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The Eco Connection, a new student environmental program that will be shared by sister schools in the United States and Israel, was unveiled Feb. 26 at the Solomon Schechter Academy of Ocean and Monmouth Counties in Howell.

Sponsored by the New Jersey-Delaware/Arad-Tamar Partnership 2000 brought to the community by the Jewish Federations of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, Solomon Schechter Academy will participate in the program with the Albert Einstein Academy in Wilmington, Del., and two schools in the cities of Arad and Tamar in Israel.

The goal of the program, which is part of the Partnership 2000 Program that connects Jewish communities in Israel with those in the United States, is to provide participants with the opportunity to explore their environmental habits and those of their peers in an effort to solve global environmental issues.

All students participating in the program will start out learning the concept of the ecological footprint -- or how much space and natural resources they personally use and how it impacts on their environment.

The program was explained by Carmi Wisemon, executive director of Sviva Israel, which oversees the Eco Connection project in Israel and the United States.

While at the Howell school, Wisemon conducted a workshop for the Solomon Schechter teachers who will be teaching the program with the same teaching materials as their Israeli counterparts. He then met with 5th and 6th grade students to explain the project and discuss the importance of protecting the environment for themselves and future generations.

The cornerstone of the program to lower the size of each person's ecological footprint, Wisemon explained, are "the 3Rs: Reduce, reuse, recycle."

"Reduce," he explained, "means to use less resources." He gave as an example turning off light switches whenever possible to save electricity.

"Reuse," he said, "is to use a product again for a similar purpose." An example might be to reuse glass or plastic containers.

"Recycle" would be to recreate a raw material, such as recycling paper or aluminum cans. The most effective of these for the environment, Wisemon explained, is "reduce" because it is using less of a product or energy.

Each student participating in the project will measure their ecological footprint by determining how much space they use to maintain their lifestyle, and what they buy, consume, and throw away.

The class will then do a summary of the class ecological footprint and select a class project using the 3Rs. It may be to conserve food by taking smaller portions, recycling, or composting leftovers and consuming only unprocessed foods.

Or, it might be to walk or ride a bicycle to school for a day instead of using public transportation, or not shopping for clothes as often and having a clothing exchange instead. Saving water and energy are other examples.

Once the class decides on a project, a written or videotaped version is submitted to Sviva Israel, the organization overseeing Eco Connection, reviewed and posted on a blog that has been set up so that participating students in the United States and Israel can communicate with one another.

"One of the goals of the program," Wisemon said, "is to get the kids thinking about the environment. Another is for them to get to know each other's lifestyles."

Wisemon said he would like to see the Eco Connection project expanded to secular schools everywhere to "connect young people around the world."

Wisemon, a native New Yorker who emigrated to Israel 20 years ago, founded the Eco Connection program two years ago. He credited Shimon Shamilla, director of Partnership 2000 for Arad and Tamar in Israel with having the foresight to recommend the Eco Connection project to the steering committee of the Arad-Tamar/New Jersey Delaware Partnership.

Wisemon also commended Shamilla's U.S. counterpart in Partnership 2000, Amy Cooper of New Jersey's Central Federation, as well as Howard Gases and Danny Goldberg, executive directors of the Monmouth and Ocean County federations, respectively, for their insight in approving the project and helping bring it to their communities.

Goldberg said that the Solomon Schechter Academy in Howell was a good match for the Israeli Partnership 2000 schools in Arad and Tamar. He approached Solomon Schechter Headmaster Paul J. Krauss, who was immediately interested and discussed the program with his staff.

"It was timely," Krauss said, "and we were moving in that direction (instituting environmental programs) anyway."

Attending the initial workshop given by Wisemon were Krauss and teachers Rachel Rodgers and Sylvia Piznik, Goldberg, Gases, Stella Stanway, a member of the Schechter board of trustees and principal of the Hebrew School at Temple Beth Miriam in Elberon, and Ann Gable, principal of the Hebrew School at Temple Beth Ahm in Aberdeen.

Following the workshop, Wisemon explained the program to the students. Quoting the slogan of Sviva Israel: "As my parents planted for me, so am I planting for my children," he emphasized the importance of preserving the planet for future generations.

He gave as an example a synagogue at the base of the Golan Heights that took 100 years to build, "at a time when life expectancy was 40ish. It means they knew they wouldn't live to see it finished -- they built it for future generations."

Today, Wisemon continued, we move at a much faster pace and we are used to immediate gratification.

"At the rate we're going, we may not have (clean) water and air to leave for future generations," he said.

"In Israel 28 years ago, five out of 100 people had asthma," Wisemon added. "Today, with all the cars and exhaust, it's 25 out of 100."

The Eco Connection program will be taught over a four-month period and is continuing next year. Schools that would like to join next year's Eco Connection or find out more about the program can contact Carmi Wisemon by email at carmi@svivaisrael.org.