Thursday, February 17, 2011

where is the sustainability in this?

Hazon, an organization that promotes sustainable, ethical food and environmental conservation in a Jewish context, hosts several bike ride events each year to raise funds and awareness around environmental causes. In addition to the rides in North America, the grandaddy of them all is a ride held each year in Israel.

Riding your bike to raise money and environmental awareness sounds like a great idea. However, upon further investigation I learned that the majority of the participants in the Hazon Israel ride are actually from the United States and Canada, meaning that they -- and presumably, their bikes, if they want to ride their own -- must travel halfway around the world to participate in the week-long ride. The notion of raising environmental awareness by participating in an event that leaves a massive carbon footprint leaves me scratching my head a bit.
I hope to contact someone at Hazon for a further explanation of this and will report what I learn.

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