Judith Russenberger

Count Down

Action 15: Reduce food waste.

Food waste is a drain on finite resources. It unnecessarily uses water and other agricultural inputs. It creates unnecessary excess amounts of greenhouse gases – about 25 million tonnes a year just from the UK.

7.2% of all food harvested in the UK goes to waste or exists as a food surplus that is fed to animals, redistributed via food charities or is repurposed as bio-based materials. (WRAP 2019). Horticulture – the growing of fruit and vegetables – is the largest contributor. To ensure supermarkets are always fully stocked, farmers grow more than may be needed. Consumer demand is fickle: changes in the weather, recipes made popular by celebrity chefs etc can lead to sharp swings in demand for specific fruits and vegetables. In addition a proportion of the fruit and vegetables will be rejected on grounds of size and appearance.

2.9% of the UK’s food waste takes place in the retail sector. Most of this waste is of products that have reached their best before or sell by date. Increasingly the latter food stuffs are redirected to food banks and other local food charities. Supermarkets often stock more than they need to ensure that what the consumer wants is always available on the shelf.

70% of all food waste in the UK comes from what is thrown away by us, the householders. We most frequently throw away potatoes, bread, milk, tomatoes, bananas and slices of ham.

Love and Cherish

Love and cherish not some of the earth but all;

Not just your back yard, but mine too;

Not just your local wood but the rainforests too;

Not just your home town but the favelas too.

Love and cherish not some creatures but all;

Not just pandas and tigers, but the vulture and bat too;

Not just bees but wasps and spiders too;

Not just elephants but slugs and snails too.

Love and cherish not some landscapes but all;

Not just meadows but peat bogs too;

Not just ancient woodlands but hedgerows too

Not just national parks but grass verges too.

Love and cherish not some people but all;

Not just city bankers but street cleaners too;

Not just business leaders but refugees too;

Not just home owners but travellers too.

For if we do not, we are all diminished.

If we do not we shall all suffer

from droughts and floods,

rising sea levels and declining water supplies,

from infectious diseases and resistant bacteria.

We are one world, one family,

one eco system, one interdependent

and interwoven creation.

God, our creator, redeemer and sustainer,

Bring us to our senses!

Now!

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Action 14: Write to your local council: Have they declared a ‘climate emergency’ and if so have their prepared an action plan? What targets have they set for reducing their carbon footprint and are they on track for meeting these? What plans do they have to enable your local area to adapt to the already ongoing changing climate? Can local infrastructure cope with heat waves, cold snaps, torrential rainfall and flooding? In particular have they plans to support those most vulnerable in the community, such as the elderly, those with disabilities and those with low incomes?

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Action 13: Become active with ‘active travel’. Active travel is using personal physical exertion. It includes walking, cycling, and wheeling ( propelling a wheelchair) and can equally include scootering, roller skating, skate boarding and I guess even riding a horse. It is about getting from A to B – to the shops, school, railway station, gym etc – rather than a leisure activity such as going for a walk.

Active travel is good for the environment as it reduces car journeys and hence carbon emissions and emissions of poisonous gases and small particulates that cause airs pollution.

Active travel is good for health, keeping us fit and active. It is estimated that 42% women and 34% men do not achieve recommended levels of physical activity. The resulting poor health costs the NHS £1 billion a year.

Active travel reduces road congestion on both main roads and local streets.

See how many journeys you can make this week using active travel.

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Action 12: The COP26 climate conference will also be addressing the issues declining biodiversity. Those of us with gardens can be part of the solution. Bee numbers have fallen by an average of 7% in the last ten years, part of an ongoing decline. Europe wide 1 in 10 wild bee species are facing extinction. Grow bee friendly plants. Ensure accessible fresh water. Provide places where bee can overwinter or shelter – varying from areas of long grass to purpose made bee hotels. The following web site is useful: https://beefriendlytrust.org/creating-a-bee-friendly-space/

The Green Tau: issue 10

A question of justice: what is climate justice? Part 2

What then of climate justice? What is the upright behaviour, the righteousness behaviour that God expects us to show vis a vis the climate?

