GREENING SYNAGOGUES RESOURCES

The Kitchen

Just behind or perhaps tied with the office, the kitchen is the most resource-intensive room in most synagogues. Many of the choices to be made concern procurement of various materials, which are dealt with in the following sub-section, “2. Purchasing.” Yet in the design phase of a building or renovation project, choices about the layout of the kitchen will either enhance or limit your ability to save energy and materials.

The top issue at this phase concerns storage areas, as well as dishwasher(s) choice and location. Will you have reusable plates, cups, and silverware for kiddush or oneg which will be used weekly, or will the kitchen only be used for catered simcha events? Installing an industrial-strength dishwasher, along with plentiful storage areas for the reusable ware, will at least give you the option of more eco-friendly practices.

Of course kashrut is a key concern here as well -- how many sets of dishes are needed, and which posek (halachic decisor) do you hold by in figuring out what degree of separation is required in dishwashers, refrigerators, countertops, etc? Remember the ecological as well as financial cost involved in the production and installation of extra appliances or counters; the creation and transporting of extra sets of dishes; and the construction and heating and cooling of ever-larger spaces to accommodate same.

More decisions will follow, but much thought about the kitchen and its future uses should attend this phase of the design process. Click here for a document by long-time Shomrei Adamah of Greater Washington, DC leader De Fischler Herman (prepared for the Green Faith Guide of the DC Energy Office, 2004), for some ideas. On her list of things to consider are disposable ware; plastic table coverings; soft drinks; local purchasing; containers for food and beverage; composting; educating congregants; and advocacy.