ECO CHURCH NEWS
The bird bath is now in place in the Mission Garden and there is also one on the ground, out of sight, for the critters that don’t fly. A young frog was found in the leaf litter, so hopefully it will hibernate here.
A ringed Robin is very friendly and follows me around the garden when working. The birds are coming back into the garden now that it is getting colder, but a naughty squirrel has wrecked the peanut bird feeder! Since removing the rubber pellets the soil is now breathing again and starting to spring back into life, more worms are appearing in the soil and this will help restore structure.
ECO CHURCH TIPS: This month - FOOD PACKAGING
Are you old enough to remember paper bags and cardboard boxes as food packaging? Where did it all go wrong? Plastic has overrun the food industry. They are finally waking up to the fact and doing something about it (even if it is very slowly). In the meantime here are some ideas to cut down on packaging yourself:
• Take your own shopping bags.
• String bags for vegetables? Or you could get your veg from farmers markets, or delivery boxes, etc, to cut down on packaging. Remember the days when there were Greengrocers – not many around now, but you can still get fresh veg from farm shops.
• Use re-usable water bottles/coffee cups, when out and about.
• Any liquids will always have to be glass or plastic, so please recycle it.Unless you are getting it refilled of course.
• Soft plastics like bread bags can be recycled at larger supermarkets, or you could go the bakery and get it in a paper bag.
• Use a shop like “Pack It In”, where you take your own containers to fill yourself at the shop. Very often it works out cheaper, as you are not paying for the packaging.
• I expect you have your own ideas too. Do let me know, so that I can let others know.
The population of the plant is now 8 billion, so we all need to be mindful of the effects of our consumerism. Happy Shopping!
Sue Garfield