St John's Church Egham

Experience Hope

Eco-Festival

Cycle Repair & Mini-Craft Fair

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Cycle Repair & Mini-Fair

25th July 10am – 1pm

Xavier who is hosting a cycle-ability discussion on the 15th July, will be helping you understand how you can repair your cycle on the 25th July at St John’s Church grounds. To keep him company, we will be hosting a mini fair with crafts and a refill stall.

Location: St John’s Church grounds

To connect with us:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/StJohnsEghamEcoChurch

@StJohnsEcoChurch https://www.facebook.com/StJohnsEcoChurch

https://www.instagram.com/stjohnsecochurch/

@StJohnsEcoChurch https://www.instagram.com/stjohnsecochurch/

Email: StJohnsEghamEcoChurch@gmail.com

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VDD: Reduce Your General Waste

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Church of England’s Prayer

The Journey to Zero Waste & Litter Free Environments

24th July 6-7pm: Ticketed Virtual Q&A

Shannon and Iris regularly plog the streets of Chertsey

Handling & processing waste costs money. Waste that is not recycled is incinerated, which means a resource is burned forever.

Check your knowledge of the waste terms here

Metal is the only material that can be recycled nearly an infinite amount of times. Recycling glass requires very high temperatures (over 800 degrees celcius which is higher than the temperatures of the incinerators) and materials like plastic and paper are downgraded with each “recycle”. I hear some of you saying “My council recycles plastic”, and some of you demand that “More plastic should be recycled”

When plastic is recycled, it can be recycled on average 6 times before it is deemed useless. Since September 2019, virgin plastic has been cheaper to purchase than recycled plastic.

To reduce the amount of waste that is processed, there are a number of initiatives from BYOR (Bring Your Own Reusable), Repurposing, Upcycling, and Reusing. Charity shops, preloved sites and freecycling are great ways to reuse items that are in good condition. Upcycling or repurposing using crafting methods has a finite number of times you will be able to divert your rubbish from the general waste. Our Eco-Brick project is a way to repurpose bottles and upcycle plastic rubbish we would otherwise have to put in our general waste. But we should be able to see beyond normal and see opportunities. Zero Waste / Refill shops have been popping up around the UK and globally.

Mel from Bare + Fair, a zero waste shop, will be at the discussions

BYOR is a great way to refuse purchasing single use bags, coffee cups, take away containers and more. Some of the take away shops will use your containers if you ask them. Cups in Egham used to provide a 20p discount off your purchase if you brought your own container.

Neil has been campaigning and helping lead governance changes

There are many more ways to reduce waste and we have brought together a panel that actively reduces waste from a business/organisational perspective, resident perspective, and a political perspective

  • Iris and Shannon – Chertsey residents whose challenge is to pick up litter every day in their daily walks and have an Instagram account @RubbishADay
  • Neil – from Zero Waste Europe promotes and supports societal moves to zero waste, and the need for change at political and corporate level to enable that change at a personal level.
  • Mel – runs Bare and Fair, a refill shop in Woking to enable sustainable and low-waste living a realistic option

Come join us for a free live virtual dinner discussion on going zero waste on the 24th July 6-7pm. Register for a ticket below:

If you want to leave a question for this discussion please submit a question via our question form. Click here to access

To connect with us:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/StJohnsEghamEcoChurch

@StJohnsEcoChurch https://www.facebook.com/StJohnsEcoChurch

https://www.instagram.com/stjohnsecochurch/

@StJohnsEcoChurch https://www.instagram.com/stjohnsecochurch/

Email: StJohnsEghamEcoChurch@gmail.com

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Getting to Know Your Waste Terms

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What is the difference between recycling, reuse, repurpose, upcycling and more?

Zero Waste: is a philosophy with the goal to minimise waste that ends up in incinerators or landfills. It is an holistic pursuit that attempts to be systematic and scalable aiming for long term permanent solutions.

Recycling: when a material is broken down so that it can be used to make something new. “The action or process of converting waste into reusable material.” Recycling results in reduced demand for new material because the recycled material can be used instead. This is a scalable way to address waste meaning it can be done for large quantities of waste material typically by municipalities. Runnymede Borough Council collect the recyclables and Surrey County Council are responsible for where the recyclables go.

