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Pesach Cleaning
There has been a lot in the press lately about water and whether our rivers or seas are clean enough for us to swim in. Is this all the fault of the water companies discharging too much waste water? Quite rightly, pressure is being put on water companies to clean up their act, but there is also much we can do ourselves to minimise the chemicals that go into our waste water. Approaching Pesach is a time when we are inspired to clean our houses from top to bottom, and a good time to think about what we use to clean ourselves, our clothes and our houses. One of the simplest changes is to use an ecological laundry liquid instead of a standard detergent to do our weekly wash or, better still, laundry leaves which do the job just as effectively. (See article from The Independent.) These also mean that you do not have to include heavy boxes of powder in your weekly shop. Personal care, toiletry and cleaning products can also be harmful to the environment as they can include quite a mix of non-bio-degradable chemicals. There is a wide range of eco-friendly shower gels, shampoos, and surface cleaners, which are easy to source, so look carefully next time you do your weekly cleaning shop. All of this helps to reduce the pollution in our rivers and seas, and may even give us extra points in our Eco-Judaism audit. Following on from our last Eco Corner, the good folk at Eco-Judaism point out that Purim is just round the corner (23rd and 24th March), and is a great time to put sustainability theory into practice. In particular they advocate adopting a sustainable approach to fancy dress, and they have ideas to help. Visit their special Purim page here, and you will see that as well as a short list of ideas, they have a sidebar of links on topics such as “Easy costumes using normal clothes” and “Make your own gragger” (which is not as illegal as it sounds). Ah freilichen Purim!
In Spring the 3CLJCer's mind may lightly turn to thoughts of a fresh new wardrobe to mark the changing of the seasons! As the sun comes out, the flowers bloom and the cherries blossom, who does not dream of exciting new glad rags to suit the weather?! But stop! Fast fashion is woefully unsustainable, with 11 million items binned each week in the UK alone. Now we at Eco Corner know that this simply sounds like another nice thing we cannot have thanks to the eco-grinches, but slow fashion is a movement that is both stylishly and ecologically rewarding to embrace. Learn all about it here, and here; and, if you are interested in exploring further, check out this podcast.
Also don't forget that we are keen to make community meals sustainable, so if you are kind enough to bring something for kiddush, please remember to try to make it LOAF (Local, Organic, Animal friendly and Fair-trade), and, if possible, vegetarian or vegan. The Eco-Judaism website has an interesting page of book recommendations - https://ecojudaism.org.uk/book-recommendations/ – which lists a number of titles that they “believe worth having on your bookshelf as you become more environmentally engaged”. Eco Corner would be very grateful for your help in checking out some of these titles, and possibly penning a short (or long) review thereof for inclusion in a future newsletter. Eco Corner's own review of Wilding, by Isabella Tree, will hopefully feature in the next newsletter, and it would be fantastic if other members of the community could pick a book from the list and read it on our behalf.
Don't forget that we value your feedback, and that you can contact the Eco Team via the Eco-Judaism page on the 3CLJC website, or via 3CLJC’s Facebook group. One way to express your green principles is through the power of your purse. This can involve ethical and sustainable consumerism (i.e. buying green products), but it can also mean ethical investing. Eco Corner is not an investment advisor (although obviously we would be brilliant at it), but one person you can trust for advice about money is Money Saving Expert (and top Jew) Martin Lewis. His website has a page on ethical banking, although this article about the NS&I Green Bond also has more direct comparison of green savings products.
The involvement of you, the community, is essential to the 3CLJC Eco-Judaism project, so we would very much like to hear from you, whether it's ideas for subjects to cover in Eco Corner, or news about green successes or challenges in your life/neighbourhood. You can contact us via the Eco-Judaism page on the 3CLJC website. Three Counties Liberal Jewish Community were privileged to join forces with the Springhill Cohousing Community in Stroud, to celebrate Eco-Shabbat, 2023. The Cohousing Community is an amazing development of houses and apartments that forms its own little neighbourhood, with car-free streets and lanes, green spaces and playgrounds, and a central building that includes a communal kitchen and dining hall, and a big communal lounge. It was in this room that members of 3CLJC gathered with current and former residents of the Cohousing community, seated on cushions, big squishy sofas and an assortment of chairs. Rabbi Anna led us through the Eco-Shabbat service, leavening the usual order with some eco-appropriate readings and prayers.
