FOURTH EDITION

FOR
TOMORROW
TOO

JUSTICE IN A CHANGING CLIMATE

BE PART OF A MIRACLE

www.tearfund.org
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18050-(0208)
WELCOME
Climate change is headline news.
The world has woken up to the
threat – but what can we do as
individuals? The answer is: plenty.
Every action we take is worth-
while. Tearfund’s local church part-
ners in poor communities around
the world tell us that climate
change is hitting the poorest hard-
est. Every decision we take to
reduce our personal contribution
to global warming is a step in the
right direction.
That isn’t enough, of course. We
need international action at the
highest level for justice in a chang-
ing climate. That’s why campaign-
ing with Tearfund is so important
too. This booklet includes a post-
card you can send to the prime
CONTENTS
4 Biblical baseline
6 Chain reaction
8 When the climate changes
12 Home comforts
15 Renewable energy
17 Making the switch
18 Generate your own electricity
20 Travelling light
24 Waste not
26 Over to you
27 Find out more
minister, asking for action to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions
and help poor countries cope with
climate change. Please send this –
and sign up to receive our new Act
Fast campaigns postcards four
times a year.
Remember to pray too – for the
world’s leaders, for the poor people
who suffer most from climate
change, and for the church world-
wide as it reaches out to them
with God’s love.
Posting a card, switching off a
light, changing energy supplier –
all simple actions we can take, but
when we do it as part of a world-
wide movement of Christians, the
result could be good news for a
change.
Writers: Sophie Harding, Sara Shaw,
Laura Hughes
Editor: Mike Hollow
Photos: Geoff Crawford/Tearfund,
Richard Hanson/Tearfund, Jim Loring/Tearfund,
Clive Mear/Tearfund, Louise Thomas/Tearfund,
Layton Thompson/Tearfund, Good Energy,
J Bewley/Sustrans
Design: Wild Associates Ltd
Print: Beacon Press
© Tearfund 2008
Tearfund We are Christians passionate about
the local church bringing justice and
transforming lives – overcoming global
poverty. Our ten-year vision is to see 50
million people released from material and
spiritual poverty through a worldwide
network of 100,000 local churches.
03

‘Love does no harm to its
neighbour,’ says the Bible.
How we live that out is a
challenge to all of us.
How should I live as a Christian?
It’s simple: the Bible gives us two
clear instructions – ‘Love God’ and
‘Love your neighbour as yourself’
(Luke 10:27). The connection between
the two commands is simple too.
If we love God, we’ll love our
neighbour – and as Jesus went
on to illustrate in the story of the
Good Samaritan, we’ll do it in ways
that include practical action, even if
it’s at a cost to ourselves.
As television news and the internet
shrink our world there’s no way we
can forget what life is like for our
neighbours, wherever they live on this
planet. Day by day we can see with
our own eyes the devastating impact
that extreme weather events and
BIBLICAL
BASELINE
other effects of climate change have
on poor communities.
The Bible tells us that ‘love does
no harm to its neighbour’
(Romans 13:10). Part of our Christian
discipleship is to do our best to
ensure the way we live does no
harm to our neighbour – and that
includes minimising our contribution
to global warming.
Climate change can mean our
neighbours go hungry because of
drought, or lose their homes because
of floods. Faced with that reality, we
know we must make changes in our
lifestyle and take action to help them.
God has created one world, and
billions of people depend on it for
their lives. He’s entrusted it to us,
with a commission to care for it.
If we love him, we’ll be good stewards
of its resources. And if we love our
neighbours, we’ll make sure we do no
harm to them – wherever they are –
by the way we live.
05

