The High Holy Days are almost upon us!  Currently we are in the Jewish month of Elul, which ends just before Rosh Hashanah.  Traditionally Elul is the month of cheshbon hanefesh, or the 'accounting of the soul'.  A time for reflection and review of the past year, and a kind of spiritual clearing up to get one's house in order before the big days.  Apparently it is also traditional for people to increase their acts of tzedakah (charity) around now in order to bank some credit before God starts checking the ledger, which seems to Eco Corner not to be quite in the spirit of things, and more like creative accounting of the soul.  However, if you are looking for a sustainable way to balance the metaphysical books, you might consider ecologically-friendly steps that reduce your footprint and benefit the environment.  
 
There's a rainbow of options available, from adopting Meatless Monday to insulating your loft.  For more ideas why not check the back catalogue of eco wit and wisdom at https://3cljceco-cornerarchive.weebly.com/, the (mostly) up-to-date Eco-Corner Archive?

Eco Corner loves a mitzvah that is re-interpreted or adapted for environmentally-friendly ends. With Rosh Hashanah fast approaching (September 11th to 12th), Jewish eco-movements are encouraging us to take part in reverse tashlich. Obviously Eco-Corner is extremely learned, knows exactly what tashlich is, and didn't have to look it up, but if one were to do so, one would learn that it is the Rosh Hashanah custom of symbolically casting one's sins into water, by shaking out the corners of your pockets or throwing breadcrumbs into a river, lake or the sea.  

Eco-Corner's favourite bit of tradition around this is that bodies of water with fish in them are preferred, because in Jewish folklore, fish are not subject to the evil eye (according to the Talmud, “the water covers the fish of the sea so the eye has no power over them”). The Jewish charity Repair the Sea (Tikkun HaYam) came up with the idea of the reverse tashlich, where instead of casting stuff into the water, we take stuff out, both literally and symbolically cleansing the water of pollution and the 'sin' of pollution. We hope to have more on this in future Corners but, in the meantime, anyone can perform reverse tashlich at any time by gathering litter and waste from, for example, riverbanks or beaches, but remember to be careful near water. Don't tashlich yourself!

 If only there were a way to combine taking care of your local environment and community with a healthy workout or activity.  Well hold on to your bin bag because there is just such a pastime, and it's called plogging!  Plogging is a Swedish portmanteau of the words for jogging (jogga) and picking up litter (plocka up).  You can read about its origins and amazing achievements here.  

The idea is that you combine any kind of outdoor activity or exercise, from walking or jogging, to cycling or skateboarding, to golfing or paddleboarding, with the simple act of picking up rubbish.  You will probably need a few things, such as a bin bag and a pair of gloves, but it is a radically accessible and a universal way of making a difference to your community and your health at the same time.  To find a group near you, to get support and add a social element, check out sites such as Clean Up UK.

Keeping Cool at HomeAs we go towards yet another heatwave, all the Eco-conversation is about how we can avoid heat and keep ourselves cool at home.  While a first thought may be of the cooling air conditioning we sometimes experience in hotter climes, this is not necessarily the first option to go for, and is certainly not the cheapest.  If we are really concerned about the planet, as we are encouraged to do in the Torah, we need to look first at how to minimise the amount of heat coming into our homes.  To do this treat your home like a fortress. 

Keep windows and curtains firmly closed during the day to block solar gain.  Only open your windows early in the morning or late at night when the outside air is cooler to let fresh air circulate.  If you have any skylights, these are the most direct source of heat into your house, so make sure you have window blinds for them.  External window blinds are more effective if you can get them.  For a cheap solution, try sourcing a white fitted sheet which can then be placed on the outside of your skylight.  If you are lucky enough to have a pergola, try fitting a shade sail.  You can get these for as little as £20, and they will significantly reduce the heat coming into your house.  Outside shutters are very common in hot countries because blocking external radiation by having blinds or shutters outside your windows is very effective, though not always the cheapest option or the easiest to install.  However, if you want to invest in keeping cool in the long term, this is the way to go.

As readers of Eco Corner will know, Bal Taschit which originates from the prohibition of cutting down fruit trees in times of war (Deuteronomy 20:19-20) also tells us to minimise wasteful destruction of the earth’s resources. 
We know that all our carbon footprint contributes to global warming (which we may be experiencing directly as you read this).  Eco Corner has written about this before, but one way you can significantly reduce your holiday travel carbon footprint is to go by train instead of flying or using a car.
Eco Corner knows that travelling by train throughout Europe does not need to cost the earth, though it does mean a little more planning.  You can buy a 5-day Eurail travel pass for around £200 which gives you unlimited European travel for those days, though you may have to pay reservation fees in addition.  There are many bonuses – most European trains are more comfortable and more efficient than at home.  Some of the routes have beautiful scenery, so travel can be a pleasure and not a chore.  Not to mention you do not have to negotiate airports!

