Hello – my name is Emma and I live in Manchester and I am a Christian

Emma from Manchester Manchester is a big city with lots to do Emma from Manchester Manchester is a big city with lots to do. I love to go with my friends to the Arndale which is the UK's largest shopping centre. Last week was my birthday so I had a great time - spend, spend, spend! I am also involved with the a youth movement at our church. At the moment we are raising money for a school in Java, in Indonesia. Maybe one day I will be able to go there and meet everyone.

Emma from Manchester I am really interested in the Environment and would like to study Ecology when I leave school. Everywhere I go and everything I see on TV makes me really concerned about the future of our planet. At school we learn about global warming and habitat destruction – it seems that the world we are creating is not good for the plants and animals or many of the human beings.

Emma from Manchester We had a visit from the Pope recently and I was reading about what he said about the Environment. He said: ‘The relationship between human beings and the earth is increasingly complicated and urgent. Every day there are stories about pollution, global warming and animal species facing extinction. Care of water resources and attention to climate change are matters of grave importance for the entire human family.’

Emma from Manchester We have always been taught that the Earth is on loan to us from God and that we have to look after it. Christians are taught that there could be enough food and land for everyone. We should work together to make sure that we produce enough food and have clean water for everyone without spoiling the environment. Human greed is the main reason this does not happen.

Emma from Manchester I am as guilty as anyone else, I want ‘stuff’, I love to shop, and I don’t always think of the effect that what I do has on the planet or on other people who need its resources. I have decided to try to DO ONE THING. Every day I am going to try to do one thing which is positive for the environment and the people who rely on it being in a better state.

Emma from Manchester Today my ONE THING is going to be that I walk to school instead of getting the bus and the money I save goes into the Java school fund.