CHAIN REACTION
Poor people are not the cause
of climate change, but they are
the ones hit first and hardest
by its devastating effects.
SEVERE WEATHER WARNING
We in the West tend to think of
climate change as a threat to our
future – but communities in
developing countries are feeling its
effects now. Rising global temperature
means more frequent and intense
floods, storms and droughts, changes
in rainfall patterns and dangerous
rises in sea levels.
06
TAKING THE BRUNT
Rising temperatures create
increasingly fertile breeding grounds
for diseases such as malaria. Conflicts
are likely to develop as water and
food grow scarcer. And as sea levels
rise and droughts create hunger, more
people will become refugees.
Climate change is pushing poor people
even deeper into poverty – and adding
to the challenges faced by Tearfund’s
church partners who work with some
of the world’s poorest communities.
‘Nowadays it’s
difficult to
distinguish between
summer and winter.’
Tearfund partner in
Honduras
MOST VULNERABLE
Poor people are most vulnerable to
these changes. Many live in fragile
housing on marginal land, rely heavily
on agriculture, and lack savings or
insurance to recover from a disaster.
As the climate changes, poor people
face water and food shortages. They
risk losing their livelihoods, homes,
even their lives.
WITHERED HARVEST
In the developing world, almost 70 per
cent of people rely on agriculture to
live. If rains don’t come at the right
time the effect can be devastating.
Andrew Maglasey, who lives in
Malawi, says: ‘These days, because of
the droughts and floods we never
harvest enough for the whole year.
The climate has changed.’
SWALLOWED BY THE SEA
Abul Kalam lives on one of
Bangladesh’s coastal islands.
He’s already lost one home
to a relentless rise in sea levels,
and he and his family are about
to lose another.
One night three years ago, their
house sank deep into watery mud.
The family escaped with their lives
but lost everything else. It took
Abul a year to build his new house,
bit by bit, purchasing materials as
and when he could afford them.
But this home was built on equally
poor land and already the sea has
crept 500 metres closer. Soon it
will swallow the house. Exactly
when? ‘Only God knows,’ says Abul.
07
 WHEN THE
CLIMATE
CHANGES
08
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) – the most
respected world body of climate
experts – concluded with 90 per cent
certainty in 2007 that this global
warming is human-induced.
THE CAUSE
Greenhouse gases, such as CO2, nitrous
oxide and methane, are naturally present
in the atmosphere and create a blanket
over the earth. This blanket traps the
sun’s rays in the atmosphere and keeps
the earth warm. But when increased
levels of these gases are released, the
blanket thickens and temperature rises.
This in turn leads to climate change.
As humans have burned more and more
fossil fuels, greenhouse gas emissions
have grown dramatically. The IPCC
states that the rate of increase in CO2
over the last century is unprecedented
in recorded history. It attributes the
warming of at least the second half of
1 4
IPCC, 2001.
2
World Health Organisation, 2001.
3 5
IPCC, 2007.
Our world is warming.
We need urgent international
action to curb increases in
global temperatures.
THE PROBLEM
It’s true that average global
temperature has risen and fallen –
and carbon dioxide (CO2) has been
released into the atmosphere –
across thousands of years. But what
causes climatologists concern is the
rate of recent temperature rises.
Concentrations of CO2 in the
atmosphere are higher and rising
faster than ever before. Global
average surface temperatures
increased by 0.76ºC in the last
century alone.
the century to the increase of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
– a result of human activities.1
THE IMPACTS
A few facts reveal the changes in the
world’s climate:
G 150,000 people already die every
year from health-related effects of
climate change.2
G Eleven of the last 12 years have
ranked among the 12 warmest years
since records began in 1850.3
G The European heatwave in 2003 was
the hottest since records began. It’s
projected that by 2060, such
summers will be considered
‘unusually cool’.4
G Over the last 30 years the average
amount of Arctic sea ice has shrunk
by nearly 1 million square kilometres
- an area larger than Denmark,
Sweden and Norway combined.5
Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and
Research
Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, 2004
09

