Project New Leaves - Recently Updated Pages

Outline

Anonymous — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:31:07 CDT

Day/ dates	God created…	Habit of the Week	“Try This”	Outing (interest permitting)
1 4/3-4/9	Light/darkness, day/night	Use energy resources intentionally	Quell “electricity vampires” at home	Havdalah With a Twist
2 4/10-4/16	Expanse (rakia) separating waters above from waters below	Act from awareness that everyone’s lungs share the same air	Stop unneeded engine idling	Bicycle Ride
3 4/17-4/23	Dry land/oceans, plants	Make space for the diversity of life	Help native plants by uprooting exotic volunteers in your yard	Attend Oakhurst Community Garden Earth Day celebration
4 4/24-4/30	Sun, moon, stars; seasons, months, years	Make use of the gifts of sunlight and seasons	Find south at your house and increase natural lighting	Tour Southface Energy Institute eco-demonstration house and office
5 5/1-5/7	Creatures of water and air	Act with awareness of life downstream	Check for hazardous chemicals at home and plan proper disposal.	Water activities and stream hiking trip at Sweetwater Creek State Park; see green roof at Visitor Center.
6 5/8-5/14	Land animals and humans with dominion	Participate in inventing a sustainable world	Share your insights with friends and elected representatives	Tour green planned community in south Fulton, Serenbe
7 5/15-5/21	Shabbat	Regularly enjoy the outdoors	Take a walk in your neighborhood	Erev Shabbat outdoors

Day 7

NewLeaves1 — Sun, 13 May 2007 15:32:05 CDT

Haverim,

This is the last of the weekly messages for the Omer to Honor The Earth. One week from tonight will be Shavuot, the destination of our 49 days of counting, and the occasion for an all-night fun and learning event, which is described in Bet Mail.

This Friday night in the Erev Shabbat service led by Gayanne Geurin Weiss, the d'var will be an open discussion looking back on the Omer to Honor the Earth. Please come with your reflections on the experience. Did the Genesis text move you in a new way? Did the project - together with heightened attention to the Earth in the media recently - lead you toward any new committments? Hope to see you then.

Bill

To honor the Creator's Shabbat on the seventh day, we pledge to
Regularly enjoy the outdoors.

Try this: Take a walk in your neighborhood. Step outside during each day. More…

Why: The Creator’s rest on the seventh day is recalled multiple times in Shabbat services. Perhaps the “six days of creation” story is in the Torah to show that taking rest each week is a built-in part of the world, as natural as sun, plants, and animals. Our present world seems to worship speed. People inspired to do good work suffer frequent burnout. Going outside to soak up the perfection of nature allows us to take a breath of rest and recognize the Creation as “tov meod” (very good). More…

How to Count the Omer

Omer Li'chvod Haaretz/Project New Leaves Home

Omer Count - Week 7

NewLeaves1 — Sun, 13 May 2007 15:10:49 CDT

On Erev Shabbat, May 18:

Blessed are You, CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE, who saw that all that You made is very good, and took a breath of rest on the seventh day. You call us to draw near to Your presence with prayer, engage with Your words of Torah, and walk humbly with You. Blessed are You, MAKER OF SHALOM, who teaches us to make Shabbat holy.

Baruch atah adonai eloheinu melech haolam asher kidshanu bemitzvotav vetzivanu al sefirat ha’omer.
This is the forty-sixth day, making six weeks and four days of the Omer.

When we are stirred to bless Your Name and welcome Your holy Shabbat, we will remember to regularly enjoy the outdoors.

Day 5

NewLeaves1 — Sat, 12 May 2007 18:20:58 CDT

To honor the fifth day of creation, we pledge to
Act with awareness of life downstream.

