By Chantal Robertson, Life Group leader, Jubilee Church Wirral

I find it’s all too easy to get condemned when it comes to all things ecological.

But there will always be people doing “better” than you, and those doing “worse”.

My background is from a single parent family with a Mum on low income, but we were supported by my grandparents too. My Mum was on a tight budget but had gone to catering college and loved gardening, so she’s always been on the reuse/recycle/ environmental end of the spectrum.

She’s always used a compost bin, for example. We’ve always had a scrap paper drawer to write notes or draw on. My school uniform always mostly came from the school second hand uniform sales.

She’s had an allotment for several years now and very much enjoys growing her own fruit and veg and freezing/ sharing the excess. She admits that the allotment has been a Godsend in lots of ways too, not just because of the pandemic but also for her and my brother’s mental health during his ongoing cancer treatment. He enjoyed the walks there and mowing the lawn paths and looking after the wildlife area at the back.

Recycling schemes vary hugely between councils, which is very confusing if you move and not a great place to start when looking at a more national recycling strategy. For example, where we are, we just have three wheelie bins: one for specific recyclables (grey), one for general waste (green) and an optional brown one for garden waste that you have to pay for. The colours to me, seem the wrong way round! Green to me means recycling, so I have to think carefully, even now! I’m proud though that our grey bin has always been fuller than our green one, even when our daughter was a baby.

Doing anything is better than nothing and there’s always room for improvement.

Like diets – one might feel overwhelming and too much hassle to sustain long term after the initial enthusiasm has died down, whereas another would involve a series of small steps which eventually add up to a huge, sustainable change and the formation of good habits which stop you feeling condemned on any “bad” days.

Keep going, you’re doing well. Let’s support and encourage each other.

God bless, Chantal x

Chantal Robertson with her husband Rick