Make all of your celebrations carbon neutralShalom and welcome to Tikkun Tips, a monthly nugget of eco-Jewish thought from your friends at the Teva Learning Center. So spring is on its welcome way and we are all itching to celebrate its arrival. Spring is a time of renewed energy, as we emerge from the depths of winter. It is a season of festivities:
weddings, graduations, Passover seders. And while all of this merriment brings us much naches, there is also cause to pause and consider the environmental impact of these events. Why should it be that our celebration degrades the world in which we live?
So this month’s Tikkun Tip is short and sweet. Something very tangible you, your company, organization or congregation can do to offset at least one component of your ecological footprint that stems from the seasonal festivities.
Tikkun Tip #37 Make all of your celebrations carbon neutral!
So what exactly does that mean? Well, it’s somewhat straightforward. Any event you hold is bound to cause the release of carbon into the air-a problem because carbon emissions are linked to environmental concerns such as global climate change, as well as health problems such as lung disease. So making your event carbon neutral simply means taking some action that offsets the carbon emissions generated by your occasion; from those attending traveling to the site, to the resources used in acquiring all the necessary food and supplies. All of this
adds up to your carbon footprint.
But what exactly could I do to snatch some of that carbon back from the atmosphere? I’m only one person, and carbon is so elusive, you might be saying to yourself. Well, luckily there are these wonderful organisms called trees.
Last month we celebrated their new year (it was a rocking good time) and now we can call on them to help us out. See, trees love carbon. They breathe it like we breathe oxygen. So the more trees on earth, the more our carbon emissions actually get consumed before making their way up into the atmosphere. By calculating your carbon footprint, you can then determine how many trees would need to be planted to offset these emissions.
But I’m only one person, how can I calculate my carbon footprint, that sounds a little technical, you may be asking yourself. Well have no fear, because there are numerous organizations and websites that can help out. Carbonfund.org is an organization that reduces the threat of climate change by supporting renewable energy, efficiency and reforestation projects that reduce carbon emissions.
Another resource is the David Suzuki Foundation whose site contains loads of information for both organizations and individuals.
Planting trees to offset your emissions is only one way you can be carbon neutral. Another is to support the work of organizations whose projects help lower carbon emissions around the globe. For example, La Coordinadora del Bajo Lempa is a non governmental organization based in El Salvador that works on many aspects of sustainable development. One of their projects is replacing old wood burning stoves with more efficient and safer stoves, thereby reducing overall carbon emissions as well as smoke-induced health problems among the women who spend significant time working these stoves. By supporting their work, you are, in a chaos theory sort of way, offsetting your own emissions.
While this action may seem a little abstract, I actually think it can go a long way in raising awareness as to how our daily lifestyle choices impact the earth.
Imagine if your synagogue asked members to pay an additional $50 a year to make all synagogue programs carbon neutral. Or if you received a Bar or Bat Mitzvah invitation that suggested planting one tree to offset carbon emissions from the simcha. These small messages can have a very large effect. “Wait, driving to this wedding is polluting the air,” people would be saying to themselves. “And now the invitation tells me exactly what I can do to right this wrong. Pretty neat.”
Making this a personal or institutional policy is not too difficult and would put you in pretty good company. In my hometown of Philadelphia, the Urban Sustainability Forum , a series of public meetings designed to raise awareness about environmental issues, is completely carbon neutral. This year’s Super Bowl was carbon neutral and the Fifa World Cup 2006 will be as well.
So check out the websites listed here that take all of the difficult work out of making your celebrations a bit more green, and eliminate the minor guilt you may have felt in the past while doing the electric slide.
Signing off from Philadelphia,
Nati Passow
Nati Passow is a carpenter, educator and writer living in Philadelphia, Pa. He is Co-Director of the
Jewish Farm School .
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Teva Seminar for Jewish Environmental Education
June 5th-8th, 2006
at Surprise Lake Camp
Spend four days learning about the connection between Judaism and the Environment with Jews of all ages and denominations. Learn how to share this knowledge with your camp, synagogue, school, or youth group.
Programming tracks include:
* Jewish Ethics
* Congregational Education
* Camp and Wilderness
* Organic Agriculture and Educational Gardening
Register Now.
Early bird discount in effect till April 3rd!
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