s, cane/s, crutch/es, the arm of another person and/or assistance animal/s.

Wheeling: an equivalent alternative to foot/pedestrian-based mobility. Includes wheeled mobilities such as manual self- or assistant-propelled wheelchairs, including wheelchairs with power attachments or all-terrain attachments (such as the “Freewheel”), powered wheelchairs, mobility scooters (three and four-wheeled) and rollators. Some people rely on their cycle to move (at a pedestrian’s pace) through pedestrianised environments when it is not physically possible to walk/push their cycle. Some people use their cycle as a walking aid, by leaning on it (do not use crutches but need to lean in order to walk, due to pain etc. – they can dismount but cannot park their cycle). Some people use e-scooters (with or without a seat), to wheel/scoot through pedestrianised environment if they cannot walk unaided.

We recommend never using ‘walking’ on its own (as it likely reinforces ableist stereotypes in people’s minds) but always using ‘walking/wheeling’ together. Both words represent the action of moving at a pedestrian’s pace, whether or not someone is standing or sitting, walking/wheeling unaided or using any kind of aid to mobility, including walking aids / wheeled aids, personal assistants or support animals.

Cycling: incorporates the action of moving at speed on a wide range of pedal- powered wheeled transport that may be powered with hands and/or feet, may transport one or more person, may or may not include e-assist and usually have between 2 and 4 wheels.

Walking, Wheeling, and Cycling Definitions!

Counting On …

Tuesday 9th November 2021

Today’s agenda at COP26 includes gender equality with a particular concern to ensure full equality for girls and women. Why might this be an important issue in combatting the climate crisis?

“A 2014 survey done as part of a push by Kenya’s government and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to cut poverty in the region found that 85% of land owned in the Upper Tana River drainage, in southeast Kenya, was in men’s names.

The research also found that women worked an average of 15 to 17 hours a day, while men worked six to seven hours.

Men, meanwhile, dominated decision making on what to plant and where, how much produce was sold and for what price. Women’s decisions mainly focused on what to cook for the family, and what crops to grow for consumption at home, the survey found.

Concerned that such restrictions could be holding back anti-poverty efforts, project officials in 2016 decided to try out GALS – a Gender Action Learning System developed in settings in Latin America, Asia and parts of Africa.

The system, now being used across Kenya and more broadly, helps men and women learn how to speak more respectfully and honestly to each other, and aims to cut domestic violence, achieve more equal property rights and give women and men a more balanced voice in decision making.

Those changes, backers say, can help boost food production in the poorest households and help ensure more sustainable harvests – a particular concern as climate change brings wilder weather that threatens crops.

In Tharaka Nithi County, Albert Thirika, a retired secondary school principal, now involves his wife in family decision making after undergoing the training – and is giving his daughters a bigger voice too.

“We have embraced dialogue in the family since learning of GALS. Initially I used to think as an individual, but today I think as a family member and this has sharpened my planning skills,” he said.

By working more closely together and sharing their income, the family has managed to buy a dairy cow and expand an existing banana plantation, he said.

His wife, Evelyn Mwembe Thirika, a retired nurse, now manages the family money, she said.

Albert Thirika also has made a once unthinkable change: He has given title to some of his family farmland to his two daughters as well as his two sons, and allowed them to choose the pieces they prefer.

Njiru, meanwhile, since going through GALS training, has offered to let his wife go back to school to earn a full degree – something she hasn’t taken him up on yet.

He also has helped train more than 420 out of 600 members of a farmers’ water management and irrigation group he belongs to about the importance of striving for greater gender equality.

The training has reached community members as diverse as school principals, teachers and students, and church members, he said.

According to Gabriel Njue, the chair of the water management association, the group’s production of crops such as maize, beans, tomatoes and other vegetables has quadrupled since members underwent the gender training in late 2016.”

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/11/kenyas-loosening-of-gender-roles-is-helping-to-beat-climate-change-this-is-how