To Till and to Tend

When we’re younger, first learning what it means to be responsible individuals, adults periodically reward us for our good actions.  From weekly allowance to a neighbor’s tip for watching the cat while they were away, money was good reinforcement for encouraging more good deeds.  We learned the value of money and a job well done. 

 

As we get older, we began to understand that certain actions have merit beyond monetary payment. (Those of us in the non-profit sector understand this quite well.) We make our beds because we like our rooms to look tidy.  We wash the dishes and take out the garbage because we hate roaches and other pests.  We water a neighbor’s plants while they’re away because we like them and hope that they will return the favor. 

I no longer expect money for fulfilling my responsibilities to my family, community or planet. 

Consequently, I was surprised and a little weirded out to receive a $25 gift card from the New York Blood Center thanking me for my recent donation.  I am O+ and have never had trouble giving blood, so I try to donate as often as I can.  I appreciate the post-donation juice and cookies, and go home feeling that the deed was gift enough.

And then a few weeks later I got this monetary Thank You in the mail, forcing me to question myself and good deeds.  Would I be more conscientious of donating blood more regularly if I knew every time I would get paid?  Same question with a twist, would people do more mitzvot if God doled out a quarter each time?

I would love to live in a world where everyone loved doing good deeds for the warm-fuzzy feeling (let’s not even bother with altruism). But as we wait for that world, maybe $25 gift cards and Obama’s stimulus package are the way we have to go.  

I don’t think I’ve ever minded “being different,” but I have to admit, it’s sometimes nice to be part of a group. 

 

For the past two years, I’ve had three garbage bins in my apartment: trash (as Whole Foods notes – Landfill), recycle and compost.  Trash and recycle I can conveniently drop off in the bins downstairs, but unlike cities like San Francisco, I don’t have a special green bin for my compostables.  So what’s a gal to do?  About once a week, I tie up my bag of compost and bring it downtown to the Union Square Green Market.  There, the Lower East Side Ecology Center has a compost drop-off.   At their stand, I empty my bag filled with carrot tops, egg shells and squash rind and can buy fresh compost for my plants.  I am not sure it gets much easier than that.

 

I am no fool – I know this is a bit “different,” but as I said, I’m ok with that.  But the cool thing is, it’s not so different anymore.  Even in the heart of winter, I find myself finding other urban composters to chat with as we’re dumping our goods.  Thanks to a NYTimes article published last month, I learned that there are people across NYC who take composting to the next level, and (with the help of worms) compost in their own home!  Best of all, this communal effort really adds up.  Below is from a LESEC e-newsletter: 

 

We have collected more than 130 tons of food scraps from New York City residents this year! Not only is that twice what we collected in 2007, but it’s more than 1200 lbs of food per collection day. 

This matters because:

• Landfill space: Food accounts for about 13 percent of the nation’s trash — it is the third largest component after paper and yard trimmings — and about 16 percent of New York’s
• As compost biodegrades, it doesn’t release methane, a potent greenhouse gas (due to ventilation)

One of the most frequent questions I received while running the “How Many Jewish Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb?” campaign was “Does it really matter if I change my light bulb?”  I understand the root of the question, but I have always responded with an unwavering “Yes!”  We don’t exist in a vacuum.  Each of us acts as part of a community of friends, family and faiths, and as we act as a collective, real change occurs. 

Thousands of climate activists will take to the streets and the Hill this weekend for two watershed events that hopefully foreshadow a huge year in the fight against climate change.

On Friday, nearly ten thousand students from across the country will converge on Washington for PowerShift ’09, a training conference focused on advocating for progressive climate and energy legislation. Students will hear from leading environmental thinkers and activists will hit the Hill to demand that our leaders act now to protect our planet for future generations. Universities are America’s laboratories for ideas and ideals, and many of the schools sending students to PowerShift are already acting to reduce their own carbon footprints. In just one example, Middlebury College in Vermont recently “fired up” a $12 million dollar project to generate electricity and steam for heating, cooling, and cooking operations using a biomass generator run mostly on woodchips. The boiler is projected to cut campus carbon emissions by 40% AND save the college money, as wood chips cost much less than conventional fuel sources.

