A to Z of Living Lightly

We are committed to making as little negative impact on our planet as possible. We believe that we are made in the image of God and have a role and responsibility to care for and look after the world he has entrusted to our care. We’ve put together an Alphabet of Living Lightly, to encourage you to think of ways you might be able to tread more lightly as you live in this beautiful world.

Activism

Add your voice to the cries for justice and protection for the planet

Sign up to emails which alert you to new petitions which you are able to sign and to keep you informed of environmental matters. If there is a local protest or march, you might want attend, or show your support if you are unable to be there. The more voices which are crying out for change, the more powerful the message to policy makers and leaders.

Birds and bees
(and butterflies, badgers, beetles and bats)

The way we live affects those around us, the people we know and love but also the creatures we share this earth with

Bees are responsible for pollinating about one-sixth of the flowering plant species worldwide and approximately 400 different agricultural types of plant. Have you considered habitats and provisions for the natural world in your garden or home? Perhaps by growing flowers which bees love, plants for moths or spaces for frogs or hedgehogs. There are plenty of suggestions and ideas about what you can do to give nature a home in your garden here; https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/give-nature-a-home-in-your-garden/

Collective

Bulk buying might not work for your household, but what if you were to team up with neighbours and friends?

Get together with a group of people who also want to live lightly and work out what you can do together. Bulk buying eco-friendly toilet paper and distributing it between you, going to zero waste shop together, growing vegetables sharing your produce, buying large wheels/blocks of unwrapped cheese and sharing it between you

Drinking

A take-away coffee cup is used for ten minutes, but could take up to 30 years to decompose. A plastic bottle takes between 70 and 450 years

There are so many ways in which we can reduce our single-plastic use, but this is an easy one. Get hold of a reusable coffee cup and water bottle and avoid using single use cups and bottles. Many coffee shops offer a discount to people who use a reusable cup

Electricity

We use lots of energy in the form of electricity in our homes – reducing electrical usage in whatever way we can will result in less carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere

Electricity is wasted by many appliances and gadgets just by being plugged in, so try and turn off at the plug whenever you can. When you charge your mobile, try and do it during the evening or day (if you charge overnight, the phone will be charged after 2 hours but for the rest of the night uses electricity unnecessarily). You could also switch to an energy supplier which uses 100% renewable energy sources. Investigate other ways in which you could save energy waste, you might find some more ideas here; https://www.energysage.com/energy-efficiency/101/ways-to-save-energy/

Food and Fairtrade

Environmental protection is a key element of Fairtrade’s view of sustainability 

Fairtrade products guarantee that producers/farmers get a fair and reasonable wage. It’s also important our food and household products are made in a way which isn’t detrimentally damaging the planet. Sustainable palm oil, cocoa, fish, loo roll – try and buy products which have been approved by sustainable agencies, products should be clearly marked to indicate whether they come from sustainable sources. This may take a little extra research at the start, but will become second nature once you’d identified the brands which are committed to resourcing sustainably. Chester Zoo have put together this helpful page to get us started; https://www.chesterzoo.org/what-you-can-do/our-campaigns/sustainable-palm-oil/sustainable-palm-oil-shopping-list/

Grow Your Own

Growing your own vegetables and herbs helps protect the planet in many ways 

You might not have room for a vegetable patch or apple tree, but you can grow herbs on a sunny windowsill all year round*. In supermarkets, a small amount of fresh herbs often comes packaged in lots of plastic, so you’re reducing the carbon footprint of the produce and single plastic use. You could team up with a group of friends or neighbours and get an allotment together if you don’t have access to a garden.
(*https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-grow-herbs-indoors-on-a-sunny-windowsill-1403425)

Hidden Plastic

There are plenty of things we use on a daily basis which we might not consider have plastic in them 

Chewing gum, tea bags, juice cartons, tin/aluminium cans, wet wipes, cardboard food boxes (plastic lining). Try and find plastic free alternatives to these ‘hidden plastic products’ – loose leaf tea, chewing gum which contains synthetic Polyethylene (used in plastic bags), Polyvinyl acetate (used in PVA glue) takes years to degrade and ends up on our pavements and in our oceans. Just One Ocean (a UK plastic pollution charity) estimates 100,000 tonnes of gum is chewed every year. Look for Glee Gum, Chewzy or Simply Gum for natural plastic free alternatives.

