Category: Uncategorized

Counting on … day 100

7th October 2026

Water use and fashion

Across Europe each persons buys on average 19kg of clothes a year – and throws away 12kg. Given that little if that is recycled is of its self a concern, but alongside that consider the environmental footprint of each person’s new clothes: 323 square meters of farmland, 523 kg of raw materials (including various chemicals used to make dyes, elastic, coatings, zips etc), and 12000 litres of water. (1) 

Droughts are clearly a problem for farmers growing cotton (less so for those growing hemp or flax which are less thirsty crops). They can also be a problem for manufacturers if the cost of water and of raw material goes up – manufacturing and dying cloth is highly water intensive. Such costs are more likely to affect those manufacturing cheap clothes – and it is likely that one area of cost saving might be in reducing labour costs which is not good for vulnerable workers.

We as consumers clearly have a role to play – we can choose to buy fewer clothes (and repair, reuse or redesign what we have) and we can choose to buy second hand clothes – and donate what we don’t need. We can, if it is within our budget, choose to buy good quality clothes that will last. 

We can also campaign against fast fashion, supporting groups such as Oxfam, Friends of the Earth, Transform Trade etc.

(1) https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20201208STO93327/fast-fashion-eu-laws-for-sustainable-textile-consumption

Further information:-

https://www.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam-in-action/oxfam-blog/the-water-cost-of-fast-fashion-a-crisis-of-climate-change-inequality-what-we-can-do-about-it/
https://friendsoftheearth.uk/nature/fast-fashion-end-exploitation-big-business
https://www.wwf.org.uk/challenges/less-more
Home
https://www.transform-trade.org/fashion

Counting on … day 99

6th October 2026

For farmers adaptation may involve building new  reservoirs on their land to store more water  – this is what they did on the Elveden Estate but despite adding a 500,000 cubic metres reservoir to their exit 700,000 cubic metres storage capacity, they still reached a point if no more water for further irrigation. (1)

To help fill reservoirs, farmers may need new permits to allow them to abstract water from rivers during the wetter winter months – rather than doing so in the hotter dryer summer months. Reservoirs can also host floating solar panels! (2)

Some farmers are experimenting with restoring wetlands -such as water meadows, creating or restoring ponds, and re-wiggling rivers to keep more water on their land when it rains which both helps reduce flooding in the winter and keeping ground water levels higher in the summer.(3)

Another approach is to grow different crops that are more drought resistant, or to use different farming methods such as planting shade crops, sylviculture, smart irrigation techniques etc. Another consideration is to shift growing crops dependent on large amounts of water to a wetter region of the country. (4)

We as consumers can be part of the change: be willing to buy and eat different fruits and vegetables; eating more home grown vegetables (rather than relying on the produce of other drought challenged countries); eating less meat and dairy  – both being large consumers of water.

(1) https://www.farmersguide.co.uk/machinery/drainage-irrigation/elveden-reservoir-water-security/

(2) https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2026/08/20/tackling-drought-aquifer-recharging-to-smart-irrigation-trials/

(3) https://www.lancswt.org.uk/blog/what-wetter-farming

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/21/somerset-rewilding-holnicote-estate-wetlands-rivers-resilience?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

(4) https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/sep/27/most-of-uks-essential-food-supply-grown-in-drought-risk-areas-report-warns?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Counting on … day 98

5th October 2026

How do we as a society and as individuals adapt to increasing likelihood of more frequent and longer droughts in the years to come? How should the different industries respond? How should the agriculture sector and farmers in particular adapt? 

The following observation comes from the railway industry. 

