Eco-Congregation
Scotland
You can now register for the Eco-Congregation Scotland Annual Gathering taking place on Saturday 20th April at the newly completed Grassmarket Community Project Hall in Edinburgh.
We are pleased to announce that one of the workshops will be run by Pete Richie from Whitmuir farm, who will share with us his experience of running a co-operative organic farm involving locals in the production of organic produce.
The aim of the farm is to be productive, beautiful, diverse and educational.
Whitmuir Farm is owned by Heather Anderson and Pete Ritchie, who have lived here for 10 years. The farm itself has been here for over 300 years and, like most farms, has been farmed organically for most of that time. We returned to full organic production 10 years ago. The farm is run as a trading partnership with Heather and Pete as the Partners.
Photo of Heather Anderson and Pete Richie borrowed from: http://www.whitmuirtheorganicplace.co.uk/farm-facts
We farm organically because we believe it to be the only way to farm sustainably. Organic farming is better for the soil, the plant, the animal, the planet and us. We aim to produce good, healthy food which doesn’t exploit the the animals and the people who grow and produce it or the soil and natural environment.
Being organic is non-negotiable here, so everything in the shop and restaurant is either certified organic or, when no organically produced equivalent is genuinely yet available, environmentally friendly and/or ethically produced.
Our farm and our butchery are both certified by the Soil Association, who inspect annually. The SA symbol on our meat and vegetables and fruit means we meet the very highest welfare and production standards.
You can print out the registration form or complete a Word Version of the form and it email it to us. You can also register by calling us on 0131 240 2277.
Read more about the Gathering here.
The Esk & Tweed Network meeting minutes from 29th Oct 2012 are available by clicking on the link: Eskt & Tweed minutes 29th Oct 2012
The meeting highlighted two future meetings which you may wish to attend:
- Thursday 17 January 2013, 6.30pm, in Carlops Church when the network will
entertain Paul Wheelhouse MSP, Scottish Environment Minister, and have an
opportunity to brief him on the eco-congregation movement and its aims and activities - Monday 11 March 2013, 7.30pm; Penicuik North Church; topic to be determined.
Many to thanks to Nan Buchan for taking the minutes and to Peebles Old Parish Church for hosting the meeting and providing hospitality.
We would like to invite you to the following events on the 21st and 23rd of October (please click on the events table to make it bigger):
Please note that if you would like to go from the Church Service to the Mini-Gathering on Sunday the 21st October, tea and coffee will be available at Ferryhill but please bring your own lunch! It is a 15-20 minute walk between Ferryhill and Crown Terrace. Alternatively, the 17 bus takes 3 mins (4 stops) to go from outside the church down Crown Street to Crown Terrace. They are every 20 mins. There is limited parking at Crown Terrace but free parking available elsewhere in the area, and it is convenient for train and bus stations.
More information will follow closer to the time. Please contact us if you have any questions!
We hope you can make it!
We would like to welcome Bellie Parish Church to Eco-Congregation Scotland. Please help us to make them feel welcome!
The photo has been borrowed from: http://www.bellieandspeymouth.org.uk/
We would like to welcome Rutherglen United Reformed Church to Eco-Congregation Scotland. Please help us to make them feel welcome!
The photo has been borrowed from: http://www.rutherglenurc.org.uk/
In September 2012 the extent of Arctic sea ice hit a new low, the smallest area ever recorded.
The extent of sea ice is recorded daily by satellite and published on the US Government National Snow and Ice Data Center website, from where the map and graph are taken.
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/
On the map the white area shows the extent of the ice cap on 2 September 2012 (the website is updated daily) and the orange line show the average (median) extent of the ice cap for the same day for the years between 1979 and 2000.
The graph below shows the total extent of ice day by day through the summer of 2012 (blue line) compared to the average from 1979-2000 (grey line).
The shrinking summer ice cap is one of the clearest indicators of the effect of climate change. While the pattern and extent of melting varies from year to year the trend is unmistakeable and it is very likely that the ice cap will continue to shrink in extent.
This has huge implications, for both the human population of the area, the wildlife, for weather in the northern hemisphere and for the northern oceans. The impact of these changes is not yet fully understood but they are likely to be profound.
Here is a link to a BBC News article with more information. Here is a link to the BBC news report on YouTube.
By Adrian Shaw
The Season of Creation
Life and Work, the Church of Scotland magazine has published an article about Creation Time, a Starters for Sunday series giving congregations an opportunity to reflect on environmental issues and to ask themselves “how should we live in the world” and “how should we take care of it”?
You can read the full article here and you can access the Starters for Sunday Creation Time resources here.
Go Green!
For a personalised action plan of how you can go greener, create your Greener Plan today - Click Here.
For a personalised action plan of how you can go greener, create your Greener Plan today - Click Here.