In my area – the whole of Dorset, UK has a membership of nil (not a good sign)… the Freegive website appears to be coaxing people to either donate money, buy website advertising space and also encourages members to buy new consumer goods at their shop (which seems kinda ironic)!!

Oxford is still actively freecycling – 33,000 members and about 100 posts per day.
No Oxford freegle group at all, altho neighbouring Banbury and Henley have active freegle groups with 5,000 members between them
Oxfordshire freegive group – 4 members and one message posted in May 2009…

We would welcome any discussion or clarification in the comments section below.

Outside
the quicksilver sinks a little in the glass.
Inside the conference hall
the temperature rises.

After decades of hypocrisy
quick minds need to find a quick and lasting deal
to save us from the quicksands,
requicken our forests, restore our full humanity.

Last,
the kings & queens begin to trickle in
with their signet rings,
as hustlers continue to cobble texts.

Last chance? Last days? Last gasp?
Place mind in heart, put pen to paper, breathe a prayer.

©Copyright Chris Duggan 2009

The declaration – which it is hoped will be adopted by other councils across the UK – states that by 2015:

• All vehicles procured by the council should be electrically powered or run on liquefied petroleum gas
• There will be at least 500 electric cars running on the streets of the city as we will develop the electric charging infrastructure
• 50 per cent of electricity used by the council should be generated from renewable sources
• The city council’s energy consumption will be reduced by 25 per cent
• Ten per cent of Birmingham homes will be linked to district heating systems
• Ten per cent of Birmingham homes will have retrofit insulation
• There will be at least ten “low carbon communities” similar to the successful example of Summerfield Eco-neighbourhood

Source: BirminghamNewsroom.com

Six years is a long time in politics

• What are the year by year targets? Has the Council signed up to the 10:10 campaign to reduce emissions by 10% in 2010?
• Has progress towards the target of 60% reduction in emissions by 2026 been monitored? Are the results published?

[Update: The BEP Annual Report 08-09 reports a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 103,000 tonnes - information on how this was calculated would be helpful.]

Sustainable cars?

• What plans are there simply to reduce car use?
• What evidence is there that switching to electric cars will reduce emissions? If most of our electricity is generated from fossil fuels…

“10% of Birmingham homes will have retrofit insulation”

• 10%? Ten per cent? Did someone miss off a zero?
• What type and degree of insulation is being proposed? Loft insulation? Cavity walls? Solid walls? Windows? Floors?
• What percentage of heat saving per house is planned?

The full declaration (see link below) states that this target has already been exceeded. So why is it included?

We need a whole lot more detail from the Council to show that this is a serious policy proposal that will be implemented, rather than a publicity stunt.

The following quote from the end of the full declaration
is more encouraging, though as it is not part of the headline strategy I wonder if it has been added as an afterthought:

Also, as a consequence to the adoption of this policy:

• All Council departments should be allocated an energy usage and carbon reduction target for each financial year and be required to report on performance at the year end, so placing climate change at the top of the agenda – with a contribution that can be made to a reduction in Council costs; and
• The Deputy Leader be required to report as part of his annual report to the Council, on the total energy usage by the City Council and its contractor partners, to advise Council of the steps taken over the previous year to reduce energy use and of the steps planned for the next year, with the level of impact of these measures.”

Claire Prosser, D. Stamp, Jon Buick, Beth Fisher, Bob Whitehead, Shabdam Bailey-Bond, Kate Willen, Brian May, Oksana Carey, Margaret Healey Pollett, Helen McKiernan, Liz Peake, Rob Collett, Helen Cotter, Veronica, Jo Hindley, John Christophers, Chris Duggan, L Wild, Barbara Norden, Theo, Nicole, Vicki Squire, Oz, Chris, Helen Lloyd.

(If you were there and your name does not appear above, please add it in the comments.)



Thanks to Helen and John for the photos above. Beautiful photos of candles floating on the canal at the city centre event, we’re told a curious Canada goose may have burnt her tongue on a candle!

Special thanks to all who took photographs and handed out leaflets, to Vicki who got the thing moving, and to Oz and Margaret for their encouragement.

Enthral us with the beauty
and wonder of the natural world
endangered by our greed.

Enlighten us and embolden us
so that we have the courage
to challenge climate injustice.

Inspire our leaders
to reach a fair and binding deal
on climate change in Copenhagen.

And as creation too waits,
empower us to keep alive
the kernel of hope
that all things will be made new.

Amen

[source: Catherine Gorman/CAFOD. To download more prayers or worship materials or to sign up to weekly email reflections, visit cafod.org.uk/worship]

Be Green – Be Seen

In the last year I have taken part in a green give-away, travelled across the city in a dustcart, visited our paper recycling plant, launched a campaign for more fuel-free journeys, held a service at household recycling centre and hosted an art exhibition looking at the story of Noah’s Ark from the perspective of climate change.

I have two responses for those who claim that we in the Church of England are giving up on the Gospel of Christ in order to proclaim the Gospel of Climate Change and both lead me to the conclusion that the two, in our contemporary culture, are inter-dependent.

From greed to generosity and grace

The first is that seeking climate justice, challenging consumption and greed and developing sustainable lifestyles are at the heart of the contemporary proclamation and practice of the Gospel. Jesus is never slow to challenge sin while offering healing, redemption and wholeness. He calls us from a life of greed and dependency to a life of generosity and grace. He asks those who seek to worship him to stop colluding with injustice and by example he leads us to care for the vulnerable and needy. Caring about the impact of climate change on vulnerable communities is a central part of our discipleship – concern for the integrity of creation is one of the five marks of mission recognised by churches across the world.

