Last Friday was an exciting Shabbat for Hillel. We celebrated Tu B’Shevat, the New Year for trees. Tu B’Shevat is a very eco-friendly holiday, so it was the perfect Shabbat to show off our most recent accomplishment–we got real plates in our meat kitchen! This is a huge step from the paper plates we would use every week as we strive to become more a sustainable house. It is one of the many steps that Hillel has taken as a participant in the Hazon Seal of Sustainability.
In addition to having real plates for dinner, we also made a vegan meal for this Shabbat. We had seitan, a wheat gluten that is a delicious meat supplement, pasta with a creamy garlic and tomato sauce, roasted potatoes, eggplant and mixed vegetables on the side. By eating a vegan meal and not having meat, we reduced our carbon footprint, helping our planet!
Hillel is striving to be more sustainable by getting a set of dishes for the meat kitchen and a set for the dairy kitchen in the future. We also have two sets of metal silverware that we use for both meat and dairy meals.