Season of Creation – Make your impact!

Pope Francis highlighted the importance of the environment in 2015 and joined the Catholic Church with the ecumenical ‘Season of Creation’ that originated in 2003.

This month the CBD Environment and Sustainability Team have been challenging you to behave in ways that help create a world with social equality and decrease our environmental impact.  Climate change affects sea levels, frequency of bushfires and creates an environment where our native plants and animals find it harder to survive.  Even our beloved koalas are headed for extinction by 2050.  We need to do something drastic and it has to happen now.

Food production accounts for almost one-third of the world’s greenhouse gas emission and takes up half of the planet’s habitable surfaces.  The effect of animal consumption accounts for a huge percentage of this.  We can help reduce our effect on climate change by changing what we eat, how we eat, where we purchase it from, where it was sourced and how it’s packaged.  Our team challenged you to Meatless Mondays.  Fr Brendan, Fr Trac and Deacon Jude are doing it, how are you going?

Energy consumption is the biggest source of greenhouse gases.  We’ve been challenged to change our behaviour to use less energy.  An LED light burning for over 300 hours uses less energy than a typical load of washing takes to dry in the clothes dryer.  If emission reductions during covid19 lockdown had been sustainable we would be almost halfway to our 1.5 degree Paris agreement target.  How can you use less energy and source it from renewable, clean resources?  What would you need to do to be energy neutral in 10 years?

Over fishing and pollution are decimating our oceans.  Less than 10% of plastic is recycled and most plastics end up in the oceans.  Look to find ways to avoid the purchase of packaging by buying in bulk and bringing your own packaging.  We also waste water and create light pollution that affects the health of our ecosystems.  Waste is only waste if you waste it, so don’t throw it away – reduce, reuse and recycle to create a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable world.

The carbon footprint of the internet and the systems supporting account for 3.7% of global emissions.   Deleting unwanted saved documents and emails helps reduce the storage required for all this data.  Our team identified this as waste, how can you clean up your online footprint?

Companies around the world are targeting net zero carbon emissions.  Investment in innovative technology and scrutinising every aspect of a company’s business is necessary to achieve this.  What is the supply chain of the materials you procure?  Can you create a circular economy within your business?  Can you project this to your home environment?

There are 10,000 Catholics in our parishes, if every one of us made a significant change to our lifestyle and shared it we can make a difference.  This is what the Catholic Church is calling us to do.  Let’s do it!

Visit the Season of Creation page on the Parish Website.  Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more information on how to continue to care for God’s creation.

By Julie Douglas