CAFOD Coronavirus Appeal
Many communities in developing countries are struggling greatly due to the coronavirus pandemic.
CAFOD is working in many ways to help people rebuild their lives, enabling them to earn a living and ensure that children can go to school. They are urgently in need of funds to support this work. You can find details on how to donate on the CAFOD website.
Present : Sian, Stephen, Eva, Tim, Susanne, Sarah B, Sarah L
Church Action on Poverty
Suggestion that we have a service on Poverty Sunday (23rd February). We felt we couldn’t achieve too much but we might be able to have a special bidding prayers something in the newsletter. It was also suggested if Stephen Parker was doing the sermon he could get a mention in – Stephen will mention that to him. Sarah B will check if St Colombo’s are doing something that Sunday. Stephen will also check with Fr Kevin if there could be a second collection (SVP, Shelter?) and also we can have additional bidding prayer(s).
Events
Creation Event was felt to be a success.
The panto was successful as ever and a good sum was raised for CAFOD.
The Dance Group are imminently having their event, more good fundraising being done.
In Advent funds were raised through the “sticker campaign” for a solar panelled lamppost for a refugee camp, £355.
The petition around climate change was very successful, with almost everyone who was asked signing up.
Food Bank
Sarah B is going to the network meeting next week. Stocks are normally good over Christmas but it drops off as the new year progresses. Demand is going up due to the implementation of Universal Credit. Sarah B will put a reminder in when it seems appropriate. Delivery is done on a rota, a month at a time.
Cafod
There is a CAFOD diocescan meeting tomorrow which Stephen is attending. The current campaign is a modification of the climate change one, (called cross-generation climate change) each of 12 regions around the country adopting a ‘climate warrior’ for our region. Stephen mentioned though there was a subsidiary campaign around climate change and education and gender equality, and wondered if this might be different. Sarah B wondered if it was a more complex issue to explain. Stephen would be happy to feed back at the next meeting, circulating something in advance.
Lent
The prayer thoughts last year were very well received. Tim agreed to lead on this and will give it some thought before emailing round the group.
NB : Anything written should be dyslexia friendly font and maybe a slightly larger sized font. Alternatively we could post anything written on the parish website, so that people could print off in an appropriate font themselves, primarily to save paper in any initial printing.
Next meeting 1 April at 8pm
An excellent and well attended service – Creation Celebration – was held last Friday. Some wonderful readings, poetry and hymns, followed by cakes from all around the world and a quiz on climate change. Please see below among other things, some photos and the order of service, plus ‘the top 10 tips on how to reduce your carbon footprint!’
Please click on links below to see some useful information about reducing you carbon footprint etc.!
Books
Ruth Valerio: ‘L’ is for Lifestyle. Christian living that doesn’t cost the earth
Seth Wynes: SOS. What you can do to reduce climate change
Courtney White: Grass, Soil, Hope
C. Dowding & S. Hafferty: No Dig Organic Gardening
Links
https://cafod.org.uk/Campaign/Climate/Our-Common-Home
www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/takeaction/ (‘A lazy person’s guide to saving the world’ – United Nations Sustainable Development)
www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/19/how-to-reduce-carbon-footprint
www.cat.org.uk (Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynlleth. Lots of practical information, courses, and a vision for Zero Carbon Britain)
www.foe.co.uk (Friends of the Earth)
www.greenpeace.org
www.sustrans.org.uk (charity promoting cycling, the national cycle network, and sustainable transport)
www.eta.co.uk (Environmental Transport Association, breakdown cover, insurance, etc.)
www.ethicalconsumer.org (helps consumers to make ethical choices)
Carbon Footprint Calculators:
https://unfccc.int/climate-action/climateneutral-now
www.footprintnetwork.org (lots of global and country specific info, plus footprint calculator)
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, 2nd 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