Counting On … – Page 100

Counting on ….day 171

2nd May 2022

No Mow May!

This month we are encouraged not to mow our lawns. And here’s why:

On a single day in summer, one acre of wildflower meadow can contain 3 million flowers and produce 1 kg of nectar sugar for pollinators. But since the 1930s, we have lost nearly 7.5 million acres of flower-rich meadows and pastures. Just 1% of our countryside now provides this floral feast for pollinators. Against this loss, habitats such as lawns have become increasingly important. With 15 million gardens in Britain, our lawns have the potential to become major sources of nectar.

Counting on …day 170

1st May 2022

Never give up hope! For weeks now I have been convinced that our grape vine has died. Its two main branches have shown no signs of life – rather the bark has been peeling away – and the stubs where last years shoots were pruned are dry and hollow. But then, I glimpsed a couple of small pale green shoots – it is alive and we can look forward to another year of leafy sunshade and luscious fruits in due season. Signs of hope are to be treasured and praised. Thanks be to God!

Counting on …day 169

30th April 2022

Picking up on the idea of car-free Sundays, how many excursions or days out can you plan that don’t involve a car? Walks that include a pub lunch, walks that incorporate a visit to a museum or historic site, cycle rides that include stunning view points (and a downhill ride afterwards!), a bus or train ride along a scenic route, a walk along a canal….

Counting on ….day 168

29th April 2022

“UK drivers have cut 550 million miles a week by working from home” reported Ciara Knight in November 2020 (https://www.bymiles.co.uk/insure/magazine/author/ciara/). Commuting makes up 15% of car journeys in the UK so the more those journeys can be reduced – either by working from home or by living closer to the workplace – or shifted from cars to public transport, cycling or walking, the better – both for environment and our health.

How about this for an idea? Rotterdam has installed rain sensors at intersections so that when it starts to rain the traffic lights prioritise people cycling. https://twitter.com/Cycling_Embassy/status/1315669335839567873?s=20

Counting on….day 167

28th April 2022

Walking holidays, cycling holidays, train journeys – there are lots of ways of planning holidays that minimise fossil fuel consumption. Scotland, Cornwall, Wales, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany can all be reached by train within the day plus there are also options for taking a sleeper.

For information about travelling by train – https://www.seat61.com/

Counting on ….day 165

27th April 2022

The pandemic increased the shift to online shopping and queues of cars outside supermarkets are now a thing of the past! In suburbs like East Sheen, walking – or cycling – to the shops is easy and what is bought can be carried in baskets, backpacks or trolleys. Kingston or central London are a train or bus ride away. Why do shopping centre need car parks?

Counting on …day 164

26th April 2022

Car free sports? Being active, doing sports, going to the gym are all good for our health – and even better if you get to the sports ground, the gym, the pool or the park without driving. If you normally drive, can you walk or cycle of maybe take the bus? Check out routes and times and enjoy an even greater sense of fitness.

https://greentau.org/tag/cycling/

Counting on …day 163

25th April 2022

Reduced speed limits, healer public transport and car-free Sundays could help to prevent a global oil crunch caused by the war in Ukraine – the International Energy Agency (IEA) has outlined 10 measures that it believes could cut oil demand by 2.7 million barrels a day within four months. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/mar/18/car-free-sundays-iea-sets-out-10-point-plan-to-reduce-global-oil-demand?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Car free Sundays happen across Europe reducing air pollution and carbon emissions, and creating the peaceful ambience for a day of relaxation.

Why not make your Sundays car free?

Counting on ….day 162

24th April 2022

“We can see signs of that grace all around, with eyes to see and ears to hear. That grace can stir us to action – to change our lifestyles, to provoke politicians to the right priorities, to challenge big businesses to have regard not just for profit, but for the future of our very existence.” So writes Frankie Ward in an article for Green Christian (https://greenchristian.org.uk/resources/green-christian/)

Amen. Amen.

This week I have been struck by the zeal of the Just Stop Oil protestors; the healing power of nature experienced via the Blue Prescribing project; the Brabantia adverts in our local hardware shop for rotary clothes driers: avoid the need for tumble driers and support tree planting in Ethiopia.

Be encouraged. With God’s grace, change is possible.

Counting on …day 160

22nd April 2022

We are enmeshed in a economy fuelled by fossil fuel industries that are

reluctant – indeed highly resistant- to change. If change does not happen, we and the world will suffer increasingly the effects of the climate crisis. BP, one such fossil fuel company, has been a sponsor of the British Museum for many years. Despite on going public opposition and despite the move of most of other institutions away from fossil fuel sponsorship, the British Museum is currently negotiating with BP for a further five year deal. This weekend ‘BP or not BP’ will be continuing its campaign to dissuade the British Museum. Find out more from their web site https://bp-or-not-bp.org/news/

or sign their petition https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/the-british-museum-must-not-to-renew-its-sponsorship-deal-with-bp

Here is a piece from their Facebook page:

“Why is BP sponsorship such a big deal?

BP doesn’t sponsor cultural institutions out of the goodness of its heart. Its philanthropic image is a carefully curated marketing scheme, designed to distract from its appalling environmental and human rights record, its decades of funding brutal autocrats (including Vladamir Putin) and its huge contribution to climate change.

From covering up oil spills which harm oceans and animals, to dodgy deals with dictators and warmongers, BP has done it all. The company’s history is inseparable from colonial oppression and its endless quest for fossil fuels has wreaked international havoc for more than 80 years.

This sponsorship deal at the British Museum doesn’t just give BP a false veneer of respectability. It allows the company to use this publicly funded space to throw fancy events, schmooze with UK government officials, and cosy up to representatives of fossil-fuelled regimes from Egypt to Azerbaijan to – yes – Russia.”