A study conducted by the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University, commissioned by the Arab Forum for Environment and Development, warned that Egypt would be one of the Arab countries most affected by climate change. The study analyzed a…
Plastic bottles (in Hebrew and Arabic) wash up on the shore of the Red Sea in Sinai, Egypt. In this region water and pollution knows no boundaries. How can Israel be part of the change? Is Israel a water hog,…
Every week, observant Jewish people read a section of the Torah. This week, our in resident Eco Rabbi looks at Parshat Miketz. Okay, this week’s parashah is a no-brainer. Seriously, how can an Eco-Rabbi NOT talk about Parshat Miketz? The…
I decided to take some minutes away from the hectic running back and forth to attend sessions in the UN Conference of Climate Change (COP15), taking place in the Danish capital Copenhagen, to grab some lunch. I stood in a…
Today opens the two-week round of climate change negotiations in Copenhagen, Denmark. From this corner of the world the conference is a meeting of giants – literally, the giant polluters like the U.S. and China, which make it seem like…
Every year, a black cloud descends on Cairo and hangs in the air for two months. This year, its arrival coincides with the three-week FIFA under-20 World Cup. According to GlobalPost, Cairo’s smog is a toxic cocktail of vehicle emissions,…
Cairo is a city with 18 million people. Most do not have a way to remove their trash. Garbage Dreams, a new film (see above), explores Zabbaleen and how they recycle garbage in Cairo. A buy-out of two waste-management firms…
The eastern squat toilet is the world’s perfect eco-toilet. Come and look inside. Some people think they’re primitive, but I love them. The hole-in-the-floor Middle East squat toilets can be found in Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Egypt –– and likely…
We’ve already written about how Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) has joined forces with 350.org, an international campaign that hopes to inspire the world to create a sense of urgency among world leaders for changing policies that would…
Plant pathologist Norman Borlaug, 95, died this Saturday, raising questions about the legacy of industrial food in the Third World. In 1970, Borlaug received a Nobel Peace Prize for averting famine through bringing fertilizers, pesticides and new plant strains to…