Cut back your consumption of carbon rather than chocolate during Lent this year is the message from the Church of England in period of abstinence before Easter.
Two senior bishops and the development charity, Tearfund, hope to persuade Christians to take part in a carbon fast by making daily changes to their lifestyle throughout Lent, which begins tomorrow.
The Lenten tasks to reduce energy consumption include the removal of a prominent light bulb in the home for 40 days and abstinence from the dishwasher for a day. Other ideas for energy-saving range from going without plastic bags and fitting draft excluders to leaving the car at home and eating local food.
The Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, who stopped flying for an entire year to reduce his carbon footprint, said that if all 650,000 Christians attending London’s 4,000 churches took part, the impact would be significant. ‘We can have a measurable impact on the carbon footprint of the capital,’ he said. ‘I see this as not the dull echo of a fashionable consensus, not the Church jumping on the bandwagon, but as a question of how much we love our neighbour in the 21st century.’
Tearfund is using the campaign to highlight the disparity between energy consumption in developed and developing countries. About 9.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide is emitted per person every year in the UK, compared with just 0.067 tonnes in Ethiopia and 0.24 in Bangladesh.
Advertisement
The Bishop of Liverpool, James Jones, who is vice president of Tearfund, said: “It is the poor who are already suffering the effects of climate change. To carry on regardless of their plight is to fly in the face of Christian teaching. The tragedy is that those with the power to do something about it are least affected, whilst those who are most affected are powerless to bring about change.”
The Lent initiative is part of a wider move by the Church to reduce its carbon footprint. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has announced plans to offset the carbon used in hundreds of flights taken by bishops attending the Lambeth Conference this year. The Church of England has also pledged to reduce carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 with its Shrinking the Footprint campaign.
A survey conducted by Tearfund about attitudes to Lent found that three out of five adults would be willing to take energy-saving action during the season of abstinence.
Daily carbon fast ideas for Lent.
Advertisement
Day one
(Ash Wednesday) Remove one light bulb and live without it for the next 40 days.
Day two
Check your house for draughts with a ribbon or feather. If it flutters, buy a draught excluder.
Advertisement
Day three
Tread lightly – whether that’s by foot, by bike, on to a bus or on the gas as you drive. Find a way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions when you travel today.
Day four
Advertisement
Are you recycling everything possible? Really – everything? Look into it today.
Day five
Can you talk about your Carbon Fast at church today? Encourage others to join in.
Advertisement
Day six
Turn your central heating thermostat down by one degree.
Day seven
Say au revoir to standby. Check that all electrical equipment is switched off when not in use. The TV alone will save a hefty 20kg of carbon dioxide per year.
Day eight
Unplug your mobile phone charger: it uses electricity even when it’s not charging.
Day nine
Climate change isn’t a distant threat – it’s affecting poor communities now. Pray for Tearfund’s work to help vulnerable communities adapt to the changing weather.
Day 10
Give your dishwasher a day off or promote it to a Grade A energy efficient appliance.
Day 11
Use local shops or farmers’ markets (farmersmarkets.net) instead of driving to out-of-town shopping parks. They will thank you; supermarkets won’t notice your absence.
Day 12
Tell politicians to take action on climate change today. Check out Tearfund’s campaign work at tearfund.org/climate.
Day 13
Put the heat on your electricity or gas suppliers and ask them if they have a green plan. Make the switch and feel cosy.
Day 14
Take a shower instead of a bath: you’ll heat less water.
Day 15
Snub plastic bags. Get into the habit of taking your rucksack to the supermarket or go retro with a trolley. Ask your supermarket to remove unnecessary packaging.
Day 16
Switch off lights as you leave the room.
Day 17
Only fill your kettle with as much water as you need.
Day 18
Cut the air miles. Don’t consume any food that you know has been imported by plane (apart from Fairtrade products).
Day 19
Grace Maglasey and her husband Andrew struggle to grow enough food because their village in Malawi is caught in a cycle of floods and droughts. Join in with Grace’s prayer today: “We pray that those of us who farm should harvest a lot of food so that this year we will not have hunger. In the name of Jesus, Amen.”
Day 20
Compost. Put the nutrients from food waste back into the soil – not into a methane-emitting landfill.
Day 21
Only run your washing machine when you have a full load.
Day 22
Find one way to save paper today: re-use an old envelope or print double-sided.
Day 23
Turn the taps off. In one day a hot, dripping tap could fill a bath.
Day 24
Counsel your local council. Thank them for their recycling facilities but ask them if they could provide any more.
Day 25
Who works hardest in the house? Mum? Dad? No, the fridge. It’s churning away 24/7. Treat it to a good de-icing to make sure it’s running efficiently.
Day 26
“Love does no harm to its neighbour” Romans 13:10. But while our lifestyles consume more and more energy, our poorer neighbours are suffering. Reflect on ways to love our neighbours in our increasingly connected world.
Day 27
Pressure a car owner to check their tyre pressures. Low tyre pressure means high fuel consumption.
Day 28
Do a home energy check at energysavingtrust.org.uk or call 0800 512 012 for a paper copy. You could save up to £250 a year on bills.
Day 29
Run your washing machine at 30 degrees. This uses 40% less electricity than running at 40 degrees.
Day 30
Find out a new fact about the impact of climate change today. Amaze your friends.
Day 31
Fit aluminium foil behind your radiator – allowing you to turn the radiator down and save £10 a year per radiator.
Day 32
Any old iron? If they’re on their last legs replace old electrical appliances with energy-efficient models. They could save a third of the energy.
Day 33
Have an embrace-the-silence Sunday. Turn off everything. No TV, no radio, no ringtones, no cars. It’ll be good for the soul.
Day 34
Tell the Mailing Preference Service that you want to stop junk mail. Call 0845 7034599 or visit mpsonline.org.uk. Sign up to Tearfund’s e-newsletter Twelve at tearfund.org/twelve
Day 35
Put an insulation jacket on your hot-water tank. If everyone does, we’ll cut enough carbon dioxide to fill 148,000 hot-air balloons.
Day 36
Re-use an item you would have thrown away – such as a jam jar, an envelope or an ice-cream container.
Day 37
Put a lid on it. That’s pans when cooking; and use a kettle to boil water.
Day 38
Draw the curtains to keep the heat in.
Day 39
Could your church be greener? Talk to your church leaders. Tearfund can help – visit the site.
Day 40
Replace your missing bulb with an energy-saving lightbulb. Over its lifetime, you will save 60kg of carbon dioxide per year and up to £60. Make a personal pledge to serve others by pursuing a more sustainable way of life.