Action 32: Rail electrification – compared with 100% in Switzerland, 55% in France and 48% in Germany, only 38% of Britain’s railways are electrified. Trains across non electrified tracks are pulled by diesel engines enlarging Britain’s national carbon footprint. Why not contact the Department for Transport and ask what plans there are for increasing the amount of electrified rail track in the UK? To contact the Department use this link: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/ZVVFD6/
22nd August 2021 – Proper 16: Joshua 24:1-2a,14-18, Psalm 34:15-22, Ephesians 6:10-20, John 6:56-69
The passage from Joshua comes towards the end of the book and towards the end of Joshua’s own life. The Israelites have settled in the promised land, each tribe in its own territory and peace has been established. Joshua calls together all the tribes and their leaders for one last exhortation that they live according to the ways ordained by God. It is as if they are again standing for the first time on the threshold of a new land, on the threshold of a new life. They are enjoined to leave behind old ways of living, old gods and old allegiances.
Do we need to reimagine ourselves as being on the threshold of a new beginning, a new of life? Is this how we should be approaching the COP26 climate conference? Then nations and NGOs, communities and other parties, will gather to make agreements about new ways of living in a carbon neutral world, to affirm ways of ensuring worldwide biodiversity, setting up funds to enable everyone to be part of the new future. We will all need to stand alongside one another as let go of old ways of doing things, as we leave behind of old habits, and forsake our reliance on fossil fuels.
If so should we not now be reassessing our lives, preparing how we can make and sustain the necessary changes we must make, and encouraging and supporting each other, and above all celebrating with joy our new greener, cleaner, kinder future?
May God bless our endeavours – for “The righteous cry, and the Lord hears them and delivers them from all their troubles.”
I would not wish to say that the current climate crisis is either the work of God or the work of the ‘devil’. The world God has created is beautiful and complex. It is a world in which things evolve and continue to re create in new and diverse forms. It is a world in which cause and consequence exist. It is a world which is continuing to develop over time. It is a world in which God has created humankind as a being with intelligence, imagination, determination, and with an awareness of right and wrong. It is a being with unique skills and possibilities, and it is a being which can choose to have an affinity with God.
Depending how we use these attributes, we are capable of doing great good or of doing great harm. When we – and/ or others – are not in tune with God, our actions can become so mired in greed, dishonesty, hatred, apathy, and prejudice, we can describe our situation as being evil and bedevilled. We can feel as if we are struggling with forces or powers beyond our comprehension. Perhaps this is when we need to put on the armour of God, to refurnish our lives with the gifts of God, to be open to God in prayer and to be constant in seeking channels through which God’s Spirit can flow.
If this seems hard to grasp, we need to recall the words of Simon Peter, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Action 30: Make a bug hotel. Insects and other mini beasts in our gardens do need places of shelter, places to rest and, come with winter, places to, hibernate. Without human intervention/ obstruction these small creatures would seek shelter in nocks and crannies offered by dead plants, the bark of trees, fallen deadwood etc. Much of environment lacks such places partly because we tend to keep things tidy and all surfaces clear of obstruction. We can compensate by purposefully creating insect-friendly spaces: eg by not cutting back and clearing dead plants, and/or by building bug hotels. The RSPB and other environmental charities have instructions for these:
Action 29: Plan next year’s holiday? Since air travel comes with a disproportionate carbon footprint, why not see where you might go travelling by train: Berlin? Moscow? Venice? The Alps? The Fiords? Or maybe closer to home: Tenby? St Ives? Scarborough? Brighton? Fort William? Windermere? Maybe plan a grand railway tour.
Action 28: Find out about new recycling options. Did you know Superdrug will take and recycle blister packs used for pills and tablets? Did you know the Co-op will take and recycle all soft/ scrunchable plastics such as biscuit wrappers and crisp packets?
Action 27: Do a survey of your dustbin. What are you throwing out? Could any of it be recycled, repaired or reused? Do some of the things that you buy come with too much pack again? Could you shop differently? What would it take to half the amount of rubbish you produce each week? What would it take to reduce it to zero?
Loving God, we strive to follow your ways of righteousness and justice in the world.
