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Sr Margaret Rose Bradley SND reflects on one easy way to use less plastic in our latest blog.

...Or you may prefer coffee but I want to concentrate more on tea.

I once read about a lovely Gran who dried out all her teabags and gave them to her grandson. It seemed to be a rather unusual thing to collect for her grandson until I read a bit more. He loved to play with his toy soldiers and his caring Gran kept all her dried teabags so that he would have sandbags to shore up any walls that were about to fall down or use them when flooding was a possibility. A child’s imagination can travel many roads even with dried out teabags.

Quite often I see published hints for gardens and gardening on-line. A popular one is a hint to put your used teabags round your plants in your garden or in plant pots but this is a plea to ask you not to do that and to discourage anyone else from doing that. Many of the tea bags we buy and use actually contain PLASTIC. Strange but true. Plastic in the garden can cause harm and problems for your dogs and cats. Problems are also caused for any wildlife and birds who visit your garden. The plastic can be eaten by all these creatures that then become ill and may not survive. Through the food chain we too could be eating plastic.

Keeping teabags out of the garden maybe a small point but an important one.  And on the matter of tea bags. Many of the tea bags we buy contain plastic but the manufacturers don’t always declare it. Some time ago a television programme drew attention to the fact that some tea bags contain plastic. I don’t have a lot of information but I do know of 2 producers of tea bags whose products do not contain any plastic. These are Twinings and PG Tips.

There has been so much for us all to contend with this year and sometimes it takes a lot of effort to get anything done. But this information has encouraged me to make one resolution for the year 2021. I am only going to buy PG Tips teabags from now on and not Tetley for example. It shouldn’t take too much effort to manage this and I will feel I am able to do something about the war on plastic.

Maybe this is one thing we could all consider for this new year of 2021.
 

Professor Stephen McKinney reflects on how Covid has exacerbated the difficulties faced by children living in poverty.  Justice & Peace Scotland blog.

Covid-19 has had a major impact on school education in Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom. The lockdowns have resulted in the schools being closed to the majority of children and young people. The schools have remained open for the children of key workers and vulnerable children only. Many children are engaged in home learning which can involve being taught online or being provided with learning resources. 

There has been considerable media attention focussed on the long-term effects of school closures, the reconfiguration of assessment in public examinations and the stresses of home learning for children, teachers and parents.

As schools begin to cautiously reopen, there are indications that increased numbers of young people are suffering from mental and physical health problems. Many children feel isolated and there may be new stresses in the home environment. There may be limited space in the home and insufficient numbers of devices that can access the internet. The restrictions and lockdowns have exacerbated pre-existing problems and there has been an increase in some forms of extreme behaviour. Recent reports, for example, have focussed on the disturbing rise in self harm among young people. 

The pandemic has highlighted the serious plight of those children who are living in poverty. Around a quarter of the children in Scotland live in poverty and this figure is growing. There has been a rise in public and civic awareness of the extent of poverty and child poverty in Scotland in recent years. The proliferation and variety of food banks is a highly visible indicator of poverty in contemporary Scotland. Food banks have recorded a significant rise in uptake over the last five years and have struggled to cope with the demand for food during the pandemic.

There is one group of children which deserves to receive more public attention and understanding: young carers. A young carer is somebody who is under 18 and who has caring responsibilities. The young carer may be as young as five years old and, in some cases, even younger.  Children who live in poverty are more likely to have caring responsibilities. There are over 44,000 young carers in Scotland and the figure is probably higher because some children do not recognise themselves as young carers – they simply see themselves as looking after other people. Caring can be for a parent (or both parents) who is physically or mentally ill or who has a disability or suffers from addiction.  The caring duties can include support in dressing and attending to the domestic chores. It can mean providing emotional support for an adult and often means caring for the daily needs of younger siblings. The caring duties can mean that the young carer is late for school or unable to complete homework in time. The Children’s Society adds that one third of young carers have mental health issues. During periods of restrictions and lockdowns the caring duties of some young carers have become intensified and they feel increasingly isolated and disconnected from their friends. 

Professor Stephen McKinney is the leader of Pedagogy, Praxis and Faith, a Research and Teaching Group, in the School of Education University of Glasgow. He is member of the Archdiocese of Glasgow Commission for Justice and Peace.  Professor Stephen McKinney Is one of the panel members at our online event on Sunday 7th March - 'Poverty & Pandemic' looking at the impact of the pandemic and asking how the church can be ready and prepared in our communities to meet the challenges.   Book your place to join us here Poverty & Pandemic Tickets, Sun 7 Mar 2021 at 16:30 | Eventbrite

Margaret McGowan is the Justice & Peace Scotland rep for the diocese of Motherwell and long term campaigner and supporter for the Fairtrade movement.  Here she reflects on the impact the climate crisis is having on farmers worldwide. Blog.

Fairtrade Fortnight this year runs from the 22nd of February till the 7th of March. During these two weeks each year, people in the UK join to share the stories of the people who grow our food and drinks. These people are often exploited and underpaid. This year the focus is on the climate crisis. Deforestation, changing weather patterns, rising temperatures and lack of water are increasing problems and threaten the livelihoods of farmers and workers. 

Do you remember that around this time last year, many of us stockpiled essential food items and supplies as we thought they were going to run out. It turned out to be unnecessary as the farmers and other essential workers maintained a steady stream food items and supplies. This highlighted how dependent we are on farmers and their work. 

Smallholder famers in developing countries are affected more by climate change despite contributing to it the least. They say it is their biggest challenge right now. These farmers manage over 80 percent of the world’s 500 million farms and rely on this land for their livelihoods. Climate change has increasingly negative effects on land and agricultural production. This coupled with falling commodity prices adds to the challenge.

Fairtrade farmers have seen some devastation of crops. It is predicted that by 2050 as much as fifty percent of land currently used for coffee farming will no longer be suitable. Cocoa growing regions in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire will become too hot to grow the crop.

But there is hope and this hope depends on us acting now. Farmers need to adapt and also develop more sustainable farming methods. However, this comes at a cost that many farmers cannot afford as they do not even earn a living wage.

For these farmers to escape poverty, the prices of our basic foods have to increase so that they are able to pay for the changes they need to make to their farming practices.

This is where Fairtrade helps. 

Fair Trade represents an alternative to this system, one that is rooted in respect for human dignity. The core principles of Fair Trade—fair pricing, direct purchasing and long-term relationships, all reflect a commitment to uphold the human dignity of small-scale producers overseas.  Kwabena Ohmeng-Tinyase is the Managing Director of Kuapa Kokoo, a Fair Trade cocoa cooperative in Ghana. For him, the relationship between Fair Trade and human dignity is simple: “We all have to go shopping. Fair Trade is just shopping with respect.”

This year the Fairtrade Foundation unveils its first-ever virtual festival to highlight the harmful effect of the climate crisis on farmers and food supply.

https://www.fairtrade.org.uk

Or if you are interested in bringing Fairtrade Fortnight to your community, workplace, school, college or university you can find details here on what to do. 

Fairtrade Fortnight 2021 - Scottish Fair Trade Forum