Caroline Goucher from Westport Eco-Congregation has provided ECI with this report on their work:
www.earthhour.org has featured County Mayo’s, newly awarded Care of Creation Group ‘Westport Eco-Congregation’ following on from their success over the last few years of activities for Earth Hour.
#Connect2Earth was created to organise the efforts and to shed light on topics impacting our planet’s well-being. Our connection to earth and nature is undeniable: ‘Our planet’s gain is everyone’s gain’. The personal stories of these people are being featured on the Earth Hour Website.
The theme to ‘Powerdown for an hour for Mayo’, brought much of the community together for an hour of celebration at The Octagon, Westport, where they witnessed the powering down of the feature lighting in the town. Caroline Goucher addressed the crowd and delivered a powerful Call to Action: “Each and every act, each and every conversation, each and every person can make the difference the world needs …”
The celebrations continued with local musicians providing the backdrop to a unique and popular event, ‘Tea and Tunes by Tealight’ in a symbolic show of solidarity for the planet.
Events like these epitomises Caroline’s passion for the environment with a high level of involvement, locally and nationally, from groups committed to protecting the environment as well as working full-time in that area.
Looking ahead, Caroline says, “Our next awareness raising event, as we look forward to Pope Francis’ visit to Knock Shrine, is to promote our grassroots response to ‘Laudato Si’ and for ‘Season of Creation’. We are hosting talks and beach clean-ups in collaboration with An Taisce Clean Coasts to draw attention to our addiction to plastic, marine waste and the effects of climate change to our vulnerable coastal communities.
In County Mayo, we hope to raise the profile of #EarthHour in 2019 and unite the Call to Action. Get involved now by starting conversations, sharing your thoughts, and spreading the word about our connection to this place, we call home.”
Caroline’s story and those of others all over the world can be viewed here.
Earth Hour 2019 will take place on March 23rd, it’s never too early to start thinking of ideas and integrate it into your congregation’s gathering.
Follow on Facebook: @WestportEcoCongregation