July Eco-Group Comment

A lot has happened since writing the June Eco Comment.

Firstly we hosted the first showing in Wakefield of the Emergency Briefing film. This was well received from an almost full house. Although it looked like there were some empty seats in the photos all the tickets available had been allocated. The general consensus from those present was that it was an incredibly important film but it was the discussion and questions that followed that really made it worthwhile. The big question though came at a reflective conversation with others who had been there, namely (pardon the pun?) but we were preaching to the converted. How could we get the message out to those who are still sceptical despite the current heat and wild fires throughout Europe? I was reminded of days in the past when people with clipboards would approach you in the cathedral precinct and ask if you could spare a few minutes to help with some market research and take them in to Treacy Hall for 10 minutes. Maybe we should be doing the same? If we formulated a series of questions asking what people thought about the challenges of future proofing our lives maybe we’d get some interesting answers and a lot more questions to consider?

July is often associated with using less plastic. Plastic Free July is a big ask but it happens to coincide with Biffa, the local waste service changing their information on what we can recycle in our brown bins. I had a long conversation with one of their representatives at WX last Saturday. Eco Church happened to have the next stall to them at a brilliant day which happened under the banner of ‘One world under the sun.’ Our Eco Group banner was a very useful display item which encouraged quite a lot of interest and surprise from several people that the ‘church’ was doing so much with regards looking after the environment. Our stall had been organised by Jo Chamberlain who has set up a group of ‘Eco Encouragers’ which is a great way to find out where other local churches are on their Eco Church journey. There were representatives from St Helen’s and St Giles, Pontefract  as well as the Cathedral. Bishop Malcolm also came to look around the exhibition stalls.

Whilst we had a steady flow of people coming to look around the space I was amazed to hear that 1,800 people came through the doors! Grow Wakefield had prepared 300 bee bombs (wild flower seeds) and had given them all out by 11am. These sort of figures show that the people of Wakefield are interested in the environment. There were lots of things to pull the crowd in, not least the large Luke Jerram’s Helios. (It was good to have the photo of his Earth on our banner). Wakefield Hospice put on several fashion shows and the Clothes Exchange were enabling people to swap items of clothing thereby changing their wardrobes at no cost. Entertainment highlights of the day for me were the Gaia and Maia puppets and Madame Zuchini and for information it was Vico Homes, who knew their building work was so environmentally friendly. A great way to start July. Thanks to Just Transition Wakefield, Wakefield Net Zero Partnership, the Community Fund, WX and the council for organising such a splendid day.

At the end of July I’m hoping to go to Parceval Hall, near Appletreewick for at least one day of the Christians Aware summer school. It’s always informative and a great place to spend time with like minded people. If you are interested in going please contact  them on their website christiansaware.org.uk. The theme for the summer school this year is ‘Lifestyle for the 21st century’.

And finally I’ve just started reading  what looks to be a fascinating book about food, how it’s grown, distributed and why our cities need to rethink the subject. Spoiler alert… this will be the subject of next month’s Eco Comment.

Sue Morgan