When I became Chief Executive of Mitzvah Day earlier this year, one of the first decisions to make was what would be the theme for 2019. It didn’t take long to decide that the charity — already associated with the colour green — would try to do our small bit to help the environment.
The tagline of “Going Greener” was born and we have spent the last six months working with our co-ordinators in the UK and 30 other countries, putting those words into action.
Projects on and around Sunday November 17 will see our 40,000 volunteers around the world cleaning up local neglected areas, planting trees and vegetables, recycling old clothes and toys, and cooking for the homeless using food from our own homes and gardens that may otherwise go to waste.
Long-term projects, such as entertaining in care homes, will still take place but in a greener way — with volunteers re-wearing old T-shirts, moving away from single-use plastic and considering how we travel to reduce our carbon footprint.
Recently, though, someone asked me, why it is that I personally care about this? Why does it matter to me that Mitzvah Day is going greener?
For me, it’s broader than just doing my little bit to help the planet. Through my previous work with JDC Entwine and OLAM, Jewish organisations involved with humanitarian work and community building abroad, I was able to see and learn first-hand about the impact of climate change in an international development context.
I’ve seen and met people and communities that were destroyed following Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
Following extreme flooding in India I was checking in on people I met and the efforts of the Jewish community to support those affected.
It’s my friends and former colleagues in California whom I message when there are forest fires caused by the raising global temperature and it’s my friends in the Grand Bahamas who are dealing now with the consequences of Hurricane Dorian.
Now this isn’t just about my friends and the amazing global Jewish community that I am privileged to be a part of.
It’s truly about the most vulnerable in the world; these are the people who are living in places that are the least stable, the least secure.
Rural communities that live off fishing and farming have their income decimated when natural hazards cause disasters for those living in precarious environments. These are the people living in homes that can have their roof ripped off or simply blown away, losing all their treasured belongings, never mind the risk to life.
These are the people that don’t have savings to lean back on, that are living pay-cheque-to-pay-cheque and when there are fewer fish in the ocean, there are fewer to sell and fewer to feed their families and the risks keep getting higher.
Of course, large corporations and countries need to take action but that doesn’t excuse us from also doing our part.
In today’s world there’s no excuse not to be going greener, when it comes to our organisations and communal institutions, alternatives and solutions are available.
Although they may cost a little bit more, by switching to greener options, we will increase demand and drive the price down, shifting the market dynamic.
Our religious texts remind us of the importance of caring for the environment — we have just been reading about this in Bereshit and Noach — and now it’s time we as a community do our part, for Mitzvah Day and throughout the year.
For details and ideas on how to go greener on Mitzvah Day, please visit www.mitzvahday.org.uk
