Author: Owner of Jewcology Team

Energy Saving Action #2: Let there be light Action:Replace 3 incandescent light bulbs with ENERGY STAR certified compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). Annual Impact (per person taking this action):238 lbs CO2e Description: Trade in your old light bulb for a spiral! You’ll save energy, save money, and reduce carbon emissions. If every American home replaced just one light bulb with a light bulb that's earned the ENERGY STAR, we would save enough energy to light 3 million homes for a year, save about $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year, equivalent to those from about 800,000 cars. Online Tool: Wondering which bulb to purchase? Check out this great Bulb Purchasing Guide from Energy Star Take this action now on Jewcology! Simply go to your My Savings page to report your action at http://www.jewcology.org/mysavings. You’ll need to join Jewcology to get access to this page. Not yet a member of Jewcology? Explore all the actions at http://www.jewcology.org/content/view/yoa-campaign. Take this action now and see the results of the entire community!

The Jewish environmental movement will have a shared presence at the Forward on Climate rally. Here are the details about the rally, as described by 350.org: At 12 Noon on Sunday, February 17, thousands of Americans will head to Washington, D.C. to make Forward on Climate the largest climate rally in history. Join this historic event to make your voice heard and help the president start his second term with strong climate action. Many Jewish environmental organizations are promoting or participating in the event. For example: The Shalom Center urges Jews who want to gather as Jews, as well as members of other religious communities, to come to a place where Sojourners (progressive Christian magazine), Interfaith Power & Light, and IMAC (Interfaith Moral Action on Climate) are gathering. People are urged to bring banners or placards and/or wear T-shirts announcing who they are (organizations or specific congregations). WHERE AND WHEN: The multifaith group will gather from 11:30-12:30 outside the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden on the National Mall (between 7th and 9th Streets SW) – on on the north/Mall side on the gravel pathway. The closest Metro station is L’Enfant Plaza (green, yellow, orange, or blue lines). Look for Tim Kumfer, of the Festival Center, and Rose Berger, of Sojourners, who will be carrying a large “dove” to help you find them in the crowd. Sign up and see IMAC info by going to: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/423/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=76974. More details here: https://theshalomcenter.org/heal-climate-huge-rally-dc-sunday-feb-17 In addition, the Pearlstone Center has provided a venue to coordinate transportation to the rally following their 5th Annual Beit Midrash (which takes place from February 15-17 in Baltimore). The Teva Learning Alliance will be coordinating a group from the Beit Midrash and intends to have a presence at the rally. From the DC area, the Buber Youth Network and members of the Am Kolel congregation and its affiliates, led by Rabbi David Shneyer, will be taking part, bearing shofrot. The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL), the Green Zionist Alliance (GZA), Hazon, the Jewish Farm School, Jewcology, NeoHasid and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism are participating by promoting this rally to our audiences. We hope to see a nice contingent from the Jewish community at the rally!

Yesterday, we concluded our Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment. In appropriate Jewish fashion, we are turning immediately from LEARNING to DOING by launching our Year of Jewish Action on the Environment today! Just in time for Tu b’Shevat, the new Canfei Nesharim/Jewcology Year of Action will provide tools and resources to empower the Jewish community to take action on energy conservation and reduce food waste. We’re thrilled to announce that this program will be implemented in partnership with the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL)! Check out our joint press release, “New Jewish Energy for Tu b’Shevat“! The program includes action tips and a calculator on Jewcology, a web-based social media portal for the entire Jewish environmental community, where participants can report their actions and see their results – as well as the results of the entire Jewish community. The program will continue through Tu B’Shvat 2014. New actions will be posted throughout the year. Featured Action #1: ASSESS YOUR HOME FOR ENERGY WASTE Knowledge is power. The first step in any large undertaking is to find out where you are now! Set aside an hour to walk around your home and make note of areas where energy may be wasted. Look for drafts, leaks, old appliances and light bulbs, and things plugged in that are not being used. For more ideas, see http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/do-it-yourself-home-energy-audits. Take this action now and see the results of the entire community! Featured Article: Director’s Introduction (from COEJL’s JEWISH ENERGY GUIDE) While we cannot remove ourselves from the necessity of using energy, we have a moral obligation to work toward protecting our environment. There must be a sustainable alternative to how we live now. The need to address our dependence on fossil fuels and increase our energy security has become central to our time. Although international commitments and legislation in Washington are critical in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing energy independence, our challenge is not to passively wait for policymakers to finally make their next moves. We need to bring our communal, institutional and personal strengths to bear now. That is why Jewish Energy Covenant Campaign leaders are committing to speak out as a public Jewish voice on energy and the environment. Read the full article on COEJL’s website! Greenly, The Jewcology and Canfei Nesharim Teams P.S. Looking for great resources to share with your community for Tu b’Shevat? Canfei Nesharim has a wealth of materials for you to use! And check out these great resources on Jewcology!

