“Future generations will never forgive us if we miss the opportunity to protect our common home. We have inherited a garden; we must not leave a desert for our children.”
(Joint statement from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Pope, and Ecumenical Patriarch, 2021)
This is the first instalment of a monthly series of studies on sustainability to be released throughout 2024. The aim is that each month, we will provide a practical introduction to a relevant topic to enable people to incrementally improve their sustainability at a manageable pace.
In October 2023, St. Andrews’ Church held a Green Fair that included an exhibition giving guidance on how people could improve their sustainability; some of the information from this event is available on the church website. This year’s series aims to deliver similar information in a different manner in the hope that it will reach a different section of our community.
The topics we will cover during 2024 are as follows:
January: Benchmarking
February: LED lighting. Recycling and reuse
March: Sustainable food and sustainable cooking
April: Travel – overland holidays, cycling
May: Water saving
June: Composting
July: Sustainable buying. Ethical investment
August: Insulation
September: Heating control
October: Helping wildlife through winter
November: Renewable Energy
December: Sustainable festivities. Re-benchmarking
Each new topic will be introduced by posting an article in the first week of every month. We’ll then hold a discussion on the month’s topic in the third week of each month where people can ask questions, discuss what they've done and what barriers they've faced, and share their good ideas so that we can face the climate crisis as a mutually supportive community. We hope that the timing of these sessions gives people sufficient time to read that month’s topic, engage with the issues and raise some questions before the session.
In the words of Disney’s character Stitch:
"Ohana means family. Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten."
Please let us know if you feel that what we’re producing here isn’t relevant to you, is hard to understand or that we’re missing important topics. We don’t want to leave anyone behind, and would love feedback to help ensure that this series is useful to everyone in our church family! Please contact a member of the Creation Care team with your thoughts on how we can improve this series.