What’s more, the IPCC predicts that
over the 21st century global average
temperature will rise by between 1.8ºC
and 4ºC and perhaps even as much as
6.4ºC – the greatest increase for
10,000 years. The climatic changes we
have witnessed to date are thus small
compared with what lies ahead.
The impacts of such temperature rise
are difficult to predict, but many will
be irreversible – such as the melting of
ice caps and rise in sea levels. Certainly,
adapting won’t be easy for either
humans or ecosystems.6
6
Sir John Houghton, 2005.
7
Practical Action.
8
Atlas of Climate Change, Kirstin Dow and Thomas
Downing (2006), Earthscan Publications Ltd.
10
more pronounced. It’s vital to do all we
can to keep warming as far below this
level as possible.
If we’re to slow climate change and
eventually stabilise the climate, global
emissions of greenhouse gases must be
reduced to well below what they were
in 1990. This means a radical reduction
of global emissions, probably in the
region of 80 per cent over the next few
decades – which will require action on
a global scale.
KYOTO
The Kyoto Protocol is the only
international treaty that commits
countries to cutting their greenhouse
gas emissions. It finally came into force
in February 2005 after almost a decade
of political wrangling – and the US, the
world’s biggest emitter, still hasn’t
signed up. It’s a step in the right
direction, but will deliver only five per
cent cuts overall when the first phase
expires in 2012.
THE POLLUTERS
Historically, industrialised countries are
the earth’s biggest polluters, with
about 95 per cent of fossil fuel-burning
in the northern hemisphere. Rich
nations produce about 25 times more
CO2 per head of population than poor
countries.7 Indeed, the US alone emits
just over one-quarter of the global
total, while the entire continent of
Africa contributes just 2.5 per cent.8
THE FUTURE
Present trends, however, predict a
doubling of global energy demands by
2020, when the least developed
countries will require more than half of
the world’s energy production.
Countries such as China, India and
Brazil are already rapidly increasing
their energy consumption.
THE TIPPING POINT
If the global average temperature rises
two degrees or more above pre-
industrial levels, the effects and
destructive potential will become far
THE CHALLENGE
Kyoto is an important framework for
keeping governments accountable; but
it doesn’t go nearly far enough. We
urgently need a more stringent global
solution that is effective as well as fair.
Tearfund, along with many other
international organisations, is calling
on governments to ensure that
negotiations on an improved treaty,
due to come into force in 2012, secure
a deal to keep global average
temperature rise as far below two
degrees as possible.
I Count is the campaign of Stop Climate Chaos
– a coalition of the UK’s major development,
environment and faith-based groups, including
Tearfund. We’re calling on the government to
do all it can to ensure global CO2 emissions
have peaked and are falling by 2015
and to cut UK emissions by at least
three per cent a year. We also
want more support to help
poor communities
adapt to the
existing threats
posed by a
changing climate.
11

