20 March 2026

Here are some tips from Climate Stewards this week. For more information, visit their website https://climatestewards.org/ .

13 March 2026

There have been a few interesting stories in the news this week, a bit of a relief from the situation in the Middle East.  

First off, a project, backed by the local council in Hounslow, to cultivate unused land in the area - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy7j3g3n2lxo

Second,  what do you think about the proposal to feature pictures of British wildlife on the next series of banknotes? Might it raise awareness? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cn714mxj85ro

And Bishop  Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich,  and the Church of England lead Bishop for environment and biodiversity,  has been named on the top 100 list of climate and environment leaders in the UK, which is great recognition of the work the  CofE is doing, but there's so much more to be done.  https://www.dioceseofnorwich.org/bishop-of-norwich-on-top-100-climate-leaders-list/

6 March 2026

Amid all the other business at General Synod last week, a potentially quite significant motion was approved, relating to church flowers, and how our use of flowers in church should reflect our commitment to creation care.  I'll quote the text of the motion in full:

The motion read:

That this Synod

(a) embrace the principles of the Sustainable Church Flowers movement which encourages a living into the Fifth Mark of Mission by promoting the use of local, seasonal and fully biodegradable compostable flowers and foliage;

(b) encourage cathedrals, churches and churchyards — wherever possible — to source flowers and foliage locally and seasonally for use in worship and church life;

(c) call on cathedrals, churches and churchyards to eliminate the use of floral foam (oasis) and all similar non-biodegradable and non-reusable products and techniques, while rediscovering traditional and environmentally friendly methods of presentation and display.

It is important to notice the language here.  Sections a and b talk about 'promoting' and 'encouraging' a move towards using more sustainable, locally grown and/or seasonal flowers and foliage in our church displays. And some churches will be able to make that move more quickly and easily than others.  Section c, however,  is an unequivocal call for the complete elimination of the use of floral foam (oasis) as quickly as possible.  If you're in any doubt as to why this is necessary,  please have a look at this article, and particularly the video link at the end - https://www.sustainablefloristry.org/resources/floral-foam-facts/  The scientific article underpinning this can be found here - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969719358218?via%3Dihub (nb this is not the complete article, but a full summary and abstract).

Finally, just to note that Big Plastic Count starts Monday 9th March.  And it's not too late to sign up! https://thebigplasticcount.com/

27 February 2026

Last Friday (20th February) was the International Day of Social Justice, so there's been an abundance of reports to choose from, to highlight for you this week. And it should remind us that social justice and climate justice are inextricably linked.  But I will just stick with one of those reports,  and get to it a bit later. 

But first, do you enjoy making and/or mending things? There's no doubt it's good for our mental wellbeing, and can be good for the planet too. If you would like to be able to do more  - darn socks, for example - then other folks in our community would love to share their skills. What could we arrange?

I was particularly put in mind of this when I read the following in an article this week:

'One of the most beau­ti­ful things about sew­ing or mak­ing is the con­nec­tion you cre­ate between your­self, tra­di­tional know­ledge and the per­son or people who are shar­ing their know­ledge with you. Ances­tral space is cre­ated in those moments; rela­tions become threaded across time between your ancest­ors, your present and your des­cend­ants through the act of sew­ing or mak­ing cul­tural mater­i­als.' 

Thread­ing Ances­tral Spaces by Krista Ulujuk Zawad­ski (Inuit Art Quarterly: December 2025)

In case you're wondering how I came to be reading what would seem to be a fairly obscure publication, it's because, thanks to Pressbooks, I can. Many local authority library services subscribe to this, and it's an absolute treasure trove of UK and international magazines and newspapers, all freely available online via your library service.  There's got to be a green message in there somewhere.  It's certainly a potential money saver,  and a huge window on ideas.

Finally, going back to social justice, reports and the clothing/fashion industry... (and there is a clear link here, because making and mending reduce our dependence on continuous replacement), the report below came out this week.  Not focusing on the industry's bad faith relations with overseas suppliers, particularly in the global south, but highlighting that the same issues and injustices are visited on UK suppliers too. Transform Trade have published other reports dealing with the situation in the global south, which I'm sure you can find if you want to follow this up. 

https://www.transform-trade.org/fashion-watchdog-2026?mc_cid=2bfb56222f&mc_eid=b75d581f33

18 February 2026

Cast your mind back to the suggestions made at Harvest Festival.... Some of them involved the hall kitchen, and there are certainly things we can do to improve our environmental footprint there. But during rehearsals for 'Captain Noah', someone reminded me that sometimes individuals can just get on with it, and not wait for someone else to organise things.  One of our refreshments stalwarts, who was, I think, at every rehearsal, and must have made literally hundreds of cups of tea and coffee, gathered up all the used tea bags, took them home, and put them in their own food waste bin. They also gathered up all the plastic wrappings from the cakes and biscuits and took those to the plastic recycling at the supermarket.  No need to wait for an 'organised' collection.  Just did it.  So can we all.

Lent is already upon us.  If you're still looking for a positive Lent challenge, it's not too late to sign up for A'Rocha's Carbon Fast - https://arocha.org.uk/carbon-fast-26/ . Plenty to think about, and maybe do, during Lent and beyond.