Photo by Tobias Bju00f8rkli on Pexels.com

And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. (Genesis 1:14-19)

The writer of Genesis tells us that the climate and its seasons, shaped by the sun, is a key part of the world God created. Both creation stories in Genesis give humankind a key role in occupying and caring for and tending the world that God created. Humans are given a role of responsibility vis a vis the fish of the sea, the birds of the air and all living things that move on the earth. They are given the task of cultivating the land and the plants which God intended should transform the earth from the bare form with which it began. And they are instructed to multiply and be fruitful ensuring generations of humans to come.

Have we looked after all the fish, the birds and living things? The decline in biodiversity with a third species threatened with extinction, suggests not.

Have we cultivated the earth and maintained its greenness? The expansions of deserts, the destruction of rainforests and temperate woodlands, and the loss of native plants suggest not.

Have we provided for the well being of generations to come? Currently the world is on track for an increase in global temperatures of some 3 to 5°C by the end of the century which would render large parts of the earth uninhabitable for humans – so no!

If we were to hold up a plumb line to measure how upright our living on the earth has been, we would see a world that is on the verge of collapse, a world which will be in a worst state than when we inherited it, and a world in which life for our children and grandchildren would be very bleak.

The diagram below is the equivalent of Amos’s plumb line. It was put together by the government’s Climate Change Committee an independent, statutory body established under the Climate Change Act 2008) is part of their review of the progress being made tickling the climate crisis. It shows with a blue dotted line the target reduction in carbon emissions agreed by Parliament. The grey band shows the levels of emissions that current policies will achieve. The gap between the two is the shortfall where new, firmer polices are needed. Just as plumb line measure how true a wall is, so this diagram shows how adrift we are of doing what is right for the climate and the world.

Prophets like Amos and Jeremiah called out to those in power when they were not meeting God’s standards. They also called out examples of wrong behaviour by merchants/ business leaders and those who abuse their power to oppress the vulnerable. They also called out those who falsely prophesied that all would be well and that no one need to repent and amend their patterns of behaviour!

Climate justice requires us to call our government and business leaders to account when policies and actions fail to address the climate crisis and rather allow the state of the earth to decline. We can write to our MPs and our local councillors asking what they are doing to avert the climate crisis, asking not just for wishful statements, but for concrete actions with measurable results. We can write to businesses, both multi nationals and our small, local businesses and ask what they are doing to achieve net zero carbon by 2050. Kiss the Hippo, coffee roasters in Richmond is a carbon negative coffee company – https://kissthehippo.com/blogs/news/good-news-we-ve-gone-carbon-negative we can sign petitions and join one of the many groups campaigning on the climate crisis issue – eg Friends of the Earth, XR, 350.org .

Climate justice requires us to look at our own lifestyles and measure whether they improve or damage the earth and the heritage that we will pass onto future generations. There are numerous suggestions on the internet about what we can do. This will be the topic of the next issue of the Green Tau.i

Eco Tips

Active Travel

Active travel is getting from A to B using our own person power – be that

pedalling a cycle, wheeling a chair, pushing a scooter or simply putting one foot in front of the other. It gets us from home to school/the shops/ the gym/ the railway station … and back. It keeps us fit and it keeps our environment fit – free from air pollution, congestion and carbon emissions.

Dress for the weather:
- waterproof shoes/ boots;
- waterproof over trousers and jacket
- sunhat/ beanie/ helmet
- gloves, scarf
- comfortable shoes
- something reflective for after dusk
Maintain your wheels
- keep tyres fully pumped
- get a puncture repair kit
- clean and oil chain and gears regularly
- check and adjust/ replace brake blocks
- boom a regular 4-6 monthly service
- invest in a extra strong bike lock
- use bike lights from and back

Carrying things – eg shopping
- Fit your cycle with panniers or a basket
- find a basket that is comfy to lift and hold
- try a pull along basket/ trolley
- use a back pack to spread the load more evenly

Route planning
- Find local cycle routes where you feel safe with other traffic.
- Cycle with a friend if initially you lack confidence
- Choose a route that you will enjoy walking/cycling.
- Find out where there are short cuts for when you in a hurry
- Work out how long your active journey will take and leave in good time.
Make active travel a habit

Fuel
There is never such a thing as too much cake, only not enough active travel!

Count Down

Action 11: Carry a keep cup when you go out.

