John-Paul Roberts

Of making many books there is no end Ecclesiastes 12:12 This week we will be considering how we can reduce our paper usageIt is calculated that one ream of paper (500 sheets) uses about 5% of a tree, that is to say if your office/church uses 20 packets of photocopying paper you have cut down one tree. So how can we reduce our paper usage.? Here are a few hints Think before you print or order.It is simply too easy to push the print-button. For example, much paper is wasted by printing out single line emails or printing out unnecessary copies of documents. Departments should carefully assess their needs before ordering bulk print copies of information materials, like annual reports or brochures. In many cases hundreds if not thousands of un-used copies end up in storage rooms clogging up storage space Print on both sidesIf it is necessary to print make sure you print on both sides (duplex). This is a really easy way to reduce paper consumption by half. Set defaults on computers Set defaults on the photocopyer to double sided – select one-sided printing only when really needed. Change your settingsChange your computer’s default settings so that you can put more text on each page. In MS Word, go to File, then to Page Setup. Then choose Reduce the Margins and set your margins to smaller numbers. Compared to the normal settings, you could use up to 14% less paper! When you are printing, reduce font size to 10 point to decrease the amount of paper required.Use efficient fonts like Times New Roman or Arial –these fonts use significantly less space Don’t print the whole document!Print only the pages you need by using the “Print Selection’ function Remind your colleaguesPost in-house reminders near the copy machine or at individual desktops. Use catchy slogans, for example: “Do you really need to print that?” or “Do you know how many sheets of paper you used last month?” WWF has created some eye-catching posters with such messages. Download at www.panda.org/savepaper Excel filesUse the Fit to Page feature in Microsoft Excel: This feature automatically re-scales output to print evenly on one or several pages. Let’s assume you have a spreadsheet that’s 10 columns wide, but when you used Print Preview it shows that nine columns will be printed on one page and one column on the next page. Sounds like a reformatting nightmare, but there is a simple solution: Just use the Fit to Page feature. From the File Menu, select Page Setup, then select Scaling-Fit to. You can force the document to print out on a single page or multiple pages in a specific width or length

Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good Genesis 1: 11-12 Loss of Habitat One of the most dangerous effects of deforestation is the loss of animal and plant species due to their loss of habitat. 70% of land animals and plant species live in forests. Not only does deforestation threaten species known to us, but also those unknown. Increase in temperatureThe trees of the rainforest that provide shelter for some species also provide the canopy that regulates the temperature. Deforestation results in a more drastic temperature variation from day to night, much like a desert, which could prove fatal for many inhabitants. Trees in the city reduce the temperature and “Urban heat islands” occur when cities replace natural land cover with dense concentrations of pavement, buildings, and other surfaces that absorb and retain heat. This effect increases energy costs (e.g., for air conditioning), air pollution levels, and heat-related illness and mortality. Increased Greenhouse Gases In addition to the loss of habitat, the lack of trees also allows a greater amount of greenhouse gases to be released into the atmosphere. Healthy forests absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, acting as valuable carbon sinks. Deforested areas lose that ability and release more carbon. Water in the Atmosphere Trees also help to control the level of water in the atmosphere by helping to regulate the water cycle. One of the most important forests for regulating water cycles across the planet is the Amazon rainforest. Its millions of trees work together to release moisture into the air, creating atmospheric “rivers” that regulate Earth’s weather patterns. In deforested areas, there is less water in the air to be returned to the soil. This then causes dryer soil and the inability to grow crops. Soil Erosion and Flooding Further effects of deforestation include soil erosion and coastal flooding. Trees help the land to retain water and topsoil, which provides the rich nutrients to sustain additional forest life.Without forests, the soil erodes and washes away, causing farmers to move on and perpetuate the cycle. The barren land which is left behind in the wake of these unsustainable agricultural practices is then more susceptible to flooding, specifically in coastal regions. Effects of Deforestation on Indigenous People As large amounts of forests are cleared away, allowing exposed land to deteriorate and the habitats of innumerable species to be destroyed, the Indigenous communities who live there and depend on the forest to sustain their way of life are also under threat. The loss of forests has an immediate and direct effect on their lifestyle. Many Indigenous communities depend on what the forest has to offer for food, medicine, building materials, and cultural resources. Often, frontline communities have little say in how their local environment is altered by governments and corporations. At the same time, these communities face the most immediate and threatening impacts of environmental degradation and climate change. The governments of nations with rainforests within their borders often attempt to evict Indigenous tribes before the deforestation begins. References: : https://pachamama.org/effects-of-deforestation#:~:text=The%20loss%20of%20trees%20and,of%20problems%20for%20Indigenous%20people.

