Eco Church Update Lets go plastic-free this July! As we continue to break temperature and drought records around the world, plastic free July is an opportunity to help us see the joys of eco-discipleship and to travel gently on God’s beautiful earth. Join the challenges at www.greenchristian.org.uk or www.tearfund.org Below is a letter from Tearfund with some great ideas throughout July. So take up the challenge and make a difference today! RUBBISH BIN-GO Every 30 seconds the UK throws away two double-decker busloads’ worth of plastic. We’re facing mountains of rubbish, and the rapid growth of single-use plastic is making the problem worse. It’s fuelling our throwaway culture, accelerating the climate emergency and impacting those living in poverty the most. But we don’t have to ‘conform to the patterns of this world’: we can act now, change our habits and reduce our own waste. By doing our bit locally, we can stand in solidarity with people living in poverty who are facing the worst effects of the world’s rubbish problem. Poverty is not God’s plan. You are. So, during Plastic Free July, we’re inviting you to take our Rubbish Bin-go challenge! Our Bin-go card has 16 challenges to help you reduce plastic, learn more about the world’s rubbish problem and share with others how we can be part of the solution. See if you can tick off four, eight, 12 or all 16 challenges through the month of July, and then think about how you can turn them into longer-term changes in your lifestyle. Find more information about the challenges go to the Tearfund website and download the Bin-go card. As you complete the challenges, share them with us on social media or email us if you can. You could take a selfie with your reusable cup or at your local refill shop, film yourself doing a bin audit, or even send us a picture of your completed Bin-go card when you’re done! Use #RubbishBingo or #TearfundPlasticFreeJuly and tag @Tearfund on Facebook and Instagram or @TearfundAct on Twitter. You can also email us your photos on campaigns@tearfund.org Get inspired Throughout the month, we’ll be sharing inspirational videos and tips, so keep an eye out for those on Tearfund Action’s Twitter feed. In the meantime, you can read about a church in Brazil that has gone on a journey to becoming zero-waste – and doing Plastic Free July as a congregation was a big part of their story! And watch our latest Change-maker film about Mel, a Tearfund supporter who runs a refill shop and whose faith influenced her response to waste. And don’t forget: as well as taking action in your own life, you can join us in calling for an end to this plastic crisis globally through our Rubbish petition. Thank you for taking action on plastic with us. We can’t wait to see how you get on! Every blessing, Naomi Witherick Tearfund Action
Eco Church Update Lets go plastic-free this July! As we continue to break temperature and drought records around the world, plastic free July is an opportunity to help us see the joys of eco-discipleship and to travel gently on God’s beautiful earth. Join the challenges at www.greenchristian.org.uk or www.tearfund.org Below is a letter from Tearfund with some great ideas throughout July. So take up the challenge and make a difference today! RUBBISH BIN-GO Every 30 seconds the UK throws away two double-decker busloads’ worth of plastic. We’re facing mountains of rubbish, and the rapid growth of single-use plastic is making the problem worse. It’s fuelling our throwaway culture, accelerating the climate emergency and impacting those living in poverty the most. But we don’t have to ‘conform to the patterns of this world’: we can act now, change our habits and reduce our own waste. By doing our bit locally, we can stand in solidarity with people living in poverty who are facing the worst effects of the world’s rubbish problem. Poverty is not God’s plan. You are. So, during Plastic Free July, we’re inviting you to take our Rubbish Bin-go challenge! Our Bin-go card has 16 challenges to help you reduce plastic, learn more about the world’s rubbish problem and share with others how we can be part of the solution. See if you can tick off four, eight, 12 or all 16 challenges through the month of July, and then think about how you can turn them into longer-term changes in your lifestyle. Find more information about the challenges go to the Tearfund website and download the Bin-go card. As you complete the challenges, share them with us on social media or email us if you can. You could take a selfie with your reusable cup or at your local refill shop, film yourself doing a bin audit, or even send us a picture of your completed Bin-go card when you’re done! Use #RubbishBingo or #TearfundPlasticFreeJuly and tag @Tearfund on Facebook and Instagram or @TearfundAct on Twitter. You can also email us your photos on campaigns@tearfund.org Get inspired Throughout the month, we’ll be sharing inspirational videos and tips, so keep an eye out for those on Tearfund Action’s Twitter feed. In the meantime, you can read about a church in Brazil that has gone on a journey to becoming zero-waste – and doing Plastic Free July as a congregation was a big part of their story! And watch our latest Change-maker film about Mel, a Tearfund supporter who runs a refill shop and whose faith influenced her response to waste. And don’t forget: as well as taking action in your own life, you can join us in calling for an end to this plastic crisis globally through our Rubbish petition. Thank you for taking action on plastic with us. We can’t wait to see how you get on! Every blessing, Naomi Witherick Tearfund Action
'Caring for God’s Acre’, on 3-11th June, are calling us to join in with this dedicated week to celebrate our burial grounds, with ‘Love your Burial Ground Week with Churches Count on Nature 2023’.This has been running for many years, and it would be great if our benefice would take up the challenge and celebrate our fantastic churchyards. Focusing on its diverse flora and fauna. There are many resources available we can use to record what we find. This is also an opportunity to draw or paint what we find or be inspired to write some poetry.If you are interested in being involved with any of our parishes, please let me know. I am planning to be at St. Mary Magdalene church in Bildeston, on 7th June. So, please get involve and find out what great treasures we can find in these wonderful spaces. Blessings, Teresa Lester, Lay ReaderEco Church Leader for the BeneficePlease contact me at teresalester@gmail.com if you have any questions.
ECO Church Update – Summer 2022With our soaring temperatures over the past few weeks, we are all becoming more aware of the need to reduce our CO2 emissions to help combat our changing climate.At our last PCC meeting at Bildeston, we considered the following and made some commitments –· Tree planting – we will be planting some silver birch samplings in the churchyard, at the back of the church, by our boundary hedge, in the autumn. Also, in the future, we are looking at planting some tree on land owned by Bildeston Church in Nedging, as a benefice project.· We are still planning to have a bike rack outside Bildeston church.· We continue to use and promote ‘fair trade’ products in our churches and for our personal use.· We have begun to monitor our energy use at Bildeston church, enabling us to monitor our progress by reducing our usage or offsetting, and with our energy price rising this is becoming increasingly important. We all need to encourage each other to reduce our energy consumption and consider looking at our own carbon footprints.All of these will help us to care for creation and for each other. They will also put us on the road to receive our Silver Award!I will begin cutting down the long grass in our wildlife area, in the coming weeks. Please let me know if you would like to help. Don’t forget to visit www.arocha.co.uk website for more information and news. They are promoting ‘The Great Big Green Week’ from 24th September to 2nd October, and I encourage us all to think about what we could do as a church. Also, you can visit www.cofesuffolk.org and www.greenchristian.co.uk for more information on environmental issues. Blessings,Teresa LesterReader and Eco Church contact for the Benefice P.S. Eco Tip – Ditch disposables! Single-use plastics and single-use Styrofoam are sourced from fossil fuels and contribute to climate change. These materials are also known to contain carcinogens that are harmful to human health. Instead use and bring your own containers or lunchboxes etc.