HOME
COMFORTS
Around 28 per cent of the UK’s
CO2 emissions come from the
energy used to run our homes.
We could cut that by up to
one-third by becoming more
energy-efficient.
A BRIGHT IDEA
Energy-saving light bulbs use 80 per
cent less electricity than standard
bulbs and can last up to 12 times
longer. They’re available from most
supermarkets, and some councils offer
them free to people on income
support. Check with your council
12
LOOK FOR THE LOGO
Products that display the Energy
Saving Recommended (ESR) logo
(above) meet or exceed the energy
efficiency requirements specified by
the UK government. More than 1,000
products now carry the logo – it’s your
guarantee that the product saves
9
Go MAD! compiled by The Ecologist (2001),
Think Publishing Ltd.
10
Ibid.
11
www.est.org.uk
12
Contact the Energy
Saving Trust for more
information.
how to dispose of energy-saving
bulbs safely.
CONDENSING COSTS
When replacing any electrical
appliance, make sure you buy the most
energy-efficient model. Energy-
efficient washing machines, for
example, use a third of the energy of
some standard models and cut water
consumption considerably.9 Boilers are
among the worst energy offenders in
our homes, accounting for a third of
domestic CO2 emissions. Condensing
boilers use less fuel than conventional
boilers to produce the same amount of
heat and can save 32 per cent on fuel
bills. Also, check out Combined Heat
and Power systems (see page 19).
WRAPPING UP
Around 50 per cent of heat lost in homes
is through the walls and loft. Insulating
wall cavities and your loft helps to keep
heat in. Double glazing cuts heat loss
through windows by 50 per cent, and
fitting aluminium foil behind radiators
could save £10 a year per radiator.10
Insulate windows, doors, radiators and
hot water tank – contact the Energy
Saving Trust to find out more.11
energy, costs less to run, and helps
the environment. For refrigeration
and laundry appliances the ESR logo
complements the European Union
Energy label, which shows how much
energy an appliance uses on a scale
of A-G.12
If you want to find out how much
energy you use, consider investing in a
home energy meter which monitors
and measures the power consumption
and running costs of electrical
appliances. They can cost from as little
as £10 and be bought from most
electrical stores.
13
EASY ENERGY SAVERS
G Don’t fill the kettle full unless
you need to. If everyone boiled
just enough water for their cuppa,
the energy saved could power
over three-quarters of the UK’s
street lights.
G Stay cosy: drawing the curtains at
dusk keeps the cold out and heat in.
G Turn off the lights when you leave
a room.
G Turn down your central heating
thermostat: lowering the
temperature by just a degree can cut
ten per cent off energy bills.13
G Put lids on pans when cooking to
conserve heat and cook food faster.
G Wash up by hand, or use the
dishwasher only when it is full and
on the economy setting.
G Close the fridge door: for every
minute left open it takes three times
as long to cool down.14
G Defrost your fridge and freezer
regularly to maintain efficiency.
Allowing space for air to circulate
14
RENEWABLE
ENERGY
The average UK home
produces 26.3 tonnes of CO2
per year. By using ‘renewable’
forms of electricity we can
help cut that figure.
WIND POWER
The most advanced of the renewable
technologies, wind power relies on
relatively simple mechanical processes.
Running costs are low, fuel is free and
inexhaustible, and there are no harmful
waste products.
The UK has huge potential for wind
power: some claim that offshore wind
will also help them to run
more efficiently.
G Unplug mobile phone chargers when
not in use – 95 per cent of the
energy they use is when the phone
isn’t plugged in.15
G Turn electrical appliances off at the
mains rather than leaving them on
standby. Eight per cent of electricity
consumed at home is from appliances
that we aren’t even using.16
G Wash your clothes at lower
temperatures (30°C or below), and
always ensure you have a full load.
G Use hot water sparingly: taking a
shower (not a power shower) uses
less energy than running a bath.
13
WWF.
14
Energy Saving Trust.
15
BBC.
16
Climate Care (www.climatecare.org).
alone could meet the UK’s electricity
needs three times over.17 Turbines only
operate when the wind blows, but
most modern wind turbines are
operational for an average of 70-85 per
cent of the year.18 To produce ten per
cent of the UK’s current electricity
needs from wind would use just one
per cent of our total land area, with
turbines occupying around 0.02 per
cent of this.19
Serious criticisms have been levelled at
wind power, however, concerning its
reliability, cost, and impact on local
communities and wildlife.
BIOMASS
Trees, manure, agricultural and other
organic waste offer another abundant
energy resource. Unlike wind, biomass
can be generated at any time. Burning
biomass through the use of wood pellet
stoves, for example, only emits the CO2
that the tree or plant had absorbed in
its lifetime and would have emitted
through decay. This can be effectively
‘carbon neutral’ through growing new
plants to reabsorb the emitted CO2.
17
Greenpeace.
18
Embrace Wind.
19
The Joint Nature Conservation Committee, 1992.
15