When it came to the Parashat, with its oddly esoteric account of Jacob's wrestling match with a mysterious stranger, and subsequent renaming as 'Israel', Rabbi Anna did her best to tease out the connection to themes of the Eco-Shabbat. She drew a parallel between the interpretation of Israel as 'struggle', and each person's struggle to find relevance and motivation in their individual eco-friendly actions, in the face of such an overwhelming, global phenomenon. After this we were treated to a Tikkun Olam presentation by upcoming Barmitzvah boy Isaac, who gave a relaxed and engaging talk about his adventures in accessible Eco-activism. Amusing photographs illustrated his performance of ten simple steps to live more sustainably, ranging from litter picking to wild foraging, which he related to core Jewish values of caring for the environment with short readings from inspirational Jewish texts. After the service we all retired to the community hall for kiddush and a delicious vegan/vegetarian lunch. The founder of the Cohousing community, David, was generous with his time and knowledge, giving us a quick introduction to the background and history of the project, and answering a barrage of questions, ranging from finance to resolution of disputes about communal cooking. David explained that the nature of such communities means that they are inherently more sustainable, not just because of their non-car ethos and high standards of insulation, but simply by virtue of the communal mode of living. Although Springhill was not explicitly designed to be an eco-friendly development, for future communities that are designed with eco-credentials in mind, its model is likely to be one to emulate. After the meal, we all joined forces to help clean up, and Springhill resident Jeremy gave a tour of the development to interested parties. All in all, it was a fascinating and convivial Eco-Shabbat, and we were enormously grateful for the generosity and warmth of the welcome we received from the Springhill community. 3CLJC ECO JUDAISM UPDATE
We are currently waiting to hear if our application for Silver Award has been approved, which if gained, will be a great achievement for our community in a relatively short timescale. However, our Eco-Judaism credentials are not based simply on Awards but need to be embedded in our daily practice, whether on a community or individual basis. We’ve had some good recent initiatives including our very successful Eco Shabbat with Springhill Co-Housing group where we heard a lot about living more sustainably, and our Mitzvah Day, where we again brought clothes for recycling. Another recent development is that we have linked up with a prospective member of 3CLJC, who is also a member of the Eco-Church network, so we have been exchanging notes and information to help us both move forward and improve our practice as ‘overseers’ of the Eco-Judaism/Eco-Church projects in our respective settings. Happy new year from Eco-Corner. At this time of year it is a sore temptation to turn up the thermostat and run the heating at all hours, but step away from the dial, for an amusing article in the Guardian caught our eye, addressing the important eco-dictum, heat the person not the house. Grauniad scribe Emma Beddington reviews some personal heating fabric options, from electric ponchos to heated footwarmers, and gives two thumbs up to several of them. If, like your unfortunate Eco-Cornerer, you are accustomed to shivering at your desk all day because you refuse to turn on the central heating in daylight hours, then personal heating is the money-saving, sustainable and cosy way to go. Although obviously Eco-Corner does not endorse any particular products, check out the article here.
ECO-CORNER
About six weeks from now comes the festival of Tu B’shvat, also known as Rosh HaShanah La'Ilanot, the New Year for Trees. This has become a celebration of ecological awareness and is, naturally, the favourite festival of Eco-Corner. This year we are hoping that 3CLJC will agree to mark Tu B'shvat by sponsoring tree-planting through the remarkable J-Tree initiative, a conservation programme linked to the Eco-Judaism movement. Alongside a community donation, individual donations are obviously also welcome. If you are interested in donating to get a tree planted, or just in finding out more about the project, head to jtree.org.uk. |
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