Greening Chanukah 2019

GREENING CHANUKAH 2019 A

T o o l k i t f o r c o m m u n i t i e s f r o m H a z o n

HAPPY CHANUKAH

contents 1 Letter from Hazon 2 Greening Chanukah 2 3-Bin System 2 Compostable Products 3 Proper Disposal 3 Fair Trade Gelt 3 RSPO-Certified Palm Oil 4 Palm Oil Flow Chart 5 Palm Oil FAQ 6 Additional Chanukah Resources 7 Get Involved with Hazon

Hello!

On behalf of Hazon, we want to wish you and your community a happy early Chanukah, and offer ourselves as a resource to you as you begin to prepare for this wintery holiday season. As you know, Hazon is “the Jewish lab for sustainability.” As such, we see it as our task to help you, our community partners within the North American Jewish community, be as “green” as possible in your organizational operations. What does it mean to be “green”?

Well, we see being “green” as reducing the amount of waste we put in the landfill, making conscious and ethical decisions around the food we serve, and generally taking steps to educate our communities around the importance of acting for a healthier and more sustainable planet for all. In the midst of our global environmental crisis, we believe it is as important as any time in history to be going “green” as part of a large-scale, Jewishly-rooted shift in values and practice. And we are here to help you do that!

We know that many of your organizations celebrate Chanukah each winter. In the midst of your celebrations, have you ever paused to consider the environmental impact of your celebration? How much waste is produced at your festive event? Do you throw away your plates, compost them, or wash them? Is your chocolate gelt guilt-free? What went into producing the oil that you’ve been using to fry the latkes that you serve to gleeful and hungry guests? Because these are the questions that keep us up at night, we’ve decided to put together this handy toolkit to help your organizations make “greener” choices this year’s Festival of Lights, with a special emphasis on sustainable oil, because, well, Chanukah!

What you will find inside this packet are five actionable steps we’re encouraging you to take at your community’s Chanukah celebrations this winter, plus additional educational materials to be used as part of a wider “Greening Chanukah 2019” initiative. They are:

1. Use a 3-bin (compost, recycling, and trash) system.

2. Switch to compostable “paper” goods and utensils.

3. Dispose of your waste properly.

4. Purchase Fair Trade Chanukah gelt.

5. Fry your Chanukah treats in RSPO-Certified Palm Oil.

Whether you choose to take on one, two, or all five of these practices, it’s all good, because we know that every drop (of oil), counts! Some of you may already do some of these practices. Great! Keep it up and let’s add a new one, too.

The great Chanukah miracle (the one that kids books are written about) tells the story of a finite resource lasting longer than expected. We now know that the earth and its natural resources are indeed finite and that it is up to us to ensure that they and this planet endure for many generations to come. Please join us in Greening Chanukah 2019, and let’s extend the Chanukah miracle together.

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Greening Chanukah 2019:

Five Ways To Make Your Chanukah Event More Sustainable Than Ever!

1. Use a 3-bin (compost, recycling, trash) system!

If you don’t have one already, consider switching to a 3-bin (compost, recycling, and trash) system. When you use a 3-bin system, you give guests the ability to dispose of their waste in a way that minimizes their and your collective environmental impact. In the compost bin, your guests can put food scraps and compostable/organic material. In recycling, guests can often put cardboard, glass, plastic, aluminum and more (check your local guidelines). And all the rest goes to trash. This way, we’re minimizing the amount of waste that actually goes to the landfill (trash), causing harmful gasses, and increasing the amount of waste that can be turned into soil (compost) or repurposed into new materials (recycling). Just line your trash bins with compostable waste bags (such as ​these​), make sure to label the different bins clearly for organization and educational purposes (printable signs can be downloaded ​here​), and perhaps ask some volunteers to help guests sort properly. If you want to buy a 3-bin system for your organization, you could check ​here​ (just make sure to specify you want the bins to say “COMPOST, RECYCLE, TRASH”) and here​. Larger-scale events (conferences, conventions, festivals) may want to consider event-greening companies like ​this​ great organization that our team in Detroit used for the 2019 ​Hazon Michigan Jewish Food Festival​, which services much of the eastern-half of the US and can make connections nation-wide.

2. Switch to compostable “paper” goods and utensils!

If your community uses dishware that you wash and reuse, great! If instead you’re using disposables, make the most of your “green” event by switching over to compostable plates, bowls, napkins, cups, and utensils. Compostable food service products are easy to find and purchase. For instance, our team in Detroit uses ​this​ great supplier, which can ship across the country.

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3. Dispose of your waste properly!

It’s important to coordinate proper pick-up of your waste so it goes to the right place. Compostables in the trash is better than trash in the trash. But it’s still far from ideal. Do your best to have compost go to compost, recycling to recycling, and only trash to the landfill. Recycling and composting pick-up options are often available through local companies and municipal initiatives. If you don’t already know, check out what your town and city are already doing, ask locals who may be in the know, or search for local companies that you could support, who may come collect your compost for you. You could also check with local farms or consider starting your own composting initiative/practice (on any scale).

4. Purchase Fair Trade Chanukah gelt!

Following the lead from our friends at ​T’ruah​, we encourage you to celebrate Chanukah with ​Fair Trade gelt​. These tasty Kosher chocholate “coins” are guaranteed to come from companies that do not engage in the child labor or slavery endemic to the chocolate industry. At Hazon, we know that what is good for each other is also good for the earth, and that there is no environmental sustainability without human rights. Fair Trade gelt is made by ​Divine Chocolate​, and comes in both milk chocolate and dark chocolate varieties. It can be ordered individually and in bulk. Plus, T’ruah has created some wonderful educational resources​ about the Fair Trade movement and Jewish values that you can share with your community.

