Leamington environmentalist feels inspired after North America trip

Chris Philpott, who has been campaigning on issues such as recycling and climate change and has been involved in organising activities in and around south Warwickshire relating to sustainability, gardening, conservation and meditation, wanted to talk about his book, Green Spirituality, to people in the USA and Canada because of the large volumes of carbon dioxide emitted from these countries.

The book explores the idea of turning to spiritual teachings to face environmental problems and world poverty.

Having travelled across the Atlantic by ship so as to keep his own carbon emissions down, Mr Philpott, who works as a teaching assistant at Campion School, visited communities in New York and Boston, then into the major cities of Canada and back along the east coast of the USA and to Chicago and along to the west coast - ending in Los Angeles.

A year after he set off from the UK, Mr Philpott, who stayed in people’s homes throughout his trip, is now back home and feels even more inspired to carry on with his work as an environmentalist.

He said: “I gave 25 talks to audiences from two to 60, but generally had a warm reception. One highlight was giving a talk in the official United Nations Church opposite the United Nations headquarters, where the enthusiastic audience bought all the books I could carry and fielded some stimulating questions.

“Another highlight was being invited to record a television programme in Fairfax, Virginia, to talk about my ideas about interfaith and the environment with an estimated audience of 250,000.

“I was determined not to be judgemental about Americans and, staying with them, I got to know America from the inside and I found the people friendly, generous and intelligent.”

He added: “The trip gave me greater inspiration to carry on my work as an environmentalist. In the end, all we can do is to act upon our awareness to do what is right and not get tied up in the results of our actions - and this is what I tried to do on my tour.”

To find out more about Mr Philpott and his book, visit www.greenspirituality.org