Commitment to environmental sustainability has become a cornerstone of our community’s ethos in recent years, starting with concerns over about the large amount of disposable plastic being used for catered events, particularly for Kiddushim on Shabbat mornings.

This led to the implementation of non-disposable Kiddushim in May 2018, which has since become a firm shul policy that extended to all GGS catered events in September 2018. To read our policy, which has been used as a blueprint to share with other United Synagogue communities, click here.

We believe that this modest change in policy and practice have contributed to GGS becoming a more sustainable community and we aim to use reusable and recyclable products wherever possible.

In 2019, GGS took a further step on this journey by joining EcoSynagogue, a cross-communal initiative that seeks to promote environmental sustainability and engagement in the UK Jewish community. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we held several virtual events focusing on sustainability, including a panel on approaches to sustainability in June 2020 (see below) and a Tu B’Shvat panel on tree conservation in January 2021.

Next steps

The community’s environmental project leads, Sarah Waimann and Naomi Verber, together with the Shul Council will be working on our wider Eco Shul policy over the coming months and looking at ways to make our shul greener and more sustainable, for example by exploring the use of solar panels, raising awareness of environmental issues across the community and working with other shuls to explore new ways to promote sustainability