Eco Blog - St. George's Berlin

 In a world where large corporations make millions with products that damage the environment, it is difficult to find a way to protest that will make the corporate leaders pay sufficient attention  to change their behaviour. Damaging property is not something that the church supports, but we can understand the frustration that leads concerned people to take unusual actions in order to bring attention to the problem.  The Guardian reported on the trial of a set of Extinction Rebellion protesters who: "...deliberately sprayed graffiti or smashed windows of the Shell building in Belvedere Road, central London, on 15 April 2019." One of the protesters, "quoted Sir David Attenborough and former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams in his evidence."  "He said: “I believe if I don’t do whatever I can to protect our Earth, to protect life on this Earth, to stop the death and injury that is and will be happening, I’m committing a crime, a really serious crim...

 The food we eat has an effect on the planet. Meat tends to have the highest impact, as a table from the website Greeneatz.com shows. Lamb (to my surprise) comes in highest with beef not far behind. Even  cheese is fairly high, but of course it comes primarily from cow's milk.    Rank Food CO2 Kilos Equivalent Car Miles  Equivalent 1 Lamb 39.2 91 2 Beef 27.0 63 3 Cheese 13.5 31 4 Pork 12.1 28 5 Turkey 10.9 25 6 Chicken 6.9 16 7 Tuna 6.1 14 8 Eggs 4.8 11 Vegetables are the most planet-friendly food, and anyone who has spent time in India knows how excellent vegetarian food can be. Fake meat is increasingly available in stores and restaurants, though the additives may make some consumers wary (I am).  Top chefs take an increasing interest in vegetarian food. The Guardian (9 April 2021) published an article recently about  Ángel León who has taken an interest in the "tiny green grains clinging to the base of the eelgrass." The grain turned out to be goo...

 Bees are not merely important for the honey they produce, but for pollination, which matters for crops as well as for gardens. We have known for a long time about the effect of pesticides, The good news is that the amount of pesticides is decreasing. The bad news is that the problem has grown worse, not better. Damian Carrington writes in the Guardian (1 April 2021): "Modern pesticides have much lower toxicity to people, wild mammals and birds and are applied in lower amounts, but they are even more toxic to invertebrates. The study shows the higher toxicity outweighs the lower volumes, leading to a more deadly overall impact on pollinators and waterborne insects such as dragonflies and mayflies." ( SOURCE ) The data comes from a US study from 1992 to 2016. Fewer insects can affect other animals that feed on them. The Eco Committee at St. George's is planning an insect hotel in the garden as one very small step toward helping the insect population.