Green, happy and connected

By Aarti Bansal

A couple of years ago I went to watch a documentary film called ‘Happy’ at the Sheffield Friends of the Earth film festival. The film examined what makes us happy as humans. One of the parts of the movie that stayed with me was where they examined the possible impact of communal living in Denmark on their high levels of national happiness. Children living in such housing said they felt they had an extended family of friends to play with and parents to look after them. I remember feeling very similarly growing up in family hospital accommodation with 8 flats in a building where the entire building became our home and the people in it our family.

Having recently and unexpectedly retuned to Sheffield from Australia, my family and I found ourselves without anywhere to live. Kind friends offered us their homes. We didn’t expect to take up these kind offers for more than a week or two, expecting to find somewhere to rent in school catchment for our boys. This proved much more difficult than we could have imagined and we ended up living with friends for 3 months. It was wonderful. It may not have been as materially comfortable as living in our own home, but our friendship has deepened and their open-hearted example has inspired us to notice how others may need help and support and to offer what we can.

Interestingly, current research shows that giving is receiving in terms of happiness. Yet we don’t generally see acceptance of generosity as an act of kindness. We feel obligated to people when accepting help, burdened, somehow ‘less than’. Perhaps these negative feelings prevent us from asking for help. As well as fear of rejection, fear of crossing a line of appropriateness… Yet asking for help and sharing gives us the opportunity to connect with our neighbours and build friendships, expand our sense of community and our sense of self. It is a kindness to others.

We are social creatures and thrive from being interdependent rather than independent, connected rather than isolated. So let’s ask for help! Or if that is not so easy, lets offer help before it is asked.

As well as being intricately interconnected on a personal and local level, we are also inteconnected on a global scale. Politically, economically and most importantly via earth, air and water. It’s an illusion that somehow our choices don’t influence the lives of others. We need to see ourselves as part of the community of humans and indeed life on planet earth.

We can do this at an individual level and make positive choices such as changing energy provider, using more public transport etc. But what about what we can do together? We can share the lawnmower between houses. We can share car journeys. We can help look after each other.

We can also do this through being part of the global climate movement which can make our voice heard at events like the UN Climate Conference in Paris in December. That is why I am actively supporting the #Timefortheclimate event in Sheffield on 28^th November 2015. This event is part of the Global People’s Climate March taking place on 28^th and 29^th November across the world.

For me, most importantly, being ‘green’ through building community is not overwhelming, upsetting or paralyzing, it is motivating, uplifting and energising.

Divest is Best

By Anna Brook and K. Louisa Knight

Saving the planet might not motivate you to move your money.  But you probably want to keep your hard-earned cash safe, right? If so, read on!

The divestment movement is growing.  Over the last year or so many universities, faith groups, cities and individuals have been pledging to divest from fossil fuels.  There are campaign groups all over the world encouraging organisations to move their money out of fossil fuel companies in order to protect our planet.  After the People’s Climate March on 21st September 2014 the heirs to the fabled Rockefeller oil fortune withdrew their funds from fossil fuel investments.  The University of Glasgow was the first in the UK to announce that it would divest its £129 million endowment from fossil fuels, and in Sheffield, students are running an active divestment campaign, with actions planned for Global Divestment Day on 13th February 2015.

Whatever your motivation, maybe you don’t know where to start or it all feels too big a job or too much hassle. We know. We’re not there yet either. But with the start of Global Divestment Week we decided to put a few ideas together about how to start thinking about using your money in the fight against climate change.  Many people believe that this is one of the most powerful things we as individuals can do, and we hope this blog will help you take your first (or next) step.

D = Drive to do something. The first thing is always to get yourself motivated. There are plenty of reasons to stop investing in fossil fuels. Take your pick. We’ve chosen two. Firstly, there’s a risk to your money. Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, has ordered an investigation ‘into the risk of fossil fuel companies causing a major economic crash if future climate change rules render their coal, oil and gas assets worthless.’  Secondly, and we’d argue far more importantly, there’s a risk to our planet and our children’s future. We need to keep 80% of known fossil fuels in the ground if we are to stop the earth warming by 2 degrees – the limit agreed to by countries across the world.

I = Inspirational investigation! We found that once we started reading about climate change, the need to think about where we put our cash became more obvious. It also changed our perspective on money, enabling us to think about it in a different, and more positive way. By moving your money into places that do not invest in fossil fuels, you can actual feel good about it! Things like whether you are getting the best interest rate (which, lets face it, you never are because things change so rapidly) becomes less important. For inspiration, check out these links to divestment campaigns from 350.org and Go Fossil Free.