There are concerns, however, regarding
growing crops to be used solely as
‘biofuels’. These can be unsustainable,
displacing food crops or leading to
forest destruction.
SOLAR POWER
Sunlight offers enormous potential.
Domestic photovoltaic systems (PV
panels) are becoming cheaper and
more viable as a power source and
could supply up to half your annual
energy needs.
HYDROELECTRICITY
One of the oldest methods of
harnessing carbon-free electricity,
hydro power creates electricity by
16
MAKING
THE
SWITCH
By switching to a ‘green’
electricity provider you can
cut your home carbon
emissions considerably – and
it needn’t cost you extra.
THE MARKET UNPLUGGED
UK electricity companies are legally
obliged to supply at least 6.7 per cent
of their electricity from renewable
sources. Some companies put
‘additional’ green energy into the
national grid. Every new customer who
signs up creates additional demand for
renewable energy, helping to expand
passing water through a turbine. ‘Micro‘
hydro schemes remain popular, though
larger turbines are more problematic
for flora, fauna and farmland
settlements in view of reported
negative impacts for local climates.
WAVE AND TIDAL POWER
Tidal power could yield around 20
per cent of UK electricity demand.20
Tidal may rival wind power in future,
as ocean currents are more reliable
and the turbines less intrusive. The
world’s first offshore tidal energy
turbine was launched off the Devon
coast, and the island of Islay claims
the first commercially operational
wave-power station.
NUCLEAR
Some governments are considering
investing in nuclear power as an
alternative to reliance on fossil fuels. If
the UK does expand its nuclear energy
capability, however, even optimistic
estimates suggest it will achieve only a
four per cent reduction in the country’s
CO2 emissions by 2024.21 This is too
little and too late to be a solution to
climate change.
20
Friends of the Earth.
21
Greenpeace.
the market as a whole and ‘greening’
the national grid. Other companies
may simply use customers’ money to
help meet their minimum obligation,
or to invest in renewable energy
projects. Though they may claim to
supply ‘100 per cent’ green energy, the
amount may actually represent a tiny
proportion of their total electricity
supply. Customers signing up to such
tariffs will demonstrate their support
for renewable energy but not
necessarily offset the environmental
effects of traditional electricity.
Tearfund has chosen Good Energy
to supply electricity to its head
office. Good Energy claims to be
the only UK company obtaining all
its electricity from renewable
sources. For every supporter who
switches, Tearfund receives £20, and
another £10 one year on. For
churches and businesses that sign
up, Tearfund could receive up to
£120. Call 0845 456 1640 or visit
www.good-energy.co.uk to find out
more. Just quote GE38.
17

Some of the technologies featured on
pages 15-16 can be installed in your
own home. It’s a serious undertaking
and can still be expensive, but can save
lots of CO2.
Here are some of the options – go to
www.est.org.uk to find out more about
any of these and about government
grants available to help with costs.
BIOMASS
You could fit a stand-alone stove
fuelled by logs or wood pellets to heat
a room. A boiler fired by pellets, logs or
chips could be connected to your
central heating and hot water system.
MICRO COMBINED HEAT AND
POWER (CHP)
Instead of burning fuel merely to heat
your home or water, CHP converts
some of the energy to electricity which
can be used in the home or sold to the
national grid. However, Micro CHP is
not yet widely available. Visit
www.chpa.co.uk to find out more.
GROUND SOURCE HEAT PUMPS
This system uses a buried ground loop
which transfers heat from the ground
into a building. It can provide heating
for your house and in some cases it can
GENERATE
YOUR OWN
ENERGY
Using renewable energy
technologies in your home
can help you reduce or even
eliminate your reliance on the
national grid.
be used to heat domestic hot water. It
doesn’t require any external fuel.
SMALL-SCALE HYDROELECTRIC
If you have access to a suitable nearby
water source, a micro hydro system
could provide you with a steady
electricity supply. It can provide power
more reliably than other renewable
technologies and at lower cost.
SMALL-SCALE WIND
If wind speed and direction are suitable
where you live, a mast-mounted or
roof-mounted wind turbine could
enable you to generate your own free,
clean electricity. You may even be able
to sell excess power generated to the
national electricity grid.
SOLAR PV
Solar PV systems generate electricity
for your home. You can now buy grey
'solar tiles' that look like roof tiles, or
panels and transparent cells that you
can use on glass.
SOLAR WATER HEATING
By fitting solar panels to a south-facing
roof, you can create a system to work
alongside your conventional water
heater and provide you with about
one-third of your hot water needs.
19
 TRAVELLING
LIGHT building, and it’s worth rethinking how
much we depend on our cars. If you
travel less than 8,000 miles a year,
being car-free can be cheaper.24 If going
car-free simply isn’t possible, our ‘simple
fuel savers’ on page 22 offer ideas to
increase your vehicle’s fuel efficiency.
Transport is the fastest-
USE YOUR LEGS
growing source of CO2 in the
One in four car journeys is less than
UK – road transport alone is
two miles. Could you sometimes walk
responsible for 22 per cent of or cycle instead? Why not challenge
emissions.23 your friends and family to have a car-
free fortnight, or to walk every other
day for journeys under two miles? The
THINK BEFORE YOU DRIVE school run forms 20 per cent of
Within the transport sector, cars morning urban congestion.25 Could you
account for around half of all CO2 organise a ‘walking bus’ instead? These
emitted; they also cause pollution, noise are supervised walking routes that
and accidents. Add running costs and collect children from designated ‘bus
the destruction of land for road stops’ along the route to school.26
23
Friends of the Earth.
24
Cutting Your Car Use, Anna Semlyen (2001), Green Books Ltd.
25
Living Streets campaign, the Pedestrians Association.
26
Visit www.walkingbus.com to find out more.
20