Try this: Check for hazardous chemicals at home and plan proper disposal. Reduce use of fertilizers and pesticides (less lawn?). Buy organic produce. More…

Why: The swarming creatures of air and sea and “great sea monsters” (whales?) have long been objects of awe. In the 1960’s, shocked readers of Silent Spring learned that pesticides travel along the food chain to endanger birds worldwide. Humans now produce thousands of pollutants that nature is unable to break down. Residues appear far from their source in Arctic marine mammals including whales, and marine “dead zones” spread from the mouths of rivers. Most pollution is “non point-source,” meaning it comes from the little actions of millions of us. There is no “away” to throw pollutants. Ultimately, write the authors of Cradle to Cradle, all materials must be designed to remain in a closed loop of reuse, or to be biodegradable. More…

Outing: Sweetwater Creek State Park: On Sunday, May 6, leave from CCUCC by carpool at 1:30 for a 2:30 ranger-led hike along the stream to the Civil War-era ruins and 5:00 potluck picnic. More...

How to Count the Omer

Omer Li'chvod Haaretz/Project New Leaves Home

Outing - Day 6

NewLeaves1 — Wed, 09 May 2007 20:07:14 CDT

On May 15, learn about Georgia Interfaith Power and Light's (GIPL's) Home Energy and Environment Upgrade Program, at the home of Steve Kay and Jennifer Weissman, pilot participants in the program. A Southface Energy Institute expert will be on hand to explain the program and answer questions, and at least three pilot participants will also be present.

The benefits, as reported by pilot participants, include:

Ending drafts
Fixing major inequalities in temperature between rooms
Stopping mold, humidity, and other indoor air quality problems
Greatly reducing heating and cooling bills

The homeowner 's investment is expected to be paid back in energy savings within a few years. The work, performed by contractors certified by Southface Energy Institute, Atlanta's 25-year old energy efficiency nonprofit, includes diagnosis, sealing duct leakages and sealing cracks to the outdoors.

GIPL is involved in this program through a marketing arrangement with Georgia Power. GIPL's interest is in the greatly reduced impact of congregants' homes on climate change.

Try This - Day 6

Anonymous — Tue, 08 May 2007 05:09:20 CDT

Participate in Inventing a Sustainable World

As you develop habits that honor the Earth, spread them to your community and your elected representatives. Set aside time to support actions that save energy, clear the air, expand habitat, use sunlight, and protect life downstream.

Resources

Books and Other Non-Internet

Ellen Bernstein, The Splendor of Creation, p. 91-121
Hawkin, Lovins, and Lovins, Natural Capitalism
McDonough and Braungart, Cradle to Cradle

Organization Web Sites

Other Web Materials

The Good News about Oil Depletion - article from The New Southerner, which once featured our 2003 CFL sale in an article about faith and the environment. A perspective on how we might respond sanely to the end of the fossil-fuel era.

Day 6

NewLeaves1 — Mon, 07 May 2007 21:39:21 CDT

Haverim,

The sixth weekly message follows. Please join CBH and St Bartholomew's folks at Steve Kay's home at 7:00 Tuesday May 15 to learn about upgrading the energy and environmental performance of your home. (More...) As before, if this message is arriving without active links, just go to http://ecoomer.wetpaint.com and click on "Sixth Day." Thanks for your interest.

To honor the sixth day of creation, we pledge to
Participate in creating a sustainable world.

Try this: As you develop habits that honor the Earth, spread them to your community and your elected representatives. Set aside time to support actions that save energy, clear the air, expand habitat, use sunlight, and protect life downstream.

The house pictured below is no ordinary house. At 7100 feet in the Colorado Rockies, it is heated mainly by sunlight with only an occasionally used wood stove for backup heating, and has harvested over 28 banana crops in its atrium. It is the headquarters of the Rocky Mountain Institute, one of the guiding lights of learning to live lightly on the Earth, which helped produce the landmark book Natural Capitalism. More…

Why: People, promised dominion over animals and the earth, follow the land animals on the sixth day, and are commanded to be fruitful. Today humanity has been fruitful beyond anyone's dreams. Dominion, like it or not, describes our effect on plants and animals. Unfortunately, this power has become increasingly destructive. To honor creation, we must deliberately, collectively reshape dominion so that it shelters, and ceases to erode, the rest of creation.

More…

Outing: On May 15, learn about Georgia Interfaith Power and Light's Home Energy and Environment Upgrade Program, at the home of Steve Kay and Jennifer Weissman, pilot participants in the program. A Southface Energy Institute expert will be on hand to explain the program and answer questions. More...