But it’s not just college students who are riled up; On Monday, many PowerShift participants will join thousands of others in what is being touted as the greatest act of environmental civil disobedience in U.S. history. Capitol Climate Actionwill open with a prayer vigil, followed by a rally to galvanize opposition to coal power. In an act of peaceful civil disobedience, many participants will block access to the coal-fired power plant that partly powers Congress, and symbolizes our national dependence on dirty fuels. The event is endorsed by hundreds of organizations and individuals from Greenpeace and Students for a Democratic Society to Religious Witness for the Earth.

We know our leaders are listening. In his speech to Congress last night, President Obama lifted up climate and energy as major priorities, issuing an historic mandate for a nationwide cap on carbon emissions, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has already indicated intentions to bring a climate bill to the floor this summer. However, President Obama also touted clean coal, a technology that is, at best, questionable in its positive implications for our climate.

As Bill McKibben (professor and founder of 350.org) explains, it will take every instrument in the activist toolbox to convince our leaders, and our fellow citizens, to act urgently to save our planet and the civilization that depends on its resources. And the need for action could not be more urgent, as it seems that new reports on the increasingly rapid melting of the Antarctic ice sheets, and ensuing rise in sea levels,are released weekly. As we put all our energy into this issue, let us do what we can in our individual lives and as citizens not to fight the power, but to shift it- to the renewable sources that will power the sustainable economy of the future.

Rachel is an Eisendrath Legislative Assistant working on environment and energy issues at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, DC. She will be a regular guest blogger on To Till and To Tend this year, posting entries every other Thursday. This, and all of Rachel’s entries, can also be found on the Religious Action Center blog.

Today is January 20, 2009. There are many reasons for days to be marked historic – I only wish that all were for reasons as inspirational as today.

Today, we see the end of the Bush era. We close the curtains over a period where America ruled with an iron fist and sought the best for its political and economic leaders at the expense of the poor, the stranger, the environment and our collective future.

Today, we inaugurate the first Africa American along with a dream for a better future. President Obama built his campaign on the vision that America, through strong leadership and participation of the people, can become a better place. Today, the discourse becomes action.

Today, we are not mere observers. Though we are faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges – war, economic decline, poverty, hunger, disease and global climate change, we made this choice as a nation to join President Obama, take responsibility for the direction of our nation and our personal lives, and create change.

Today, we are forced to put doubt aside, as the unimaginable has already begun to take place. Today we become part of the change we hope to see in the world. Today we say, Yes, We Can.

I fly.  I fly a lot.  There.  I said it, I’ve admitted my problem.  This year has been a crazy year of flying – I averaged close to a flight a month. I had weddings in Los Angeles, Chicago and Israel; my baby nephew and his parents moved out to San Francisco; I had work conferences in various states in the US and delegations abroad.

The problem you ask?

The flights were really expensive.  Not that kind of expensive - many of the flights were frequent flier tickets, gifts or for work, so I didn’t pay very much in dollars.  But those are not the costs I’m referring to.  It’s the costs that don’t come with a dollar sign attached – the environmental externalities. My 11 flights emitted approximately 22 tons of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere.  To put the 22 tons in context, excluding flying, my carbon footprint is an impressive 7 tons (the global average is 5.5).  Including flying, I become worse than the average American (27 tons) [note, you can see those stats after you complete the carbon calculator].

As aware as I am, I don’t regret a single flight.  Because I flew, I danced wildly in celebration, connected regularly with my nephew (and other relatives) and furthered the mission of the Jewish environmental movement.  In the rare occasion that I’m not willing to alter my behavior for the benefit of the environment, what am I to do?

For now, I offset these emissions. Because carbon dioxide is a global pollutant, if I contribute CO₂ here in America and reduce it anywhere else around the world, the net effect on the globe is zero. This is how people become “carbon neutral.” I am not offsetting everything – I generally tread lightly on the earth (through wind power, public transportation and farmers markets) and feel comfortable with emissions that are produced by those actions.

For my work flights, COEJL is offsetting through the Heschel Center’s Good Energy Initiative based in Israel (like this blogger).  One of my cross-country trips was offset through a generous gift from my interns and the rest I’m in the process of offsetting by buying carbon credits sold through the cap and trade programs set up through volunteer and state regulated initiatives in the Chicago Climate Exchange (and if that doesn’t work out, through carbonfund.org).

It’s hard to understand and even harder to calculate the externalities of our actions.  Though the carbon calculator and offset science remains imperfect, it’s a method to take responsibility for our actions.  At this time, it’s the most I can hope to do.

