By: Sabrina Malach, Leo Baeck Graduate 1993
“כל עשב ועשב אומר שירה לה’ יתברך”
“Every blade of grass sings a song to God.”
-Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
One of my most meaningful childhood memories is the smell of spring coming off the moist grass at the playground at Leo Baeck Day School. I remember the mud, the mess and the sweet scent of petrichor, the smell of earth after it rains. I remember feeling connected to the seasons and to nature through this sensory experience, year after year, in our beloved playground on Kenton Drive.
I’m concerned that future generations of day schoolers won’t have this grounding and connecting experience. If the nasty combination of human-driven climate change, increased screen time, and nature-deficit disorder aren’t enough, throw in the new trend of replacing natural grass in school yards and fields with toxic artificial turf into the mix and we’ve got ourselves a big, disconnected, toxic mess.
For those of you that don’t know, natural grass is increasingly being replaced by artificial turf in schoolyards across the GTA. Although there is the benefit of having year-round playing time for sports teams, our community needs to be aware of the potential health and environmental risks associated with artificial turf before it’s too late. Turf, made of tire waste and plastic, is NOT cost-effective, maintenance-free, sustainable, long-lasting, or safe for humans, animals and plant life. Heat exposure, turf burns, skin infections, chemical exposure, and environmental contamination from chemicals leachage are all consequences of turf. Turf also destroys precious green space in urban areas and eliminates any opportunity for students to connect to the natural world in their school playgrounds and fields.
Let’s not follow in the footsteps of the Toronto District School Board; rather let’s keep our Jewish day schools natural and toxic-free to ensure that our school yards are places of connection and meaning for future generations of students. It is up to us as Jews to be responsible stewards of creation by actively committing to environmental sustainability and seeing that all of nature is sacred and, that as Reb Nachman says, “Every blade of grass sings a song to G!d.”