Source: Eco – Jews
Just in time for the arrival of Tu B'Shevat, the traditional arboreal New Year, the JTA has published an online feature examining the most significant players and trends in Jewish environmentalism -- and offering some hands-on advice for marking the holiday and greening Jewish communities.In this special section, JTA also announced the winners of the Green Beanies, in recognition of groundbreaking environmental initiatives awarded to organizations and institutions from all walks of Jewish communal life.
The first group of stories describes the new trends in Jewish environmentalism, introducing many groups and companies involved in Jewish earth – greening:
- Farming the Land, Torah in Hand
- New Group Seeks to Reduce Carbon Footprints in Israel
- Ecopreneurs see Green in Green
The next section brings a group of stories which offer advice on how readers can live greener Jewish lives:
- Trash the Trash, Save the Planet
- In Search of a Jewish Environmentalism for the Family
- A Cautionary Tale: One Family's Attempt at a Green Bar Mitzvah
A collection of Tu B'Shevat celebration ideas and resources is also featured:
- Backyard Bounty
- Tu B'Shwatt: Serving Up Energy Action at the Seder
- Conducting a Tu B’Shevat Seder
The JTA took this opportunity to announce the winners of the Green Beanie Contest awarded to synagogues, schools, community centers and other Jewish institutions with “green” projects that have shown significant impact or innovative interpretation.
The UJA-Federation of New York and Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation of Evanston, IL tied for the first prize coming in ahead of eight other organizations, schools and community centers for their visionary Jewish environmental initiatives. All of the award winning projects are documented in the Eco-Jews online supplement.