How to Count the Omer

Omer Li'chvod Haaretz/Project New Leaves Home

Omer Count - Week 6

NewLeaves1 — Sat, 05 May 2007 22:19:14 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Outing - Day 5

NewLeaves1 — Thu, 03 May 2007 18:29:39 CDT

May 6 - Lag B'Omer community celebration at Sweetwater Creek State Park, 40 minutes from CCUCC.
We have reserved a large shelter for a supper picnic potluck to follow optional activities, including a 1.5-mile ranger-guided hike beside white water to (and inside) Civil War-era textile mill ruins; canoe rentals on the lake; and a visit to the new visitor center with its vegetated roof and ecological architecture. Leave by carpool from CCUCC between 1:30 and 1:45. Tour begins at 2:30, picnic around 5:00. Headquarters will be at picnic shelter #7, which is the shelter nearest the trailhead to the ruins. Join "Omer to Honor the Earth" in appreciating the living waters of the fifth day of creation.

CALLING ALL DRIVERS of Prius and other fuel-efficient, low emissions vehicles: Add a bonus to the Sweetwater Creek outing for other CBHers by bringing your vehicle to the carpool at CCUCC at 1:30 May 6. People who ride in these vehicles often fall in love with them (and it is Lag B'Omer!) and it would be great to boost the number of CBH folks driving them.

Try This - Day 5

NewLeaves1 — Wed, 02 May 2007 16:33:32 CDT

Act with Awareness of Life Downstream

Check for hazardous chemicals at home and plan proper disposal. Experiment with non-toxic cleaning alternatives, especially for drain cleaners, toilet bowl cleaners, and oven cleaners. Reduce use of fertilizers and pesticides (less lawn?). Buy organic produce.

To sign up to receive environmental action alerts in order to strengthen watershed protection in Georgia, go to protectgeorgia.net.

Books and Other Non-Internet

Ellen Bernstein, The Splendor of Creation, p. 55-77

Organization Web Sites

The eastern continental divide, separating the Chattahoochee watershed (flows to the Gulf of Mexico) from the Altamaha watershed (flows to the Atlantic) runs from Stone Mountain through Decatur to the state capitol, more or less coinciding with the railroad and the MARTA East line. If you live north of the MARTA line, get involved with Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. If you live to the south, connect with Altamaha Riverkeeper.

Other Web Materials

Kavanah - Day 5

NewLeaves1 — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 20:58:25 CDT

Act with Awareness of Life Downstream - Connecting to Genesis

Just as the first three days of creation refer to waters and the atmosphere before dry land emerges, now the animals of water and air precede those of land.

Natural systems have a complex, miraculous ability to keep water mostly clean, from mountain springs to the ocean. In the 1960’s Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was a shock showing how new substances such as DDT were not being handled by the natural mechanisms, but were actually concentrating as they moved up the food pyramid.

There are some encouraging stories in Cradle to Cradle about the redesign of industrial processes to make products that are either food for natural processes (compostable) or food for industrial processes (completely recycled). The authors say we must learn to obey three laws on which all natural systems depend, but that seem forgotten in industrial society: “waste equals food,” "live from current solar income" and "respect diversity."

Resources

Books and Other Non-Internet

Ellen Bernstein, The Splendor of Creation, p. 78-90
McDonough and Braungart, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things

Organization Web Sites

Jewish Vegetarian Society's web site includes an article, Lag B'Omer and Vegetarianism by Daniel Brook and Richard H. Schwartz. Pollution downstream from feedlots is one of many ecological arguments the article mentions for choosing a meatless diet. One way of honoring Lag B'Omer (in this week of the Omer), the article suggests, is to enjoy a vegetarian meal.

Other Web Materials

Omer Count - Week 5

NewLeaves1 — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 20:50:59 CDT

On Erev Shabbat, count the 32nd day of the Omer to Honor the Earth

Blessed are You, MAKER OF THE FIFTH DAY, who waters the mountains from Your upper chambers, and sends streams to flow between the mountains to your great and broad sea. You made the creatures of the water and the air. You guide the snow goose and the whale on their journeys; they witness all that happens on
land and in the sea. Blessed are You, WELLSPRING OF LIFE, who renews the surface of the Earth.

