"After a launch evening on the 27th May, we've asked the Birmingham sangha to take a green precept for the month. People are making pledges on the Centre's Facebook page and on a noticeboard in the cafe.
So far this ranges from signing up for a local organic veg box delivery to using environmental ethics as a basis for study groups and courses. Some have made suggestions which are already up and running: people are making donations to a local food bank and we are selling sprouting kits.
The Centre itself has stopped buying cow's milk during June and people are now sampling amazing milks like almond and hazelnut! Birmingham have had a vegan buying policy for a while but relaxed it for cow’s milk as many retreat centres also do. But for this month, we are taking it on in full!
We are looking at the ethics of our main purchases - tea, coffee, soya milk - and investigating green energy. We held a vegan cake-making afternoon last Sunday. We are promoting lift-sharing in the sangha."
And things don't just stop at the end of June. They're organising other events later in the summer such as film nights, including "Chasing Ice", nature connection workshops and volunteering in a local wildlife reserve.