Green Passover

By TreeLiving For your Passover celebration you’ll want a clean home. Why not make it a green home too? With a bit of planning, your Passover observances can be eco-friendly every step of the way. Our planet is under threat from the effects of our consumer patterns and we can pay it respect with green strategies in our homes and festivities. If you’re scouring the house in readiness, eco-friendly cleaning products are a great beginning. Cutting down on the use of powerful chemicals and potentially toxic detergents is the planet-wise way to go. Green cleaning products have come a long way and will do just as good a job in your Passover spring cleaning – and dealing with those piles of dirty dishes after meals – as the regular cleaners. For your well-being and the good of the environment, check out the organic kosher products available in many stores. There are eco-friendly alternatives all down the line. Kosher foods that are also organic aren’t hard to source. Start with the matzah. Organically grown spelt or wheat matzah is easy to find and tastes fantastic! Having a green home this Passover is about great quality foods to celebrate the occasion. Think free range chicken for soup and free range eggs for baytzah. Don’t forget that by buying local you’ll be supporting your community and cutting down on your carbon footprint. Your seder is probably going to involve a lot of extra work, but making your own Passover dishes where you can is another more eco-friendly, green home option. Whatever fruit and nuts you use in your favorite charoset recipe, you’ll be able to buy organically grown ingredients. Did you know you can even get organically grown spices? The greenest option of all is to grow your own where possible. Parsley for your karpas is really easy to grow and horseradish, for maror, is a hardy perennial in many areas. Wine is an absolutely essential part of the Passover celebration. With a bit of forward planning you will be able to find kosher wine that is also organic. Check out what your local wineries have to offer, or ask around. If it costs a few cents more to acquire it, it’s all in the best possible cause – a green home and a green planet! Are you hosting or attending a large gathering for this year’s seder? There are opportunities for eco-friendliness here too. If you’re going to use paper plates, cups and table napkins, make sure you recycle them or, even better, put them on the compost heap – along with leftovers from the meal. To cut down on that all important carbon footprint, see if you can pool transport to cut fuel consumption, as well as costs. Creating a clean, green home for this year’s Passover festivities isn’t difficult. Think organic, think local, think home-made and home-grown. You’ll be putting plenty of thought into your preparations and seder, and with a tiny bit of effort you can have a green occasion, packed with quality food and healthy options.