Have a have happy and healthy holiday season and may we continue to work together keep creation safe in the coming year. - Allison

GWIPL Turns Three

On Thursday, November 30, GWIPL celebrated its 3rd birthday by honoring our friends who have served as an inspiration for all of us:

• Energy Award - Tikvat Israel for their amazing work in improving the energy efficiency of their building. Just by installing 7-day programmable thermostats, they are able to save 10% on electricity and 15% on their gas bills. They wisely applied some of this saving to purchase 100% clean energy for their building.
• Light Award - UU of Silver Spring for their work in helping to incorporate suitability throughout their community, including having their congregation vote on their 50% purchase of clean energy and organizing their middle schoolers to meet with their legislators in Annapolis on the Clean Cars Bill. Members of the congregation & GWIPL's program director Allison Fisher are pictured at the right.
• Hope Award - Grace Ogden, of the Washington National Cathedral, for her tireless efforts to create the infrastructure so all 56 acres of the Cathedral Close can incorporate creation care into their practices, as well as bringing cutting edge spiritual and educational programming to the Cathedral with speakers like Terry Tempest Williams and Barbra Kingsolver.
• Vision Award - Dennis Chestnut, of Washington Parks and People, for his work of ever day in helping to restore creation in Marvin Gay Park, in Ward 7 of the District of Columbia. To date volunteers have found over 5,000 needles in the park, and now congregations in the area use the park to hold their worship services outside in nature.

A special thanks to our interns Aviva Birnkrant, Aneesha Rao, and Noah Weinthal and our volunteers for the evening: Terry Adlhock, Jillian Humpheys, Logan Alley, and Charles Martin-Shields. Thanks to all who contributed, attended, and donated items for the silent auction. We look forward to celebrating with you next year.

Opportunities for the Holidays

1. Do you want your Tree to be Green? Then add these cool new LED Christmas lights, which come in numerous styles and colors. In comparison to a traditional light strand, an LED light strand can help you save up to $30 on your energy bill and almost 500 pounds of CO2 in one season (assumes use for 6 hours per day for 45 days). These “cool lights” last over 100,000 hours and at $10 a strand it’s not a bad investment. Both the Rockefeller Center and National Christmas Tree have LED lights for the first time this year. Purchase your LED lights on www.shopIPL.org and remember your special 10% discount code of shopIPL.

2. Green Light: A Sustainable Hanukah: In the traditional Hanukah story, there was only enough oil available to light the eternal light for one day after the rededication of the Temple. Instead, it burned for eight: it was eight times more efficient. In this sprit, our actions to increase our energy efficiency, live more sustainably, and cool the planet from climate change are especially important at this time of year. To that end, we invite your congregation to participate in Green Light: A Sustainable Hanukah, a series of actions that can easily be incorporated into your existing Hanukah programming. Click here for more details about how to participate.

3. This Holiday Season: Give the Gift of Light: Through our new ShopIPL program, your congregation has the opportunity to hold an educational fundraiser selling compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). CFLs make great alterative gifts and are great give-aways to low income families with whom your community already works. This program can help your group raise money, and it will educate members about ways to save energy and empower them to take action.

Power Shift Conference
The weekend of November 2-4, over 5500 high school and college students gathered in College Park, Maryland for PowerShift 2007, a national youth conference on tackling the climate crisis. GWIPL was happy to host three fantastic high schoolers from Georgia IPL, pictured above Egan Short, Lincoln Kupke, and John Seydel. They were even featured in an article on Grist.org about the conference - Read it.

Upcoming Event

Green Light: A Sustainable Hanukah Celebration
Come celebrate the 8th night of the Festival of (Energy Efficient) Lights:

• Light a CFL (compact fluorescent light) hanukiah!
• Eat latkes and applesauce made from locally grown potatoes and apples!
• Taste Fair Trade chocolate!
• Get your hands busy making art from recycled materials!
• Learn something new at workshops about sustainability in the home and your synagogue!
• Come schmooze and nosh with old friends and new ones!

Please bring a CFL (compact fluorescent lightbulb) for low income families or a recommended donation of $5.

When: Tuesday, December 11th, 2007 @ 6:30-8:30pm
Where: Josephine Butler Parks Center, 2437 Fifteenth Street NW, Washington, DC
(Metro: Columbia Heights or U Street/Cardozo. Bus: S2, S4, 52, 53, 54)

Co-sponsored by: Shomrei Adamah of Greater Washington, Jews United for Justice and the Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light

To RSVP or for more information email shomrei_adamah@yahoo.com or call Lindsey Paige Savoie at (202) 489 5278.

Go to the GWIPL Event Calendar

Support GWIPL today
You can make a secure online donation at http://www.gwipl.org/support_us.asp. Every dollar helps us to protect creation.