Author: Alan

Soil is essential for life on earth:

95% of our food comes from soil

1/4 of all known species live within soil and one teaspoon of soil can hold more organisms than there are people on earth.

Soils hold more carbon (as organic matter) than our atmosphere and vegetation combined

Soil also stores and regulates water flow, and mitigates climate change and flooding

Largely due to intensive farming a quarter of all soil across the world is severely degraded. It contains fewer organisms, stores less carbon, and loses its ability to regulate water flow.

 With our imports of animal feed and food, UK farming and consumption also contributes to soil damage overseas

Careful farming practice could restore depleted soils to their full carbon storage and water regulating potential and thus significantly help fight climate change

Consider this when redesigning your garden:                            soil covered with non-permeable concrete or stone can’t absorb water or turn atmospheric CO2 into organic matter; though weeds will find a way eventually

DIG LESS! Ploughing and digging disrupts the soil structure, kills soil micro-organisms, and releases CO2 into the air. Growing perennials rather than annuals does not disturb the soil structure and shifts CO2 into the soil year after year

Only buy peat free compost and/or make your own:        peat bogs lock up vast amounts of carbon which is released when the peat is dug up and exposed to oxygen.

Immaculate lawns usually require the use of weed killers and fertilisers and are essentially a monoculture. A more relaxed view of green ground cover is beneficial for biodiversity above and below ground.

Grow your own and buy organic produce when in season

www.soilassociation.org/media/4673/living-soils-a-call-to-action-2015.pdf, Wikipedia: no-dig gardening, www.growveg.co.uk, www.deepgreenpermaculture.com, www.permaculture.org.uk, ‘No Dig Organic Gardening’ by C. Dowding & S. Hafferty

  CO2 emission from moving 1 passenger 1 mile: plane 210g, car 146g, ferry 137g,   train or coach 30-65g

45% of flights in Europe are less than 500km

A return flight London – New York adds 1.2t to a person’s carbon footprint

The global warming effect of long-haul flights is worse than short-haul due to their high altitude (‘radiative forcing’)

Electric cars are better than petrol or diesel cars in terms of CO2 emissions but require ‘conflict minerals’ in the manufacture of their batteries

Sources: www.tyndall.ac.uk, Wikipedia: environmental impact of aviation, www.eta.co.uk/environmental-info/air-travels-impact-on-climate-change/

Flying less has the biggest impact on your individual carbon footprint

Reducing car mileage from 15,000 to 10,000m per year saves over 1t of CO2

Share car journeys:  www.sheffield.ac.uk/parkingservices/sharing, https://www.blablacar.co.uk/ride-sharing/sheffield/, https://liftshare.com/uk/community/southyorkshire

Have a look at:  www.nextgreencar.com, www.ecopassenger.com, www.eta.co.uk, www.sustrans.org.uk

For European train travel: www.seat61.com, https://loco2.com/

Home delivery is climate friendlier than everyone driving to the supermarket

Reduce food-miles by buying locally produced food (see ‘shopping’ sheet)

Walk, cycle, and use public transport

Everything we buy carries its own environmental footprint: natural and other resources (land, water, fertilisers, pesticides, fossil fuel, minerals, etc.), energy inputs, by-products during manufacture, packaging, transportation, use of the product, and ultimate disposal.

This linear process is very wasteful

As consumers we can help turn this into a circular process where nothing ends up wasted but is a resource for a new product. This way a huge amount of resources and energy could be saved.

