St Andrew's Green Page
Creationtide service was held on 25th October, all the produce donated went to the St Andrew's Project for the HOmeless.
Click here to view the power point presentation made by the green group.
More pics below. Click on a pic to enlarge - a new window/tab will open
|
|
Here are the latest photos by Kate Pelen
Click on a pic to enlarge - a new window/tab will open
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
“The Heavens are the Lord's, but the Earth He has entrusted to His children”
Psalm 115:16
At St Andrew's Fulham Fields we believe that environmental issues and caring for God's creation form part of our church's life and mission in our homes, our church and the wider world.
St Andrew's is very pleased to have won a Church Times green church award for action in the community, for the achievements of the fruit and veg co-operative.
At our small and friendly green group, everyone is very welcome to think about how to help our church and our own lives become greener and more sustainable. This means living like we have just one planet.
If everyone on Earth lived like an average British person, we would need three planets to sustain us.
Living, loving the planet
We can all make positive choices towards One Planet Living (WWF and BioRegional came up with this concept One Living Planet ). To make a difference, here are three things you might like to think about:
1) Reduce your contribution to climate change
Every time fossil fuels (such as coal, oil and gas) are burned in cars, homes or to generate electricity, carbon dioxide (CO2) is produced. In the atmosphere this CO2 acts like a blanket round the Earth, trapping heat and making our weather warmer and less predictable.
To reduce the amount of CO2 you could avoid flying, insulate your home (there are grants to help those that can't afford this here The Warm Front Team), use public transport, or switch to a green energy tariff (you can compare prices on the internet, but be careful as many 'green tariffs' do no more than the law requires - Good Energy Good Energy was ranked greenest supplier by the National Consumer Council).
2) Reduce your waste
Last year Hammersmith and Fulham residents recycled 27% of household waste. This reuses valuable resources and prevents landfill sites from filling up and polluting the land and water.
Good news! You can now include all paper based drinks and liquid food cartons (eg Tetra Paks) in your orange sacks for recycling, along with all paper and cardboard, glass bottles and jars, and all types of food and drink cans (including aerosol cans). At the moment the council will only accept plastic bottles and no other types of plastic. Local recycling information is here LBHF - Rubbish, waste and recycling
3) Shop sustainably
Everything we buy is made and transported using energy. Sometimes we hear that China should stop producing so much CO2 – but we in the west buy the goods these Chinese factories produce! Simply buying less stuff or getting it second hand really helps. Treats like going to the park, museums or river are free and better for the planet than buying stuff.
Buying food that is local and in season is the best option. Eating less meat helps too: calves have to eat 1,300kg of grain to gain just 180kg in weight. Fair trade goods now include breakfast cereals, biscuits, sugar and even footballs, as well as bananas, tea, chocolate and coffee. The fair trade mark means that farmers in poor countries have received a fair price for their products. It also means that community and environmental projects have benefited. Our local co-op, Waitrose, the Oxfam shop on Kings St, Hammersmith,
and Traid Craft stock fair trade goods.
Latest news from green group
The green group meets regularly to think about how to make ourselves and our church greener.
We have produced an action plan of our aims for the church.
St Andrew's has joined the London diocese fair trade challenge Fair Trade.
For Fair Trade Fortnight 2009 St Andrew's is taking part in the Fair Trade Foundation Go Bananas challenge! Not only is the congregation encouraged to eat fair trade bananas, but the the local Co-operative supermarket is donating fair trade bananas for smoothies for the homless people's lunch club at the St Andrew's Project. This links our action for vulnerable people in our neighbourhood, to social justice for poor farmers in developing countries, and is great fun.
On 5 October 2008 St Andrew's joined hundreds of churches of many denominations in dedicating a special 'Green Sunday' service. We celebrated Creationtide with a paper-free service of green-themed prayers and hymns for the protection of Creation. The congregation learnt about ways they can live more lightly on the Earth.
More ideas for information and action
Find local volunteering opportunities here Do It
Support our local green spaces through Friends of Margravine Cemetery and the London Wetlands Centre
Campaign on waste, biodiversity, climate change, food or transport with Friends of the Earth
For free, independent and local energy saving advice call the experts on the Act on CO2
helpline 0800 512 012
Learn about the basics of climate change with a fun interactive guide at Energy Saving Trust
What the scientists say: climate change myth-busting by the Royal Society
“Forget about making poverty history. Climate change will make poverty permanent.” Christian Aid's campaign to stop climate change killing the world's poorest people. Christian Aid
Photo - Annie Cooper
St Andrew's Green Champion
There will be more information from the Green Team soon.
Below is a pic of the donations made to the St Andrew's Project at the Creationtide service.
The Church Times Green Church Awards 2007
St Andrew's Church won the award for 'Action in the Community' at the Church Times Green Awards on Monday 19th November 2007.
Here is a scan of the award , click it to see a bigger version in a new window.
The awards ceremony were intorduced by Paul Handley, editor of the Church Times and the awards were presented by the Bishop of Ely, the Rt Revd Dr Anthony Russell.
We were also awarded £500
Read the letter from the Bishop of Kensington to Father Martin Eastwood here
There is more information on the Green Church Awards Here
Below are photos - the Bishop of Ely presenting the prize to Father Martin and Janet and Peter who accompanied Father Martin to the lunch. Janet Hodge has been invovled in the Fruit and Veg co-op since its beginnig over a year ago.