Yet we feel small and inept, and lay before you our dilemma.
Will you stand by if humanity continues to ignore your ways, following a path instead that leads to self destruction?
Will you stand by if 5000 choose not to follow the crowd? For the sake of the few, will you protect us all from self destruction?
Lord have mercy.
But loving God, Will you stand by if only 500 choose not to follow the crowd? For the sake of the few, will you protect us all from self destruction?
Lord have mercy.
But loving God, Will you stand by if only 50 choose not to follow the crowd? For the sake of the few, will you protect us all from self destruction?
Lord have mercy.
Loving God, strengthen our resolve to do what is right, to stand up for the marginalised, to safeguard creation and protect life, even when we feel small and ineffective.
Give us the confidence to share our concerns and our hopes for the planet, so that we can encourage and welcome others to follow the path of righteousness and justice.
Amen.
Action 26: Last week’s IPCC report issued us a code red warning: if we do not act now and act with sufficient magnitude, we will not be able to avert the already escalating climate emergency. Britain as the host nation of the COP26 conference in Glasgow should be leading the way putting in place not only strategies but actions too to ensure we achieve, nationally and globally, the 2050 net zero emissions target. Write to Alok Sharma the appointed President for COP26, and ask what is happening.
Become savvy.
Give packaging a long, hard look.
Is it necessary? Is it recyclable? Is there an alternative? Can you take your own packaging – be that a shopping basket, cloth bag or box?
There is little – if anything – that we consume that does not have a carbon footprint which is why when we seek to reduce our carbon footprint, we should be reviewing everything that we consume. And that includes the packaging. Whether what you buy comes in a plastic bag or a paper one, whether it comes in a plastic tray or a cardboard punnet, whether it comes in a plastic bottle or a glass jar, whether it is wrapped in tissue paper or bubble wrap – that packaging will have a carbon footprint. If the packaging is excessive or simply unnecessary, then we increase our carbon footprint with no gain or merit. Our aim should be to avoid unnecessary packaging and where packing is needed, to seek out packing that can – and will be – recycled.
Packaging Scenarios
1. Some packaging is necessary: imagine taking home a pint of milk with no packaging! Milk is usually sold in plastic or glass or tetra-pacs containers – and in fact all these can be recycled (although the loop for tetra-pacs is not yet fully closed), whilst glass milk bottles can be reused some 60 to 70 times before being recycled.
2. But some packaging is not. Do apples need to come in plastic bags (even if they are a compostable plastic substitute)? Loose fruit and vegetables can simply be picked up, weighed and popped into you own shopping bag/ basket.
3. For some items such as strawberries and raspberries, the packing prevents the items becoming damaged and potentially inedible . The carbon footprint of the packing may outweigh the carbon footprint of wasted food. Punnets are often made of PET plastic which can be fully recycled into a new punnet but the film on top is not so readily recycled – the Co op has just introduced a recycling scheme which accepts all scrunchable plastics.
4. Some packaging is excessive! Biscuits that come in a plastic tray inside a plastic sleeve, inside a cardboard box …. Refusing to buy such items is the best response – and can feeling very satisfying. You might instead make you own ‘up-market’ biscuits with zero packaging
5. Some packaging cannot be recycled such as polystyrene or, in the case of black plastic, is routinely incinerated/ sent to landfill because the recycling machinery finds black hard to detect!
6. But if fruit and vegetables can be bought packaging free, what about other things such as pasta or dried fruit? Soap or washing up liquid? There is a growing number of refill stores where customers can buy loose goods, decanting what they want into either their own reusable jar or container, or into a paper bag.
Action 25. Try out a new vegan recipe or have a go at this recipe for vegan pesto.
Vegan Pesto
In a food processor grind 50g of almonds till coarsely chopped.
Add to the processor 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, the juice of 2 lemons and 100ml of olive oil.
Add 500ml of green leaves such as rocket, nasturtium leaves or basil – or a mix of such peppery tasting leaves. (If the leaves are torn into smaller pieces it will enable the mixture to process more easily).
Blitz everything until it is a thick paste.
You can add more oil and lemon juice if you want a slacker paste.
If you are not using the pesto immediately, store in a covered jar in the fridge.
