On Tuesday, Feb. 18, The Green League and Hillel, the Jewish student union, joined forces to have a succulent planting event in honor of Tu Bishvat, a Jewish holiday that celebrates the upcoming growing season by planting a tree. The event occurred in UC 171 and the room was filled with participating students. 

Food was served while Talia Mizikovsky, an adviser of Hillel, gave a presentation on the origins and importance of Tu Bishvat. Once the presentation was finished, students were invited to pick water bottle planters that were painted in previous Green League meetings. Students began potting their succulents that were chosen from a variety of different types. All materials were provided, including special succulent soil, Spanish moss, pebbles, and rocks, since succulents grow in rocky soil. 

The presentation began when Mizikovsky asked the audience, “what does religion have to do with the environment?” She went on to explain how many religions have passages that  show how important it is to respect the environment.

“Tu Bishvat which is the 50th of Bishvat, is when you are supposed to bring your taxes to harvest. Since it is the start of spring, it’s when our growing season is about to start. The fact that millions of people every year come out and plant trees and plant plants makes it a holiday of celebration,” stated Billy Bloomberg, president of Hillel. 

“The Torah tells us like, we’re very clear on things we’re supposed to do throughout the year, and our holidays are a reflection on that,” said Bloomberg.

In fact, because of Tu Bishvat, Israel is one of the few countries that has more trees every year rather than less. 

Kay Gardiner, president of The Green League commented on the event. “So Hillel had reached out saying they wanted to do a succulent planting in honor of Tu Bishvat. We went a step forward and wanted to be sustainable, so instead of buying new terrariums or like pots, we just collected water bottles and the Green League painted them.” 

“We collected them from science hall and the student center from the trash cans and recycling cans alike,” stated Gardiner. 

When asked about the water bottles in the trash cans, Gardiner commented, “that is one thing the Green League is really trying to push for this semester, getting more understandable posters above the recycling cans.” 

The Green League is planning their next event, a trivia and open mic night, for sometime in March.

Bloomberg commented on the amount of people. “The event went really well, we had a great turnout.” Hillel plans to have at least one event every month along with their weekly Tuesday meetings.