Insulation

Making your home and other places energy efficient is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint

Good insulation of homes reduces the cost of heating your home and reduces the harmful impact of fossil fuel use on the planet. Heat loss occurs through the roof, walls, floor and windows and doors of your home and good insulation will reduce this significantly. Explore how this can be done in each part of your home https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/home-insulation

Jetting Off

The aviation industry gets through 5million barrels of oil every day, burning that fuel contributes 2.5% to total carbon emissions, but less than 18% perople have ever flown

Wherever you can, take other forms of transport. If you have to fly, the best option at the moment is to find an airline which has committed to carbon offsetting it’s flights. If you can’t find an airline which does this, you might want to consider doing it yourself, have a look at https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/energy/short-guide-carbon-offsets to give you an idea of what you can do

Knowledge

Stay informed about environmental research and environmentally friendly practice

Subscribe to a podcast, read books, find blogs or websites. Speak to people you know who have made changes to their lives and ask them about the best place to start. People who have made commitments to live in an as environmentally conscious way as possible often share what they’ve learnt so we can have shortcuts to solutions. The more we know, the better equipped we at making good choices about our lifestyle and how to live as lightly as possible. We can share tips and information with our friends to help them be more informed too.

Light

LED Lightbulbs and other energy efficient appliances cut down your energy useage

Turn off lights when they’re not in use, replace bulbs in your home with LED and energy saving bulbs. Lots of electronic appliances have an energy rating, choose one which is efficient.

Meat-free

Giving up meat and/or dairy for a day or two a week, or a week a month or more

Perhaps you could decide to give up meat and/or dairy for a month and see how well you fare. Or commit to only eat meat once or twice a week.
“A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use,” said Joseph Poore, at the University of Oxford, UK, who led research in 2018 which came to the conclusion that “Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth”. “It is far bigger than cutting down on your flights or buying an electric car,” he said, as these only cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Nearby

Shopping locally not only has the benefit of supporting local business, but it also reduces the carbon footprint that comes from flying food and produce from all over the world

As much as possible use a greengrocer or local market. If shopping in a supermarket why not only buy fruit and veg which is in season, British grown. Perhaps you could commit to buying and eating food which is grown in the UK for a week? Fruit and veg which is flown from all over the world has a large carbon footprint in just its travel, let alone its production and packaging. Perhaps you could set yourself a geographically limit, only buying food grown in the UK/Europe

Oceans

Our oceans cover more than 70% of the surface of the earth and contain 2.2 million species and sea plants produce 70% of the oxygen we breathe

Lots of the things can contribute towards healthier oceans, like reducing our carbon footprints and plastic use. Here are some more, ocean specific ways we can help protect our oceans; make safe, sustainable seafood choices, help take care of the beach, perhaps make a litter-picking to the beach once a month, or organise a community beach clean-up. www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/oceans/take-action/10-things-you-can-do-to-save-the-ocean/

Plastics

We produce roughly 300 million tons of plastic each year and half of it is used once and then thrown away. World-wide only 10-13% of plastic items are recycled.

Avoid buying single use plastics as much as possible. When you can’t cut them out, find somewhere where plastic of all varieties can be recycled, or start an eco-brick. Perhaps put all your plastic waste aside during the week and then have a brick building session in front of the telly. You may want to offer to drop off your friends’ eco-bricks at a drop off point for them. https://www.ecobricks.org/how/

Quiet

Factor in time in your week, month, year, where you take a break from the energy and fuel you use, give your home/the earth a rest

Earth Hour is an hour a year where people all over the world commit to switching off lights and not using electical equipment. Earth Hour 2020 is on Saturday 28th March from 8:30pm, join in with that as a start. For more information about what else you could do visit https://www.earthhour.org/take-part. Perhaps you could put time in your calendar once a month when you don’t use electricity, or make a conscious effort to reduce it as much as possible. You may want to use this time to reflect and pray for the earth and all those involved in trying to protect and sustain it.

