Green Tikkun Committee
After last December’s Scroll article on the Green Tikkun Committee, did you wonder how large Beth El’s carbon footprint is, particularly after we enlarged our building? We just had an energy audit by GWIPL—Greater Washington Interfaith Power & Light. We were pleased to learn that the renovation included many measures to reduce our carbon footprint.

-- All bulbs in the shul now are either compact fluorescent (CFL) or the similarly efficient T8.
-- All thermostats are programmable and have been programmed.
-- A percentage of electricity purchased by Beth El comes from wind power.
-- The paper that Beth El uses in the office has 30 percent recycled content.
-- Old flyers are reused in the office to print documents for internal use (instead of throwing out or recycling the old flyers).
-- Recycling bins are now all over the synagogue. Large containers are located outside near the trash dumpster. Larger ones are on order. All kinds of paper are recycled (office, newspaper, cardboard). Co-mingled glass, plastic, and aluminum are recycled. Just as at home, you can help. Become familiar with what can and cannot be recycled. Rather than create more trash, please look for the bins, and recycle whenever you can.
-- To reduce mailing costs and the use of paper, donations to Beth El can now be made on-line through the Beth El web site. On-line reservations and payment for events are coming.
-- For each CFL sold by USY/Boy Scouts at Beth El, GWIPL donates a CFL to a low-income congregation in the Washington area.

Beth El’s Green Tikkun Committee is researching other environmentally friendly projects. One immediate goal is to set an eco-example through our daily and weekly hospitality. Next to paper, the physical product we offer consistently at the shul is coffee and disposable coffee cups. We hope to switch to organically produced, fair-trade coffee, and label thermoses and urns with that information; gradually eliminate the use of disposable plates, cups, and utensils; and provide convenient coffee cup collection points throughout the building to facilitate nightly washing by custodians in our energy-efficient dishwasher. Other steps that we hope to take are reducing duplicate mailings, reducing mailings by increasing the use of email, and using cage-free eggs. As we lessen our congregation’s impact on the environment, you can take some of the same steps at home.
Look for more Green Tikkun Committee happenings at Beth El and more information in the March Scroll.  Written by Mitchell Solkowitz

If you have questions or ideas, or would like to participate, please contact Michele Lieban Levine at info@bethelmc.org.