They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree Revelation 9:4 There are many causes of deforestation, some are immediate, like a massive construction, some are slow, as the forest degrades, due to temperature rise and an increase in fires. Forest fires: Each year, fires burn millions of hectares of forest worldwide. Fires are a part of nature but degraded forests are particularly vulnerable. These include heavily logged rainforests, forests on peat soils, or where forest fires have been suppressed for years allowing unnatural accumulation of vegetation that makes the fire burn more intensely. The resulting loss has wide-reaching consequences on biodiversity, climate, and the economy. Fires may start accidentally or be started in order to clear the land for farming. Illegal and unsustainable logging: Illegal logging occurs in all types of forests across all continents – from Brazil to Indonesia – destroying nature and wildlife, taking away community livelihoods and distorting trade. Illegally harvested wood finds its way into major consumption markets, such as the U.S., and European Union, which further fuels the cycle. Fuelwood harvesting: Over-harvesting for domestic use or for commercial trade in charcoal significantly damages forests. Forests are now being cut down to make wood pellets. Mining: The impact of mining on tropical forests is growing due to rising demand and high mineral prices. Mining projects are often accompanied by major infrastructure construction, such as roads, railway lines and power stations, putting further pressure on forests and freshwater ecosystems. Climate change: Forest loss is both a cause and an effect of our changing climate. Climate change can damage forests, for instance by drying out tropical rainforests and increasing fire damage in boreal forests. Inside forests, climate change is already harming biodiversity, a threat that is likely to increase. Increasing temperatures also bring new pests such as invasive borer beetles Reference: https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/forests_practice/deforestation_causes2/

The earth mourns and withers; the world wastes away and withers; the lofty people of the earth waste away Isaiah 24: 4 COVID-19 made us realise that our health is deeply connected to the health of nature. Deforestation and forest degradation are major drivers of zoonotic diseases (that jump from animals to humans). When healthy, forests are a buffer against diseases like Covid-19. But when forests are under attack, their safeguards are weakened, leading to a spillover of diseases. The spread and emergence of these new diseases is yet another tragic consequence and indicator of the accelerating pressure we’re putting on natural systems, and the devastating loss of nature driven by our current unsustainable development models. Forests are a lifeblood of our economies and our health – from the air we breathe to the wood we use. Covering nearly one-third of the Earth’s land area, forests are home to more than half of the world’s land-based species and are the source of 75% of the world’s freshwater. More than a billion people live in and around forests, and they are the physical and spiritual home to many indigenous peoples and local communities. Forests are key carbon sinks – tropical forests alone store seven times more carbon than humanity emits every year and draw down up to 1.8 gigatonnes of carbon annually. Yet forests today are in crisis, devastated by fires, converted and degraded for agriculture, for fuel and for timber. The mismanagement of the world’s forests is ramping up carbon emissions, ravaging biodiversity, destroying vital ecosystems, and affecting the livelihoods and wellbeing of local communities as well as societies globally. And the situation is getting worse. The world’s current unsustainable food systems mean that instead of repurposing degraded land for sustainable agricultural use, forests, savannahs and grasslands continue to be destroyed. It’s time to value what nature provides to us, and a key focus for that action has to be our forests. Reference: https://wwfint.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/deforestation_fronts___drivers_and_responses_in_a_changing_world___summary_english.pdf

“The vine is dried up and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree – all the trees of the field – are dried up. Surely the people’s joy is withered away.” Joel 1:12 Today you will be marked with the sign of the cross, with ashes which are made from the burned palm leaves from last year’s Palm Sunday.  In our prayer of confession today we confess our abuse of living trees, deforestation and destruction of the eco-systems;  the web of life that sustains us.  Creator God, you planted a world of beauty and variety, filled with trees for food and shade. We have turned forests into deserts, and many living trees into disposable consumer products. We have not protected the web of life on which we depend and which you called us to care for. We confess our selfishness in misusing your handiwork to resource our greed.  Lord have mercy.