Baruch atah adonai eloheinu melech haolam asher kidshanu bemitzvotav vetzivanu al sefirat ha’omer.
This is the thirty-second day, making four weeks and four days of the Omer.

When we hear the birds of dawn, or taste the life of the waters, we will remember to act with awareness of life downstream.

Day 4

NewLeaves1 — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 17:03:33 CDT

To honor the fourth day of creation, we pledge to

Make use of the gifts of sunlight and seasons.

Try this: Find south at your house and increase natural lighting. More…

Why: The sun, moon, and stars are “for seasons and for years”. Without the tilt of Earth’s axis – experienced as the steadily changing path of the sun through the yearly cycle – seasons would not exist and years would be hard to observe. As we let go of the fossil fuel era, solar-aware buildings are oriented to the sun’s path. Designed to allow lighting by daylight and heating from low-angle winter rays, they also avoid glare and overheating by summer sun. Daylight turns out to have psychological as well as energy benefits. Appreciating and using it may lift your spirits. So which way is south? More…

Outing: None this week. Mark your calendar for the potluck picnic and Lag B'Omer community celebration at Sweetwater Creek State Park May 6. More...

How to Count the Omer

Omer Li'chvod Haaretz/Project New Leaves Home

Omer Count - Week 4

NewLeaves1 — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 21:14:47 CDT

On Erev Shabbat, count the 25th day of the Omer to Honor the Earth

Make use of the gifts of sunlight and seasons.
Blessed are You, MAKER OF THE FOURTH DAY. On Your canted Earth’s yearly circle, the Sun appears to dance through the sky, causing the seasons to come and go. Your stars tell the time of night and the season, and Your Moon in monthly rhythm tugs the ocean and the blood. Blessed are You, HEART OF THE UNIVERSE, who blesses time and awakens Your creatures to the coming of spring.

Baruch atah adonai eloheinu melech haolam asher kidshanu bemitzvotav vetzivanu al sefirat ha’omer.
This is the twenty-fifth day, making three weeks and four days of the Omer.

When the change of seasons arouses our senses, we will remember to make use of the gifts of sunlight and seasons.

Kavanah - Day 4

NewLeaves1 — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 21:11:20 CDT

The ancients were keenly aware of the way all heavenly bodies tracked across the sky, marking changes in the seasons. From our outside the earth perspective we know that the earth’s axis is tilted. If it were not, January would be the same as July, April, or October. In fact, we there would be little interest in knowing that the earth had completed a full revolution around the sun.

When we get outdoors, when we let natural light indoors, when we eat different foods according to the times of the year, we connect ourselves to the fourth day of creation.

Resources

Books and Other Non-Internet

Ellen Bernstein, The Splendor of Creation, p. 55-77

Organization Web Sites

Other Web Materials

Try This - Day 4

NewLeaves1 — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 21:10:01 CDT

Make Use of the Gifts of Sunlight and Seasons

You may have heard of the LEED – Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – point rating system for buildings. One way a building can score LEED points is by use of natural light. There are studies that show school rooms with natural lighting have higher test scores and lower absentee rates. DeKalb County has broken ground on a LEED certified school near Arabia Mountain – let’s hope natural light is one way it will gain points.

Look for ways you can increase natural lighting in your home. Southern exposures - with overhanging eaves and/or trees that leaf out in the summer - can help on heating bills in the winter without adding to cooling bills in the summer. Northern exposures provide good natural lighting year round without the problems of glare or the overheating of direct sunlight. Eastern and western exposures are the least favorable for natural lighting because of the glare and tendency toward overheating in summer.

Even though there is little electricity generated in Georgia by wind or solar, you can accelerate the solar and wind revolution by buying "green tags", that is the carbon dioxide reduction credits generated by solar and wind projects. Use them to offset your carbon impact on the planet, for example your annual air travel, to move toward carbon neutrality.

