THE Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich turned the air green when he used this year's Suffolk Show to launch the Church of England's first ever environmental policy.

Craig Robinson

THE Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich turned the air green when he used this year's Suffolk Show to launch the Church of England's first ever environmental policy.

The Rt Rev Nigel Stock set out the dioceses' aim of reducing the carbon footprint in all 478 of its parishes.

He was speaking at the launch of its new environmental policy, which took place today at the greenest county tent.

The aim is to spread the green message throughout parishes and to get people to think about their activities and monitor their carbon output.

Bishop Nigel said: “We have a presence right across the county. It's not only about managing our church yards but how we reduce our carbon footprint and save energy. It is a whole new mind set.

“We will use it to examine all we do in Suffolk in the light of our carbon footprint and its effect on the whole world, especially our brothers and sisters in our link diocese of Kagera in north west Tanzania.

“They have to live with the consequences of climate change so it is a delight that we can push ahead with this policy. Greening our church is essential.”

Rev Mark Morgan, of St Peter's Church at Stoke Park in Ipswich, diocesan environment adviser, added: “There is already a lot of green activity going on in the church but we want to try and encourage people to do more.

“The aim is to reduce the carbon footprint. This could be as simple as cutting car fuel or it could mean getting involved in some of the new technologies, such as sloar panels to heat water.

“We are hoping the environment will be built into the regular life of the church in its services but also we would like to hold a special environment day in the period before Advent, in the run up to Christmas.”

The new policy will be sent out to all 478 parishes in Suffolk and it is hoped the Arch Bishop of Cantebury will give it his blessing when he visits the county on June 5.

It has been developed in partnership with the county council as part of the Greenest County initiative.

Chairman David Barker said: “There is a huge enthusiasm within the church. The wonderful thing about this is that it takes the greenest county to every parish in Suffolk. Our church yards are such a great source of wildlife.”

Meanwhile, BBC Radio Suffolk used the event to launch car stickers for it's Sony award-winning “Don't be a Tosser” anti-litter campaign.

Breakfast presenter Mark Murphy said: “So many people asked us to produce Don't be a Tosser car stickers to spread the message so we have.

“In fact thanks to Suffolk county council's waste recycling department and those behind the creating the greenest county campaign we've got 10,000 of them to give away.

“The stickers are suitable for cars, trucks, caravans and tractors....in fact anywhere a sticker can be stuck."

The stickers will be available from the BBC Radio Suffolk stand at the Suffolk Show.

They can also be collected at their reception in St Matthews Street in Ipswich and from the 18 waste recycling sites across the county.