High Holydays 2025 As we have just passed Rosh Hashanah and approach Yom Kippur, we are encouraged to reflect both on ourselves and the world around us.  One of the tenets of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is that of letting go – letting go of past wrongs, of unhelpful habits, and letting go of the past year.

In our gardens we can apply this by letting go of projects and tasks which may now need to wait until next spring, but more immediately, letting go of clearing leaves or moss, both of which are beneficial to our gardens.  Leaves left on the soil are a great soil conditioner, and also act as a barrier to weeds.

Mosses absorb water, reduce water runoff and soil erosion and also improve soil health.  So reduce your impulse to clear up mosses, leaves and even dead wood, which provides a home for insects and fungi.  Let nature have its way, and both your garden and biodiversity will benefit.

Shanah Tovah 5786

Eco-Judaism have declared that the theme of this year's upcoming Eco-Shabbat (Saturday 22nd November - mark it in your diaries!) is l'ab'dah uhl'sam'rah, “to tend and watch over”.  This comes from the Biblical verse Genesis 2:15 “The Lord set the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it".  In other words, according to Jewish teaching, humanity was created to steward the natural environment.  You may be thinking that hasn't worked out so well, but in the spirit of “tending the garden”, Eco Corner was put in mind of something everyone can do in their own garden, if they are lucky enough to have one: making it hedgehog friendly.
 
The RSPCA has a helpful guide here, which includes advice such as providing helpful habitats in the form of piles of leaves, logs or compost; making gaps in garden boundaries to enable hedgehog access; leaving out hedgehog-approved food – NOT milk or bread, but tinned dog or cat food, or proper hedgehog food, served in clean dishes.  Did Adam make the Garden of Eden hedgehog-friendly with similar steps?  Eco Corner likes to think so.

The Eco Judaism team have been busy behind the scenes these past three months.
We are now linked in to the national Eco Judaism WhatsApp group which gives us the opportunity to see many of the initiatives happening in other communities, especially with regard to biodiversity. It also gives us a profile, albeit a small one, so for example, others now know about our fortnightly Eco Corners.
Another benefit of being linked to other groups is that we can join in with national campaigns and petitions linked to respecting the environment. Recently, we signed the Faith based Oceans Charter demanding clean seas, timed to coincide with the UN Ocean conference in Nice in June 2025 . This multi-faith Declaration for the Ocean emphasized our spiritual and moral commitments to marine conservation and was signed by over 80 faith based organisations: https://www.oceans.faith/sign#declaration-top The health of our oceans and the dangers of industrial fishing practices are issues we all need to pay more attention to.
Another recent initiative has been a sharing of Eco-ideas with Michelle of Neve Shalom, Leicester progressive Jewish congregation. They have a very active Eco-Judaism team and often organise collaborative events with other local groups, for example Quakers. This can make events such as talks or film showings more viable, and they recently showed the film Six Inches of Soil, which is about the need for and the value of healthy soil. https://www.liberaljudaism.org/2024/11/how-the-power-of-community-can-drive-positive-change/)
This is an idea we may be able to make use of in 3CLJCin the future.
Our most recent Eco Judaism initiative in the community has been exploring the ethical dimension of cut flowers. As mentioned in the article about Shavuot, the cut flower business is also often sadly about ignoring the Eco dimension of growing, transporting and selling flowers. While there are times when we may need to order flowers grown abroad, in most cases we can easily find sustainably grown flowers locally. See: https://www.flowersfromthefarm.co.uk/
Looking ahead, although a way off yet, we are starting to plan our Eco-Shabbat in November, which we hope again will be hosted by a Housing Cooperative in Stroud. This time we are exploring the idea of having a joint activity such as tree planting following the service.
Eco-Judaism Team

Rabbi Anna’s talk covered diverse aspects of the Shavuot festival. One lesser known element suggested that when Moses brought down the tablets setting out the ten commandments the whole of Mount Sinai bloomed with flowers.
The Eco-team took this opportunity to highlight the importance of considering ethically sourced flowers and brought along information about an organisation called Flowers from the Farm: https://www.flowersfromthefarm.co.uk/ . Many community members brought flowers picked from their own gardens to decorate the hall for this occasion.
It comes as a surprise to many people when they discover the flower industry is not as planet-friendly as they imagine, while sustainable floristry supports the environmental, social and economic requirements of present and future generations and is better for the planet. Sustainable florists are committed to tackling climate change, pollution and inequality through education, making better choices and guiding their customers through this process.

