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Eco Shabbat Guide

Protect the Day of Shabbat and Make it Holy. (Deuteronomy 5:12)

We give thanks on Shabbat, we dedicate time to family and friends and we reflect on our week. Shabbat is a time to lessen our impact on our earth, and to let it rest as well. Shabbat Shalom!
Content, product testing and layout by Borden Communications + Design

Shop for Shabbat


Be eco logical about planning for your Shabbat right from the get-go. This special day each week emphasizes the significance of nature in our lives and how important it is to take conscious actions to protect our environment. Shopping locally for an organic Shabbat meal will not only help support your neighbours and community, but you will also serve a kind, chemical-andpesticide-free meal. And dont forget, shopping tools can be as important as the food itself. What a shame it is to carry home glorious food in a toxic throwaway.

Tote the Right Thing


Plastic bags are a thing of the past, but if youre toting a $0.99 reusable, you could be doing more harm than good. Non-woven polypropylene reusable bags are made from the same stuff as disposable plastic bags - petroleum (ick!). Its time to carry on (literally!). Arm yourself with bags that will last you all of your Shabbats to come. These are colourful, durable, washable and are sure to fit any family meal.
flip & tumble www.flipandtumble.com

A Real Shabbat
Make sure that youre buying and serving a pesticide, GMO, chemical and hormone-free Shabbat dinner. Its easy to do when you get into the habit of shopping responsibly. Know your food, and know your farmer. Better (and yummier) food on the table makes for happier guests - and you may have even inspired others to shop more responsibly too once they taste and savour your local, organic goodness.
Join a CSA or shop your farmers market www.shoresh.ca/csa www.youngurbanfarmers.com

The Perfect Cover Up


Ok, so not all of us can bake and braid a fresh challah, so, if youre picking one up from the bakery, dont suffocate it with a petroleum based bag. After only being used for a few minutes, it then almost immediately ends up in your landfill where it will remain forever and where does that twist tie go? (oy!). This specific fine bamboo bag holds your bread from bakery to table and also doubles as a challah cover.
The Turtle Bag www.bamboo-bag.com

www.lisabordenworks.com

Dress your Table


In Judaism, the colour white signifies transformation and purity. We strive to ensure that everything is clean, neat and sparkly and we traditionally dress our tables with a white tablecloth and white napkins. In keeping with the tradition, lose the chlorine bleach and adopt safe and responsible practices. Shabbat is sacred, so make sure your personal and shared environment is safe for your loved ones, and our planet.

Hands Off!
Is it worth wearing gloves and feeling like you might pass out just to have shiny happy silver? Commercial (read: toxic) silver polish has danger warnings about inhaling it or touching your skin. Do you want that hazard on your soup spoon? Try cleaning your silver with natural toothpaste or put it in a sink with aluminum foil on the bottom - just add warm water and salt. Same sparkly results but fume and residue-free. For other safe tips for a clean and green home, buy a great reference book, or search online.
Planet Home www.alexandrazissu.com

Table Toppers
When you pull out the good stufffor Shabbat, make sure its actually, truly good for you. Napkins and tablecloths that are vinyl, backed with plastic or even cotton or poly, treated with chemicals (you know the ones that claim they are stainproof or wrinkleresistant?), should absolutely be avoided. Of all the insecticides used globally each year, 25% of them are used for conventional cotton crops. Choose natural linens like organic cotton, but regardless of your choice, please make sure they are reusable.
EcoGear Table Napkins www.sears.ca

Pure + Fresh
Did you know that most cut flowers are grown in South America, Africa and Southeast Asia in large controlled environments? They are heavily sprayed with pesticides, fungicides and herbicides (with toxins that are banned in fields in Canada!) After being shipped 1,000s of miles, they are wrapped in plastic & sold with a packet of chems to make them last longer. We thought flowers were supposed to signify beauty and purity?! Dont fret, source local - youll be surprised whats growing in your own backyard.
eco|stems www.ecostems.ca

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Prepare the Meal


Since youve already gone out of your way to shop the local farmers market, purchased your organic eats, and unpacked everything from your wonderful reusable bags, its now time to cook smart so you dont undo all the good youve done! Think about your cooking method (this includes what youre cooking with, and on) before you begin your preparations. Be efficient and plan ahead - it will save you money, time (and energy, too) which only means you will have a few extra minutes to share with your loved ones on Shabbat.

