According to this news item on the Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection Website , Kibbutz Ein Harod Ihud is Israel’s only “Green Kibbutzâ€. There may well be other contenders for the title, but this is the impressive list of projects and initiatives on which the claim is based:
- Recycling into six different streams, including separation at source.
- Sale of recycled cardboard, paper and metal. A solution for the disposal of other components is still being sought.
- An ecological garden to be used for educational and demonstration purposes.
- Plans for an ecological-environmental centre, for internal and external promotion.
- A switch to the use of environmentally friendly (degradable) detergents.
- Looking at products which have not been tested on animals.
- An energy survey, with plans to identify clean, inexpensive alternative energy sources and reduce energy consumption in daily life by using electricity saving bulbs and air conditioners, etc. The project is implemented and partially funded in cooperation with the Samuel Neaman Institute for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology in the Technion, within the framework of an agreement between the Institute and the US Department of Energy to advance clean and sustainable energy development.
- Joint research proposals from the kibbutz and the Neaman Institute. A study on energy efficiency in milk cooling was accepted for funding by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Environmental Protection Minister Gideon Ezra welcomed the initiative of Kibbutz Ein Harod Ihud as a “green kibbutzâ€, saying that the kibbutz movement has always been environmentally conscious. He intends to formulate a clear theory and criteria along with a more professional definition of the term “green kibbutz.”
The item does not, however, make mention of the Green Kibbutz Movement, nor does it mention kibbutzim such as Harduf, Ketura and Lotan that have long been exploring ways to tread lightly on the earth (and in some cases were founded with that objective).
I find it heartening to see that, despite the considerable challenges they face, kibbutzim continue to innovate and lead in Israeli society.
Ein Harod Ihud – Israel’s First Green Kibbutz
Ein Harod Celebrates 80 years of Settlement
The Samuel Neaman Institute for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology
Kibbutzim Site | www.kibbutz.org.il
Kibbutz Ketura – Volunteer and absorption information – Israel
Kibbutz Lotan, Arava Valley, Israel
