So, there’s the energyshare tariff, which offers British renewable electricity, “made possible by British Gas”; the energyshare fund; and most importantly the energyshare online community, “which helps individuals and communities to connect online”.

And @trashnothing says: “i saw you’re a fan of freecycle, you might like http://trashnothing.com – it makes your freecycle groups quicker and easier to use”

This site is really well built and works like a social networking ite connecting peole who want to carpool. I not only save the cost of my trip, but also have a very social experience while making the trip.

One of the interesting features of old English Churches is that the land surrounding them has remained undisturbed for hundreds of years apart from the occasional disruption caused by the digging of graves. Most of our churchyards have not been treated with chemicals and as a result the soil has escaped the pollution which has turned much of our farmland into deserts which are incapable of supporting wild flowers and insects. They also contain the seeds of many types of native plants and grasses which will grow abundantly if they are given the opportunity to develop. This means that churchyards have the potential to become a haven for many of our butterflies, but this does not happen very often because people like to see a tidy churchyard with the grass neatly cut and the graves free of weeds. As a result the plants which will attract butterflies are not allowed to develop.

In an environment where modern agricultural methods are threatening our native insects there is a strong case for protecting and developing those environments which are capable of offering a haven to endangered species and our churchyards have the potential to be ideal habitats for our native wildlife if they are managed effectively. It has to be recognised that the church and the churchyard are special places where people come to worship God and to pay tribute to those who have died and it is important that land management is carried out with the agreement of those who attend the church and that it is organised in a way which demonstrates that the churchyard is being cared for.

There is often a conflict between those who like to see a churchyard with neatly cut grass and those who want to see the churchyard become a meadow which will be a home for butterflies and other creatures. One way of resolving the conflict between the need to show care and respect for the dead and to provide an environment where wildlife can flourish is to divide the churchyard into areas where the more recent graves are carefully tended and areas where there are no graves or the graves are so old that they tend to be neglected and there are no living relatives of the deceased to be upset when the wild flowers and grasses are allowed to develop.

Please consider allowing a part of your churchyard to develop naturally so that it can become a haven for wildlife. The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has produced an excellent book on this subject which is entitled “Yorkshire Living Churchyard Project” – “Churchyard Management Booklet”. This booklet explains exactly how churchyards can be managed and is available for downloading from their website – http://www.ywt.org.uk/living_churchyards.php .