ALL ACTIONS

This page lists all the actions spread across our site. You can use this list to help your parish plan what activities they will take up on their Journey. You can see these actions in the context of how they fit into parish life in our Parish Guide to Laudato Si’. Explore here

To help you choose actions that suit your parish’s needs, you can filter the results by areas of parish life, The Vatican’s Laudato Si’ Goals, The livesimply Award categories, or even mix and match!

Host a repair café for the wider community

Build and Support the circular economy.

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Investigate your community’s ethical consumption

Use the Parish Ethical Consumption Toolkit resource to review all aspects of parish consumption, including energy, communications, cleaning etc.

https://justmoney.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Ethical-Purchasing-Policy.pdf

Become a Fairtrade community

Commit to using Fair Trade and ethical products for all church activities. Communicate this with the parish, highlighting why it’s important (through posters/noticeboard etc.),

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Map of local area

Help people support local and ethical business and initiatives by producing a map of the area.

Adopt a food policy

Use the Green Christian LOAF campaign for a comprehensive food policy.

Use your LOAF!

Highlight key awareness days

Highlighting key awareness days and events such as St Josephine Bakhita (anti slavery& trafficking), Fair Trade Fortnight, World Day against child labour etc.

ENCOURAGE BETTER TECHNOLOGY

Invest in and advocate for better technology and infrastructure to help others reduce their carbon emissions.

ENCOURAGE PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Make use of your community’s public transport links (and advocate for better if they are not sufficient!).

CREATE A CYCLE LOCKUP

Nobody wants to leave their expensive bike outside if it’s at risk of being stolen.

In setting up safe and accessible bike lockups, we can encourage people to get on their bikes and ride!

WALK OR CYCLE TO CHURCH

The simplest way we can reduce our parish’s transport emissions is by encouraging the community to walk to church if they are able to.

For many people, driving short distances is a force of habit; it requires a behaviour change to learn to give a bit more time to walk to mass – but is often much less stressful when you consider the nightmare that is most parish’s parking situations! Invite parishioners to try walking to mass, perhaps as groups if they live close to each other and to hold each other accountable.

GIVE SOMEONE A LIFT

Help cut down traffic and air pollution by sharing your car with other parishioners, especially if they rely on a lift to get there!

TRANSPORT SURVEY

It’s a good idea to try and get the statistics of how people in your parish travel to mass.

You could run a quick survey at the end of mass, or run a deeper paper/online survey to gauge how far people are traveling and what the barriers are for them to choose a greener way of traveling. Once you have a good understanding of why people travel the way they do, you’ll be able to tailor your activities to address the behaviour change!

WILDLIFE GARDEN

There are plenty of ways to get creative and encourage wildlife to return to our parish spaces.

Wildflowers, ponds, and even old logs all go a long way in providing the food and habitat needed for nature to thrive.

WILDFLOWER MEADOW

Only 2% of the UK’s wildflower meadows that existed in the 1930s survive today.

This has seriously impacted the wildlife populations that rely on them. Could your parish create a meadow? One of the easiest ways of doing this is simply to mow the lawn less. You will be amazed at what grows in your turf if you allow it time. It doesn’t need to look tatty either, just mow round the edges to give your meadow some styling. Like a nice new haircut.

BIRD OR BAT BOX

Could you add some bird and bat boxes on the church?

Why not add a webcam so that parishioners can check on the progress of the little chicks and tiny bat creatures?

PLANTING TREES

If you have space why not plant some trees? This provides different habitats and shade for you and other wildlife.

Why not combine with creating an orchard? If you and the parishioners like eating fruit there are many other creatures that will share your good taste.

VERTICAL GARDEN (wildlife)

Why not turn a bland wall into a thriving tower block of life, full of vegetation.

This provides food for bugs to eat, nectar from flowers for pollinators, and of course insects for the birds. It is also a great way to add a bit of life to urban areas with little green space. It will look beautiful. If you are not sure what plants to use check out some of our website suggestions.

PRESERVING

Preserve food you have grown in your gardens by making jams, pickles, sauces and chutneys – a yummy way to reduce food waste!

Preserving food is also a fun, creative way of reusing glass jars and bottles and making gifts for your loved ones.

FORAGING

We are going on a berry hunt! Organise a foraging expedition with someone who knows their way around a hedgerow.

This could be for wild garlic, elder flower, blackberries, or the highly popular sloe. This is an activity that has different treasures with every season.

PLANT SWAP

A parish plant swap or sale is a great way to encourage people to grow their own food at home.

It enables members of the community to make the best use of their skills and space to grow their favorites and share with others. Knowing that Mrs Goggins has succeeded in creating hardy tomatoes, while you have got the beans off to a roaring start means you can both look forward to a varied harvest! A plant sale can also be a great way of raising funds for other projects.

PLANTS IN POTS

A nice idea if you are short on space is plants in pots. These are especially great for children.

They can care for their own pot and learn a lot in the process. Make sure to have spares in case the naughty slugs spoil the party!

VERTICAL GARDEN

“We don’t have any land in our parish” is a common problem. However, if we apply some imagination…

…we might notice that many parishes do have space, it just goes up rather than along. If you have a sunny wall, there are all sorts of edibles that can be grown up a wall; from irrigated vertical gardens, to training grape vines, tomatoes , fruit trees or climbing vegetables up the walls – the possibilities are endless! Even hanging baskets can grow salads or edible flowers.

VEGETABLE GARDEN

Could you turn a piece of parish grounds into an allotment?

This is a great way for the parish to get their hands dirty and marvel at the wonders of giant vegetables growing from tiny seeds. Even if you do not have much room, a couple of meters of raised bed can produce quite a bit of food.

ORCHARD

Apples, plums, cherries, pears, or even the elusive quince can all be grown in your parish.

The beautiful blossoms are great for pollinators and the fruits can be enjoyed by the whole parish.

SIGN UP TO A NEWSLETTER

Sometimes the simplest way to keep informed of world issues is to sign up to a newsletter of an organisation involved in advocacy.

You could make sure there is a print copy of a charity bulletin on the church notice board.

Could you help support The Journey to 2030?

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Guide TO BUILDING A CARING COMMUNITY

BUILDING A CARING COMMUNITY

-Outdoor Spaces
–Appreciating Nature
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The Journey to 2030 is managed by the Ecological Conversion Group, Registered Charity in England & Wales, No: 1197384