Review by Valmae Young:

Planetwise

by David Bookless    ivpbooks.com/planetwise

Planetwise is a wonderful DVD / CD resource for churches interested in caring about the environment which has been created by A Rocha which is an international conservation organisation.

On the DVD there is a short documentary piece in which a number of church leaders have spoken of the need to care for God's creation and biblical perspective about environmental issues.

Rev Prof Alistair McGrath, Prof of Historical Theology, University of Oxford says:

"If God made the world, then it is something we need to care for. As Christians we are called to love what God loves and that means if we love God we must love what God has made and that means other people but it also means this environment in which we live right now."

Rev John Stott says:

"God created man and gave us a responsible dominion over the earth."

A short video is included on an A Rocha field study centre at Surrey, British Columbia, Canada which welcomes visitors from the local community and around the world to participate in their conservation and sustainability projects and over 2000 children visit the site every year for environmental education programmes.

There is also another inspiring video on Lewknor Chiltern Gateway at St Margaret's church which is where the Vicar of Dibley was filmed. This is an area of outstanding natural beauty and is a fantastic habitat for wildlife and plants. The church has been working with the local community to make the area accessible to visitors interested in wildlife by offering a welcoming space, practical conservation days, monthly events, services with an environmental theme and a local nature club for school children.

A truly wonderful project which has brought a lot of joy to the community is Minet Country park which is A Rocha Living Waterways project working with the local community, council and local landowners to create a park out of a 90 acre wasteland site. The film documents the amazing benefits that conservation work has brought to this slice of Southall where many species of birds, butterflies and dragonflies are now flourishing.

There is also a speech by David Bookless, filmed at St James' Church, Gerrards Cross on 14th October 2007 called 'Simplify -when life becomes too wasteful'.

A family doctor from Sheffield, Dr Graham McAll, shows off his electric G-Wiz car which he claims uses only 27 pence worth of electricity to charge and does 40 miles per charge.

The CD is an environmental resource pack. It contains worship service materials, sermons, talks, powerpoint presentations, children's materials, audio talks, audio visual resources, articles, ways of measuring your carbon footprint, leaflets and suggestions for further reading for those interested in caring for God's creation and sustainable living.