Caring for the Planet

LOAF

When buying food, try to find items that are at least one of:

Locally produced
Organically grown
Animal friendly
Fairly traded

For more information, see the leaflet "Using your LOAF!" - produced by Christian Ecology Link

The Church and the Environment

Man-made global warming is real and the effects are accelerating with melting ice caps and glaciers, rising sea levels and altered weather patterns which are affecting food and water supplies for many and causing mass migrations.

Reasons to care:

God expects us to care for his creation which he entrusted to us

The poor in the developing countries are suffering from the effects of climate change when they did least to cause it. We have a responsibility to change our lifestyle to minimise our impact

The diocese has produced an Environment Policy urging churches to make changes by setting an example of simple living and speaking out to encourage others to change. They have asked that environmental issues are an integral part of prayer, worship, life and mission. “We want to make visible this serious concern for the planet as part of God’s mission in which we all share”

Christian Environmental groups

There are a number of Christian environmental groups whose vision is to engage the church in caring for creation and who see the importance of the Christian response to the threat of climate change. This may involve providing resources for churches (helpful handouts, prayers, services for eg Harvest), campaigning for changes, speaking out about global injustice, producing environmental audits for churches, information on how to change how we live to reduce our emissions.

Some of these are listed below:

Living Lightly
Lots of ideas for practical action — an A Rocha initiative (see below).

Christian Ecology Link
Resources for churches, briefing papers, campaigns (e.g., Transition Towns, Copenhagen Dec 09), regular newsletter and magazine (“Green Christian”), monthly prayer diary, member of Stop Climate Chaos Coalition, links in with lots of other environmental Christian organisations

Eco-Congregation
Resources for all areas of church life and environmental audit recommended by our diocese for use, newsletter

A Rocha
International Christian conservation organisation, oversees Eco-Congregation in England, regular magazine.

Operation Noah
Set up by Christian Ecology Link providing action ideas for churches

The John Ray Initiative
Lots of up to date environmental information by Christian experts. Well worth a look.

Pray, Change, Act, Campaign

Transition Towns

“Transition Towns” is a grass-roots movement that has come together to address two related challenges:

The end of cheap oil — global oil production is reaching it’s peak (hence the term “Peak Oil”), but demand for oil across the world is still growing, and so the price of oil is likely to rise sharply. This will have a far-reaching impact on our way of life, which is based on (relatively) cheap transport for people and goods.
Climate Change — caused by huge quantities of “greenhouse gases” emitted by burning fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal.

It’s clear that we need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels! And we also need to make our local communities more self-sufficient and resilient (so that we’re less dependent on transporting goods from elsewhere).

Transition Towns are not specifically Christian, but have an ‘inclusive’ philosophy welcoming the involvement of all individuals and organisations within the community — see the Christian Ecology Link leaflet “Churches in Transition” for a discussion of why churches should get involved.

In Transition Towns, we focus on what we can do in our local community, rather than what someone else ought to be doing. There are things we can do as individuals (e.g.‘Living Lightly’ on the previous page), but we can achieve so much more if we act together as a community.

The Transition Town group in Ipswich is called “Transition Ipswich”. It is still at a fairly early stage and it’s activities are currently mainly around raising awareness of the issues, through film evenings, discussions and occasional public events (e.g. bike ride for the International Day of Climate Action on Saturday 24th Oct). As the group builds a wider base of support across the community in Ipswich, a plan will be developed to reduce dependence on fossil fuels in Ipswich - known as an Energy Descent Action Plan.

More information is available from:

Transition Ipswich
The website has the latest news together with details of meetings and events. There are also links to the wider transition movement.

Ipswich Food Coop
The Food Coop is a voluntary community project that sells Locally-sourced, Organic and Fairtrade goods at just above wholesale prices. A good place to get your “LOAF” food! It is open once a fortnight on a Saturday. Until recently it has been in Bramford Lane, however from October 17th it will be at 19A Tower Street in the town centre [Map].
(Note that the Food Coop is quite separate from Coop stores such as the one in Cauldwell Hall Road)

Green Living Centre
Provides information for people in the Ipswich area who care about the environment and want to live in a sustainable way. Includes a “What’s On” diary listing environment-related events around Ipswich, suggestions for where to buy local and organic food, and guidance on organic gardening.