Tu B’Shevat – Sustaining our Environment

By Lymor Wasserman, Co-Chair WLCJ Environmental Committee

HaShkedia Porachat is one of the most widely known Israeli / Hebrew children’s songs for Tu B’Shevat. HaShkedia Porachat means “the almond tree is blooming.” It seems silly to sing this song when we are still wearing winter coats and long sleeves, I mean, how can anything bloom in this weather? Of course, in Israel, it’s cold and rainy and the first obscure plants are beginning to bloom. If you’ve paid attention to the weather outside, I’m sure that the unusually unseasonal weather is part of your daily conversations. What can one person do about changing this overwhelming part of our lives?

Here are some ways that each and every one of us can reduce our carbon footprint that can fit into our simple-yet-so-complicated lives:

• Spend less time in your car – If you can (weather, distance), don’t take your car! If you work outside the home, consider working from home one day a week.  When running errands, try to do them all together instead of leaving your house multiple times a day.
• Cut back on animal product consumption – believe it or not, the processing and distribution of meat and dairy products accounts for half of the food’s carbon footprint! I’m not saying you have to become vegan, but any change in your consumption can make a difference.
• Composting – Simply collecting your organic waste and composting it would reduce what is now the third largest source of human-related methane emissions in the country. Look into getting a backyard composter, seeing if your city or region has a system you can use, or look into private companies that collect from your doorstep. As Jews, we are already conscious of what we eat and when (think kashrut, blessings, etc), so this is one more way we can respect food.

There are so many small steps we can take, and our amazing and determined Women’s League Convention Committee has moved mountains to ensure that we make an impact, such as having refillable water stations, and not using single-use water bottles.

Also at our Convention, 2023, Sisters Celebrating Together! July 16-19, 2023 in Schaumburg, IL, I look forward to meeting you “in person” and sharing our table that will be chock full of resources and information about how we can make the world a better place.  Together let us increase awareness about Sustainability and how we can leave this earth better for our next generation, the truest meaning of “L’Dor V’dor.”

Shabbat Shalom,
Lymor Wasserman
Co-chair WLCJ Environmental Committee
mrswass@gmail.com