One of the books recommended by the Eco-Judaism website is Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm, by Isabella Tree (Picador, 2018). Widely hailed at the time of its publication, the book made numerous books of the year shortlists and won awards. It tells the story of how Isabella and her husband, Charlie Burrell, struggled to maintain their family estate and farm, Knepp, in Sussex. Finding it increasingly hard to make the farm economically viable, whilst at the same time becoming aware of the ecological shortcomings of their efforts, they made a radical decision to stop farming and let the land run wild. The results were astonishing, if controversial, as nature flourished in ways that challenged conventional wisdom and mores around conservation, farming, landscape aesthetics and rural values.
There is no question that the story of the Knepp Estate is remarkable and inspiring; whether you consider the book itself to be a good read may depend on your appetite for ecology, since it goes into great detail about topics such as soil science, land management and bird and insect conservation. For those willing to persevere, there are enormous riches on offer here, for what the book uncovers completely upends received wisdom about the past, present and future of the natural landscape in Britain, Europe and beyond. This book will change the way you look at nature and the landscape, from individual trees and bushes, to woodlands, rivers and fields.
For a primarily rural community such as 3CLJC, Wilding offers urgent insights, challenges and questions, with a revolutionary vision of the history and evolution of the landscape and a timely prescription for its future health.
Joel

Your Eco-Team was represented at a recent, very well attended, national Eco Teams Zoom meeting. The main theme was the creation and maintenance of eco gardens. There were very inspiring presentations by Juliette of Potters Bar & Brookmans Park Synagogue and from Lesley of the Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation.
Juliette took us on a virtual tour of the Potters Bar wild garden – lots of areas seemingly left to their own devices and wildlife encouraged with bee ‘hotel’ and bird feeders. Also, fruit, veg and water butts. The Synagogue has links with the RSPB and has received Council grants to support their vision. Juliette stressed the importance of a committed and enthusiastic eco-team!
The Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation is committed to minimising the impact of their Synagogue on the environment by seeking to reduce their carbon footprint.
To achieve this aim EHC has formed a ‘Green Team’ to fulfil the maxim of ‘Caring for the Environment’. In her presentation their representative showed photos of their fascinating Biblical Garden. All the edible plants they are growing are mentioned in the Torah, the Mishna or the Talmud. One of the many examples was broad beans, apparently a key ingredient of Ezekiel bread – who knew?
Clearly we are at somewhat of a disadvantage without our own building or grounds. Nevertheless Donna from Eco-Judaism gave very positive feedback for the 3CLJC Eco-Team, calling us ‘one of her star groups’ and praising us for our enthusiasm! Although we don’t have our own grounds we do live in a most beautiful and rural part of the country. Many of us will also have our own gardens. We must be able to take advantage of this in committing to care for the environment. More of this in due course.
Andrea, Eco-Judaism’s director of operations rounded up the session by reminding us about the Eco-Judaism awards ceremonies coming up in London and Edinburgh. She really tried to encourage people to attend the ceremonies, especially if they are likely to receive an award – and that means us! The session ended with a short presentation by Naomi the new Chief Executive Officer of Eco-Judaism who has great plans for the movement.
Martin

At the Award ceremony on London on 7 July, held at the home of Rabbi Jonathan Wittenburg, 3CLJC were awarded our Silver Certificate. More details to follow in next Newsletter. While this is a great achievement, we are not rushing to achieve our Gold Award, as the Eco-team feel it important to reinforce and embed some of our existing eco-practices over the next few months. In particular, we are planning two occasions where members will have an opportunity to tell us about any practices or initiatives they have taken personally to live more sustainably. This will help us get a sense, as a community, of what we are currently doing and areas we may want to develop further. We can then incorporate this into our Eco-Judaism audit.
Look out for our Succoth Eco-event and of course, our Eco-Shabbat on Saturday 30th November, when we hope to return to Springhill Co-Housing project.
Julian

This week, with summer holidays upon us, Eco Corner takes a deep dive – into the thorny issue of reef-safe sunscreen.  Visitors to beaches in some parts of the world are now confronted with stern warnings against using reef 'unsafe' sun creams, and eco-conscious holiday shoppers are voting with their wallets.  As a result, most major brands are now jumping on the reef-safe bandwagon.
 
In brief, laboratory tests showed that some popular sunscreen ingredients, most prominently the UV blockers oxybenzone and octinoxate, might be harmful to corals and other reef organisms.  In place of these, reef-safe sunscreens generally use mineral-based UV blockers such as titanium and zinc oxides.  Because they are derived from naturally occurring minerals, they are assumed to be safer.  But the problem is that the science is very far from clear. There is no evidence that concentrations of sunscreen chemicals that you find in the sea really affect reefs, and there is also no guarantee that zinc and titanium-based UV blockers are less harmful to coral (the opposite may be true).
 
The best advice is to limit the amount of sunscreen you need to apply by covering up with long-sleeved, high-necked sunsuits, so that less sunscreen gets in the water to start with.  And really, sunscreen is a sideshow in terms of coral health, because the far more important threat to their health is ocean heating.  As the Smithsonian Institute puts it: “the best chance coral reefs have of survival is to slow the progress of climate change, so choosing a local travel destination over a long, gas-guzzling international flight might just be the most reef friendly choice.”