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Climate Change Information
for Churches in Withington and Fallowfield

When members of most of the churches in Withington and Fallowfield met 2 local Climate Change workers on Jan. 7th, as part of the process of deciding on a joint church project, they wanted two things to happen, and the workers agreed to produce them. The first was a series of articles for local church magazines and Sunday news sheets, to increase awareness of change over this year. This is the first such article.

The threat of global climate change is one that will affect us all, and especially our children and future generations. But, the big question is - can we make a difference?

The answer is an overwhelming YES, we can.
We have no option but to try. Owen Polley of Action for Sustainable Living and Karen Andrew of Faiths4Change attended the Churches Together Climate Change meeting of January 7th 2008.
Everyone who attended the meeting reported on what their church was doing to help the environment and care for the wonderful world in which we live. From just being able to recycle plastic bottles to having an eco-audit of the whole church, everyone seems to be ‘doing their bit’. We all agreed that we wanted to do even more and looking at our individual carbon footprint is a good place to start – after all you can control your own feet though not somebody else’s!!
For instance, did you know that:

• the energy saved by recycling one bottle will power a
computer for 25 minutes

• if you turned your thermostat down by 1 degree C,
you save yourself money and 10kg of carbon per year

• an A** rated fridge will save more than 140kg of carbon
and around £51 for you!

• If everyone in the UK fitted 3 energy-saving light bulbs
the energy saved would supply all the street lighting in the
UK?

We hope you feel encouraged to make small steps to help influence family, friends and help to change the workplace waste culture, so together we can make a BIG difference. Local councils, governments and businesses also need to change. We must make them listen to us, and our actions will speak loudest of all.

We’re available till Mar. 21st to advise you or talk to a group:
Owen Polley: 0161 660 2952 or owen.polley@afsl.org.uk;
Karen Andrew: 0161 877 7756 or karen@faiths4change.org.uk