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About us – Portsmouth Diocese goes Generous

What is Generous?

It started as one of those 'what if…' conversations – 'What if the world wasn't loaded in favour of a small minority of its people?' 'What if we could look after the planet as well as looking after ourselves?' 'What if a bunch of people tried to exploit the power of new technology to live a little more generously?'

Over time it became, 'Generous', an online community of individuals, families, households, embarking on small everyday lifestyle changes in favour of all the people and the whole of the planet.

'Something is better than nothing' is the unwritten motto. One person might decide to turn off the tap when cleaning his teeth; another might start filling the kettle with only enough water for that single cup of tea; another will check their light fittings – and decide to switch to energy saving bulbs; someone else might decide to go meat-free one day a week or improve what they give to charity.

People's decisions depend on their circumstances. Generous is about joy not judgment, community not compulsion. It's about getting somewhere together, rather than feeling like we can't make a difference. It's about changing our behaviour – one action at a time – so that the default settings of the way we live our lives daily start to shift. That's what Generous is about changing.

When you commit to an action online, you can add your own comments about how it worked in practice – and share any tips you have for others who are thinking about it. And if you're not sure about whether an action is right for you, you can see what other Generous members have said and how they got on.

At the end of 2008, Generous had close to 2,000 members registering a cumulative total of almost 10,000 Generous actions.

How will Portsmouth Diocese work with Generous?

It will be great to have the Portsmouth Diocese on board – because there's wisdom in the crowd, and inspiration too. As the anthropologist Margaret Meade says: 'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.'

The Portsmouth Diocese has its own tailored version of the worldwide Generous website – where you can see the numbers of members and actions you have alongside the worldwide totals. You'll also be able to see who's signed up to Generous from your parish, you'll have access to all the news, and most importantly, the actions. Generous will reflect your local priorities and commitments as part of your drive towards 'Shrinking the Footprint' of the Diocese.

Generous is easy and free to JOIN. Each month you will be e-mailed a suggested generous action from your environmental advisor Rev. Andy Norris. Every time you COMMIT to an action it is recorded on line. Your own profile page on the site reminds you of the Generous steps you pledge to take. WATCH as the site calculates the cumulative effect. Together, Portsmouth Diocese can make a difference.

We—Generous and Portsmouth Diocese—will be the best of both worlds for the good of our one, very special world, shrinking our footprint together

So, welcome aboard! Our hope is that you also find—like the rest of us—that as you embark on a life of living more generously, you get the feeling that maybe this was how we were supposed to be living all along.

How Generous fits with our Diocesan commitment to shrinking its footprint

Going Generous as a Diocese fits perfectly with our existing environmental policy – 'Sustain and renew the life of the earth' – and the 'Green List' we published in support of that. As The Rt Revd Dr Kenneth Stevenson, Bishop of Portsmouth, has said: "Generous is a great way of involving us all in reducing the footprint of Portsmouth Diocese. I urge you to join."

Our Mission Statement in this respect says that 'the church in the Diocese and every member should 'strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth'. And just two of the beliefs that the policy identifies as underpinning this commitment are:

• Living responsibly as stewards to whom God has entrusted the care and conservation of the earth.
  and
• Realise that climate injustice is visited upon many who have contributed least to the greenhouse gases resulting from the lifestyles of the few.

Our Vision is to have every church in the Diocese take a lead so that every Christian in their discipleship would work for a sustainable society in a sustainable world, by each member of the Diocese (among other things):

• Ensuring the responsible use and recycling of natural resources.
  and
• Transforming their lifestyle through significantly reducing what they consume, and then re-using what can and recycling what cannot be re-used.

In line with this, the Diocesan Synod has called every church and member in the Diocese to be committed (among other things):

• To accept that acting 'to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth' is integral to Christian mission and discipleship, and calls us to work with community partners, such as Local Strategic Partnerships and Councils, to bring about greener and more sustainable lifestyles to the glory of God.
• To take account of the environmental impact and, with great urgency, significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint of all their current and future activity.

As The Rt Revd Dr Kenneth Stevenson, Bishop of Portsmouth says: "I commend this policy to the diocese as a call requiring nothing less than the wholesale renewal of our lifestyles as disciples."

In support of this Policy, the Diocesan 'Green List' was issued with the aim of giving congregations the basis to make and adapt their own environmental action plan. It was always intended to be organic and collaborative. We think that going Generous fits with this. Among the actions it suggests are to:

• identify environmental issues in our village, town, county or area as a whole, and devise appropriate action on them
• seek appropriate information from environmental groups and keep abreast of current thinking. Supporting the work of local and national environmental organisations as appropriate
• ask members to consider the personal impact of their daily lives on the environment
• encourage environmentally-friendly forms of transport, walk, cycle, use public transport, share cars, keep journeys to meeting venues short, and keep fossil fuel emissions as low as we can, wherever possible
• encourage the sharing of lifts and car pools for people to attend public worship

Much of what the Green List recommends at a church level applies to us all as individuals, too. And Generous is a fun, communal means of keeping tabs on ourselves and our friends, of holding one another to account over our efforts in shrinking the footprint together.

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For more on all this, go to the Diocesan 'Environment & Ecology' pages here http://www.portsmouth.anglican.org/info/diocese/ mission_and_society/social_responsibility/environment_and_ecology/