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2017-2018 Waste Generation and Recycling Statistics

Reuse / Reusable: repeatedly using an item without significant alteration of the original (eg jars can be re-used – after cleaning and removing the label but without further modifcations). This is usually an individual effort except for some deposit systems and bottle re-use programs.

Repurpose: using a material in a way not originally intended but without significant alteration. This is usually not scalable but is typically done on a project basis. Eg using an old yoghurt container as a pot for plants. There is a limit to how many yoghurt containers can be used in this way.

Upcycling: turning a discarded product into something useful / of higher quality. Crafting with waste materials can be included in this. This is rarely scalable – meaning it is usually done on a one-off basis and is not an effective solution for waste reduction because it is time consuming and there may be little demand for the end product. A lot of upcycling requires the use of new materials as part of the project (paints, glues, some new parts, etc). Craft projects are generally not effective at waste reduction though they can sometimes be used to good effect as an artistic statement about waste.

Incineration: is sometimes referred to in the media as “recycling” as in “waste is recycled into energy” “Swedes recycle nearly 100 per cent of their household waste”. This is NOT recycling – it destroys the material, it does not recover it which is an essential part of recycling.

To connect with us:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/StJohnsEghamEcoChurch

@StJohnsEcoChurch https://www.facebook.com/StJohnsEcoChurch

https://www.instagram.com/stjohnsecochurch/

@StJohnsEcoChurch https://www.instagram.com/stjohnsecochurch/

Email: StJohnsEghamEcoChurch@gmail.com

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Clean Up Egham

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Clean Up Egham

Sat 25th to Friday 31st July 2020

Genesis 2:15
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it

As part of the St John’s Eco-Festival, we are excited that Egham Residents’ Association (ERA) is co-ordinating a Litter Pick Week and is inviting you, as  households, families or groups of neighbours to get together to Litter Pick on your  road – or part of your  road.

How to Start

  1. Form your “group”, and choose a time during the week for your Litter Pick.
  2. Email ERA to register your interest on residentsegham@gmail.com
  3. ERA will draw up a timetable of litter picking, and post  it on their Facebook Page: “Egham Residents’ Association (ERA)” https://www.facebook.com/EghamRA/
  4. ERA will arrange for litter pickers and heavy duty gloves to be delivered to you in time for your litter pick. All Litter Pick Groups are encouraged to advertise that they are joining in by creating a poster and putting it in their window(s) – like the COVID19 Rainbows
  5. Email a picture of your poster to ERA residentsegham@gmail.com and to St John’s Eco-Church* stjohnseghamecochurch@gmail.com and your poster will be published on both our Facebook pages as well as on St John’s Instagram.
  6. On the day of the Litter Pick if possible please take Before and After photos. ERA will put these in an Album to celebrate your achievement – and encourage others to join in.
  7. It doesn’t matter how big or small your Litter Pick patch is. Every piece of litter picked up is one less to pollute and endanger the environment.

*St John’s is running a small competition: see St John’s Poster Competition

After this Litter Pick week, ERA will be organising an Egham-wide litter pick as part of the Great British September Clean 2020 on World Clean Up Day, on 19th September. 

Hope that individual, families and groups will enjoy taking part and please do check the government guidelines for groups outside your household that can gather as this is changing depending on outbreaks. Do also remember to maintain social distancing.

To connect with us:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/StJohnsEghamEcoChurch

@StJohnsEcoChurch https://www.facebook.com/StJohnsEcoChurch

https://www.instagram.com/stjohnsecochurch/

@StJohnsEcoChurch https://www.instagram.com/stjohnsecochurch/

Email: StJohnsEghamEcoChurch@gmail.com

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VDD: The Food Waste Cycle

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Make Food Last & Eat Great Food

17th July 2020 7-8pm – Free Ticketed Virtual Dinner Discussion + Q&A

The average UK household throws away £355.68 worth of food every year, equating to a startling £9.7billion across the country annually.

According to the research collated in February 2019, 65 per cent of UK adults admit to buying too much food that ends up being thrown away, with London and Newcastle reporting the highest rates of food waste.

