Silver Eco-Church Award

We’re pleased to announce that St Michael’s has received Eco Church UK’s Silver Award; we’re one of only five churches in Chester Diocese to hold it.  Very much to be emphasised is that this is an award we’ve all achieved together, by the things we do at and around St Michael’s, and the things – not least gaining and raising awareness of eco matters – that individual St Michael’s members are doing.  So – keep up the good work!

To gain an Eco Church award a church fills in a survey questionnaire covering a wide range of ‘green’ things that are done by it and by members of its congregation.  The survey is divided into five areas – Worship & Teaching, Buildings, Land, Community & Global Engagement, and Lifestyle.  Eco Church UK then scores the responses to determine whether it’s at Bronze, Silver, or Gold level in each category separately.  The over-all Award level is then at the lowest level of the five.

That explained (hopefully!), the easiest way to summarise what St Michael’s and its members have done to gain the Silver Award is to show the completed survey questionnaire, so here it is:

Climate Sunday Handout

At the Services marking Climate Sunday last week Calum mentioned we’d follow up with an information sheet covering aspects of what we individually can do.

“Green Tips” notes include information on specific things, but this info-sheet – material from A Rocha, the charity behind Eco Church – looks at some wider aspects and how they affect you. The info-sheet covers how you can measure your “carbon” “environmental” footprints, notes about aspects of travelling, and about composting and saving water. The sections have links to further material, guides, and calculators. The info-sheet can be download from this link.

Invasion

Invasive species – non-native plants, insects, animals introduced into a country accidentally or deliberately are always a problem, as they disturb or destroy the checks and balances of the native ecosystem.  Himalayan balsam is one of the worst invasive plant species in the UK.  It grows and seeds prolifically, crowding out native plants.  When it dies back in the autumn – it’s an annual, despite its size – the ground is left bare and so susceptible to erosion. 

It’s of little food value for native British wildlife, but its flowers are very attractive to pollinators.  That may sound like a good thing, but pollinators go to Himalayan balsam in preference to native plants, thus further hastening the latter’s decline and worsening the unbalancing of the ecosystem.  It’s illegal to plant Himalayan balsam in the UK or let it spread into the wild, and reporting to DEFRA any plants found in the wild is mandatory. 

The ‘Groundwork GM’ project, in association with the Mersey Rivers Trust, has organised two days – Saturdays 19th June & 17th July – to clear balsam and to plant native species along the Micker Brook (the Lady Brook, downstream).  Meeting will be at 11:00am at the Shiers Drive carpark, Cheadle SK8 1HW – that’s where ‘Cheadle Village’ and Cheadle swimming pool are situated.

To sign up for either of these dates please go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bee-a-pollinator-community-action-day-tickets-156900582867  If you don’t have Eventbrite, or would like more information, contact Francesca Sullivan at francesca.sullivan@groundwork.org.uk 07525 857485

If you would like to find out more about Himalayan balsam – it’s worth knowing what it looks like, in case you come across it and want to report it – there are articles on Plantlife’s website at https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/plant-fungi-species/himalayan-balsam and on The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales’ website at https://www.welshwildlife.org/wildlifeblog/himalayan-balsam-problems-brought/ 

Every Flower Counts

The “Plantlife” charity calls on everyone not to mow lawns in May – “No Mow May”.  This is important because it helps bees & other pollinators and also meadow flowers, all in alarming decline.  Since the 1930s over 97% (7.5 million acres) of the UK’s meadows and flower-rich grasslands has been destroyed.  May is the month when grassland flowers are at their peak.

Plantlife conducts an annual “Every Flower Counts” survey in the final week of May, quantifying nectar sugar produced on lawns.  In 2019 the survey showed an average uncut English lawn produced 12 grams/day, enough to support 1,088 honey bees.  The data gathered helps understanding of the distribution of flowering wild plants and of pollinators. 

If you’ve been taking part in “No Mow May”, please round it off with “Every Flower Counts”; if you have kept on mowing, maybe you could find a patch of unmown grass somewhere to do the survey.  It doesn’t take much time, and is easy.  There’s more information at https://www.plantlife.org.uk/everyflowercounts/ , an animation about what to do, and the place to enter your survey results.  Later, you’ll get a “nectar score” from your own flower count, showing how many bees that patch feeds.