Climate Crisis messages in your weekly notice sheet.

St Catherine’s Green Team are concerned to raise awareness of the climate crisis amongst our church family and friends.

We have decided to put some (hopefully!) helpful and encouraging messages in the weekly notice sheet for a few weeks. And we thought it might be helpful to include these in the church magazine.

Jo Day

These messages follow, starting with this introduction.

We are in a climate emergency. More people are going hungry, extreme weather events are more severe and communities are being displaced. People are being pushed back into poverty and the damage to creation is accelerating.

As we contemplate the scale of the crisis, it’s important we keep our eyes fixed on the God of justice, who loves His creation and brings restoration and peace as we play our part to reduce global warming and restore God’s beautiful creation.

Climate emergency action encouragements on this theme will appear weekly in the notice sheet.

They are repeated here, for ease of reference. We hope they will help you to take whatever action is appropriate for you.

MINIMISE SINGLE USE PLASTICS week 1

• Buy in bulk when possible, and re-use containers, for example, using Thatcham Refillable

• use solid shampoo and conditioner, available online or from Boots

• use solid soap or re-use liquid soap dispensers by buying liquid hand soap in bulk, for example from Thatcham Refillable

• use your own non plastic shopping bags rather than the supermarket/ shop’s plastic carriers

Note - Ask Jo Day for details about Thatcham Refillable.

MINIMISE SINGLE USE PLASTICS week 2

• re use polythene bags many times, re use bread bags

• use wax wrap instead of cling film (Leprosy mission sell wax wrap)

• as an alternative to foam scourers - try loofah washing up pads, available at Thatcham Refillable

• avoid using plastic cups/bottles - use your own reusable bottle or cup

Reduce Car Use

• plan carefully to use your car less often

• walk or cycle or use public transport when possible

• share lifts when possible

• avoid leaving the car engine running while stationary

• make use of video communication, if appropriate, rather than meeting in person

(Continued on page 21)

(Continued from page 20)

Reduce Personal Energy Consumption

week 1

• switch on lights only when necessary

• switch off appliances completely if they do not need to be left on standby

• insulate your home (loft, doors, windows, double glazing, heavy curtains, draft excluders etc)

• turn the heating down and wear warmer clothes indoors

Reduce Personal Energy Consumption

week 2

• reduce the number of cooker rings you use by using a steamer

• use the microwave, air fryer or slow cooker rather than the oven

• batch cook when practical

• use the microwave more

• use the electric kettle sparingly.

Reduce Personal Energy Consumption

week 3

• use less hot water for washing dishes and laundry, for example wash dishes and do the laundry with a bigger load

• use less hot water for bathing or showering

• choose the Eco cycle on your washing machine

• wash clothes less often and at 30°

Reduce Personal Energy Consumption

week 4

• consider installing solar panels

• fly less often or not at all; choose to holiday in the UK

• consider choosing a greener energy from your supplier if funds allow

• take steps to find out your own personal carbon footprint

REDUCE, RE-USE, RECYCLE week

1

• plan meals and shop carefully to minimise food waste

• recycle food packaging as much as possible. Get into the habit of looking for the symbol to tell you whether plastic packaging can be taken to the supermarket to be recycled. If you don’t use a supermarket, give your recyclable packaging to a friend or use the church recycling bin.

• reduce unnecessary use of paper

• recycle waste paper and card, cans and plastic bottles, glass bottles –kerbside collections vary according to where you live. Cooperate with friends whose waste is collected by a different local authority to recycle things which are not collected where you live and vice versa

REDUCE, RE-USE, RECYCLE week 2

• mend and repair things

• send communal Christmas Cards within our church community

• share and donate (charity shops, Freecycle, Eco Sales)

• buy less “stuff” in general

• reduce the amount of water you use, especially in summer

(Continued on page 22)

(Continued from page 21)

BE CONSCIOUS OF WHAT YOU EAT week 1

• buy LOAF (Locally grown, Organic, Animal Friendly)

• choose Fairtrade when possible

• eat less and better meat and dairy, (locally produced, Organic)

• choose Organic and Free Range, pasture fed RSPCA assured meat when you can

BE CONSCIOUS OF WHAT YOU EAT week 2

• eat seasonal, unprocessed food.

• replace half the meat in a casserole recipe with vegetables

• plan meals and shop carefully to minimise food waste

• reuse leftovers - find different ways of doing this with recipes and ideas from the internet

Miscellaneous Choices

• choose ethical investment if possible, taking advice from a trusted financial advisor

• be conscious of where you buy your goods from, and where they have been manufactured

• encourage others, friends and family to make similar lifestyle changes

“The fact is that no species has ever had such wholesale control over everything on earth, living or dead, as we now have. That lays upon us, whether we like it or not, an awesome responsibility. In our hands now lies not only our own future, but that of all other living creatures with whom we share the earth.”

From Life on Earth,

by David Attenborough

Quotes - With Holy Week and Easter in mind

Christianity is the revelation of God, not the research of man. - JA Stewart

The death of Christ was the most dreadful blow ever given to the empire of darkness. - William Plumer

The Resurrection is the central theme in every Christian sermon reported in the Acts. The Resurrection, and its consequences were the ‘gospel’ or good news which the Christians brought. – C S Lewis

The world cannot bury Christ. The earth is not deep enough for His tomb, the clouds are not wide enough for His windingsheet. - E

Thomson

The best news the world has ever had came from a graveyard. - Anon

The Christian Church has the resurrection written all over it. - E G Robinson

Our friends bring us to the grave and leave us there, but God will not. - Anon

All the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of mankind on this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life. – James

Allan Francis