Eco Report
On 5th September I went to a meeting at Avenue St Andrews Church and was very happy to meet a room full of people all interested in green matters and making their churches more sustainable. We were able to share our experiences and what has worked well for us, and what we are striving to do
in the future. I was encouraged to find that many churches have gained the bronze A Rocha eco-church award, and others are either working towards this, or their next award. We were then divided into groups representing the East, West, and central parts of Southampton. I was the only one from Bitterne, but 2 very keen members of the Church of the Ascension at Bitterne Park came and I intend to link up with them at some stage, hopefully along with people from the other Bitterne Churches as well. Overall, it was a very productive and positive meeting, and I look forward to a joining a Southampton eco-church network with future meetings, talks and events.
Ecosia.org At the meeting, we discussed changing our search engines on our phones and computers from Google to ECOSIA.ORG, who use all their profits for climate action, with the majority going into tree planting across the world. When you open the Ecosia tab, you are shown their current figures. As they publish financial reports every month, you can see exactly how much money they made, how it is spent, and how many trees were planted. At the time of writing, Ecosia.org have planted 240,030,715 trees and dedicated €96,286,715 to climate action. There are now 200 million people (including myself!) using Ecosia, and the company have planted more than 900 species of trees in more than 35 countries. Their solar panels produce enough energy to power our searches twice over, meaning more renewables (and fewer fossil fuels) in the energy grid. It’s a little different to using Google, but well worth the swap. Let me know if you swap or I can send you a link. Maria Boy
Eco Prayer
Creator God, source of all life
You spoke, and the universe burst into being Abundant, full of wonder and life,
Everything expressing praise to You, God of wonders!
We add our voices to the praises of the created world.
We pray this month that in our journey alongside you
We may serve you by our prayers for our world,
and the challenges we face in the warming climate.
Inspire us by your Holy Spirit To act faithfully
to safeguard Creation in every way we are able,
Not thinking of ourselves But loving our neighbours in all places
So that in our Synod, as in our local churches,
and the whole company of your Church
Your Righteousness, Justice and Peace may flow
In love to all
Amen (from Wessex Synod)