Staff Writer

What better way to honor an environmental activist than to help spread his message?

That's what Kensington's Temple Emanuel did, marking the 18th year of Rabbi Warren Stone's tenure at the Reform synagogue by dedicating a "Green Shalom Action Guide" in his honor.

The 22-page booklet includes dozens of suggestions for ways to conserve energy and reduce global warming, from bagging groceries in a reusable tote to using compact fluorescent light bulbs to making one's diet "earth friendly." Each suggestion is accompanied by a Web site link, so that readers can explore those topics that interest them in additional depth.

"Our goal ... is to give each temple member fairly straightforward information" on how to do "sustainable things" and "get involved in environmental stewardship," said Al Grant, co-chair of the synagogue's Green Shalom committee.

Stone was presented with an album-size version of the 8 1/2 by 5 1/2-inch guide at a Shabbat service last month.

"I was delighted with it," the rabbi said. "It's a wonderful way to receive an honor, to create a book used by others" and that can be used as a starting place for research on the issue.

Stone has a long history of environmental activism, which is chronicled in the guide. His accomplishments include leading a Jewish prayer service at the U.S. Capitol on the 20th anniversary of Earth Day in 1990, representing the Union of Reform Judaism and other Jewish organizations as the sole Jewish representative at the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change meetings in Kyoto in 1997, and becoming the founding chair of the Environmental Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.

He also was an inspiration for founding Emanuel's Green Shalom committee, said De Herman, who co-chairs the group with Grant. During Stone's tenure, the synagogue has also taken numerous steps to make the congregation more environmentally friendly, from educational programs to building renovations that include a solar-powered ner tamid (eternal flame) and extensive use of fluorescent lighting.

"It's a moral issue," said Herman of the importance of the environment. "As Jews, we value tikkun olam, to repair the world," and the "natural world" is part of that.

Grant and Herman said the committee's two members with the most scientific expertise compiled the information for the guide, relying in particular on some of the suggestions former Vice President Al Gore offers on the Web site accompanying his film on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth.

The booklet also includes, among other items, a section listing the books in the temple library's ecology section.

The guides will be printed up and mailed to the 520 member families in the congregation in the coming weeks, said Herman, but she and Grant said they hoped that the booklet's influence will go beyond the congregation's member families.

Grant said that he hoped to at some point share the guide with fellow members of the Kensington Ministerium, a coalition of houses of worship in the temple's neighborhood.

Herman pointed out that the guide could serve as a model for other synagogues, and said the committee will try to get a grant to print additional guides for the wider Jewish community.

A reprint would remove the material specific to Temple Emanuel, but perhaps also incorporate new features. For instance, Herman said she liked the suggestion that the booklet include ways to make Jewish holiday celebrations more environmentally friendly.