Resources

Books and Other Non-Internet

Ellen Bernstein, The Splendor of Creation, p. 55-77

Organization Web Sites

Southface Energy Institute

Other Web Materials

Day 3

NewLeaves1 — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 19:24:23 CDT

To honor the third day of creation, we pledge to
Make space for the diversity of life.

Try this: Help native plants by uprooting exotic volunteers in your yard. Support efforts to set aside wild habitat interconnected by corridors. Help address the climate crisis by curbing unintentional energy use (see Day One). More…

Why: After land takes shape as separate from water, the earth brings forth plants, “each after its own kind.” Science attributes life’s brilliant diversity to a shifting mosaic of habitats and climates interacting with gene pools over millions of years. Occasionally, changes in climate and habitat are massive and abrupt enough to cause extinction of thousands of species. We are living during the sixth great period of extinction. This apparently is the first largely driven by the habits of a single species – ourselves. To put the brakes on extinction, we must leave space for other species and address our impact on climate. More…

Outing: Oakhurst Earth Day celebration and parade co-organized by CBH's own Ruby Bock. More..

How to Count the Omer

Omer Li'chvod Haaretz/Project New Leaves Home

Home

NewLeaves1 — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 14:13:59 CDT

Omer to Honor the Earth

Omer Li'chvod Haaretz

Congregation Bet Haverim's Omer to Honor the Earth

Choose from the following links to see the messages and additional resources for each day of creation.

Overview in Table Format

First Day: Light and Darkness
Second Day: Atmosphere
Third Day: Diversity of Life
Fourth Day: Sun and Seasons
Fifth Day: Life Downstream
Sixth Day: Dominion
Seventh Day: Rest

Welcome Contributors of quality material and links to our project

Contact Us: newleaves1@earthlink.net

Try This - Day 3

NewLeaves1 — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:14:05 CDT

Make Space for the Diversity of Life

Help native plants by uprooting invasive exotic volunteers in your yard. Support efforts to set aside wild habitat interconnected by corridors, by volunteering for, or financially supporting, a local land trust. Help address the climate crisis by curbing unintentional energy use, because climate change is causing habitat changes that in turn are raising extinction rates. (see Day One).

More Suggestions

Support organic agriculture and local farmers. Conventional agriculture is more likely to specialize in a few varieties, decreasing the diversity of food crops. Buy organic shade-grown, fair trade coffee, for example Triple Mitzvah coffee marketed by Congregation B'nai Torah, Boston's Reconstructionist Shul.

Eat low on the food chain. Much more acreage is expended raising feed for meat and poultry than would be used to grow protein-rich vegetable alternatives. Some beef is raised in areas cleared from rainforest for that purpose.

Recycle paper, buy recycled paper, print on both sides of a sheet of paper before recycling it, and reduce paper consumption. Although paper companies replant trees, biodiversity is usually reduced.

Resources

List of top invasive plant species from Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council

Books and Other Non-Internet

Ellen Bernstein, The Splendor of Creation, p. 26-54

Organization Web Sites

Georgia Organics
Rainforest Action Network
Georgia Native Plant Society
The Land Trust Alliance is the convener, strategist and representative of land trusts across America. Locate land trusts active in Georgia.

Day 1

NewLeaves1 — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 22:20:43 CDT

To honor the first day of creation, we pledge to
Use energy intentionally.

Try this: To tame the “energy vampires” that add watts round the clock to your electricity bill, plug your TV, DVD, cell phone chargers, etc. into a power strip (or TV cable box) and turn them off at one throw of the switch. Turn off lights and fans when leaving a room. Install compact fluorescent light bulbs. More…

Why: With "Let there be Light!" the Creator begins to turn chaos into a habitable world. Sunlight is the ultimate source of almost all the energy we use, as even fossil fuels come from ancient plants and algae. But the first day of creation is only complete with darkness and night, an “off” cycle of rest and cooling. Today, curbing energy waste is the largest, most economical step toward restoring the ecology of the planet. With serious effort, it has been estimated that North Americans could live as well as we do now on one-fourth to one-tenth the energy we now use. More…

Outing: Havdalah With a Twist led by Dev Noily and the team, outside of Granite House More...

How to Count the Omer..

Omer to Honor the Earth Home is at http://ecoomer.wetpaint.com