V =  Value. Someone’s done the hard work for us on the first part of this one! Our bank accounts, any savings and mortgages can all be invested by companies that have pledged not to invest in fossil fuels.  Move Your Money gives some good suggestions for moving money as well as some practical tips about how to do it. It is much easier now than it used to be. Any money you are putting towards a pension is also important, but this probably needs a longer game-plan because, depending on where you work, you may not have a choice about your pension. We’d suggest getting involved in a campaign or at least writing a letter to the place you work and your pension company to let them know you’re worried. Ed Davey, the energy secretary, said at the end of last year that investing in fossil fuels is becoming increasingly risky because global action to tackle climate change will curb demand, forcing companies to leave unprofitable reserves in the ground – that could become the ‘sub-prime assets of the future.’

E = Energy. Switching your home energy package to a 100% green tariff is probably one of the easiest things you can do and it won’t necessarily cost you more either. In Sheffield, you can sign up to the Big Switch (collective switching scheme) and you can now specify that you’d like a green tariff. The green tariff we like best is from Ecotricity. Ecotricity is recommended by Oxfam, Christian Aid, The Soil Association & The Ecologist Magazine, and reinvests more per customer on green initiatives than the other UK suppliers together.

S = Sing. Of course, being Sheffield Sings out for the Climate, we wanted to include some singing, and luckily we found this video; ‘Divest it like it’s hot!’ made by students.

T = Tell other people what you’re trying to do and encourage them to do it too! You can tweet, share this on Facebook, or just have a chat with friends.

Here at Sheffield Sings out for the Climate we all have a long way to go before our financial lives are fully “clean and green”. However, we are using this year’s divestment day campaign as a spring board for moving closer to that goal. We hope you’ll join us!

 

The dangers of ‘passive living’

By Sean Ashton

In recent years, the dangers of passive smoking have been well documented and many measures have been introduced by the government to reduce exposure to second-hand smoke such as the prohibition of smoking in the workplace and in public places. Could it be though, that ‘passive living’, that is just sitting back and watching things happen to the world we live in and the environment without doing anything about it could be far more dangerous in the long run?

But what can we do, you might ask? I used to feel that the little things that I could do made no difference; and to be honest I didn’t always do a lot (and still don’t do enough) to try and change things. Now though, I realise that the small things that each of us do can make a difference and if enough of us commit to making these changes it can have an impact on climate change.

Although it may seem that the changes required are not compatible with a modern western lifestyle, they don’t necessarily have to be too painful. A year ago my car broke down and I spent three months without a car. Far from being the inconvenience I imagined, it was a liberating experience; I walked more, lost a few ‘spare’ pounds and had significantly more money in my pocket. Although I have now bought another car due to having ageing parents who live at a distance, low carbon emissions and fuel economy were the criteria by which I chose a new model and we now do less than half the mileage compared to a year ago. When this car gives up the ghost, I will give serious consideration to whether I need a new one or whether I can manage without one, using public transport and hiring a car for those occasions when it is really needed.

I thought running a car was pretty much the worst thing I did with regard to impacting on the environment. Then I heard recently that eating red meat was worse for the climate than driving a car. How could that be and would I be able to give up a bacon sandwich or eating meat? I didn’t think so. But a recent Horizon documentary, ‘Should I eat meat’ (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x24ieya_horizon-2014-2015-2-should-i-eat-meat-how-to-feed-the-planet_lifestyle) caused me to re-evaluate my opinion. In Europe, each person eats on average 80 kilos of meat a year! Now, whilst I haven’t given up eating meat, we only eat meat once a week and have discovered a new, interesting and exciting range of vegetarian meals.

So it isn’t as difficult as I thought – and there is so much we can do. Making sure we switch off the light, recycling conscientiously, eating less meat, using public transport, changing your energy supplier to a supplier using more green energy are just a few easy things that will make a real difference.

So why sing for the climate? The answer is simple; as well as making personal changes to your lifestyle it is equally important to get the message heard by as many people as possible and by any means. Climate change is real and it is affecting people now; and the real injustice is that it is people in countries such as the Philippines who are paying the price for our profligacy (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/typhoon-hagupit-power-lines-cut-trees-torn-down-and-800000-people-in-shelters-with-another-pummelling-potentially-on-its-way-9908596.html). So tell your family, friends and people in your work place. If you feel comfortable doing so, write to your MP and get involved with demonstrations. Only if enough people show concern will MPs have the mandate and a reason to really tackle climate change. So please join us in singing for the climate in Sheffield.

I wouldn’t dare lay claim to be a climate warrior – I just feel I am at the beginning of a journey to try and make a difference to the way I live my life so that my children and grandchildren are not left with an unpleasant legacy because I couldn’t be bothered to do anything.