FOLLOW THAT BUS!

If you can’t walk or cycle, public
transport is the next best thing. At least
87 per cent of households in the UK
live within six minutes’ walk of a bus
stop.27 Find out about local bus routes –
CUT OUT THE CAR you may be surprised how accessible
Take a train instead of and cheap buses can be. Alternatively
your car whenever you can. you could look into a car share with
Get on your bike too: cycling friends. Your local council may already
can be the fastest mode of organise local car shares. Find out
transport during peak travel details of community car sharing
times in towns. Think schemes at www.carclubs.org.uk.
creatively how to incorporate 27
A Good Life, Leo Hickman (2005), Eden Books Ltd.
cycling into your usual
journeys: a folding bike you
could take on the bus or
train, for example.

21
SIMPLE FUEL SAVERS
G Avoid short trips: a cold engine produces
60 per cent more fumes and uses more
fuel than when warm.28
G Drive in the highest gear you can without
labouring the engine. A vehicle travelling
at 37 mph in third gear uses 25 per cent
more fuel than in fifth.29
G Slow down! At 70 mph you use up to 30
per cent more fuel than at 50 mph, so
obeying the speed limit isn’t just good for
public safety, it’s fuel-efficient too.30 The
most economical speed is 40-55 mph.
G Drive carefully: by applying light throttle
and avoiding heavy braking you can
reduce fuel use.
G Remove roof racks and any other
unnecessary weight from the car.
G Switch off your engine whenever it’s safe
to do so, especially if stuck in traffic for
more than two minutes.
G Use air conditioning sparingly.
G Consider a car share scheme or sharing
lifts with friends or colleagues.
G If you have a diesel car you could
consider running it partly on vegetable
oil, which produces fewer emissions.
However, there are some environmental
concerns around growing crops for fuel
rather than food.
22
TAKING TIME OUT
The boom in cheap air travel has sent
UK flying rates soaring: from 125
billion kilometres per year in 1990 to
287 billion in 2005.32 The deals may be
enticing, but this trend is dramatically
increasing greenhouse gas pollution.
Around 60 per cent of the pollution in
any holiday is due to the flight.33
Air travel is the fastest growing source
of greenhouse gas emissions and also
one of the most damaging. CO2
emitted at high altitude by aeroplanes
is around three times as harmful as
normal CO2 emissions.
GO LOCAL
Why not stay closer to home and
explore some of the delights the UK
has to offer? You may be surprised to
find how much there is to explore
within our own borders.
If travelling in Europe, why not take
the train instead of the plane? Check
out www.seat61.com for ideas and
information.
REPLACING YOUR CAR
G Purchase the smallest, most fuel-efficient
model for your needs and budget.
G Avoid automatics: they use 10-15 per
cent more fuel.31
G Check the vehicle’s CO2 level: visit
www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk for new cars,
www.smmt.co.uk/co2/co2search.cfm
for older ones. Aim to get a car with
CO2 emissions as close to 120g/km
as possible.
G Consider buying a ‘green’ car or convert
your car to cleaner fuel. ‘Green’ cars
include electric or hybrid models (running
on fossil fuel and electricity), or models
that use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG),
natural gas and LPG, and bio-diesel.
G If possible, buy nearly new. Try not to buy
a new car unless you absolutely have to,
but bear in mind that newer vehicles
