Carbon Fast

When I was sixteen and had just started my A Levels, 'General Studies' was a compulsory course. Part of this was an individual project and I chose to study environmental problems. I looked at Acid Rain, Leaded Petrol, the Hole in the Ozone Layer and the Greenhouse Effect. I remember having an A4 sheet which listed those garages in the UK where it was possible to buy unleaded petrol. Twenty-one years later virtually all cars run on unleaded petrol, aerosols hardly ever contain CFCs and I haven't heard of acid rain for a long time. Climate Change, Carbon Emissions, Global Warming (all new terms for the Greenhouse Effect) is big news.
Sometimes I feel good about myself: we only run one car and we always switch the TV and Computer off at the mains, shunning the carbon hungry standby. Sometimes I don't: I feel a twinge of guilt every time I use my tumble drier (and that is most days), especially when my neighbour's washing is cheerily waving in the breeze.
And today is Ash Wednesday. I never quite get ready for Lent in the way I'd like to and I always get half-way through and feel that somehow I'm missing something. I've tried Lent books, or adding extra prayer times, but they quickly become a chore and something else to tick off my daily to-do list. This year I'm opting for the Carbon Fast - simple actions to cut my carbon emissions this Lent, produced by Tearfund. I tried it last year and lost my way, this year I'm going to try and live in the spirit of it without being legalistic. Some days I just can't do the action (I don't own a microwave, for example) or the suggestion is something I already do but I will do what I can, how I can, and hold this in mind every day:

As we pray daily for God's will to be done on earth, as it is done in heaven, the
Carbon Fast is a practical step towards a fairer world, a sustainable planet and
the earthing of heaven.