Source: https://resource.co/article/study-reveals-uk-wastes-97-billion-food-each-year
Advocacy | FEBA
Image from: https://www.eurofoodbank.org/en/advocacy

As Christians we give thanks for our food and pray it blesses our bodies. However, there is a great deal of confusion about how long food can be kept safely.

Some believe we have been programmed to use an artificial date as a means of when to dispose of food products, instead of relying on our natural senses to look, smell and taste. When we grow our own food, we rely on those senses to tell us when food is inedible. Fruit, vegetables and freshly laid eggs taste so much better when you’ve grown it yourself, looked after chickens.

Heather will be sharing tips about growing your own

The Use By Date and the Best Before Date have different meanings. A Use By Date is about safety and a Best Before Date refers to the quality and shelf life of an unopened food product.

Every year, we throw away 7.2 million tonnes of food and drink in the UK, most of which could have been eaten. So think carefully before throwing away food past its “best before” date. The food will be safe to eat after this date but may not be at its best in terms of flavour, texture and nutritional value.

Suzanne from EdAbles Social Kitchen will sharing tips on cooking great food with food that may seem old

For more about food labelling see here: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/food-labelling-terms/

For handy tips on reducing food waste see here: https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/

Janet loves her veg

At the live Q&A session the panel consists of people who are dedicated to reducing food waste from purchasing, to cooking, to preserving to growing your own.

  • Suzanne from EdAble Social Kitchen: her social enterprise creates meals from food that would otherwise be wasted
  • Heather is a professional gardener who will be able to tell you about plants and composting
  • Janet is a veg lover who enjoys cooking and growing veg

Come join us for a free live virtual dinner discussion on making food last and growing food on the 17th July 7-8pm. Register for this event below:

If you want to leave a question for this discussion please submit a question via our question form. Click here to access

To connect with us:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/StJohnsEghamEcoChurch

@StJohnsEcoChurch https://www.facebook.com/StJohnsEcoChurch

https://www.instagram.com/stjohnsecochurch/

@StJohnsEcoChurch https://www.instagram.com/stjohnsecochurch/

Email: StJohnsEghamEcoChurch@gmail.com

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VDD: Developing Green Active Travel in Surrey

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Developing Green Active Travel in Surrey

Thursday 8th July 20:00-21:00: Free Virtual Discussion – Ticketed Event

Turning away from cars and increasing cycling and walking is a great way to reduce our individual carbon emissions while also improving our physical and mental wellbeing. https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/self-help/guides-tools-and-activities/five-steps-to-mental-wellbeing/

The Green Travel Action Group is comprised of residents of Runnymede who believe a healthy and happy neighbourhood is one in which encourages active travel. They have started a consultation with Surrey County Council and Runnymede Borough Council to develop better cycling and walking infrastructure within Runnymede.

Before you attend the session, you might like to see the comments that have been made so far: https://surreycovidtransportmap.commonplace.is/comments

You might also like to watch Xavier Brice’s webinar on Liveable Cities: Living and Moving Together

Jeff Wilson is a Transport Planner at Surrey County Council. As a member of the Transport Policy team, he is involved in the delivery of a number of active travel schemes in the county and the development of a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan for the Runnymede area. He is a keen walker, bike user and public transport advocate.

Xavier Brice is the CEO of Sustrans, Sustainable Transportation, and has been fascinated by transport’s impact on society since childhood. He believes that how we get around shapes how happy we are as individuals, and how happy and healthy our society is. He thinks we could all be a lot healthier and happier and is thrilled to be in an organisation making that happen.