pollute less and tend to be more
environmentally efficient.
G Diesel cars tend to have much lower
emissions than those with petrol engines.
If you live in an urban area, diesel may
not be the best option, as it contains
other pollutants which can affect air
quality – but otherwise consider going
for diesel.
28
Energy Saving Trust.
29
RAC.
30
Cutting Your Car Use.
31
RAC.
Once you arrive, perhaps you could
explore by bike instead of hiring a car.
It’s fun, cheaper and better for you.
Local tourist offices can give details of
bike rental companies.
If you stay in a hotel, you could ask
that your towels be washed only every
other day rather than daily.
CUT ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS
If you must fly, you can ‘offset’ your
emissions, although offsetting is very
much a last resort. Offsetting
organisations offer a range of options –
from planting trees to investing in
renewable energy and energy
efficiency. Tearfund supports Christian
offset provider Climate Stewards
(www.climatestewards.org.uk).
32
House of Commons Environmental Audit.
33
WWF.
23
 Landfills are the second largest source
WASTE NOT of methane emission in the UK. Yet by
reusing and recycling our waste we can
reduce the rubbish destined for
landfills and incineration, and the
greenhouse gases they emit.

REDUCE
Every year we produce 272 million
tonnes of waste in the UK.35
A staggering 70 per cent of
Fact: We use around 150 million plastic
the waste in our dustbins bags every week in the UK – most of which
could be reused, yet only end up in landfill sites and take 500 years to
around 26 per cent of UK decompose.36
household waste is recycled. Tip: Reduce the number of plastic bags you
use – get a fabric or reusable bag.
Fact: Eight million nappies are thrown away
While failing to recycle is wasteful – every day in the UK, making up four per
and poor stewardship of the earth’s cent of landfill waste.37
resources – it also damages the Tip: Investigate using a nappy laundry
climate. Why? Because 62 per cent of service rather than disposable ones.
our rubbish goes straight into landfill
sites, which emit CO2 and methane.34 Fact: UK consumers spend up to £15 billion
per year on food packaging.38
34, 36
Waste Watch.
35
DEFRA.
37
Recycle Now (www.recyclenow.com).
38
How green is your supermarket? Liberal Democratic Party, 2004.
24

Tip: Choose loose produce where possible

and avoid excess packaging.
Fact: Britons receive nearly 4 billion items
of direct mail per year, one-third of it
unread.39
Tip: Stop unwanted mail being sent to you
– register at the Mailing Preference Service
(www.mpsonline.org.uk).

REUSE
Think about how you can reuse things,
rather than just throwing them in
the bin:
G Jam jars, takeaway trays and ice-cream
containers make handy food storage
containers
G Envelopes can be used again if you stick a
label over the address
G Buy rechargeable batteries and products
instead of disposable ones
G Buy products such as washing powder in
refillable containers
G Take your unwanted clothes and books to
charity shops
RECYCLE
Remember to recycle your household
waste: most local councils collect glass,
paper, cardboard, steel and aluminium
cans and plastic bottles for recycling.
Turn your tea bags and food scraps
into compost and return nutrients to
the soil. Almost a third of our domestic
waste could go straight onto the
compost heap, reducing the methane
emitted by landfill sites.40
39
Direct Marketing Association, 2003.
40
Go to www.recycle-more.co.uk to find out more.

