Archbishop's new year message airs on YouTube

The Archbishop of Canterbury demonstrated yesterday that he was coming to terms with the 21st century by posting his new year message on YouTube, and giving it an environmental theme.

YouTube, founded only two years ago and bought by Google last year for 880m, was also used by the Queen to spread her Christmas Day message.

Dr Rowan Williams's broadcast, on why caring for the planet is a religious duty, was filmed in Canterbury Cathedral and at a nearby recycling centre.

He said: "In a society where we think of so many things as disposable, where we expect to be constantly discarding last year's gadget and replacing it with this year's model do we end up tempted to think of people and relationships as disposable? Are we so fixated on keeping up with change that we lose any sense of our need for stability?" He added that "God does not do waste".

The message was shown on BBC2 last night, and will be broadcast again on BBC1 at noon tomorrow.