In Britain we get through 2.5 billion single use coffee cups each year. Each cup – typically made of paper with a thin plastic layer – has a carbon footprint of 60.9g and that is before it leaves the cafe. Only 1 in 400 will be recycled with the remainder ending up in landfill, further adding to their carbon foot print. Each year single use coffee cups produce 152,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide – the equivalent to the output of 33,300 cars.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/26/why-britains-25-billion-paper-coffee-cups-are-an-eco-disaster

Sunday Reflection

1st August 2021

Proper 13: Exodus 16:2-4,9-15; Psalm 78:23-29; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:24-35

Do we eat to live or live to eat?

Do we hunger for more than just food?

How do we find happiness, purpose, understanding, and fulfilment in our daily lives?

The Israelites – migrants seeking a better life – are, according to the Book of Exodus, quickly disillusioned with what their new alternative life offers. The grass is not greener on this new side of the Red Sea, and however constraining life was in Egypt, they feel that their old life had its compensations. What they don’t seem to have realised is that this new life is about following God, being shaped and sustained by God, about becoming God’s people. It is a life that is going to feel different, that will have different priorities and different benefits. It is a life in which they will encounter and know God in new and richer ways. Their need to eat is not just about a daily filling of stomachs. Rather it is about developing a relationship with God in which they realise that God is the one who meets their daily needs, including but not limited to, daily meat and bread. Each day they are going to be invited to meet and give thanks to God as they collect their food. God is offering to be a constant presence in their lives, sharing with them a taste of heaven.,

Today’s Psalm is a recapping of the story from Exodus. The manna, the bread from heaven, is delightfully called the bread of angels.

The writer of Ephesians (not Paul himself but someone writing as if they were Paul) could well have been writing to the Israelites. Both the migrating Israelites, the Ephesians and we ourselves are being urged to lead a life worthy of our calling – a calling to be the people of God, to be God-shaped people – and the writer lists virtues we should therefore practice. Yet even though we are all called to be one in body and spirit, the writer also reminds us that we equally are all unique, each being recipients of different gifts that will enable us to grow into that one body that unites us all in Christ. That is our vocation, to become here on earth the loving presence of Christ.

Our reading from John’s gospel follows on after the feeding of the 5000. The writer of the gospel describes both this, the turning of water into wine, and Jesus’s various healings, as signs not miracles. Signs point us to new ways of doing things and new ways of understanding things.

The crowd, still wanting more (although they are perhaps not sure more of what) have continued to keep a tab of Jesus’s movements and to tail him. When they catch up with him, Jesus criticises them – or is he gently teasing them? – that what they are really after is more food so they can fill their stomachs, rather than seeking ways to new life. Jesus suggests that as long as he feeds them they aren’t really bothered about who he is or where he has come from.

This prompts them to think about their religious obligations and they ask what they should do to perform the works of God. Have they been so busy eating that they have not been listening? When Jesus says they should believe in – ie so believe in what that person does and says, that they too do the same – the one whom God has sent. They twig that he is talking about himself but don’t put two and two together and realise that having followed Jesus and been present with him, they should have understood this. They ask therefore for a sign as if none had been given so far. Maybe the bread they ate on the hillside seemed too mundane and earthly: not something that was heavenly like manna.

Jesus tells them that heavenly bread is bread given to them by God, is bread that gives life to the world. And yes, they say, yes that is exactly the bread we want!

I am that bread, the bread of life, says Jesus. I am offering you myself. Take from me – feed on what I teach, emulate what I do, let me feed you daily and fill your every need – then you will never be hungry, never thirst, never go unsatisfied.

Jesus is the bread of life. By imbibing what Jesus is, we will become the living, loving presence of Christ on earth.

In Jesus we find the meaning of life. With Jesus we find happiness, purpose, understanding, and fulfilment in our daily lives.

Feed on that which gives you life.

Count Down

Action 10:. Swop oat milk for dairy milk. Dairy milk produces a carbon footprint of 3kg/ litre compared with 0.9kg/litre for oat milk (BBC carbon footprint calculator). Oats grow well in a temperate climate such as ours in Britain. Oatso, Made By Land and and Pure Oaty are all UK produced oat milks. Some oat milks are fortified with vitamins and minerals to mimic those in dairy milk but you can obtain these from other sources too. Using oat milk in coffee, on cereal, in cooking and baking is an easy way to reduce your carbon footprint!

You might try the equally delicious oat yogurts, fromage frais and creams that are available.