Rubbish and Recycling

Reducing the rubbish we throw away makes a big difference

Aim to have a full recycling bin and empty rubbish bin. Maintain your commitment to recycling when outside your home too. If you can’t find a recycling bin, take your recycable materials home, and maybe even write a letter to the local council to request more recycyling options.
Women, have you considered sustainable sanitary products? The use of ‘Mooncup’* menstrual cups and reusable pads have diverted more than 2 billion tampons and sanitary towels from the waste stream. For more information; https://www.mooncup.co.uk (*Many other brands are available)

Sustainable Shopping

Nearly 70 million barrels of oil are used each year to make the world’s polyester, which is now the most commonly used fibre in our clothing. But it takes more than 200 years to decompose.

Globally, we now consume about 80 billion new pieces of clothing every year—400% more than we were consuming just two decades ago . To fight the tide of ‘fast fashion’ and reduce the negative impact the industry has on the environment, shop second hand as much as you can. There are heaps of charity shops all over the Wirral if you don’t have access to a computer. If you do, there are plenty of sites where second-hand clothes, furniture, utensils etc are available in abundance. Check out Gumtree, Depop, Freecycle, Preloved.co.uk and Beyond Retro online.

Teaching and learning

Share what you know to those around you and allow yourself to be taught and learn from others

Are you involved in a local school? Do they highlight the importance of environmental issues? See whether you could start an eco-club or encourage children to be more environmentally conscious. Give children an opportunity to teach you, Greta Thunberg, in her 16 short years, may have done more for Climate Change awareness than any other single person. You may find new ideas for activities here http://www.ecofriendlykids.co.uk/home-category.html

Urban Wildspaces and Community

How does your community fare in being environmentally conscious and providing space for nature?

Get in touch with the local council and ask how you can support and protect local parks and green spaces. Perhaps organise a litter pick, or if you regularly walk around your local community, take a bag with you to pick litter as you go. Though many of us live in built up areas and near busy roads we can still be conscious of our local environment and protect it. 

Vehicles and Transport

You can half the emissions of a trip by lift-sharing

Cut down how much you use a car, especially for short distance trips. Can you get public transport, walk, cycle or lift share instead? Think about getting your shopping delivered, many supermarkets offer ‘eco’ delivery slots. Engineers at The University of Washington found that using a grocery delivery service can cut carbon dioxide emissions by at least half when compared with individual household trips to the shop.

Water

How much do you think about reducing your water consumption?

We are incredibly fortunate to have an abundance of water, it pours freely from the sky. Why not install a water butt to collect rainfall and use it to water the garden, wash the car or muddy boots after a walk. Turn the tap off when you’re brushing your teeth and washing the dishes, try to take fewer baths and shorter showers, install flush-reducing measures in toilets, check out the efficiency of your washing machines and dishwashers and think about other ways you might be able to conserve water at home.

X Marks the spot

Set clear goals, keep track of your progress to keep focussed and to encourage yourself

In the face of so much that could be done to help protect the planet, focussing on one goal at a time might make bigger changes more managable. Choose one thing to focus on at the start. Whether it’s plastic use, cycling more, sustainable shopping or going meat-free, aim high and focus in. When you feel you’ve made progress, mark it and celebrate the difference you’ve made. It’s important to encourage ourselves and others when we’ve made positive steps

Yes – why we say yes

Remind yourself of why we do this – engage with the Christian perspective on stewardship and Creation care

Saying Yes to Life is the title of the 2020 Archibishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book; Saying Yes to Life lifts our focus from natural, everyday concerns to issues that have an impact on millions of lives around the world. As people made in the image of God, we are entrusted to look after what he has created: to share in God’s joy and ingenuity in making a difference for good.

Zero-waste

Some who have committed to minimising the amount they send to landfill can fit their waste from an entire year into a jam jar

This is a big thing to achieve, but that doesn’t mean we should say no at the first hurdle. Each of us making little changes will still make a big difference. You might want to start by doing a ‘waste’ audit, tracking what you throw away on a weekly/monthly basis and working out the areas where you could minimise your waste. The easiest way to have less rubbish is to buy less in the first place – shopping sustainably will help a lot.
There are lots of blogs out there to show you where to start, here’s one; https://www.goingzerowaste.com