TBE Green Team’s Mission is to support the greening of the temple and also to support our community in taking climate action. To date, we have helped TBE switch to LED lighting with motion detectors in all but the sanctuary and community gathering rooms, saving TBE about $16,000/year. 

Do you want to achieve similar savings at home? The Green Team recently sponsored a webinar to demystify LEDs. Did you know that LED bulbs themselves are comparable in price to incandescent bulbs but, in addition to avoiding 85% of emissions, an LED will cost 85% less to use? A single 9 watt LED bulb, which replaces a 60 watt incandescent bulb, will cost about $23.50 over its lifetime. Compare that to $169.79 for equivalent incandescent bulbs over the same period. This is true both because LEDs use less energy and because they last 25 times longer; you’ll need 20.8 incandescent bulbs to match the lifespan of one LED.  

If you want to learn more about switching to LED lighting and other actions you can take in your home, sign up through the Jewish Climate Action Network (JCAN) on the MassEnergize portal. You can find a link and instructions on the Green Team’s TBE webpage. Once you sign up, you’ll find information about MassSave subsidies, for example, and help us count our climate impact. 

So far, switching to LED lighting has been the most common action taken in the TBE community and has saved 6,864 lbs. of CO2 equivalent (the equivalent of planting 16 trees). The quick savings – especially now that electricity rates have skyrocketed – and time saved from changing bulbs probably explain its popularity.

In the town of Wellesley, 38.9% of emissions come from residential buildings. Though none of us individually can solve the emissions problem, what we do helps. And as is written in Pirkei Avot “You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.” Join us on MassEnergize! 

Join Us Online: Green Team Meeting: April 13, 7:30 PM