Maria Young from St. Finbarr’s South Parish, Cork Eco-Congregation sent ECI this update:
We are a recently formed group, we first came together in January 2019 and held our third meeting on March 28th. Eco-Congregation St Finbarr’s South have embarked on three distinct initiatives:
1. The group have completed a door to door survey on a particular street Needham Place in the South Parish to enquire if people would be interested in learning about sustainable ways to conserve energy in the home. Due to the interest and feedback we will shortly have Conor O’Brien (Energy Expert) talk to the community about Sustainable Energy Communities, we will also have a local resident talk about her experiences in retrofitting her home in this old part of Cork City.
2. The group has started a paper recycling effort in the heart of St Finbarr’s South by asking residents of three particular streets to bring their old newspapers and general paper to the Shelf Bookshop on George’s Quay from where it will be collected and brought to a company called Ecocel who are based nearby and who convert waste paper into green insulation. The uptake has been very positive and they plan to expand to more streets in the coming weeks.
3. The group plan to conduct an audit of the trees in South Parish and record them on Google Maps. They have enlisted the help of UCC, the local primary school children and volunteers. They hope to have this audit completed by early summer and available for viewing. The idea is to encourage people to learn to identify trees in the neighbourhood. They would like to provoke a discussion about trees and their importance to our environment, to our mental and physical health and for reminding us about how beautiful nature is. How many trees are in our neighbourhood? How long have they been there? How many other species do they support? Should we plant more trees in this Parish?
Eco-Congregation of St.Finbarr’s South Parish wish to thank Fr. Eoin Whooley and all who work at St Finbarr’s Church for supporting them.