Welcome to the Year of Action! Following up on our Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, this year we will be focusing on actions to save energy and reduce food waste, practical actions called for by the Jewish mitzvah of bal tashchit. This program concluded in January 2014. You can learn more about our shared actions below! The Year of Action was a project of Jewcology, in partnership with Canfei Nesharim and in coordination with the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL), along with many other Jewish environmental organizations and initiatives, and with the support of the ROI Community.  The actions of this project were suggested, researched and drafted by the following members of the Canfei Nesharim and Jewcology teams:  Sarah Bedder, Ruchama Cohen, Jacob Schaperow, Dr. David Goldblatt, Josh Keyak, and Dr. Daniel Weber.  Thanks to the team! Here are the actions we took: Actions to Save Energy [view all]  #1: Assess energy use in your home #2: Replace 3 Incandescent Light Bulbs with ENERGY STAR certified compact fluorescent light bulbs #3: Tighten Your Home #4: Make Friends with the Trees #5: Just How Much Difference Do 2 Degrees Make? #6: How You Get There Matters! #7: Use Efficient Appliances #8: Turn off the TV #9: Unplug Energy Vampires #10: Cold Water Wash #11: Eat Less Meat #12: Save Energy on Heating and Cooling Actions to Reduce Food Waste [view all] #1: Track your food waste for a week #2: Save the Perishables! #3: Plan Ahead! #4: Eyes Bigger than Your Stomach? #5: Plan a Picnic! #6: So Much Bread #7: Stock Up on Ingredients #8: When Life Gives You Leftovers #9: Keep Food Fresh Longer #10: Plan Ahead to Use Your Bread #11: Rescue Aging Fruits #12: Cook in Bulk Learn more about the Year of Action, including program results and links to the Jewish Energy Guide.

The seventeenth topic in the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, Guard Yourselves Very Well! The Jewish tradition places a strong value on being healthy. The Torah states, “Guard yourself and guard your soul very much" and “You shall guard yourselves very well." The Jewish Sages explain that these verses refer to the mitzvah (commandment) of protecting one’s physical body and health. There are very many applications of this mitzvah to guard our health. Jewish law employs a term– Ba’al Nefesh Yachmir, or “A master of the spirit will be stringent”– when a sage senses a cause for concern but does not find it appropriate to forbid something to the public. One relevant item for all of us and our families is the reduction of exposure to chemicals such as pesticides. See all Guard Yourselves Very Well: Protecting Our Health Materials! Share Year of Jewish Learning Materials with your community. Contact us about becoming a sponsor!

It's been a big year for Jewcology. Specifically, it’s been a Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, with new learning materials released on a wide range of Jewish environmental topics. These materials have been shared widely in the Jewish community, including by such diverse Jewish publications as TorahCafe.com, the Jerusalem Post, Hirhurim (Torah Musings), and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. In total, it’s the most comprehensive set of resources ever created on the topic of Torah and the environment. We encourage you to learn these lessons and continue to share them with your communities in order to bring this wisdom into our daily lives! Compilations will be available later in 2013. A lot of other exciting things have been going on behind the scenes with Jewcology. We've got some exciting new features in the works, which we'll be sharing with you very soon! And as you can see from the blog space, we've got a fresh new team of bloggers sharing their ideas and resources every day. Starting this Tu b’Shevat, Jewcology will be taking our learning to the next level with a Year of Action, focusing on the mitzvah of Bal Tashchit. It’s going to be exciting! We will address food waste and opportunities to save energy, topics that we’ve learned a lot about this year. We’re also planning some great calculator tools on Jewcology, so that everyone can see the difference we’re making together as a community. We expect to have major partners in the Jewish environmental world, and to engage the entire Jewish community in shared action to protect the environment. In honor of Chanukah, would you support Jewcology with a gift to make it a Year of Action in 2013? You can donate here: http://www.razoo.com/story/Support-Jewcology Thank you so much for your support!!