Sidmouth’s Catholic church held a Care of Creation event raising awareness of climate change and the environment.
On Saturday (August 31), Sidmouth Plastic Warriors, Sidmouth Repair Cafe, Surfers Against Sewage and catholic organisations Caritas and CAFOD held an open evening to discuss and debate the pressing issue.
A pledge table asked people to sign up to one thing they could do to care for creation and the environment. These included eating more vegetarian and vegan food, cutting car use, taking the bus more often, reducing the number of flights taken and buying products that didn't use single-use plastic.
Part of the evening involved a series of discussions where those attending looked at how individual actions can help make a difference and the role of the church in campaigning for change.
The conclusions were that individual actions had to be harnessed to bring about change through the Government and big businesses like the supermarkets. However pressure could be applied by groups of people coming together and making their voices heard and leading by example.
One of the key things was to speak out on behalf of those unable to do so, such as the poor and dispossessed and those living in parts of the world whose very existence was threatened by oceans rising as a result of global warming.
Event organiser Naomi Hogg said: "It was a privilege to bring together people from the churches in Sidmouth alongside town based organisations such as Sidmouth Plastic Warriors, Surfers Against Sewage and the Sidmouth Repair Café to kick start conversations about the environment and climate change in relation to our personal beliefs and subsequent actions.
"We must all continue to do our best to look after creation; always bearing in mind that what we do as individuals and collectively will make a difference to the future of Sidmouth, the beautiful county of Devon and the whole future of planet earth."
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