Energy Conservation
Turn OFF The Lights! Campaign
In an effort to save energy by encouraging students and faculty to turn off the lights after they leave their classrooms, Environmental Club members designed magnets to be placed on the door frames of classrooms throughout all of the divisions at BT.
These magnets were printed using OvernightPrints.com's "Green Print" process - decreasing waste, saving water, and reducing harmful VOCs. The magnets were disseminated around the school from March 17 to March 21, 2014. The Hebrew at the bottom of the magnets, baal tashchit, is translated as "do not destroy or waste." This Hebrew phrase is a mitzvah, or commandment, in Jewish law. The following excerpt from a Chabad.org article, distributed to students in the High School, explains the origins of this mitzvah... When you besiege a city for many days to wage war against it to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them, for you may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Is the tree of the field a man, to go into the siege before you? However, a tree you know is not a food tree, you may destroy and cut down, and you shall build bulwarks against the city that makes war with you, until its submission. (Devarim 20:19-20) |
Applying this principle, we understand the importance of turning off lights when not in use...
The general prohibition against needless destruction, derived from the verse on fruit trees, concerns not destroying directly or indirectly anything that may be of use to people. It applies to wasting energy, clothing, water, money, and more. According to the Talmud, this prohibition includes wastefully burning oil or fuel.
Second Grade Energy Monitors
Meatless Thursday
On Thursday, March 27, 2014 students in the Environmental Club encouraged people to refrain from eating meat all day to save energy wasted during meat production. Dairy lunch was served at Beth Tfiloh and we encouraged families to choose a meatless option for dinner. Click to view the BT website event.
The 2014 cleanup was part of Project GreenUp, a series of sustainability-themed days students in the Environmental Club planned to help usher in a "greener" spring. The programs included Meatless Thursday on March 27, Going Green to School Day on March 28, and the Second Annual Campus Cleanup on April 6.
Click here to view the Facebook event for more information.
Click here to view the Facebook event for more information.