For further information:

A piece by Rabbi Julian Sinclair about the Jewish meaning behind carbon offsetting

As I pointed out on my last blog post, “not-good” companies are trying to present themselves as “good” companies through unusual advertisements.  Chevron, one of the major fossil-fuel companies, has taken an interesting route in their advertising. They’re not even attempting to alter their image - they’ve put their advertising bucks into claiming individual action is the solution. No doubt, I believe each one of us has responsibility to do what we can to better the world, but Judaism (and all other value systems, too) teaches us that we are to lead the way and model good behavior… not throw the responsibility onto others.  League of Conservation Voters points out that if Chevron execs took this campaign seriously, they have a few behaviors they could change, too.

The LCV states in a press release that went public last week:

In train stations, at bus stops, online, even on our coffee cups, Chevron ads are trying to convince us that the key to ending our energy crisis is individual action.  Over pictures of everyday Americans, taglines from Chevron’s “Will You Join Us” ad campaign read:

“I will leave the car at home more.”
“I will take my golf clubs out of the trunk.”
“I will replace 3 light bulbs with CFLs.”
“I will finally get a programmable thermostat.”
“I will consider buying a hybrid.”

All good ideas, certainly, but no matter how many clubs they’re carrying in their golf bags, no matter how many light bulbs they change, no matter how hard they consider that hybrid, the folks at Chevron could probably do a little more.  

Click here to see what other suggestions the LCV has. 

Hundreds of citizens gathered on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to demand that our next Congress and Administration make climate change a priority during their first 100 days in office. In an event organized by the 1Sky campaign and a host of other environmental groups, these activists came together to demand that President-elect Obama honor his campaign promises to confront the climate and energy crisis. Despite freezing temperatures (yes, I realize the irony of talking about the urgency of global warming on a cold winter day), they joined with one voice to declare that the United States MUST start tackling climate change in a meaningful way if we are to avoid disastrous environmental and economic repercussions. Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Bill McKibben, environmental activist and founder of 350.org, inspired the crowd with speeches on the importance of climate change.

The first goal of the rally was to ensure that the President-elect send representatives to the international conference on climate change in Poznan, Poland in December. The world community will come together at this conference to decide how to tackle climate change moving forward, and it is vital that the U.S. represent itself at this meeting to show the world that we are finally ready to meaningfully engage and confront the climate crisis. As the activists in Washington presented a symbolic plane ticket to Poznan, thousands across the country met with the staffs of over 200 Members of Congress to ensure that they will work with the new President to cut our carbon emissions.

We are at a critical moment on this issue, as scientists agree that we are nearing (if not past) a climate ‘tipping point,’ after which we may not be able to mitigate or adapt to the worst effects of global climate change. A grassroots movement around the country is sending this message loud and clear to our government, and the Jewish community needs to be a vocal member of this coalition. Our obligations to care for our Earth and to speak out for the most vulnerable among us mean that confronting climate change is a moral and religious obligation, and a central piece of our task of ‘tikkun olam.’

To take part in the effort, you can fill out the RAC action alert urging President-elect Obama to make climate change a priority in his first 100 days in office, and visit your local elected official to send the same message in person. Visit the 1sky campaign for more information and resources, and to join the movement to make sure that this urgent problem is addressed beyond this day of action.

Rachel is an Eisendrath Legislative Assistant working on environment and energy issues at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, DC. She will be a regular guest blogger on To Till and To Tend this year, posting entries every other Thursday. This, and all of Rachel’s entries, can also be found on the Religious Action Center blog.

Leah Koenig, editor of www.Jcarrot.org, Hazon’s food blog, recently asked readers for food-based eco-suggestions in Jewish communal life.  We are happy to cross-post this blog here, hoping that our readers may have something to contribute.     

Deciding what to eat for lunch can be a challenge - but deciding what hundreds (or thousands) of other people should eat for lunch is decidedly harder.  But such is the charge for the many hospitals, schools, and other institutions across the country that feed people, en masse, on a daily basis.

In the past few years, a growing handful of institutions (e.g. Yale University and Kaiser Permanente) have attempted to bring institutional food away from Lunch Lady Land - sourcing produce from local farms, offering less junk food in favor of more fruits & veggies, increasing the number of homemade meals (vs. “heat-n-serve” foods) etc.  The Jewish community has jumped on the institutional food reform bandwagon too as synagogues, day schools and JCCs across the country begin to question their dependence on Styrofoam coffee cups and greasy kosher pizza.