Therefore

Buy less

Buy local, 2^nd hand and recycled

Borrow & share, give away

Avoid unnecessary packaging

Fix, mend, reuse, repurpose, upcycle, recycle

Buy seasonal, local food and avoid out-of-season, fresh produce which has been flown in from overseas:

Sheffield veg-box schemes: Regather, Moss Valley Market Garden, Beanies Wholefoods, Sheffield Organic Growers, …

Visit the farmer’s market at the Scout Hut in Broomhill

Buy loose rather than prepacked and bring your own bag/container: Unwrapped (Crookes), most greengrocers, zerowastenear.me/loc/sheffield/

Bring your own cup and most coffee shops will give you       20 to 50 pence off your take-out coffee

Refill your water bottle at home rather than buying water bottles on the go

Recycle empty ball pens, felt pens, and printer cartridges at ‘Good Taste’ fairtrade shop in Broomhill

Repurpose old jeans: www.diyncrafts.com/repurpose (search for jeans)

New T-shirts from old ones: www.rapanuiclothing.com

Avoid cheap ‘Fast Fashion’: most of it ends up as waste as charity shops are often unable to re-sell it

Resources: www.wrap.org.uk/, www.terracycle.com/en-GB

How you invest your money shapes the world

Apply your ethical beliefs to your investments even if it means smaller financial returns; social and environmental returns benefit the wider world

Divest from financial institutions which invest in fossil fuel extraction

Invest in banks, building societies, insurance companies, pension schemes, credit unions, and community projects which work for positive environmental and social change

Increase your impact by telling your old bank why you are moving your money

Examples

The Co-operative Bank

Ecology Building Society

Charity Bank

Triodos Bank

Some smaller Building Societies

Local credit unions

Community energy projects like: www.egni.coop.

www.abundanceinvestment.com

www.investing-ethically.co.uk

Ethex/Energise Africa

The Downing Crowd

Resources: www.ethical consumer.org

www.communityenergyengland.org

A quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions come from food production

 58% of this from animal products      

Half of this from beef

Growing protein-rich plants needs much less land and resources and produces a fraction of greenhouse gases

Worldwide an estimated one third of food is lost or wasted; much of it before it reaches the shops as it doesn’t have the right shape or colour

Food waste costs the UK around £17 billion a year (£470 to an average household)

www.cat.org.uk, www.bbc.co.uk/science-environment-46459714, www.bbc.co.uk/science-environment-46384067

Eat less meat:

especially beef and lamb

Reduce the size of meat portions; use it more as flavouring than the main component of a meal

Eat less dairy, especially hard cheese

Try vegetarian recipes: Beans, nuts, pulses, tofu are rich in protein

Avoid food waste:

Include wonky fruit and veg when you go shopping.

Many foods can be safely used after the best before date

Turn left-overs into a tasty meal: stir-fries, omelettes, casseroles, bakes, tartes, salads, soups …

Leafy tops of carrots, beetroot, radish are good in soups

Favour local, seasonal, and organic food:                       see ‘shopping’ sheet

https://thefoodworks.org/ (this is in Sheffield), www.cat.org.uk/lauras-larder,www.aberfoodsurplus.co.uk,  Michael Pollan: Food Rules

In 2017, carbon dioxide emissions from power stations accounted for about a fifth of all CO2 emissions in the UK

Electricity consumption peaked in 2005 and has slightly reduced since then

The increase in renewable electricity production in the UK has facilitated the closure of two coal power stations in recent years

Electricity accounts for 16% of carbon emissions of the average UK household

Sources: Dept. for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, 2017 UK GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, PROVISIONAL FIGURES (29 March 2018), www.carboncalculator.co.uk/averages.php

Switch to a renewable energy supplier, preferably one that also invests in new renewable capacity

e.g. Ecotricity, Good Energy, Octopus Energy, Bulb, LoCO2

www.cable.co.uk/energy/guides/green-energy/, www.ethicalconsumer.org/energy

Invest in community energy schemes

www.communityenergyengland.org

Crowd funding platforms like Triodos, Abundance, etc.