“The most important consideration is that we should now distinguish between maintenance and adaptation. Clearing a drain prepares us for the next storm, [but] redesigning or increasing the capacity of that drainage system prepares us for the next 30 years. We need to be doing both.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/21/britains-railway-prepares-for-more-extreme-weather-as-intense-el-nino-develops?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Droughts and floods threaten the stability of the ground on which railway lines have been built – both cuttings and embankments. This summer hot dry weather dried the ground underneath the railway lines (particularly those on embankments) with the risk that the ground might move – laterally or vertically and possibly in different directions at the same time – with the risk of disturbing the alignment of the tracks and this the risk of derailment. To  reduce the risk, many train has to run more slowly over these sections of tracks, disrupting time tables. Flooding can equally undermine stability as well as blocking the line. Strong winds can lead to more trees falling onto the tracks – or blowing other things such as garden gazebos and trampolines onto the tracks. Winds can destabilise trains, dislodge overhead lines etc. Adverse weather can hinder staff – drivers, train crew, signallers etc – getting to work. And hot weather be debilitating for staff especially those who can’t readily access cool spaces, fresh water and toilets. There is a lot of adaptation that is going to be necessary if the railway industry is to operate effectively in an increasingly extreme climate.

Will we as customers have to be more flexible about how and when we travel? More willing to both accept and factor in, adverse weather conditions?

Proper 22, 18th Sunday after Trinity

4th October 2026

Reflection with readings below

Again the teaching from the prophets – in this reading Isaiah – is that we are not aligning our will with God’s; that we are not shaping our lives and lifestyles to conform to God’s expectations – that we are sinners. But there is still the option of turning back to God, allowing God’s wisdom to shape how we live. It might involve accepting radical change, accepting pruning but also gaining from God’s nurturing guidance.

But note too that had the vine been responsive it would have had a flourishing life and would have produced beautiful sweet wine. God truly wants us and all creation to have good and flourishing lives. God’s ways are not random nor arbitrary; they are the means of a bountiful and eternal life.

In the letter to the Philippians, Paul declares that his confidence  – his certainty that he is pursing the right way to live –  comes not from following the Law (an inspired yet still human construct) nor from status, nor from race or class, nor from inherited traditions, but from following Jesus, from becoming more and more Christ-like. The Hebrew understanding of righteousness is to be in a right relationship with God and therefore with one’s fellow creatures. To be righteous is to reflect the face – the image – of God. To pursue righteousness is to become more Christ-like: in John’s gospel we hear Jesus saying that whatever the Father does, the Son does. 

So we come to today’s gospel, again with a parable about a vineyard. But here it is not the vine that is the focus, but the tenants who tend the vine – the ones who are standing in for the owner, ie God. Do the designs and action of these tenants reflect the image of God? No, they are clearly self interested and motivated by the potential for their own gain. Whilst the gospel writers of the day clearly saw the Pharisees as the tenants, in the current day we might rather see the parable as addressed to us as humans in all our roles and guises where we have not tended the vineyard – ie the Earth and all its bounty – in a manner that reflects God’s ways. Like the vineyard tenants, we have sought to impose our own values on how we deal with what has been shared with us, and seek to maximise our own gain at the expense of others. 

Can we yet refocus and discern what is important in how we conduct our lives? Can we seek out the corner stones that will allow us to rebuild a better way of life? Can we identify what are the key components of a thriving ecosystem, a thriving economy, and build on them, setting side our own arrogance and selfishness? 

This does sound like – and in reality is – a huge change of direction. It  will involve systemic change at the highest levels, requiring global cooperation, the de-prioritisation of the rich and wealthy, a genuine sharing of resources between all creaturely beings, replacing destructive economic models, and reforming and reasserting justice for all. But that is not to say that it is impossible, nor is it to say that we as individuals can’t do our bit. 

We are each called to reflect the image of God – to be Christ-like in all that we do. This will involve us in re-examining our relationships with one another – with our human and non human neighbours. It will involve us in re-examining our lifestyles – what we buy, what we eat, how we travel, how we share our gifts and our financial resources. It will involve us in spending time with and rebuilding our relationships with the rest of creation. But we will not be doing this on our own: Christ will be there with us, giving us strength and guidance. And the goal will not be a diminished life nor a diminished world, but a life and a world of beauty and peace in which all flourish.