Prior to Sustrans Xavier was at Transport for London where he held a variety of roles. This included leading the modernisation of London Underground’s stations, and developing a new cycling strategy for the city, which led to the introduction of the Cycle Superhighways and Cycle Hire Scheme. Before this, he advised international businesses and organisations on their strategies

Resources:

The vision for cycling and walking

What are the steps to designing a cycling and walking infrastructure plan (LCWIP)

Register at EventBrite for a ticket:

If you want to leave us a question for this discussion please fill in our question form. Click here to access

To connect with us:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/StJohnsEghamEcoChurch

@StJohnsEcoChurch https://www.facebook.com/StJohnsEcoChurch

https://www.instagram.com/stjohnsecochurch/

@StJohnsEcoChurch https://www.instagram.com/stjohnsecochurch/

Email: StJohnsEghamEcoChurch@gmail.com

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Eco-Brick Collection

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Be Part of the Eco-Brick Making Team

Throughout 2020

St John’s would like to create more seating areas, a well being garden with raised beds and potentially a shed.

As part of our commitment to reducing general waste, we would like to create these items with eco-bricks. An Eco-brick is a bottle stuffed completely with plastic so that the bottle is turgid and cannot be deformed. This locks away the plastic until a time when our technology is good enough for it to be recovered back as a resource. Currently our waste plastic will be incinerated.

Stuff the bottom with a single colour and ensure bottle is completely packed with plastic rubbish

Some of the ideas we have seen on the web to recreate within the church grounds:

To Make an Eco-Brick

If you would like to help us, then please read this resource here: https://www.ecobricks.org/how/

Alternatively you can watch this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQYsXxHKgMk&feature=emb_logo

We will work with all sizes and all eco-bricks can be left for us at St John’s with the hope messages. One of our eco-team members will pick up your eco-bricks. Do notify us as well in our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/StJohnsEghamEcoChurch/ and/or via email StJohnsEghamEcoChurch@gmail.com

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To connect with us:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/StJohnsEghamEcoChurch

@StJohnsEcoChurch https://www.facebook.com/StJohnsEcoChurch

https://www.instagram.com/stjohnsecochurch/

@StJohnsEcoChurch https://www.instagram.com/stjohnsecochurch/

Email: StJohnsEghamEcoChurch@gmail.com

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Poster Competition: Litter Litter, Why So Much Litter?

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Poster Competition:
Litter Litter, Why So Much Litter?

Competition throughout July

Genesis 2:15
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it

We need your help to raise the awareness of litter in our environment by drawing a picture of the litter you see and its effect on our planet.

During our restrictive lockdown, many noted how little litter was around in our environment. With the relaxation of our lockdown, parts of our societies resumed “Normal” enjoying the good weather and participating in picnics + the re-opening of take-aways with the associated disposables often left behind.

Local councillors and others have been hard at work taking part in adhoc clean ups and using social media to encourage the public to take home their litter.

Cigarette butts, though small, are the most toxic litter. It only needs a few in a pond to kill our aquatic life, or a slightly larger amount stubbed out in a plant to kill the plant. Larger pieces of rubbish becomes junk food to marine life, birds and even cows and sheep. (There are diary farms in the area. For an extra point tell us where one is when you submit your entry) With plastic bits in their bellies, animal die from hunger or become infertile. Degrading plastic attracts toxins as well as releasing toxins. See Plastic Rivers by EarthWatch to find out the top 10 plastic pollutants in our rivers: https://earthwatch.org.uk/get-involved/plastic-rivers

Finally plastic disintegrates into micro-plastic and nano-plastic which we are now breathing, drinking and eating. Can you design a poster to encourage our society, people/everyone to become more responsible for their litter, to take it home with them to be reused or recycled; or to encourage businesses to reduce their packaging. There are three categories:

  • 21 and over
  • 13-20
  • Below 13

This competition will end on the 6th September 2020. Your poster will be displayed on Instagram & Facebook. We will choose our potential winners by using “Likes” as a measure. Winners will be notified 2 weeks later.

Send your posters to: stjohnseghamecochurch@gmail.com and include:

  • Your name
  • Age range (see above)
  • What inspired you to draw the images in your poster?
  • What do you like about a litter free environment?
  • Of the 10 types of litter identified in the EarthWatch article, which litter do you hate the most?

To connect with us:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/StJohnsEghamEcoChurch

@StJohnsEcoChurch https://www.facebook.com/StJohnsEcoChurch

https://www.instagram.com/stjohnsecochurch/

@StJohnsEcoChurch https://www.instagram.com/stjohnsecochurch/

Email: StJohnsEghamEcoChurch@gmail.com