At home

Switch appliances off rather than leaving them on standby,

LED bulbs use less electricity than Halogen bulbs,

Use a washing line rather than a tumble drier,

Check energy ratings when buying a new appliance,

Turn off the dishwasher at the beginning of the drying cycle and open its door instead.

www.cse.org.uk, www.carbonfootprint.com/energyconsumption.html

Present Sian (chair), Eva, Stephen, Tim, Susanne. Sarah B (minutes)

Apologies Sarah L, Margaret

Matters arising from previous minutes

Very positive feedback about the Lenten reflections – although some would appreciate a larger and more distinct font.

May Day Trek – poorly attended by the parish.

S2 Food Bank – we have received a certificate of thanks for our contributions.

Diocesan Environmental Policy

Unfortunately this was received by us at rather short notice. It seems unclear whether the policy will remain in this rather confused format, or will be edited before being launched. What form will the launch take? There were some comments on the scope of the policy –Individual comments to be sent to Eva a.s.a.p.

Creation Service

It was agreed that this would be a service (as opposed to a Mass) – at 7.30 on Friday 18^th October. The format will be readings, prayers and music (suggestions from the Cafod booklet), to last about 30 minutes and to be followed by cake etc, coffee/tea. On each table there will be a copy of the Quiz and “10  practical things to do to make a change”. To help estimate numbers for catering purposes, tickets will be sold at £2.00 – proceeds to fund a ?bird box/bee hotel or similar in church garden. People will also be asked to sign a petition to the Prime Minister.

Eva will liaise with Richard re the involvement of the music and the youth groups  – and find a date in August for a meeting with him, others interested and any of J&P group who can attend- principally to structure the service, plus other arrangements.

Eva will also circulate to us likely overseas cake recipes to practice.

Stephen will liaise with Fr Kevin;  will add information to the newsletter e.g.tickets, cake, nearer the time.

Susanne and Stephen will produce the “10 things to do”.

Susanne will produce the tickets.

Tim will edit down the Quiz.

Sarah will contact Anne Shepherd re advertising the event to the Hallam council of Churches, and will gather signatures for the Cafod petition.

Meeting to finalise arrangements – Wednesday 16^th October.

A.O.B.

Panto Tim has offered to help with the script.

Attendees: Sarah B, Susanne, Stephen, Sian (chair), Tim, Eva (minutes)

Apologies: Sarah L

Foodbank
The S2 foodbank has a Facebook page where the most needed items are posted, although this is not always up to date. Sarah B agreed to inform the parish when there were specific requests for items.  There is an ongoing need for direct debits and standing orders. Sarah B will ask the foodbank fi there is a need to increase these and if so put a note in the bulletin about this.

CAFOD

The current CAFOD campaign is “Our Common Home”. Some events to support this campaign have been advertised in the bulletin. We discussed the possibility of having a Creation celebration later in the year. This would possibly be on 11 October (Friday) and include a Mass or service, a shared meal and a quiz about climate change.

Several actions were associated with this:

1. Stephen to contact Father Kevin to discuss the date and option of Mass or service
2. Eva to research food recipes for shared meal to reflect cuisines of countries particularly effected by climate change such as Bangladesh.
3. Eva to check CAFOD website for resources such as video to show on the evening, the quiz and climate dice game.
4. Sian to contact musicians once date agreed to have music at the Mass/service.
5. A note will be put in the bulletin to encourage other parishioners to be involved in preparations.

Lent

The Lenten reflections distributed each week at Mass appear to be well received. Eva agreed to ask for feedback at the Parish AGM next week.

Assist

Tim reported that Assist has a range of support for destitute asylum seekers and had their own night shelter.

May Day Trek

Parishioners will be taking part in this year’s May Day Trek. This has been advertised in the bulletin.

Future plans
Possible activities for next year include:

• Presenting a film about refugees in Sheffield (Moving to Mars)
• Having a Dream auction, possibly supporting a charity other than CAFOD, for example the Foodbank.

Date of next meeting

3 July 2019, 8pm, St Francis Presbytery. It was agreed to put a note in the bulletin about this and mention that there will be discussions of climate change related activities to encourage new members.