Going  Green

Going  Green blogged Partners with G-d: Perfection through Action

The Rambam (Maimonides) suggests that our character is not fixed, but that our actions shape our character.  We have free will, and we choose what activities and actions we take.  “Some traits are not innate but have been learned from other people, or are self-originated as the result of an idea that has entered the person’s mind, or because he has heard that a certain character trait is good for him and that it is proper to acquire it, and he trains himself in i...more...

Going  Green blogged The Sabbath of the Feast of Weeks

Shavuot, “the feast of weeks”, unlike all of our other festivals, is given no calendrical date; rather, we arrive at this holiday by counting “seven full weeks” from a particular starting time.  But even the starting time is ambiguous: “From the day after the Sabbath”. Which Sabbath? And why is there a reference to a Sabbath at all? The previous passage in the Torah described Pesach, not the Sabbath. There has been much historical debate over this i...more...

Going  Green blogged The Marketing of Earth Day

Over  the weekend, I was watching a video on the computer, and the ad that played before the video was about  purchasing new appliances in honor of Earth Day.  We've done it.  The epidome of reaching the social consciousness in America is the department store sales in honor of a calendar date or holiday.  And we now have Earth Day sales.  We can now feel good about buying more stuff because there's an environmental eco-spin that justifies why...more...

Going  Green blogged Raising the Bar With More R’s: The Mitzvah of Spring Cleaning

Spring is the season when we start to see new life after the cold, dark winter months.  Many start preparing ground for growing gardens while others begin rifling through closets to dispose of the clutter.  Regardless of the task, we can use these seasonal projects commonly referred to as “spring cleaning” as a means to elevate our actions by expanding upon to a commonly info-graphic and connecting to the Jewish values inherent in mitzvot. One of the goals of spri...more...

Going  Green blogged 3 new R’s for this season: Renew, Restore and Reclaim

Hopefully we’ve all been recycling (or exposed to recycling) long enough to recognize the symbol that has become synonymous with the act: the triangle with the 3 arrows, moving in the same direction, creating a closed loop.  Those 3 arrows actually stand for different acts, only one of which is recycle.  This symbol is actually the graphic that was created for the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.  The order is important, as it is prioritized by the most desirab...more...

Going  Green blogged 3 new R’s for this season: Renew, Restore and Reclaim

Hopefully we’ve all been recycling (or exposed to recycling) long enough to recognize the symbol that has become synonymous with the act: the triangle with the 3 arrows, moving in the same direction, creating a closed loop.  Those 3 arrows actually stand for different acts, only one of which is recycle.  This symbol is actually the graphic that was created for the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.  The order is important, as it is prioritized by the most desirab...more...

Going  Green blogged Sustaining Jewish Memory

I was recently speaking with a colleague about how much more green and sustainable we were in the “good old days.” Growing up in the Great Depression, many of our relatives integrated the lessons of conservation because economics dictated that they do so. How many of our bubbes would keep the house thermostat low in the winter and tell you to put on a sweater, reuse food containers for storage, darn socks or refurbish household items with leftover fabric and paint? More rec...more...

Going  Green blogged Auspicious Adar

Mi She Nichnas Adar, Marbim B’simcha!              Whoever Ushers in (the month of) Adar, (Their) Joy Shall Increase! In just a week and a half we look forward to the jubilant holiday of Purim.  Megilah, costumes, groggers, skits/shpiels, Purim baskets/mishloach manot – Jewish kids and adults alike look forward to letting loose and having fun on this day. And what a timely place for Adar in our...more...

Going  Green blogged The Added Value of Adopting Sustainability Best Practices

     (adapted from an article written by Aleeza Oshry for the Baltimore Jewish Times)      In my freshman year of high school, I remember this new sensation sweeping store shelves and crowding the airwaves and filling magazine ad space: Lunchables.  Remember those?  When every school kid who was “cool” toted one to the lunchroom.  I never had one.  Even before I kept kosher, my penny-pinching parents spit vitriol a...more...

Going  Green blogged Make a difference, one office at a time

(reprinted from The Associated: Jewish Community Federation Sustainability TIPS) Did you know? One of the top categories of energy consumption in an office is from office equipment. What can you do?   Although you may not control what kind of equipment is on your desk or in your office space, there are several things that you can do to reduce consumption and conserve resources.  It’s as easy as changing a few settings! Computer Intelligence Sav...more...