Isaiah 5:1-7

Let me sing for my beloved
my love-song concerning his vineyard: 

My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill. 

He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines; 

he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it; 

he expected it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes. 

And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
and people of Judah, 

judge between me
and my vineyard.

What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I have not done in it? 

When I expected it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes? 

And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard. 

I will remove its hedge,
and it shall be devoured; 

I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down. 

I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; 

I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it. 

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel, 

and the people of Judah
are his pleasant planting; 

he expected justice,
but saw bloodshed; 

righteousness,
but heard a cry! 

Psalm 80:7-14

7 Restore us, O God of hosts; *
show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

8 You have brought a vine out of Egypt; *
you cast out the nations and planted it.

9 You prepared the ground for it; *
it took root and filled the land.

10 The mountains were covered by its shadow *
and the towering cedar trees by its boughs.

11 You stretched out its tendrils to the Sea *
and its branches to the River.

12 Why have you broken down its wall, *
so that all who pass by pluck off its grapes?

13 The wild boar of the forest has ravaged it, *
and the beasts of the field have grazed upon it.

14 Turn now, O God of hosts, look down from heaven;
behold and tend this vine; *
preserve what your right hand has planted.

Philippians 3:4b-14

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 21:33-46

Jesus said, “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.” 

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: 

‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone; 

this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes’? 

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” 

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realised that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

We do not presume to walk on this earth

3rd October 2026

Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and not we are ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100:3

You Lord, are the source of all good things: 

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation: 

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives: 

May we live together in peace.

A reading: Deuteronomy 11: 11-17 

But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end. So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul—  then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil.  I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you. 

A plea:
We do not presume to walk on this earth,

O merciful Lord,
trusting not in our own righteousness,
but in your manifold and great mercies
We are not worthy so much
as to gather up the leftover grains 

nor glean the fruits fallen from your trees –
But you are the same Lord,
whose property is always to have mercy:
Grant us therefore, gracious Lord,
so to live where you plant us, 

that we may work in harmony with nature 

and  share your rich harvest with all. 

Amen 

Thank you God for trees and fruit, herbs and grasses

Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness, 

we have cut down forests and burnt the scrub, 

when we have prioritised monoculture and marginalised diversity, 

when we have drained rivers and aquifers 

favouring cash crops over native plants. 

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Thank you God for birds of the air, 

the creatures of the land and the fish of the sea.

Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness, 

we have promoted our own livestock and made refugees of  the native wildlife, 

when we enlarged  our own living space and made other creatures homeless.

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Thank you God for soil and water and the fresh air we breathe. 

Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness 

we take from the soil but do not give back, 

when we pollute the waters with waste we do not want, 

when we fill the air with an excess of greenhouse gases.

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Thank you God for our brothers and sisters, our kith and kin

Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness 

we rob them of their livelihoods, 

when we divert their wealth into our pockets, 

when we ignore their pleas for help.

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Lord God, as you made us in your image, 

so that we might live with you

and, as your Son took on our form that he might live among us, 

so you have shown us how to live.

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Amen.

Counting on … day 97

2nd October 2026

This summer will hopefully prove the impetus needed for greater adaptation in the face of climate change both within the farming and food industry and for us as consumers.

We will all need to be thinking about eating and therefore growing different crops, and less of some and more of others. For farmers it will also be about different methods of farming. 

Ongoing research and field evidence points to the importance of maintaining good soils. Soils that are full of organic material and active life forms – from worms to mycorrhizal fungi – are soils that retain more moisture and nutrients for crops. 

Shading the soil – and often the crops too – helps reduce moisture loss and sunburn, and creates a micro climate so that moisture returns back into the soil.

Many farmers are increasing water storage, creating ponds, wetlands and reservoirs.  

Trialing different crops is also happening, but is sometimes hindered by the unpredictability of the weather. A hot summer preceded by a dry spring will favour different crops from a hot summer preceded by a wet spring. 

