The 1^st of September is the World Day of Prayer for Creation and we normally plan an ecumenical service. In order to take it on line, a relationship was formed with youth from the Lutheran, Methodist, Catholic and DRC churches – and an organisation formed #together4creation.  A wonderful online service was held with input from each denomination.  Our guest speaker from the Green Lutherans shared his message from the car due to load shedding – where there is a will there is a way! One of the most powerful moments was when a young woman shared how working in the garden had helped to bring her healing after the loss of her father.

A joint video was prepared explaining the meaning and challenge of Season of Creation and Sunday meditations prepared by clergy from each denomination.

There will be a “Repurpose” Competition in the school holidays, you make something new ( re-purpose) from  a plastic item such as a plastic bottle and the most creative idea will win a prize.

The team gathered for a ‘nurdle clean up’ (nurdles are tiny pieces of plastic that are used to make plastic items) at Muizenberg Beach  and a planning session for the way forward.

You can join  #together4creation on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/1177425282625857/

[Have you hosted or participated in creation care activities in your area? Tell the world about it by sharing with us at The Pollinator! Send reports to us here. Pictures are welcome.]

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Now ‘The Great Nurdle Hunt” is seeking to document the problem with the help of ordinary people, ‘citizen scientists’. That’s you, if you live anywhere near an ocean, lake or river. Here’s the main website for the nurdle hunt and a form where you can report your findings. You can even upload pictures of the results of your own hunt.

It took billions of us to pollute the oceans with plastic. Let’s see if we can mobilize at least some thousands of people to start the clean up process!

Here’s an A Rocha blog entry on the hunt:

A Rocha’s marine conservation globally has developed projects to study nurdles using methods that non-scientists can join in with. The method is simple, search for a set amount of time on a coast, river or lake and upload your results to the Great Nurdler – a global partner documenting citizen science nurdle hunts globally. Visitors, students at Coastal Community School, Titusville High School, Eastern Florida State University, churches, and families have all contributed to our study of nurdles on Florida’s Space Coast, which includes the amazingly beautiful Canaveral National Seashore here near the Kennedy Space Center. I gave a talk on our research at the International Marine Conservation Congress and put together a short, non-academic video showing what the sites are like and also some of our results. Thank you to the many A Rocha supporters and friends who contributed to this study.

https://arocha.us/small-things-that-make-a-big-difference