More than an organic carrot.

Praised be You my Lord with all Your creatures,

especially Sir Brother Sun,

Who is the day through whom You give us light.

And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour,

Of You Most High, he bears the likeness.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,

In the heavens you have made them bright, precious and fair.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,

And fair and stormy, all weather's moods,

by which You cherish all that You have made.

Praised be You my Lord through Sister Water,

So useful, humble, precious and pure.

Praised be You my Lord through Brother Fire,

through whom You light the night and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You my Lord through our Sister,

Mother Earth

who sustains and governs us,

producing varied fruits with coloured flowers and herbs.

Praise be You my Lord through those who grant pardon for love of You and bear sickness and trial.

St Francis of Assissi

It's hard not to realise that we've made a mess out of this planet. I can experience it first hand in Krakow, where smog is a huge problem, especially in winter when people still burn all sort of rubbish to heat their houses. Oxford's air is one of the worst in the country as well.

Looking after the environment is one of my values, God has created the Earth for us and we should respect this creation as an expression of his love, so I'm trying to make small changes in my life to reduce my impact on the environment. I'm crazy about switching lights off when not needed, having a bit of a struggle with my housemates about it. Shorter showers (around 4 mins tops) are my second challenge. I'm trying to buy organic veg boxes or buy veggies at the farmer's market. Being a more aware consumer is not easy, you need to read labels and sometimes pay more for fairtrade products, but this seems like a tiniest inconvenience when I think about what the future must be like if we don't change anything. I bike a lot or use public transport (partly due to lack of the car, but I don't foresee buying it any time soon, it's too much of a burden and also would contribute to CO2 emission). Meat is off the menu now as well.

My major environmental sin is definitely flying. I fly a lot, because this is the quickest and most effective way to get home for all holidays. I've checked my train options (again), but with a prospect of over 25 hours of travel and 4-5 train changes, it's really not going to work. But there'll be less going home in the future, that's for sure.

I think we really need an attitude of St Francis. An attitude of respect and awe at how wonderful this world is. How ideally it has been set up. We need to appreciate the Sun, the water, the trees, the birds... It's sort of like with your relationships in life. If you value someone, you take care of that person. So should be the case with our planet. Let's take care of it. At last.