Synagogues are Going Green Around the Country!

Around the country synagogues are going green! Check out these three inspiring initiatives from synagogues in North Carolina, New York, and Arizona that are taking environmental action.

In Winston Salem, North Carolina, Rabbi Mark Strauss-Cohn of Temple Emanuel gave an environmental Torah sermon on the need for a dedication to environmental change. He asked his congregants to commit to ten different environmental actions or a “minyan of ideas.” He requested ten members to make rain barrels, another ten to plant trees, another ten to compost, and he even asked that ten coffee drinkers begin to buy only shade-grown organic coffee. Minyans of action are forming and participation in his congregation is on the rise.

In the West Village of Manhattan, Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, New York City’s synagogue for Gays, Lesbians, Bisexual and Transgender Jews, is now powered by 100 percent green power--greenhouse-gas free and pollution-free renewable energy. In response to the synagogue’s Green Power campaign approximately 10 percent of the shul’s members have switched to green power as well.

In Phoenix, Arizona, Temple Emanuel breaks eco-friendly ground. This 540 member congregation is complying with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards to build an addition. Temple Emanuel will be purchasing all their wood from a commercially renewable forest, using concrete from fly ash and using only recycled plastic for carpet materials. Click here to learn about their solar powered ner-tamid, energy management system, and water collection plans.

Kol HaKavod to Temple Emanuel of Winston-Salem, Congregation Beth Simchat Torah of New York City, and Temple Emanuel of Phoenix!

If your congregation is also in the process of greening let us know, so we can share your inspiring story.