My second response to those who feel we have given up on the ‘real’ Gospel is to say that, from my experience, getting involved in environmental campaigning and action is one of the most missional things a Bishop, a church or any Christian can do.

Not only do our Christian ethics have to be effective in thought, word and deed, but our practice in Birmingham of generosity and hospitality, especially around green issues are providing an open door for people to visit our cathedral or churches and to begin to ‘taste and see that the Lord is good.’

Giving stuff away

At last year’s Advent give-away 450 people came into Birmingham Cathedral and received a gift. Each person was touched in a different way by the generosity they were given that day. The process was simple. Christians from a few congregations and our diocesan office, were asked to look round their houses for gifts they had never wanted. We filled the cathedral with new bottles of perfume, nearly new books and CDs, bric-a-brac, clothes, toys and games.

People passing by were invited to come and choose a gift to take away. Homeless people came in for scarves, gloves and jumpers. Grandparents found gifts for their grandchildren, tourists chose a souvenir, students took books and children found a new toy. As well as being given a gift each of those people were welcomed into a building into which they can return to pray, had a conversation with someone who was able to listen to them for a few minutes and each one took away the impression of a loving and generous God whose greatest gift to them was not gift-wrapped but was born in humility at Christmas.

Noah’s Ark

Equally, this year during inter-faith week we have hosted an exhibition made by pupils at a Birmingham school looking at the story of Noah’s Ark. We invited the 30 children and their parents to the launch of the exhibition where they mingled with the city’s faith leaders, ate some canapés and were given a certificate and a small gift. Within a few minutes the parents and the children felt at home, many said they would come back to the Cathedral and several conversations about Christ took place in one evening. Throughout that week another 120 children from 6 schools came to the Cathedral, surrounded by iconography and imagery that is now rarely seen outside churches, they explored the story of Noah’s Ark and its relevance to 21st Century global issues. The positive feedback has been overwhelming.

Green issues are Gospel issues

Our faith is lived out in all spheres of life. We cannot put our Gospel in a neat box, marked spiritual, and only get it out when we are all sitting comfortably in church. Jesus’ parables and miracles engaged directly with contemporary issues and concerns. Green issues are Gospel issues. Poverty issues are Gospel issues. Immigration is a Gospel issue. These issues do not detract from the Gospel of Jesus Christ but help us to be alongside those who are questioning, struggling and campaigning and so share the life of Jesus in the real world in which we all live.

I am as excited as ever about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I want to live it, share it and nurture it in all its fullness. So let us all work and pray for a good deal at Copenhagen.

+David

First published at www.birmingham.anglican.org under the title Be Seen – Be Green. Faithandclimatechange.wordpress.com has some pictures of the Noah’s Ark exhibition. The sub-headings are mine – Chris Duggan.

Dear Roger Godsiff,

I have just learned that our national bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, has lent or underwritten £8bn for exploiting the tar sands in Alberta, Canada. This is a crazy scheme for extracting oil by strip mining, destroying huge areas of forest. Extracting oil from this highly impure source requires a huge amount of energy, and causes pollution of an unprecedented intensity in the oil industry.

Under Stephen Harper since 2006, Canada has torn up its commitment to Kyoto and is doing its damnedest to scupper the talks at Copenhagen.

RBS’ involvement in this globally threatening business seems to me to dwarf their barefaced cheek in planning huge bonuses for some of their employees. If it’s our bank, we should be able to stop it investing in this business.

I hope you will raise this with the ministers concerned as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely

Chris Duggan

Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP
Chancellor of the Exchequer
HM Treasury
1 Horseguards Road
London
SW1A 2HQ

Dear Alistair

Re RBS and Environmental Policies

Mr Duggan was in touch with my office recently concering the above matter and I attach a copy of his email for reference.

I would also be grateful if you would be kind enough to give me some background on other similar issues raised in the press recently which raise environmental investment concerns and include:-

1. Alberta, Canada – RBS financing loans to coal, oil and gas companies, including money for projects such as the massive tar sands projects in Alberta, Canada.

2. India – an entire tribal group is under threat from an opencast bauxite mine planned by a British mining company supported by a subsidiary of RBS.

3. Democratic Republic of Congo – thousands of refugees are caught up in an ongoing civil war inflamed by oil exploration financed by RBS.
With thanks for your assistance in this matter

Yours sincerely

Roger Godsiff MP

Over the next two weeks, our leaders will negotiate the most important agreement of our time – one that must stop a climate catastrophe.

But they will only aim as high as we demand. That’s why on the weekend of December 12th we will gather at thousands of climate vigils in every corner of the planet to send a clear message: The World Wants a Real Deal!

- avaaz.org, which is promoting these vigils across the world.

Sutton Coldfield

War memorial outside Sutton Town Hall B73 6AB. 5.30pm Saturday 12th. Host: Margaret Challoner
Sign up on the avaaz.org website, or in comments below.

Kings Heath

Outside All Saints Church B14 7RA, corner of Kings Heath High St and Vicarage Rd. Buses 11, 35, 50 and 69 all stop very close by. 5.30pm Saturday 12th. Families especially welcome. Host: Chris Duggan
Sign up on the avaaz.org website, or in comments below.

City Centre canals

Time: Saturday, December 12 at 05:30 PM
Venue: By the canal at Gas Street Basin or nearby – TBC!
Place: Gas Street Basin area, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
Host: Karen
Description: Vigil with floating candle boats on the canal
Place: Canal footbridge between ICC & Brindley Place, just off Broad St B1 2HL
We’ll be arriving between 5.30 and 6pm for a 6pm send-off/photo.
There will be candles to float on the water; feel free to bring one to hold too.
Sign up on the avaaz.org website, or in comments below
If you have a fishing net to help fish the candles out, please bring it. British Waterways has given permission for this event to take place.