5. Fry your Chanukah treats in RSPO-Certified Palm Oil!

Each year, we celebrate the miracle of Chanukah by frying delicious potato pancakes (and sufganiyot/donuts) in oil. The least expensive oil options are often vegetable or canola, earning them a front-shelf spot in the pantry. These bottles typically contain a blend of oils, including one derived from the oil palm tree. This tree is being relied upon more and more due to its relative speed of growth, its versatility, and its potent yield. Unfortunately, when left unregulated, palm oil production can have hugely detrimental effects on the earth, the animals, and the people who harvest it. See the diagram below for a basic understanding of what this means for the creatures and land with whom we share the planet, and how a little extra care can go a long way.

While oil is a tricky topic, we believe that RSPO-certified palm oil is a better option than most. Baking latkes is your best bet to ensure the oil really lasts. And coconut oil, cold-pressed sunflower, or other local oil options can be a great alternative. But for big batches when you’ve just got to fry up those crispy potato pillows of goodness, we recommend using RSPO-certified palm oil. Learn more about palm oil and what we’re asking below.

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Palm Oil Production Impact Flow Chart

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RSPO Palm Oil FAQ

What is “sustainable” palm oil?

The ​Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil​ is an organization that certifies palm oil if it meets certain sustainability criteria. According to their website, “one of the most important RSPO criteria states that no primary forests or areas which contain significant concentrations of biodiversity (e.g. endangered species) or fragile ecosystems, or areas which are fundamental to meeting basic or traditional cultural needs of local communities (high conservation value areas), can be cleared [to grow oil palm trees].”

RSPO-certified palm oil is ​widely promoted by the World Wildlife Foundation​ (WWF), which also created this​ handy “Palm Oil Buyers Card” in 2016, to see which everyday companies are committing to using only sustainable oil. We’re also keeping our eyes out for their ​new scorecard​ coming out soon.

How to acquire RSPO-certified palm oil for Chanukah?

Easy. You can order online! Check out ​this​ Kosher, RSPO-certified, palm oil, for instance.

How to cook using palm oil: Similar to coconut oil and shortening, palm oil is semi-solid at room temperature. Not to worry though - it is easy to scoop out and plop into the frying pan where it will quickly liquify to look and act like more familiar cooking oils. Cook on high heat and enjoy delicious, earth-conscious latkes! *Tip: Briefly heat a spoon over the burner and use it to smoothly and easily scoop the oil out of the container.

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Additional Chanukah Resources:

Hazon’s Holiday Resource Library

Looking for more Chanukah sustainability tips? Check out the Hazon ​Chanukah resource bank​, part of our more extensive ​holiday resource library​.

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Additional Ways to Get Involved with Hazon:

Join the Year of Environmental Teshuva Hazon is calling this Jewish year, 5780, The Year of Environmental Teshuva. We recognize that we are in the midst of a global environmental crisis and we believe that Jewish tradition compels us to respond.

Teshuva or “return” is a Jewish practice of turning inward and reflecting on the transgressions we make as human beings, in an attempt to act better moving forward. The year of environmental teshuva is the outward manifestation of our commitment to doing better for the planet. Check out our resources and initiatives and join our movement ​here​.

Join the Hazon Rabbinic Council

Encourage the rabbis and Jewish spiritual leaders in your life to join the ​Hazon Rabbinic Council​ ​The Hazon Rabbinical Council is a mutually beneficial and supportive avenue for Hazon to help catalyze a broad spectrum of religious leaders to use Hazon as a portal for education, action and advocacy, helping them be stronger leaders in areas of environmental sustainability and the Jewish tradition which compels us to action. Interested clergy should also consider attending, ​Recharge: A Retreat for Rabbis and Spiritual Leaders​ this May at Hazon’s ​Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center​ in Connecticut.

Apply to the Hazon Seal of Sustainability

Jewish organizations and community groups interested in deepening their sustainability practices and gaining access to professional and peer-to-peer resources should apply to be part of the ​Hazon Seal of Sustainability.​ The “Hazon Seal” is a roadmap for Jewish institutions to become healthier and more sustainable through education, action, and advocacy.

Visit Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center Hazon’s ​Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center​, located on 400 acres in Falls Village, CT, is a year-round farm-to-table kosher pluralistic retreat center that serves over 6,000 guests of all ages and backgrounds each year. “Isabella Freedman” (as it’s affectionately referred to) produces retreats focused on Jewish holidays, food, music, meditation, sustainability, yoga, and more. We also host dozens of synagogues and professional groups each year, as well as weddings, b’nai mitzvot, and other private events..Isabella Freedman is also home to the ​Adamah​ and ​Teva​ programs, which both serve as deep and immersive experiences into Judaism, farming, and earth-based education for youth and young adults.

Stay in the loop with Hazon Communication We’d love to stay in touch with you! ​Sign up for our newsletter​. Follow us on ​Facebook​ and ​Instagram​.

Support Our Work Financially Please consider ​making a financial contribution to Hazon​, so we can continue to provide great resources and community support in this critical moment of climate change!

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Wishing you a happy, healthy, and ever-"greener" Chanukah!