Back to Earth
Taking the time to compost your scraps instead of throwing them in the garbage diverts huge amounts of waste from our landfills and also helps make our gardens grow by giving it soil rich nutrients. Composting also reduces methane production, a very potent greenhouse gas that is released into our air from landfills. Stainless steel composters wont take on the smell (or colour) of your food scraps and its nice enough to sit on your countertop. Hows that for accessorizing?
Lee Valley Veritas Composter www.leevalley.com

Food for Thought


Your food comes into contact with a lot, so choose your kitchen stuff wisely. Cast iron, stainless steel, lead-free clay and glass are the ultimate choices for bakeware and cookware. Say no to nonstick (ick), and keep serveware and storage ware glaze-free (lead and other stuff) and plastic-free (BPA and phthalates). We like glass best because its safe and easy to store your leftovers in. Its also handy for storing in the fridge, and can go straight to the oven for reheating.
Anchor Hocking Company www.anchorhocking.com

Get Together
Shabbat is about making a concerted effort to spend quality time together. It doesnt need to be complicated, in fact some of the best meals are really easy and can be fun to prepare as a group. By cooking with your family and friends, as opposed to cooking for them, you gain the opportunity to be creative, share tips and recipes between each other, and enjoy great company (cooking is a lot more fun when youre not the only one alone in the kitchen). Pot luck dinners are also great - give everyone the opportunity to contribute to the Shabbat meal.

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Bless All Around


Tikkun 'olam, meaning perfecting or repairing of the world, is a major theme in modern Jewish social justice theology. It must be carried out by humans in partnership with God, and it is an important concept in environmentalism. It is said, that our ignorance and our poor choices have damaged the world. The good news (in our opinion), is that this problem can be fixed by switching out bad habits for healthier and smarter ones. As you recite the blessings on Shabbat, let each be a reminder to take care of our world, and all that constantly gives and takes care of us.

Pure Brilliance
You may think conventional candles are beautiful, serve a purpose, and provide a sense of warmth and comfort to your home, but you could be endangering yourself. When we burn paraffin candles, carcinogens fill the room with toxins that coat your walls and lungs (think second hand tobacco smoke). Bring pure brilliance to your Shabbat table and bless candles made from 100% Organic Manuka Beeswax (the purest and most natural of all waxes.
Orb Shabbat Candles www.orbcandles.com

Fruits of the Earth


The blessing over the wine (or grape juice for those under-agers) is about acknowledging the fruits of the earth so lets make sure thats exactly what we are drinking - pure fruit without pesticides and additives. There is at least one form of pesticide found in every conventional bottle of wine, but some wines can have up to 10 different ones. Choose an organic drink that is made locally, itll keep you healthier and make everyone happier. L Chaim!
Guilty Men Wine www.malivoire.com PureBlue UnWine www.leadingbrandsinc.com

Breaking Bread
Although we like to traditionally celebrate Shabbat with the colour white, keep it out of our Challah! Ask your local bakery to see if they can make you a loaf without any white stuff (sugar, flour, salt, etc). The more we demand of our suppliers, the more well see change. If youre taking on the task of baking your own, its much easier to sub in healthier ingredients, or you can follow Aviva Allens recipe from her Organic Kosher Cookbook.
The Organic Kosher Cookbook www.avivaallen.com

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Keep it Kosher
Whether you keep strictly kosher or not, we all want clean food that is ethically made. If you arent making and baking on your own (we cant do everything!), look for certifications and symbols that reflect your values. Support ethical companies that are serving us better food and drinks and fully disclosing their practices and ingredients in all labels. Our easy shopping rule for buying packaged goods is If you cant pronounce it, and you dont know what it is, (or its not labelled at all), its not for consuming!