As consumers we will need to be willing to accept different fruits and vegetables in our shopping baskets – and more willing to eat seasonally. We may too want to be adaptive in our gardens, ensuring good soil, using shade to advantage, trying different crops – and different flowering and herbaceous plants. We too can invest in extra water butts to store more water.

Further reading:

Counting on … day 96

1st October 2026

Olive oil is listed as the fifth food that will cost more this winter as a result of the extreme climate events and the ongoing conflicts around the world. Whilst olive trees are a native Mediterranean plant that is adapted to the Mediterranean climate, they do need a certain amount of moisture to grow and produce fruit.  Recent droughts, excessive heat and a proliferation of pests, has reduced the harvest, whilst in Spain wildfires and earlier in late winter,  storms and heavy rain in late winter caused both damage and loss of trees. Reduced harvests like this will lead to increased costs for the consumer. 

Of course there are alternative cheaper oils that we can use such as rapeseed oil. The rapeseed harvest has been better than previous years, benefitting from the large amounts of sunshine. 

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/04/price-olive-oil-expected-rise-again-european-crops-heat-drought-wildfires?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Counting on … day 95

30th September 2026

The Conversation(1) identifies bread as the fourth food item whose cost is rising. “Arable farmers growing field crops such as wheat do not irrigate their crops but rely on the right amount of rain at the right time of year. This year’s long summer drought meant that UK wheat yields have fallen significantly below recent averages. But wheat only makes up about 10% of the overall cost of an average loaf of bread. Increases in pricing are also being driven by energy prices and other overheads passed onto bakeries, which need to power huge mills to produce flour and heat ovens to bake bread. This means a poor harvest is one of many factors likely to inflate the price of bread over the coming months.”

Like potatoes, bread is both a staple in our diets but also one of the foods most frequently thrown away. Again this may reflect its relatively low price (more so in the case of sliced pre-packed bread than premium freshly baked loaves) and a general attitude that it is ‘only’ bread. 

Sliced pre-packed is typically full of chemicals that prolongs its life but even so it will go mouldy if not eaten within a certain time frame – yet for small households the economy of buying a large loaf may outweigh the benefits of  a smaller loaf. 

In countries outside the UK it is more usual to buy fresh bread daily – and thus to patronise a local bakery where fresh bread is produced daily. (But even that is a reality that is in decline perhaps because there are fewer people willing to take on the unsocial hours of a baker, and the unwillingness of people to pay a price that reflect a fair wage for the baker when a cheaper option is abating the supermarket). 

All this suggests that we may need to value bread more highly, and appreciate it as a more than a filler but as a tasty nutritious part of our diet.

Here we might want to reflect on the comparisons between the nutritional value of a sliced pre-packed loaf which has been rushed through its production and filled with numerous additives to compensate, and bread that is made by traditional methods using just flour, water, yeast and a little salt. For more information see https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20250704-sourdough-vs-white-sliced-which-breads-should-we-be-eating and through the Real Bread Campaign https://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/ourwork/

At the same time, we may need to ensure we store our bread well – https://www.fob.uk.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/FS18-Keeping-Bread-Fresh-03-18.pdf – who don’t using paper bags or – https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/how-to-store-bread/ – who do! I personally store home made bread in cotton bags (washing each before reuse) and freeze bread wrapped in bees wax wrap.

And ensure we make good use of left over or stale bread.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/apr/09/20-recipe-ideas-leftover-bread
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/collections/stale_bread_recipes

NB in many cases where egg is used there will be a vegan option, eg: https://tinandthyme.uk/2021/04/vegan-savoury-bread-pudding/

We might also want to give due credit to the skills of bakers and millers, and support local independent bakers as part of our community: 

“More jobs per loaf

“A small, independent bakery offers meaningful, skilled baking jobs to people from YOUR local community. Very simply put, each time you buy from one, you are helping to support more jobs per loaf.

