Last update - 00:00 28/12/2006
Ultra-Orthodox greens struggle to put environmentalism on agenda
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent
When Yehuda Ganot, an ultra-Orthodox environmentalist, occasionally visits Lithuanian community elder Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman, he hears the recurrent phrase: "Sit, study, give up that nonsense." Ultra-Orthodox environmental activists say they are often asked if trees are more important to them than education.
Ganot, who chairs Haredim for the Environment, is among those fighting to put the subject on the agenda.
In a week and half, Ganot's organization will hold the first-ever conference on the ultra-Orthodox and the environment in Bnei Brak. The conference will highlight environmental issues that directly affect the ultra-Orthodox.
Shas lawmakers recently opposed a bill to expand legislation on bottle depositing to cover the larger, 1.5 liter plastic beverage bottles. They say the proposed legislation would create a subsequent price-hike on the bigger bottles and place an undue financial burden on large families.
Haredim for the Environment proposed a creative compromise: Bottle collection in Haredi residential areas would be handled by charities like Ezer Mizion, which would use the deposit money as donations.
Ganot's organization is involved in another initiative directly related to the ultra-Orthodox community. Every year, the ultra-Orthodox community buries hundreds of tons of damaged religious books and other ritual articles. The items are collected in containers in religious neighborhoods, which are then buried by various organizations at unauthorized burial sites. However, a toxic substance dioxin seeps into groundwater from the ink in the religious books. The organization is lobbying for the creation of a regulated burial site for religious items, in order to reduce environmental damage from the practice.