25
 OVER TO
YOU
Changing your lifestyle is
crucial – now join thousands
of Christians in pressing the
government for action.
Please sign our climate pledge card to
let us know what you’re doing to
change your lifestyle and to ask the
prime minister to play his part.
Returned pledges will be sent to the
prime minister, calling for urgent action
on climate change.
We invite you to join a movement of
Christians taking action against poverty,
26
FIND OUT MORE
Make sure you visit www.tear-
fund.org/climate regularly for
the latest information. Here
are some other helpful web-
sites.
ENERGY
www.greenelectricity.org
www.good-energy.co.uk
www.est.org.uk (Energy Saving Trust)
www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk
www.ecotricity.co.uk
TRANSPORT
www.bettertransport.org.uk
www.traveline.org.uk
www.powershift.org.uk
www.sustrans.org.uk
Reduce your carbon footprint, and
give financially to help poor people
hit hardest by climate change.
Tearfund has an exciting new
scheme enabling you to calculate
your annual greenhouse gas emis-
sions, commit to reducing them over
but we recognise that your time is
limited so we’re offering you a choice:
Act Fast - a new rapid
response postcard with
one urgent action and
prayer points, four
times a year. If you’re
pressed for time,
choose Act Fast.
Global Action magazine – simple
campaigns actions, ideas for ethical
living, prayer points, news and biblical
reflection. Four free copies a year,
usually including an Act Fast postcard.
Global Action emails – one short action
and the latest prayer points, whenever
it’s urgent. Plus online links to
everything in Global Action magazine.
To sign up to campaign with us on
climate change simply tick the relevant
box when returning your climate pledge.
HOLIDAYS
www.climatestewards.org.uk
www.seat61.com
www.visitbritain.com
RECYCLING
www.recycle-more.co.uk
www.recyclenow.com
uk.recycle.org
FURTHER READING
G Christianity, Climate Change and
Sustainable Living, Nick Spencer and
Robert White
G Heat: how to stop the planet burning,
George Monbiot
G L is for Lifestyle, Ruth Valerio
G A Good Life: the guide to ethical liv-
ing, Leo Hickman
G Change the world for a fiver and
Change the world 9 to 5,
We are what we do
G Cutting your car use, Anna Semlyen
the coming year, and share your
resources by giving to help poor
communities adapt to climate
change and develop clean energy.
Go to www.tearfund.org/share to
find out more.
27
Please print this postcard, fill in
your details and return it to
Freepost RLZR-RHCK-RAGB
Tearfund (Campaigns)
100 Church Road
TEDDINGTON
TW11 8QE
Dear Prime Minister,
The UK government must play its part to I am making changes to
stop climate chaos. I urge you to: my lifestyle by:
do all you can to ensure global greenhouse gas using energy-saving light-
emissions are falling by 2015 by using your influ- bulbs, saving around 230kg
ence to negotiate for a tough new international of CO2 a year
deal on emissions cuts
walking or cycling short
ensure UK greenhouse gas emissions fall by at least journeys instead of driving
three per cent year on year from now with targets wherever possible, saving
for overall cuts of at least 80 per cent by 2050 around 380kg of CO2 a year
help poor countries adapt to climate change and switching to a 100 per cent
cope with climate-related disasters green energy supplier,
ensure poor countries get access to clean energy to saving around 1300kg
help eliminate poverty of CO2 a year

Signature Year of birth

Title First name Last name

Address
Postcode
Email address
My church Town

A message for Tearfund to read before this postcard is delivered.

I’d like to receive
Act Fast - postcard action,
four times a year.
Global Action magazine
– four free copies a year.
Global Action email updates
– whenever it’s urgent.
Tearfund’s youth publications. Choose from:
Activist for teenagers Uncovered for students
Network for youth leaders
Extra copies of For tomorrow too:
one copy ten copies 50 copies