“Supporting your high street

“As well as supporting meaningful jobs for local people, each time you spend money with locally-owned businesses, far more of that is likely to be reinvested locally. Where would you rather see your money go – supporting your neighbours and keeping your high street alive, or lining the pockets of the shareholders of huge national – or even multinational – corporations?” https://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/supermarkets/

As regards millers, you might want to check any that are local to you – https://www.sourdough.co.uk/british-artisan-flour-mills-by-region/ I buy our flour from Fosters Mill in Cambridgeshire which is wind-powered. 

Nevertheless there is still an issue around cost. Good bread should be an affordable food for everyone. Either the cost of making good bread needs to be subsidised or society needs to ensure that everyone has a sufficient biscuits income that makes good bread affordable.

This scheme is one tackling this issue – https://scotlandthebread.org/2021/01/29/solidarity-stories-bread-communities-working-together-for-equal-access-to-good-food/

Maybe this – https://communitychef.org.uk/what-are-bread-clubs/ or this – https://breadtogether.org.uk/

(1) https://theconversation.com/five-foods-that-could-cost-even-more-this-winter-and-why-292419?utm_campaign=the-daily-39638&utm_content=the-daily-39638_uk%7C2%7C39638%7C41ea8a7e&utm_medium=email&utm_source=braze&utm_term=Five+foods+that+could+cost+even+more+this+winter+%E2%80%93+and+why

Counting on … day 94

29th September 2026

Leafy greens are the third item listed as a food that will cost more this winter as a result of the extreme climate events and the ongoing conflicts around the world.

Leafy greens need a lot of water – think how much water there is in a lettuce leaf! Many leafy greens are also susceptible to fluctuations in available water: too little water one day cannot be compensated for by extra water the next. Either the plant will die or it may shoot up quickly and go to seed, or its growth will be uneven. Cabbages with thick green leaves cope better than delicate lettuce leaves. Cut-and- come lettuces do better than head forming lettuces. Sprouting broccoli does better than Calabrese, whilst cauliflowers can suffer sunburn! 

Again we can’t necessarily rely on importing leafy greens from Europe when our crops run short – although,  as reported below, countries like Spain already have in place better infrastructure for efficient irrigation. We may have to adapt to eating a different spectrum of green leafy vegetables. Equally we might look to growing some at home – and even without a garden we can grow herbs, sprouting seeds and mustard and cress.

For some leafy greens, there maybe technological alternatives such as vertical growing – https://canadawater.co.uk/latest/news/harvest-london-at-canada-water/ – or – as demonstrated in Germany,  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/sep/11/supermarket-salad-rooftop-garden-berlin?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other – growing salads on top of the supermarket where they are to be sold! 

Alternative drought tolerant vegetables – https://www.rhs.org.uk/garden-inspiration/grow-your-own/crops-to-beat-heat-and-drought

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/01/uk-importing-vegetabless-drough-heat-hit-british-crops-price-rises?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/14/how-england-summer-heatwave-affecting-farm-animals-crops?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Counting on … day 93

28th September 2026

The second item listed in the Conversation as one of five foods that are going to cost more this winter as a result of extreme weather events, global conflict etc, as potatoes. Potatoes as a crop need a lot of water – which is perhaps why they became a staple food crop in Ireland with its typically heavier rainfall. Whilst low rainfall over the last few years has caused an increase in prices, this summer’s drought will be impactful. And as the drought has been Europe wide, it will not be easy to import potatoes to make up this year low yield.  Potatoes also need fertile soils. For none-organic farmers, this year’s increased cost of fertilisers, will also be pushing up prices to the consumer. 

However potato is one of the foods most frequently thrown away as waste. This might be because potatoes have typically been a cheap food. If too much is cooked for a meal, it easy to throw away. If a plate is overfull, we probably eat the more interesting foods and leave the potato. And if we don’t store the potatoes well, they can start sprouting or go mouldy. This issue maybe accentuated if we end up buying a larger bag than we need – either because the larger bag is better value or because there are small bags or no option to buy loose potatoes.

It maybe that the increasing cost of potatoes will encourage us to value them more. We can: