Miraculously Sustainable and Upcycled Hannukah Menorah Designs

Can’t find your old Hannukah menorah?  Israeli designers come up with clever alternatives.

With the Jewish Hannukah holiday only a few weeks away, many Jews in the Middle East and elsewhere are anxiously waiting to eat sufganiot (jelly doughnuts) and searching their closets and cupboards for their Hannukah menorahs.  In case they can’t be found, here is a roundup of a few upcycled and sustainable menorahs made by Israeli designers (such as Gad Charny’s clothespin menorah, seen above).

Charny used clothespins to create this menorah, and made a few different versions.  (If you’re feeling crafty, you could try making your own either out of clothespins or other readily available materials that you have lying around at home.)

Repurposing multiple solitary candlesticks that had lost their mates, the menorah above made by Reddish Studio renders the candlesticks functional as part of an ensemble again.  While this version only has 7 candlesticks, it could be easily expanded and adapted to suit the requirements of a Hannukah menorah.

If energy efficiency is what you look for in a menorah, you might consider Cygalle Shapiro’s tomato-powered LED lamp.  It may be difficult to make on your own or obtain, but it’s the most organic (and delicious) lamp design that we’ve seen.

If you like your menorahs to have a less finished look, we suggest Godspeed’s Trash Candleholder, a set of candlesticks made from trashed and reclaimed wood.

The candlesticks to the left are currently only suited for two candles, but you could either request that Godspeed make you another one (they make all their items by hand in a single hour or less) or attempt to make a similar one yourself from scraps at home.

Menorahs can be made creatively and sustainably in unlimited ways.  Below, another version of Gad Charny’s clothespin menorah sheds some more light on the matter.

More on Hannukah:

The ultimate latke recipe
Baked Sufganyot For a Healthier Hannukah
Climate Change and Hanukah – A Connection?

Author: Karen Chernick

Much to the disappointment of her Moroccan grandmother, Karen became a vegetarian at the age of seven because of a heartfelt respect for other forms of life. She also began her journey to understand her surroundings and her impact on the environment. She even starting an elementary school Ecology Club and an environmental newsletter in the 3rd grade. (The proceeds of the newsletter went to non-profit environmental organizations, of course.) She now studies in New York. Karen can be reached at karen (at) greenprophet (dot) com.

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