Lu “Love” Drive
This fall marked the second year of the Ramaz lulav drive. The lulav drive began with a goal to take steps towards composting and helping our environment. For the second time, they took on the mission to collect as many lulavs and etrogs from Ramaz students, staff, and members of KJ as possible to make something useful of our discarded lulavs and etrogs after the chag. The Environmental Club worked with Amadah, a Jewish farm located in Falls Village, Connecticut that grows “organic vegetables, fruit, herbs, goats, flowers, eggs.” Adamah also “cultivates the soil and the soul to produce food, to build and transform identities and to gather a community of people changing the world.” Most importantly, at least in the context of this project, they have a composting facility. It was only fitting that the collected lulavim be sent to Adamah to be composted.
Composting is the process of decomposing organic matter. The outcome of composting organic materials is a nutrient rich soil that is nicknamed “Black Gold.” This soil is beneficial to crops because it enhances their ability to fight off common disease, improve their flavor, and grow faster. When plants are placed in landfills, the airless environment, caused by layers of trash, creates an anaerobic environment. As the plant matter decays, it releases methane gas, a substance which greatly contributes to climate change.
This year, the lulav drive collected over 400 lulavs and etrogs. This would not have been possible without the help of the Ramaz Upper School students, staff, and KJ members who joined the efforts to collect as many lulavim as possible. With each and every person’s help, we were able to beat last year’s record of collected lulavim, and hopefully next year we will be even more successful.