An update from Portswood Church Environmental Representatives
At the start of 2025 we would like to give an update from the Portswood Church Environmental Representatives - a group who share ideas and encouragement for ways to serve God by looking after his world and its resources (see Genesis 1 and Creation care in a climate crisis).
Recycling at Portswood update
Firstly, we thought that this would be a good time to let you know how things have been going with recycling and thank you for all your contributions. We’ve been collecting various items for recycling at the church for a bit over a year now and thought you might be interested in an update on how that’s been going:
Milk bottle top recycling - we have collected about the equivalent of a full wheelie bin of milk bottle tops which has raised money for the Kicks count charity (https://www.kickscount.org.uk/). Please remember that only standard milk bottle tops can be recycled (not other bottle tops).
Aluminium foil recycling has gone very well and the tub is full most weeks. Aluminium recycling raised a total of £12,277.42 in 2024 for the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance and recycled 11.5 tonnes of aluminium (not just from us).
The Tetrapak recycling collection bin collected much Tetrapak (both tubs were full most weeks usually) but over time the team has struggled to find local collection points that would take them for recycling (some shut and others were already overflowing). The team took the difficult decision to stop collection at church until a more reliable drop-off point can be found.
We have put together a some links to resources for sustainable living in this webpage: https://www.portswood.org/the-environment
Resusable cups
Secondly, we would like to thank you for bringing in your reusable coffee cups to use for refreshments after church and to encourage you to keep doing that.
Anyone up for the Veganuary challenge?
Thirdly, with the start of the new year, we thought that we might inspire you to reduce your carbon footprint via reducing your meat and/or dairy consumption (which can also be done for considerations such as water consumption, land-use, animal welfare and pollution).
We are mentioning it now because many people are taking up “veganuary” at the start of this year (see https://veganuary.com/ where you can find out more or sign up for budget meal plans).
Alternatively, you might consider experimenting with a vegan diet - below are some ideas for vegan recipes or simple substitutions that you can try out as a one-off to see if there is anything that you would like to continue through 2025.
If you like them you could consider having a vegan day regularly (e.g. once a week), or for a block of time (a week or a month) every so often - every bit makes a difference, especially if lots of people do it.
To see some delicious tried and tested receipes from various members of the team, please go to: https://www.portswood.org/the-environment
Keeping in touch
If you would like to join the Portswood church “Environment reps” whatsapp group to find out more then please talk to Sarah Prime sarahp@portswood.org
