... safe-guarding the environment
Cradley Parochial Church Council (PCC) is in the process of applying for an Eco Church award. There are three levels; bronze, silver and gold. Cradley PCC are aiming for, and hoping to get, silver!
Eco Church is an inter-denominational organisation, and a branch of A Rocha, which is an international network of mainly Christian conservation organisations.
Cradley PCC believe that everyone should do more to preserve and enhance the natural environment, treating it with wisdom and moderation. Many people in poorer parts of the world are adversely affected by climate change, mostly caused by industrialised Western nations: this has become a moral issue, and everyone needs to do everything they can to help.
As part of this ongoing application, Cradley PCC intends to publish a series of short articles which it hopes will be of interest to the community, and perhaps encourage people to make changes in their lives, where they can. Articles will be published on this web page, in the 'Three Villages Newletter' and displayed in the church, where there are information leaflets – please do take one.
"God told our ancestors, in the story of the Garden of Eden, "to till it and keep it". To "keep" it; not abuse it, not to make as much money as possible from it, not to destroy it." (Desmond Tutu)
One of the Anglican Church's mission statements is to "strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth", and Hereford diocese, like many others, plans to achieve Net Zero Carbon by 2030.
Cradley PCC is trying to lighten the Church's "eco footprint", and enhance the environment in various ways:
Cradley PCC's chief aim at present is to encourage members of the church, and the wider community, to make changes in their own day-to-day lives that can help to 'Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle' and become more thoughtful stewards of our environment.
What does it mean to be ecofriendly? John Parsons (member of Cradley PCC) writes: A few years ago, a friend of our family referred to our eco-warrior teenage daughter as a ‘tree-hugger’, which of course made her fuming mad to say the very least! Well, to be more level-headed about it, our understanding of being eco-friendly probably means something like 'living in a way that is not harmful to the environment'.
In order to combat climate change and environmental destruction, action is needed from people at local level, but even more so from the big players - governments, industry etc.
Many people suffer from eco-anxiety, but taking action can create a feeling of contributing to a better future, and that makes them feel more positive and hopeful.
Cradley PCC believes that making changes in our lives, along with countless numbers of like-minded people around the world, will make a BIG difference!
What can be done here in our small villages in rural Herefordshire?
Over the next few months Cradley PCC, together with members of Cradley Church, will be exploring ways in which they might make changes, and protect the beautiful world and home that God has given. The results of this exploration will be published in further sections of this web page. Much of it maybe 'old hat', but some hints might be new to some people, or at least a reminder, so do come back and visit this page again soon.
Last month John Parsons (a member of Cradley PCC) posed the question, “What can we do?” to help mitigate climate and environmental change. Well, we have to start somewhere, and reducing consumption at source is better than offsetting, so, why not just … USE LESS ENERGY!
Most of us are aware of the following list of recommendations:
A few less obvious things to consider are:
SAVE MONEY AND SAVE THE PLANET!
It is the intention of Cradley PCC to add more sections to this web page in the coming months.