Eco Blog - St. George's Berlin

 St. George's Parish sponsored a well in a village in Malawi to bring clean water to a village. Here is a photo of the well: The person in the photo is Mada Daniel (who has given permission for us to use his photo and name). Previously the village had no nearby clean water source. He well has made a real difference to their quality of life.  This is only one of several well-projects the Parish has funded to help to preserve God's creation. 

  Many climate disasters have names, but heatwaves do not.  Hurricanes are just one example of named storms. Eric Klinenberg wrote in the New York Times  (7 September 2024):    " Generations of anthropologists have demonstrated how naming not just people but also pets, places and prized objects can imbue the world with meaning. When an object receives a human name, that act of anthropomorphism elevates its social importance." ( LINK )  Naming hurricanes began in the US in 1953 as a way to improve communication. Klinenberg continues: The problem with heat is that it is " a silent and invisible killer." Nonetheless heat kills and the problem is real:  "More than 47,000 people died in Europe last year due to extreme heat, according to a new report.  The figure comes from modelling by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health that was published on Monday." (DW, 08.13.2024 LINK )  The idea  of naming heat waves is not totally new.  Klinenberg writes : "In

  Creed of God and creation (from South India) We believe in God, who creates all things, who embraces all things, who celebrates all things, who is present at every part of the fabric of creation. We believe in God as the source of all life   who baptises this planet with living water. We believe in Jesus Christ, the suffering one, the poor one, the malnourished one, the climate refugee who loves and cares for this world. and who suffers with it. And we believe in Jesus Christ, the seed of life. who came to reconcile and renew this world and everything in it. We believe in the holy spirit, the breath of God,   who moves with God and who moves among and with us today. We believe in everlasting life in God. And we believe in the hope that one day God will put an end to death and all destructive forces.   Amen. This creed was used at St. George's Anglican Church on Sunday.  (Posted with permission)

  Join the Protest against Plastic Waste!   On the 24 August, 3 members of St.George's joined the Protest Picnic in front of the Bundeskanzleramt organised by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The aim of this protest was to encourage the federal government to show courage, determination and a commitment to the environment by supporting the United Nations plastics treaty which is currently in negotiations.   Plastic waste is not just a problem, it is major environmental crisis. *Every three seconds over a tonne of plastic ends up in our oceans. Marine animals and seabirds are dying from our plastic waste and entire marine ecosystems are in danger of collapsing.   And we humans are not spared either - microplastics can be detected in each and every one of us, because we eat, drink and breathe them every day.* The time to act is now, we need to raise our voices, each and every one of us. The final session of the negotiations will be in November.   We must urgently signal to the governmen

  Felicity Hughes wrote an article in the Guardian on 15 August, 2024 entitled “Madrid’s summers can be brutally hot. So why are so many of our trees being chopped down?”   ( LINK ) The problem is serious and potentially life-threatening:_ “… we know tree coverage saves lives. EU research indicates that increasing the tree canopy in urban areas could save hundreds of lives each summer, especially in countries such as Italy, Croatia, Romania and Spain. It’s a relatively inexpensive but effective measure – and with heat deaths in Madrid having risen to 1,308 during the brutally hot summer of 2022, it feels particularly pertinent.” Spain is not the only country where corporations want to cut down trees:   “ But in a move reminiscent of the recent decision in Sheffield to deploy chainsaw-wielding workers to remove trees in the early hours, Almeida’s administration seems to be banking on locals being away to strip Santa Ana of 85% of its tree coverage.The fight to preserve urban tree covera

WWF Protest Picnic against Plastic Waste St.George's will be joining the Protest Picnic organised by WWF on   Saturday 24 August at 11.00   in front of the Reichstag.  According to the WWF website ( https://mitmachen.wwf.de/protestpicknick ) translated with DeepL: Every three seconds, over a tonne of plastic waste ends up in our oceans. 70 per cent of this waste is single-use plastic. This has fatal consequences: Marine animals and seabirds are dying from our plastic waste and entire marine ecosystems are in danger of collapsing. And we humans are not spared either - microplastics can be detected in each and every one of us, because we eat, drink and breathe them every day. But there is hope: the United Nations is currently negotiating a UN plastics treaty, however the negotiations are stalling, as they are being blocked by those with vested interests.   We need the entire federal government to show courage and determination to drive the negotiations forward.   So join us for a pic