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Generous Actions

Day 1
Today’s action: Calculate your carbon footprint. Start the Carbon Fast by finding out your individual, household or church emissions so you know where to concentrate your reductions. Check out Tearfund’s My Global Impact –www.tearfund.org/mgi – to calculate individual emissions, or the Climate Justice Fund – www.climatejusticefund.org – for an example of average household emissions.

Day 2
Today’s action: Be a part-time veggie. Plan to eat at least two vegetarian meals this week. The livestock industry currently contributes around 18 per cent of global emissions. Pork and chicken have lower carbon footprints than lamb or beef.
 
To find out more about this subject read Tearfund’s position paper on meat-eating and climate change, available here    

Day 3
Today’s action: Switch to green energy. Choose an energy supplier that sources all its energy from renewable sources – if you don’t pay the bills, ask the person who does to make the switch. This action is likely to be the one that will reduce your carbon footprint the most, so please do it today! Click here for suggestions on switching to green energy.

Day 4
Today’s action: Travel by train. Is there a journey you’re taking in the next few months for which you could take the train rather than driving (or flying)? Why not book today?

Day 5
Today’s action: Reflect on your lifestyle and its impact on the planet. Ask God to help you during Lent to focus on what he wants you to do to restore your relationship with the world and your neighbours.
Set aside time to reflect on this. Write down one or two things to focus on.

Day 6
Today’s action: Turn it down. If you need to add cold water when you fill the sink or run a bath, then your hot water thermostat is too high – try setting it at 60°C or 140°F.

To keep global temperature rise below the two-degree danger point, emissions need to peak and decline by 2015. This means developed countries need to reduce their emissions by at least 40 per cent on 1990 levels by 2020, and finance emissions cuts in the developing world. And what’s been committed by rich countries so far is nowhere near this target

Day 7
Today’s action: Act for climate justice. Ask your church leader to sign up to the Climate Justice Fund at www.climatejusticefund.org and take the campaign action on the website. This is a Church of England initiative, but churches of all denominations are welcome to join.

Day 8
Today’s action: Eat by candlelight. How many rooms do you light in the evenings? Turn out the lights and enjoy the ambience of a candlelit dinner!

Day 9
Today’s action: Cook for free. Electric hotplates or ovens take a long time to cool, so why not turn them off earlier so your food finishes cooking for free?

Day 10
Today’s action: Smooth driver, not boy racer. Avoid excess idling and hard acceleration – the more revs you use, the more fuel you’re burning.

[Selected from an series called “Carbon Fast” by TearFund UK  http://www.tearfund.org/

Global Nomad

26 February 2010

 Posted on: Friday, February 26, 2010 at 6:15 am
 Global Nomad's Notes.
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