A simple way to address a far-reaching environmental issue would be to serve only vegan food, and include a note about the devastation that the animal products industry wreaks on the planet.  This goes right in hand with abstaining from animal cruelty.

Psalm 8 is a great resource, as it stresses human stewardship of the natural world.  It should be read in Hebrew, or in a really good translation, because it's often rendered in a way that would seem to advocate human misuse of nature.

Jonah is good, too: it's a funny story, and full of animals.  In it, God "ordains" a fish, a plant, and a worm; the animals of Nineveh repent along with the humans; and it is partly because of the animals that God wants to save Nineveh in the end!

Isaiah 40-55 is filled with images of God restoring the desert into a fertile place.  Isaiah 42.17-20, for example, could be read as advocating responsible water use: "The poor and the needy/Seek water, and there is none;/Their tongue is parched with thirst./I the Lord will respond to them./I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them./I will open up streams on the bare hills . . . I will turn the desert into ponds . . ." (17-18)

Then, of course, there's all that stuff in the Torah about the land "vomiting" the people out if they don't let the earth rest . . .  Maybe a little too graphic for a bat mitzvah program, though.  :)

Dear Talia,

Your question to Umbra prompts me to write about another act of generosity.

Recently, the mother of a young Indian girl called us at KyotoUSA to say that her daughter, Gautami, wanted her family and friends to help celebrate her birthday by giving the value of a traditional birthday gift to an organization working on climate change.

Gautami asked her mother if she could designate KyotoUSA as the beneficiary. A few weeks later we received a generous gift from Gautami that will help to install a photovoltaic system on a Berkeley public school. The system will produce all the electrictity the school will need, thus eventually saving the school district money, reducing its carbon footprint, improving air quality, and adding an educational component to the school's science curriculum.

We were deeply touched by Gautami's thoughtfulness and her desire to help preserve the beauty and health of our planet. The example that you, Talia, and Gautami and the young people of the world are setting is truly inspiring. Let us hope that your kindness will foster a willingness among many to make the changes in our lives and attitudes that are necessary for the survival of all life on this planet. Shalom!

I can't tell you how many time's I've gotten "green advice" handouts printed on single sided, virgin paper!

Set the example and your message will have that much more power.

The following midrash is states the Jewish position:

"In the hour when the Holy One, blessed be He created the first human being, He took him and let him pass before all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said to him: 'See my works, how fine and excellent they are! Now all that I have created, for you have I created it. Think upon this and do not destroy and desolate My World, For if you corrupt it, there is no one to set it right after you.'"
Midrash Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:28