Sinfully Delicious
On Shabbat, we are supposed to minimize our activities and give up a lot of what we take for granted on a daily basis, but sacrificing taste does not have to be one of them. Sweets from the Earth cakes are kosher, pareve pas yisroel, organic, wheat-free, glutenfree, dairy-free, vegan and dont have a n y G M O s . Y o u l l b e s u re t o accommodate any dietary or nut allergy with any of their desserts - plus, they really are sinfully delicious!
Sweets from the Earth www.sweetsfromtheearth.com

Gone Crackers
Crispy, tasty and always satisfying, these bite-sized crackers can be served on their own as a side dish, or paired with your favourite toppings or dips. Mary's Crackers are available in a variety of delicious flavours, so you can buy a few boxes and mix them all together, or just go with a fan favourite. No matter the flavour, they are all kosher, organic, vegan, nut free, dairy free, wheat free, and gluten free, with no GMO's and no transfats.
Mary's Gone Crackers www.marysgonecrackers.com

True Bliss
You might just find your inner bliss from a tub (or 4) of your favourite flavour of kosher, organic, vegan, soyfree and gluten-free Coconut Bliss. Finally, a non-dairy frozen dessert that is creamier, richer and healthier than anything you will have ever stuck your silver spoon into! Indulge with pareve pleasure and feel great afterwards. And, if you use Sweets From The Earth Cookies, the combo makes an exceptional ice cream sandwich!
Luna and Larrys Coconut Bliss www.coconutbliss.com

www.lisabordenworks.com

Clean it Up
Now for the Dirty Talk...Whether you are tidying before Shabbat or on cleaning duty afterwards, you want your home to be truly clean. The average Canadian family consumes anywhere from 20 to 40 litres of toxic cleaning products (that contain known carcinogens) each year (oy!). Replace every conventional cleaner under the kitchen sink and in the laundry room with NOTHING (well, maybe not nothing, but as close to it as possible!). You do NOT have to sacrifice the cleanliness of your home. And who knows, maybe without those nasty chems you can convince your family and friends to even help you out with the cleaning!

M.I.Y.
Thats right - M.I.Y. means Make It Yourself! Most of the cleaners that you might think are making your home truly clean, are actually dangerously polluting them (and our water, air, and soil...where do you think it goes once it goes down the drain?). Microfibre cloths and water do a remarkable job, but you can easily make safe and smart cleaning products using ingredients you can find in your own kitchen - and you wont have to sacrifice cleanliness (or your health!).
Full Circle Cleaning Set www.fullcirclehome.com

Dirty Laundry
You've spent the time purchasing organic cotton linens for your Shabbat table, so it doesn't make sense to toss them in the wash with conventional detergent where they would swim in chemicals. Stop overdosing on the bad stuff. One microdose of Berryplus will get your clothes whiter, brighter, and cleaner than your mom's goo and effectively clean a full load of laundry. Being 95% berry based and 100% plant based, you'll become a hero just by doing laundry.
Berryplus www.berryplus.com

Get some BaaLLS


Fabric softeners, dryer sheets and even dryer balls made from PVC, contain some not-so-snuggly ingredients that are taking a toll on our health and our planet. Although these products are marketed to make us believe that the warm fuzzy bunnies, teddy bears, or babies are safe, we often overlook the fine print telling us that they contain hazardous chemicals. 100% wool dryer balls do not harbour bacteria, they are 100% chemical-free and even reduce your drying time too! Tumble Away! BaaLLS
www.baalls.com

www.lisabordenworks.com

Purely Brilliant Fundraising Program

orb
It doesn't get better than fundraising with safe and smart products that benefit your health and our world. The Orb Shabbat Candle Fundraiser is a great way to get beautiful and eco-friendly candles into everyone's hands and home. They are the perfect addition to every Shabbat Table, and make for an original and thoughtful hostess gift. Orb Candles are made from 100% Organic Manuka Beeswax and are free of the toxic chemicals that are found in many conventional candles. Each package contains 10 safe, healthy, and beautiful candles. Raise funds and shine a light on your health, on our planet, and on your Shabbat table. Pure Brilliance.

We are here to support you and get your fundraiser sparked! Please be in touch with Borden Communications + Design Inc., creator of Orb Candles to discuss your fundraiser further via orbcandles@bordencom.com or by phone at 416 484 6489.

www.orbcandles.com
twitter.com/orbcandles Orb Candles

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