6 February 2026

A belated happy new eco-year to all.  Here are a few things to think about or do this week:

First  - why not download the A'Rocha Easy Eco Tips calendar and stick it up in your kitchen?  https://arocha.us14.list-manage.com/track/click?u=69f4c1083320061706fe47874&id=7fa67acdd9&e=3b5ff2b9e6

Second  - the government has just published a long awaited report into biodiversity loss and ecosystems, and how this affects our national economy (in the narrow monetary meaning of the word) and even national security.  Not an easy read,  and I confess I need to make some time to really get to grips with it.  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nature-security-assessment-on-global-biodiversity-loss-ecosystem-collapse-and-national-security  

Third - something quick, easy and positive.  Why not sign the RHS petition to help speed up the banning of  the use of peat in horticulture? If you're not already up to date with why this is important,  please read the article first  before clicking through to the petition.  https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/peat/peat-free-petition 

Finally, why not sign up for the 'Big Plastic Count', which happens in March. Just count all the pieces of plastic you need to get rid of in the week, whether they go for recycling or not. All instructions when you sign up! It's fun, and very enlightening. https://thebigplasticcount.com/sign-up 

12 November 2025

Have you been watching the Doctor Who  spin-off  'The War between the Land and the Sea' ? I promise, no spoilers if you haven't caught up yet. But I'm engrossed.  There's a very strong eco message and I'm fascinated to see how the story develops.  And if we could communicate with the inhabitants of the oceans, what do you think their message to us would be? Something very similar to Salt's message to the inhabitants of the land in the story, I think. 

Do you have Christmas lights decorating the outside of your house? For many people,  young and not-so-young, it's one of the joys of the season to see what folks have done with their outdoor decorations. And, as a child, it kept me and my brother occupied in the car, with our Christmas tree counting competitions during those December trips to visit relatives all over West Lancashire.  But if outdoor illuminations are your thing,  take a cue from the church December floodlights, and turn them off before you go to bed. The natural world needs those hours of darkness to function and/or to rest.  And it will make a difference, even if you have streetlights directly outside your house. 

21 November 2025

Church suggestions:

Two things this week, one from the Harvest festival suggestions,  one mentioned at church recently. 

In the Harvest festival suggestions, some of children said they would like to have prayers, or a prayer for the environment every week.  This is a great suggestion, but where/when should we have them? There are several options  - we have an environment prayer with the 'sending out' prayer, there's an environment prayer with the young people while they are in the hall, or we have that prayer once the young people are back in church.  What do you think? And particularly, what do our young people think?

The second item was about Christmas cards: it was suggested that people might want to consider not sending cards people they see regularly, and make a charity donation instead.  No-one is suggesting we don't send cards to folks we don't see regularly - that's one of the joys of Christmas. But it's something we might want to think about, while considering both sides of the coin. Not sending cards to people we see often, but making a charity donation instead has merit, as long as folks know what we're doing and why. Sending cards that support your favourite charities even to people you see often perhaps promotes that charity just a bit more to those people.  And some people just love writing cards, no matter how many! Have a think, and make your own decision. 

14 November 2025

Shifting baseline syndrome 

It's really easy to forget how things change, and think we aren't making an impact where it matters.  This article from 'The Conversation', an online academic news journal, helps us consider how things have changed and, yes, progressed in the last 10 years  or so. https://theconversation.com/the-un-climate-summits-are-working-just-not-in-the-way-their-critics-think-268953 

But there's still a long way to go.  What's our reaction to the people who invaded the COP30 talks in the week? It certainly made the news - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0l7yjgn050o  

While we continue to think and pray about these things, perhaps God is speaking to us about what we can do.  Not suggesting we gatecrash talks in Brazil or elsewhere, but is there action we can take? Signing a petition, or writing to our MP, perhaps. Something to ponder this week. 

7 November 2025

Citizen  science can really make a difference in small and large environmental projects, ensuring that local communities have a voice in projects that should benefit them.  But how surprised are we when that doesn't happen?

Click here for an article from the Resurgence Trust.

COP30 starts on Monday.  If you would like some ideas for how to pray about the process, this website might be helpful  - https://www.cop-prayer.uk/ 

24 October 2025

Some of the suggestions we collected at the Harvest lunch were around kitchen waste at church. We'll definitely be looking into the logistics of the suggestions, notably for food waste and soft plastics.  In the meantime, let's make sure we're on top of this at home, or even at work, making sure that all our food waste goes in the correct bin.  If we're at work, and our employer doesn't provide food waste collection facilities, do you have the opportunity to make a suggestion? Otherwise keep a suitable container at work and bring those pesky teabags, apple cores, etc home with you. 

If you were at the harvest festival service, you may remember that I talked about the Vatican putting solar panels on its buildings.  It was announced this week that a major installation has been completed on Vatican owned property near Rome, and consequently, the Vatican joins a very select and small group of countries (8) that get 99.7% of their energy needs from renewables.  And that's even without putting solar panels on the roof of the Sistine Chapel! Read more here: https://happyeconews.com/countries-running-on-renewable-energy/

17 October 2025

Many thanks to everyone who contributed ideas about how we as a church community at Holy Trinity can all become Creation Care Champions. There will be more information and responses coming in the next few weeks, but one of the ideas was to have a weekly section in the newsletter. 

The A Rocha 'Eco tips Calendar' (link below) for October encourages us to think about seasonal food - which fruit and veg are at their best in the UK right now, and can we get them at our local supermarket? It's the season for UK apples, with both traditional and new varieties in many shops now. Watch out for traditional varieties Early Windsors, Egremont Russets and Cox. If you've never tried an Early Windsor, they really are a treat (but they do bruise easily, so be careful!). If the supermarket where you shop doesn't have new season UK apples, ask them why. Maybe even write to customer services if the Branch Manager doesn't have a good answer for you.

A Rocha Eco tips Calendar