CBST's Green Team
The CBST Green Team is out to change the world.
We envision a shul, a city, a country, a planet where sustainability is central to our worldviews and our decision-making. We seek to restore justice for all who dwell on earth as well as the health and beauty of creation.
CBST’s Green Team is made of up of synagogue members, staff and clergy who work together to heal the natural world (l’takein et ha’olam).
Our urgency spurs work that promotes sustainability through environmental advocacy and activism, along with fundraising and educational initiatives. Our goal is to make change both within and beyond our synagogue, and we invite the entire CBST community to join us. Contact chair Liz Galst at greenteam@cbst.org to learn more or to let us know what you’re passionate about.
Democracy/Green team and Chutzpah 2024 Climate Voter Outreach
Join CBST’s Democracy Team and Green Team for phone banking with Dayenu: The Jewish Call to Climate Action, a non-partisan effort to mobilize climate-concerned voters to get to the polls.
CBST is co-sponsoring these shifts, with CBST clergy and Democracy and Green Team leaders joining. Register at the links below, and help get voters to the polls!
– Calling Pennsylvania: Thursday September 19, 2024, 1:00-3:00pm ET
– Calling North Carolina: Tuesday October 29, 6:00-8:00pm ET
– Weekend Calling: Sunday November 3, 1:00-3:00pm ET
The Green Team invites you to contribute vegan recipes to CBST’s first plant-based community cookbook! Learn more about this project.
Whether you make a sublime vegan chopped liver, a crisp latke using cooked oatmeal instead of eggs to bind the potatoes and onions together, or a lentil stew that should be world famous, we want the ingredients and directions, along with a blurb about your recipes and what they mean to you. No matter if you have been a lifelong vegan or simply strive to make your knishes healthier and/or more eco-friendly, all are welcome and encouraged to participate.
Green Power at CBST
Starting in June 2014, CBST has been a part of the EPA’s Green Power Partnership, and we are proud to get over 100% of our electricity from renewable resources such as wind and solar power. In keeping with CBST’s and the Green Team’s mission to protect and heal the earth and those on it, we are proud to be a part of this partnership — the only Jewish religious institution on this list.
Composting at CBST
Since July 2018, CBST has been a composting congregation. All of our food scraps and leftovers, and the napkins, paper cups, and even “plastic” cups and cutlery that the synagogue supplies are turned into compost, thanks to New York City’s Sanitation Department. All of our compostable products and food waste go into the brown plastic compost bins you can find on the building’s lower level. When programming resumes at our West 30th Street location, members of CBST’s Green Team will be on hand to answer questions. And if you’d like to start composting at home in the five boroughs, visit the GrowNYC site to learn more.
Our Synagogue is Green By Design
Learn more about our spiritual home at West 30th Street.
Tell us what you’re doing to help fulfill the mitzvah of shomrei adamah, safeguarding creation, or find out more about the Team by writing to greenteam@cbst.org.