NEW YORK – Hazon, the Jewish Lab for Sustainability, has reached a record 90th participant in its national Hazon Seal of Sustainability program, a comprehensive education and outreach program designed to help Jewish organizations to reduce waste and encourage healthier living.
“This has been the year that a critical mass of people have started to really take the climate crisis seriously. It’s an issue in the U.S. elections. It’s an issue in the U.K. elections. Joining the Hazon Seal of Sustainability program demonstrates that Jewish institutions are stepping up to take responsibility and have committed to making changes.
“Synagogues, churches and not-for-profits generally produce an excess of waste. Think about all the Styrofoam cups and plates, mountains of plastic silverware, and uneaten food that is thrown into landfills. The Hazon Seal of Sustainability incorporates education, action and advocacy. Education means learning about the consequences of our behaviors. Action means changing them. And advocacy means speaking up more widely,” said Hazon Founder and CEO Nigel Savage.
The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and 20 other Jewish institutions have recently joined the program. They include: Boulder Jewish Community Center (Boulder, CO); Congregation Agudath Israel (Essex, N.J.); Congregation Beth Ahm (West Bloomfield, MI); Elon University Sklut Hillel Center (Elon, NC); Farber Hebrew Day School-Yeshivat Akiva (Southfield, MI); Jewish Community Center of Metro Detroit (West Bloomfield, MI); Jewish Family Service of Metro Detroit (West Bloomfield, MI); Temple Israel (West Bloomfield, MI); Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit (Bloomfield Hills; MI); Rabbinical School of Hebrew College (Newtown, MA); The Board of Jewish Education DBA The Jewish Education Project (New York; NY); The Center for Small Town Jewish Life at Colby College (Waterville, ME); West Marin Jews (Forest Knolls, CA); Woodstock Jewish Congregation (Woodstock; NY); and Young Israel of Southfield (Southfield, MI).
Hazon has set a goal of tripling the number of program participants within the next three years.