Earth Hour was initiated by the World Wildlife Fund In 2007, and now attracts millions of participants worldwide. It simply asks all of us to switch off non-essential electrical devices for one hour at the same time in each time zone round the world — starting in Samoa and ending in Tahiti. This year, Earth Hour will come to Scotland between 8.30 and 9.30 pm on Saturday 23rd March — the evening before Palm Sunday.
Invitation from St Ninian’s church
St Ninian’s Church invite you to join them for an hour of candlelit meditation and reflection around the themes of climate change and conservation, based on a range of sources including Pope Francis’ recent 2023 Laudate Deum. We will meet together at St Ninian’s church, 40 Comely Bank, Edinburgh, EH4 1AG.
Buses 19, 22, 24, 29, 37 or 113 stop nearby at Flora Stevenson School, and there is free on-street evening parking available on Fettes Avenue and Craigleith Road. Please arrive at least 5 minutes early, as all electric lights will be extinguished at 8.30 pm sharp.
Come and meet us for a coffee! We’re thrilled to be able to host our supporters at Augustine United Church this year for our Edinburgh churches drop-in session. Please join Christian Aid staff any time between 10:30am and 1pm on Wednesday 20 September for a cuppa and a chat. This is an informal time to meet other local Christian Aid supporters, ask questions of staff, and share ideas. For those able to stay a little longer, there will be an online event with our Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Watt, starting at 1pm. Anyone is welcome, so please do share this invitation and RSVP by emailing edinburgh@christian-aid.org if you’re planning to come along.
We are a third of the way through this crucial decade for climate action - yet Scotland is not on track to meet targets to reduce emissions, while worsening climate impacts are having devastating consequences around the world. We urgently need all decision makers to take bold action.
As part of the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland coalition, Christian Aid is helping to organise an event to help people to connect with other climate and nature campaigners and to learn more about how you can make your voice heard. Join us online or in person on Wednesday the 14th of June to explore some of the key issues relating to the climate crisis and how together we can encourage decision makers to take action now.
If you live in or are visiting Edinburgh during International Swifts Awareness Week (3-11th July) you are invited by the RSPB to take a self guided tour of some cycling and walking paths around the beautiful city of Edinburgh. The tours take you on a series of self led cycle and walking paths around Edinburgh that join up swift nesting sites, feeding sites, swift murals & the lovely green spaces of Edinburgh. The routes all pass Haymarket, so it’s easy enough to go via the train with your bikes and start from there.
Routes take you past St Mary’s Cathedral one of our recent Silver Eco Congregation Award winning congregations, who host 48 swift boxes. You can explore the area around the water of Leith, Leith Links and Arthur’s Seat to name but a few locations. For more information about the routes have a look at the RSPB Edinburgh Swift Cities page.
St Martin of Tours’ Episcopal Church in the Gorgie/Dalry area or Edinburgh has an active Eco-Group keen to share news and encourage support for its Sea Bin Project. Liz Moir writes:
2020 was the Scottish Year of Coasts and Waters which focussed particularly on the inland waters and the seas which surround Scotland. Last June St Martin’s Eco-Congregation group had hoped to visit the Coasts and Waters exhibition at the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther, Fife but travel restrictions prevented this. Still, it gave us food for thought which led to the St Martins Eco-Group considering a project to help combat the increase in plastic waste contaminating our oceans and waters.
One of our group, Stuart Campbell, came up with the idea of funding a Seabin – a device which looks rather like a long tube, containing an automated pump which draws water through the tube, catching the plastic debris in an internal net which can then be retrieved and disposed of. It also has a sponge which will take in a small oil or diesel spill. The Seabin can be bolted onto a pontoon in a harbour or marina (see photo attached) so it can move with the tide helping to keep the water clear of debris. It needs to be connected to an electricity supply, and obviously needs regular maintenance to check it is working correctly and to remove the rubbish.
There are at present relatively few in Scotland. The first one was installed in the North East at Banff Harbour. Stuart has supplied a photo from a recent visit.
Another is on the West Coast at Mallaig Harbour and there is a possible for MacDuff Harbour. Hopefully there will be others but in the meantime, we in St Martin’s think this is something worth pursuing.
First of all we have to find a harbour which would accept the Seabin, which has a suitable source of electricity, and which has staff or volunteers willing to maintain the bin and dispose of the rubbish it collects. It is therefore necessary that we work collaboratively.
Each Seabin costs around £3000, plus installation charges, which is a significant sum. As our usual routes for fund-raising at St Martin’s – coffee mornings, home baking, special events, fund-raising lunches, etc – are not feasible at the moment, we will have to find other sources of funding. One option is crowd-funding, but for this to be attractive to donors, we need to find a suitable site for the Seabin, show how it will improve the surrounding water, benefit the harbour or marina, local wildlife and the wider community and visitors. There are many things to consider but we are already working on a number of these and as we’ve had some encouraging feedback, we hope to proceed with this project.
Should anyone wish to offer advice or guidance please do not hesitate to contact St Martin’s Eco-Congregation Group: ECO@stmartinsedinburgh.org.uk
