Eco-congregation Lenten learning: Plastics

Plastics have a bad press! These predominantly fossil fuel-based
compounds are ubiquitous in the 21st century; and many of their
applications are environmentally favourable: for instance in replacing the
gas pipelines, predominantly iron, throughout Britain. This is the country’s
largest ongoing civil engineering project! Replacing increasingly leaky gas
pipework with highly durable, leak-tight materials is just one example of
the benefits to society of uses of plastics that capitalise on their uniquely
favourable properties.

There are other instances where the durability in their use confers hidden
disbenefits: for instance the use in tyres, particularly in electric vehicles
(EVs), leads to spalling and the creation of minute particles that find their
way into all corners of the environment – including the air we breathe.

However, where the widespread use of single-trip plastic packaging is
concerned the ‘bad press’ is justified. Much of this packaging will go into
landfill, from which in time it will be leached out by rainfall or dispersed by
wind and storm. The minute particulate residues are already globally
dispersed, with harmful impact on organisms on whose health we
ultimately depend.

So let us try to avoid single-use plastics ‘like the plague’ that it actually is;
and (to mix the metaphor) let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater!

What to do?
• Find out how much single-use plastic you dispose of in a week:
perhaps by a separate partition in your ‘Non-recyclable’ bin. How could
this be reduced?

• Learn more about the widespread use of long-life plastics and how
these may become dispersed in the environment.

• Consider whether your daily choices, eg about modes of transport
or shopping, contribute to plastics pollution?

• And actively: take bags to shops to put fruit and veg in, and
avoid fresh produce that is cling wrapped or in plastic bags .

• And avoid buying goods in plastic bottles, unless these are refillable.

Climate Change and Home Energy

Heating domestic homes accounts for 17% of the UK’s carbon footprint.
We all know that to reduce global warming we should be reducing our use
of gas and oil to heat our homes. At present, most of us rely on gas boilers
and only 5% of home heating is from renewal energy sources. The
Government is committed to phase out gas boilers for new builds by 2025.
But what are the alternatives? The most common solution currently is to
use a heat pump, which works a bit like a refrigerator in reverse. These can
either be air source - which look like air conditioning units outside
buildings, or ground source - more effective but requiring a large outside
area, or access to major drilling equipment, or both. In the future hydrogen
may become a feasible alternative green energy source provided the
electricity used in its production is from renewables such as wind and solar,
and new boilers are now designed so as to be capable of running on
hydrogen rather than gas. Biomass is another energy source, whose major
drawback is the large storage capacity required.

For our existing properties, it is daunting to consider replacing our gas
boilers with, for example, heat pumps, bearing in mind the upheaval and
the capital expense, and may not even be feasible depending on the type
of property. Old boilers lose efficiency, and simply switching to a new, more
efficient model will reduce your carbon footprint.
 

But there are many simpler things we can do to make our homes more
‘energy efficient’ by reducing heat loss, including draught-proofing,
installing better insulation - in lofts, under flooring, and sometimes in wall
spaces - and upgrading old windows with double (or triple) glazing. Of
course, such measures, as well as being good for the planet, save on our
fuel bills, and considering how these have sky-rocketed recently with
further increases on the way, now is definitely the time to consider such
improvements. Some improvements are even eligible for government
grants.

For easily accessible, comprehensive and up to date advice on all aspects
of home energy saving and renewable home energy sources, we would
recommend the Home Energy Scotland website
https://www.homeenergyscotland.org/. It has links to all aspects of home
energy efficiencies and can answer all your queries from the simplest to
the most complex, with advice on available grants, local trades contacts,
and real-world examples. Home Energy Scotland can arrange for a
specialist assessment of your home’s energy performance, with free,
expert and impartial advice.