Eco tips: October 2024 - December 2024

7/10/24

This week we combine our eco thoughts with some pastoral concerns,

Those who have been in the Church for a while will remember the Moseleys, an American family who have been over here for several exchanges, and also visited frequently when on holiday.

They live in Asheville, a city which has been devastated by the recent hurricane Helene.They are without water supplies, and have been without electricity, although hopefully,there is now some restoration Of power.They have also been without news of what is going on. Their house is alright, although two of their daughters have had to evacuate from their homes.

Reading press comment, it is clear that this was felt to be a safe city, up in the mountains, and away from the usual path of hurricanes. These press reports all attribute the devastation to climate change The significance of this is now reinforced by the comments on the arrival, within less than 2 weeks of Hurricane Helene, in Florida of the even more devastating Hurricane Milton.

So as we think of our friends, and of their fellow citizens, this brings home the reality of the environmental crisis of our time.

For circuit.

Those of us fortunate enough to have gardens may be trying to make the most of any dry spells to do some autumnal tidying up. Let’s try not to tidy up too much, and to leave some piles of

leaves and twigs. These are vital habitats for small creatures, many of which are now endangered in heavily built up areas, and we can help them by maintaining some ‘rough’ areas of land

14/10/24

We have now seen two devastating major hurricanes, Helene and Milton, within a couple of weeks of each other. Whilst scientists do not attribute the frequency of these to climate change, they do blame climate change for their intensity. We may have seen the clips of the US weather forecaster who broke down while giving his forecast before Milton. When interviewed later on BBC Newsnight, he said that his emotions were partly due to the dire predictions he had to give, and partly due to the fact that as a professional meteorologist,he had been warning of the outcomes of human action for years,and could see the effects of rising sea temperatures.

There is perhaps little that can be done to lower sea temperatures, as these are the result of human activity many years ago, but the more action we can take now, by changing our lifestyles and assumptions, then there is still hope that we may prevent even more drastic temperature

rises and their inevitable consequences in the future.

21/10/24

In recent days ,we have heard from the BBC about the effects of burning household waste in incinerators. These generate electricity, but are reckoned to emit as much carbon as coal-fired power stations, which have now been phased out. These are also burning a lot of plastic, which many householders have put out believing that it will be recycled. (The same fate seems to befall much of the plastic collected at so-called ‘plastic recycling’ points.) The BBC report can be found at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3wxgje5pwo

In the same week, we heard about the local impact of such a plant in Runcorn, and we think of our friends in Runcorn as they try to cope with the effects of this. The report can be found at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwylepd79d5o.

So what can we do? Writing to Councillors and MPs to find out where local waste actually ends up is one course of action. It also appears that there are many lorry loads transporting waste across the country, so we need to ask where our waste Is actually being taken. The most immediate action we can take is to try to reduce our waste even further,by following the

principle of Reduce- Re-use- Recycle. The less we consume in the first place, the less will end up in these plants.

28/10/24

We all spend a lot of time on internet searches, whether for work,study, recipes, travel information,entertainment or for the many other things which we can find there.

Every Google search comes at a cost to the planet. In processing 3.5 billion searches a day, the world’s most popular website accounts for about 40% of the internet’s carbon footprint.

Despite the notion that the internet is a “cloud,” it actually relies on millions of physical servers in data centers around the world, which are connected with miles of undersea cables, switches, and routers, all requiring a lot of energy to run. Much of that energy comes from power sources that emit carbon dioxide into the air as they burn fossil fuels; one study from 2015 suggests internet activity results in as much CO2 emissions as the global aviation industry’ You can find out more at https://qz.com/1267709/every-google-search-results-in-co2-emissions-this-real- time-dataviz-shows-how-much. Obviously we are unlikely to give up using this essential tool, but being aware of its impact can perhaps help us to limit our usage and avoid unnecessary searches.

And yes- confession time- this information came from a Google search!

4/11/24

We have all seen the images of the devastating floods in Valencia and other parts of Spain. Whilst the storms themselves may not have been caused by climate change, it is generally agreed that rising sea temperatures greatly exacerbated the effects and extent of the damage and loss of life. With ever-rising temperatures, such disasters are going to become more frequent, unless we all take action. By being ‘climate-mindful’ in all our actions, we can at least endeavour to slow down the process and effects of climate change, but this takes commitmentby the whole of society.

11/11/24

As the COP 29 conference opens in Baku,we are reminded once again of the urgency of the environmental crisis which the world faces. This meeting of world leaders is an opportunity for change and real commitment. Let’s keep informed about their deliberations,and make a personal response to their challenges. Let’s focus ,with them, on the needs of the poorest