The Church of Uganda has gone green, asking parishioners not to bring plastic bags and bottles to church and to discontinue using them at home. The Plastic Free Church Campaign was launched on Tuesday by the Most Rev. Samuel Kaziimba at the provincial offices in Namirembe. At a tree planting ceremony held to mark the occasion the archbishop told reporters he had asked church leaders to ban polyethene bags and plastic bottles from church grounds as they harmed the environment.
The Uganda country director for the World Wide Fund for Nature (known in the US as the World Wildlife Fund) Mr. David Duli joined Archbishop Kaziimba at the tree planting ceremony on Tuesday, telling reporters the WWF was partnering with the church to teach Ugandans the importance of environmental stewardship.
“Having the church take drastic and immediate actions in favor of nature has been one of the new deal campaign advocacy aspirations” for the WWF he told reporters at the 6 Oct 2020 ceremony.
The archbishop encouraged churches to plant trees on their land, not only to protect the environment but to discourage land grabbing from those who saw the land as abandoned.
He added: “Church leaders should plant the same number of trees commensurate to the number of the children baptized, couples wedded and confirmations made.”