If you don’t want to plan for yourself, there are some excellent companies specialising in rail holidays, such as Byway Travel at https://www.byway.travel/ where you can design your own trip, but the organisation is all done for you.
 
Before you jump to an instant package for your next holiday, think slower but more enjoyable travel. 

3CLJC ChatMembers of the community will be aware that Rabbi Anna is masterfully orchestrating a thriving network of WhatsApp groups under the 3CLJC banner.  One of these chat groups is the exciting and dynamic Eco Judaism chat community, where all the best people hang out.

Eco-Corner would very much like to encourage all readers to make a beeline for their WhatsApp app and join us.  If you open the 3CLJC community group or chat, and tap on the heading, you should see a tab near the top titled 'Community'.  Tap on that and then on 'View Groups', and go down the list until you reach Eco Judaism.  If you tap on this group it will either say “join” or “request to join”: tap that and then you’re either in the group, or an admin can grant you access. It's just that simple. Hope to see you there!

We have just passed the festival of Shavuot, the Festival of First Fruits, as well as marking the giving of the Torah. This corresponds with harvest time in the Middle East, but here in England we are in the 'hungry gap' as far as fruits and vegetables are concerned, waiting for our crops to grow and fruit to ripen. What we do have is an abundance of flowers, and several of you brought flowers from your gardens to the Shabbat Shavuot service.

Here at Eco Corner we want to remind you that if you are looking to buy flowers as a gift or for a special occasion, it's best to avoid supermarket flowers as these have often travelled a long way, do not last as long, and are also likely to have been sprayed with pesticides. Why not consider buying local flowers from a local grower?  You can find growers near you at https://www.flowersfromthefarm.co.uk/find-flowers/
Some growers local to 3CLJC members are:

Graceful Stems at Sandhurst near Gloucester
Naunton Farm flowers at Toddington:
Fox Lane Flowers in Stroud
Wye Valley Flowers, St Briavels, Lydney

But there are many more!

A visit to a flower grower can be an enjoyable experience too, so if you do try a local grower, let the Eco Judaism Team know what you think. Then we can build up our own directory of growers worth visiting.

You can’t fail to have noticed the increase in activity of birds, bees and even butterflies at this time of the year, but how much time have you spent watching or listening to the variety of creatures in our gardens, or public spaces?  In a recent BBC documentary “My Garden of a Thousand Bees” you would be amazed at the variety of types and activities of so many different bees that visit our gardens.  Making a simple bee hotel by drilling holes into an old piece of wood is one way to help bees, as even they like to have a place to rest and also to lay eggs. 
 
In this new month of Iyar, as we count the Omer, Eco Judaism is inviting all Eco-J members to count what we as Jews are doing to enhance biodiversity across the UK.
 
Send in photos/details or a 20-second video clip of:

• Eco gardens/vertical gardens/planting schemes/bird boxes/bird feeders/bee hotels/ponds.  These can be in your gardens or balconies at home.
• Send your contributions to [email protected].

These will be showcased in the Eco Judaism Summer Newsletter and at the Awards Celebration.
 
3CLJC Eco Judaism Team would also be interested in what you are doing to  encourage biodiversity, so please copy your email to [email protected].  That will put us another step closer to our next Eco-Judaism Award.

For their One Green Step for the month of Nissan, Eco-Judaism are promoting yet another top tip for greening your Pesach: moving to china for Pesach.
 
Those community members who go the whole hog at Pesach (or whatever the kosher equivalent idiom is), and want to avoid chametz-contaminated tableware, may be tempted to deploy single-use plastics.  The E-J folks fret that these will be “incinerated or go to landfill, poisoning our air, soil and waterways”.  They suggest using real china, either by getting an old set out of the attic or investing in a cheap dinner service from a retailer such as Ikea.  Real china can be re-used and, even when it gets disposed of, is a sustainable material that does not cause environmental pollution like plastic.

Eco-Corner is keen for everyone to enjoy a LOAF seder this Passover.  Don't worry, it doesn't involve anything chametz.  LOAF stands for Local, Organic, Animal-friendly and Fairtrade.  A really good way to be LOAF is to keep your seder vegetarian or vegan, but there is a Pesach custom that could put a spanner in these veggie works.  

Ashkenazi Jews have traditionally observed a ban on kitniyot, a class of food that was said to be dangerously similar to chametz or taboo foods, such as those which are not kosher for Passover.  So, for instance, they are not supposed to eat legumes or corn (even popcorn!).  This prohibition poses a particular problem for anyone trying to observe a vegetarian or vegan Pesach, since kitniyot include several vegetarian stalwarts such as beans and rice.  One way round this is to consider observing Pesach the Sephardi way.  Sephardi Jews do not follow the kitniyot prohibition (see here for more on why), and there are several other intriguing Sephardi Passover customs, such as soft, pita bread-style matzah, and dipping karpas in lemon juice.  Find out more here. 

Chag Pesach Sameach from all at Eco-Corner!