Literally, postal. It was quite a pleasant surprise when we found out that in 1975 Israel came out with stamps encouraging civillians to protect their environment. Not only was the message beautiful, but the stamps were pretty darn good looking too.
Designed by Israeli artist and sculptor Eliezer Weishoff (whose monuments and other creations are an inherent part of the Israeli visual fabric), the stamps addressed three types of pollution: air pollution, water pollution, and noise pollution.
Weishoff used the standard division of the stamp into two parts in order to demonstrate his green message. While the upper, larger part of the stamp illustrates the problem (such as butterflies being tarnished by industrial smoke, fish swimming in black waters and the powerful drum of an airplane engine piercing the human ear), the lower part reveals the ideal. The stamps, which all instruct senders and receivers to protect the environment, envision an Israel where butterflies float among flower petals (instead of smoke), fishes swim in between coral (instead of black pools of pollution) and ears are approached by the chirping of birds (not the jetting of airplanes).
The funky seventies graphic design is just gravy.
Now, if only we could get these stamps re-issued. Any ideas out there for how to bring environmental awareness into the mainstream these days? Leave your comments below.
Read more Green Prophet calls for action on the current state of Israeli environmental affairs:: Urgently Needed: Intelligent Urban Design and Why Doesn’t Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market Compost (or Recycle)?
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.
Tal, email Karen. Her deets are on the “prophets” bio page.
– Karin
Funky seventies graphic design indeed… Really beautiful.
Any idea where one might find an image of the stamps in a higher quality? Or at the very least, the image you used in this post (I’m guessing you have a slightly higher quality version).
That’s really funny, James! I can’t wait to scratch.
have you seen the incredible ‘scratch & sniff’ stamps, celebrating Israel’s flora & fauna? they are a great idea, but the aroma used in each one is highly artificial and noxious!