THE FIRST 5 “E’s”
Before you begin your Environmental Audit, consider your “First 5 E’s”.
1. ESTABLISH an ‘Environmental Impact Team’. This can be a mixture of professional staff, lay leadership and volunteers. The greater the mix of skills, the better.
2. ENLIST the active support of your Rabbi or Minister. Our Steering Group comprises of a Rabbi from the United Synagogue, Masorti, Reform and Liberal communities, and they each would be delighted to talk directly to your spiritual leader about becoming involved in EcoSynagogue.
3. ENGAGE a member of your Synagogue Board or Council on the Environmental Impact Team and ask for the Board or Council’s formal backing.
4. ENCOURAGE the involvement of ideally two young members of your community in your Environmental Impact Team who are passionate about the environment.
5. ENERGISE your young by involving Cheder teachers and youth leaders as well.
Guidance Notes
We appreciate that every community is different. Some operate in rural areas, some urban, some are in old, listed buildings, some new builds, some rent their spaces and own no land or building, or have buildings but no land.
Where you need more guidance as to how to answer a specific question as it relates to your particular circumstance, please email our Project Manager, Andrea, at andrea@ecojudaism.org.uk who will help by booking you into one of our regular surgery slots, or, where she cannot help, will signpost you to someone who can.
Some of the words we use and how to interpret them:
Strategically: We mean that this work is carefully considered by a group of synagogue members, with consultation and evaluated in its effectiveness.
Regularly: We mean that this takes place or is part of our synagogue activities or operations several times during the Jewish year.
Sometimes: We mean that this takes place or is part of our synagogue activities or operations once or twice during the Jewish year.
Section 4 Adaptations for congregations:
Congregations with Land & Buildings: complete ALL sections.
Congregations with Buildings only: tick n/a until “Buildings” section.
Congregations with No Land or Buildings: tick n/a until “Consumables” section
Scoring Rationale:
If all the Audit sections apply to you then the maximum possible score is 1250.
Actions in comparison to policies are higher weighted for scoring. For example, a large number of environmental synagogue policies for example might earn 35 points but solar power for the shul building gets 20 points on its own.
A Bronze award requires a 40% score.
A Silver award requires a 60% score.
A Gold award requires an 80% score.
Where questions do not apply to your community they can be marked N/A and the percentage score of the correct raw answers answered would then be applicable.