As a Jewish organization committed to health and sustainability, Hazon is currently in the process of creating our own Organizational Food Purchasing Guidelines.  But we want to hear from you!  Let us know:

1. What “green food practices” does your synagogue, JCC, day school, Hillel (etc.) currently practice?  Anything is fair game, from swapping the Styrofoam for glass mugs, to ripping up a corner of the parking lot to plant an organic garden.

2. On the contrary, in what ways could your Jewish institution do a better job at bringing health and sustainability into your corner of the Jewish community?

Share your ideas below - we’ll compile them (along with others) - into a resource guide that can be shared with the larger Jewish community.  Here’s to eating better, together, in 5769.

For the last four months, I have been training for the big day: preparing my body to run 26.2 miles in the ING NYC Marathon.  On many of my weekly long runs, I wondered whether I could use the marathon training analogy to inspire budding environmentalists.  Becoming an environmentalist, like a marathoner, doesn’t happen overnight.  Like all personal achievements, these take time.  One needs to decide that they are willing to put the physical and mental energy into the effort.  Sometimes, one even needs to commit a bit of money into the cause, like new shoes and wind-sourced electricity.   

One of the most frequent comments I get to my marathoning is “wow, I could never do that.”  I always respond in the same way: you start with one mile, then work your way up to three.  Soon enough, you’re comfortable doing 5, try for 6 – and you realize you have it.  It’s a gradual process, but anyone can do it.  So goes with environmentalism.  Start with a simple action – one that you could imagine getting used to doing on a regular basis.  Once you have that down, add another, then another.  It takes time, but soon enough you’ll start living in more eco-friendly ways. 

Surprisingly for some, marathoning can be a bit easier than becoming an environmentalist.  After all, I have spent only 4 months training and, after Sunday, I’ll be done.  A commitment to environmentalism is a commitment for life.  Hopefully, it will play a role in everyday actions and decisions. 

And then there are the fans – on Sunday, thousands of New Yorkers (and my friends and family whom I appreciate enormously) line the streets of the five boroughs to encourage us runners on.  Their cheers and support ease the challenge of the marathon.  Personal challenges are rarely so encouraged by our friends, let alone strangers.

This week, my “challenge” is to not overwork my body, carb-load, and wish for good weather (not so hard).  Sunday I put in my all for a few hours and then I rest, a satisfied person.

But our environmental challenge keeps going.  Though there is no finish line in sight, each environmental success is a great one.  And though you may not hear fans screaming your name as you recycle yesterday’s paper, we’re out there, cheering you on.

When I was 12, I joined my friend for a daring swim in the beautiful, albeit jellyfish infested waters of the Mediterranean.  Back then, the Israeli coast would get an annual, two-week bout of jellyfish.  I wasn’t there long enough to wait it out, so my friend and I jumped in and were undeterred by the mild stings on our bodies.  Then, I had an encounter with a jellyfish that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy – it and I met as I dove under a wave.  It, and more importantly, its tentacles, hit my face, leaving a scar that lasted years.  (Fortunately, the family I was with knew not to pee on me.)  Though painful beyond words, it was a reality of sharing an ecosystem. 

But the tides have turned – more and more people are sharing my story.  And we have climate change to thank.

As mentioned in a recent NY Times article, “(jellyfish) are the cockroaches of the open waters.”  Jellyfish thrive in weakened environments.  Scientists say that, thanks to climate change and overfishing of jellyfish predators (like tuna), populations of jellyfish are proliferating.  Not only are beaches around the world closing, but the New York City Triathletes had to deal with (and one maybe died from) the stings of this maritime beast.

Jellyfish aren’t the only living creatures that are enjoying the CO₂ filled, warming planet that humans are creating.  Already, populations of poison ivy, superweeds and disease-carrying mosquitoes are increasing, yielding greater incidences of itchy children, resistant weeds and malaria.  I am lucky enough to be non-allergic to poison ivy’s oils (so far) and the organic “farm” on which I “work” has minimal weed problems.  Still, the spread of malaria scares me – more than half the world’s population lives in malaria infested regions – and you may have gathered that I don’t like jellyfish?

Each of us will undoubtedly feel the ramifications of climate change differently.  I am fortunate that I have few to mitigate.  Yet, the global poisons of climate change exceed the stings of jellyfish, and it is for those reasons we need to act.