Ecology
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle:
Tips from St Mary's Ecology Group
1. Use foil or waxed wraps in place of cling film to cover food in the kitchen.
Cover items cooking in the microwave with reusable Flexible Silicone Tops or Glass Lids.
(Wax wraps must not be used in the microwave! They are brilliant for wrapping and covering foods, but never for cooking - they will melt in heat and become a fire risk!)
2. Try using less cling film and foil for storing foodstuffs in your kitchen. Greener options are Reusable Containers, Wax Food Wraps and Bags, and also various types of Silicone Tops. These can all be bought online as well as at kitchen gear shops. The latter are often more expensive than online, but it is good to use and support local shops if possible.
3. Look for ‘LOAF’ food wherever possible (food which is Local, Organic, Animal Friendly) The downside of this is price - it is often more expensive in more specialised shops or supermarkets, but may be less at the local Markets and Farmer’s Markets.
Full information on LOAF can be found online - if you cannot get online yourself, find someone who is happy to help, and maybe meet for coffee and chat together!
4. Try to look for loose fruit and veg in shops and avoid being tempted by multi-buy offers on perishable foods - eg ‘Buy 1 get 1 free’ - unless you feel sure you can use them all before they spoil. Sounds a good deal, but it can easily lead to unused items going out of date or going off and ending up being wasted, and is rarely good value.
5. Shun multi-buy plastic wrapped packs of tinned goods, canned drinks, loo rolls, etc to cut down your excessive plastic waste at home. Look for these items packed in cardboard or paper. They are becoming available more frequently, and if we buy them more often and shun the shrink wrapped stuff, the shops hopefully would be more likely to keep stocking them - and try to encourage their suppliers to cut the use of this mountain of unnecessary plastic wrap.
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St Mary’s Ecology Group List of Resources
Reduce and Reuse
Refilling Cleaning products: Down to Earth, Trinity Street
Foodstuffs, herbs, spices: Down to Earth, Trinity Street
Milk: Crusty Cobb, Maud Road
Bulk buying Cleaning products Mole, Supermarkets
Bottles Milk Craig's Dairy, Sargeants
Recycle
Batteries Robert Dyas, Supermarkets
Blister packs Superdrug
Foil in church, but now also kerbside
Recyclable light plastics Tesco and in church
Repair
Repair café United Church, 10 am last Saturday in the month
Nature friendly products
Suma cleaning products Down to Earth, Trinity Street
andkeep.com online but based in Dorset
Natural Life Antelope Walk
Local and Animal-friendly Food
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Derwen Farm, West Stafford
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Down to Earth, Trinity Street
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The Fridge, Waitrose Arcade
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Tamarisk Farm, West Bexington
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Pope Francis : A prayer for our Earth
All-powerful God, you are present in the whole Universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of the earth,
so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognise that we are profoundly united with every creature
as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle
For justice, love and peace.