Do you want to have lettuces and spring onions free? Do you want to avoid food waste?

If you regularly buy lettuces and spring onions in your supermarket shop, instead of throwing away the base or stalk of the lettuce simply place this (ideally around 2 inches or 5 centimetres in length) in a glass of water about 1 inch or 2.5 centimetres deep and leave for a few days.  Change the water daily to avoid any decay and after a few days you should see new shoots start to appear from the stem.  It’s then ready to put in a pot with earth or compost and place in a sunny spot on a windowsill or greenhouse.  Water regularly and within 3 to 6 weeks you will find a beautiful new lettuce.

For spring onions, simply place the bulb/root and about 1 or 2 inches of stem in a small amount of water (after having eaten the main parts of the stems). Within a few days you will find new green growth which you can cut off and add to your fresh salads.

For a more detailed video see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vra7ymw_5Io&t=57.

Oxford City Council is famously (or notoriously, depending on your point of view) eco-forward, so Eco Corner was interested to see them posting a set of tips for how to reduce plastic waste or even go plastic-free. The full article can be found here, and goes into some detail, but here are a few highlights:

• Carry reusable cups, bottles, and cutlery: “Takeaway coffee cups and plastic water bottles, straws and cutlery are so easily avoided if you are prepared”. They recommend using the Refill app to find places to get free water.
• Try to buy products without plastic packaging – easier said than done but fruit and veg often come loose.
• Take your own bags out shopping – this one is now embedded in the culture.
• Replace clingfilm with plastic-free alternatives like wax wraps or fabric covers, or reusable food containers recycled from your shopping.
• Encourage others: “ Every small change counts, and together we can make a positive difference in protecting our environment for generations to come.” That's the spirit!

We are currently in the midst of the Jewish month of Tammuz (27th June to 25th July). Eco Corner was interested to learn that the name of this month is taken from the ancient Mesopotamian god Tammuz (aka Dumuzid), a kind of mythical shepherd with a similar tale to the Persephone of Greek myth, associated with all things agricultural.  Perhaps this suggested to the folks at Eco-Judaism an eco-link, but anyway they are using this month to promote a One Green Step of supporting a programme related to pollinators – those birds and insect beasties that play such a vital role helping crops to flourish, fruit to thrive and flowers to bloom.  
 
Eco-Judaism are asking people to visit the website for the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme, and take part in a citizen science project explained here.  Community members will also be able to see pollinators in action – and the fruits of their labours – at the Bible-Themed Garden Tour on Friday 8th August (for details see Culture Club in this bulletin).

Like it or not, Eco Corner cannot avoid AI these days.  Every time we do a web search we find an AI response at the top of our results, even though we didn't ask for it!  This is a problem because AI has a huge environmental footprint.  This is mainly due to the processing power involved in every response which, in turn, uses a lot of electricity.
 
Smartly AI calculates that each request made of leading generative AI Chat GPT leads to the emission of 4.32g of CO2.  Not much in itself, but scaled up to encompass the millions of requests made each day, a serious problem.  
Unfortunately there is not much we can do as individuals - beyond limiting our use of AI - but companies can make a difference, for instance by investing in sustainable energy generation to source their electricity.  The UN Environment Programme UNEP has a useful guide here.

Along with many other Eco-Judaism communities, 3CLJC Eco-Judaism has just signed the Multi-Faith Declaration to help protect our oceans.  You can read about it at https://www.oceans.faith/sign.  This comes in the wake of the 2025 UN Conference on the oceans, and the release of a new film by David Attenborough, Ocean, which is well worth watching, as is the Netflix documentary Seaspiracy.  Both films illustrate the awful toll of damaging fishing practices such as bottom trawling but, don't worry, we can still eat fish!   
 
It is however worth checking which ones are currently deemed sustainable.  Look for eco-labels like the Marine Stewardship Council’s blue tick for wild-caught seafood, or the Aquaculture Stewardship Council for farmed seafood.

The good folk at EcoJudaism are launching their first major fundraising drive on Sunday 29th and Monday 30th June.  A generous supporter has promised to match-fund everything they raise up to £50,000.  They are asking for help to reach their goal, both financial (donations gratefully received) and in spreading the word.
 
In particular they are looking for EcoJudaism Champions who will forward their appeal to 10 or 20 friends and family with a message about how much they value the work and aims of EcoJudaism by WhatsApp, email or telephone call.  If you would like to answer the call and rise to eco-greatness, please take two minutes to fill in a short form at https://forms.office.com/e/QW20GqwA90.