Zomet Drachim TV Series Stresses the "People Factor" in Ecology

פתיח צומת דרכים

Atar Friedman, a young Israel based ecologist, has launched a special TV documentary series to make people more aware of ecology in her country and how it relates to the human factor.

The first year’s series, divided into three parts, involves Friedman and two others, Omer Pomerantz and Maoz Yaacov, going on a “driveabout” around the country and meeting all kinds of interesting people who are involved in various projects dealing with ecological and environmental or “green” issues.

“Zomet Drachim” means intersection, and in this case refers to how the people involved in the series reach their own “intersection” (in regards to ecology) that will influence and change their lives.

“The two guys I went around with had different perceptions about the environment,” Friedman tells Green Prophet. “Omer, a high tech person, knew nothing about the subject of environmental problems, and the other, Maoz, is a social worker and ‘cowboy type’ who lives in a moshav (cooperative settlement) and wants to know more about ‘green’ issues.”

Friedman herself says that she is very much into organic farming and foods and although she eats some meat and dairy products (“for health value”) she is looking into the benefits of raw food products.

She is a member of the Green Movement, a political party in Israel, and thinks that her project has done a lot to “reach the hearts of the people” concerning environmental issues.

The people they met and interviewed during the program told them about what they are doing in regards to their personal philosophies and life styles, which eventually had a great influence on the three “trekkers,” and in the end caused them to become more interested in ecology and organics, including building a compost pile on an apartment balcony.

Spring in Your Heart

One of the more colorful persons they met during their drive-about was Ilana Mualim, who is half Jewish and half Bedouin and presently lives in a Bedouin village in the Negev and is involved in projects like making electricity from sewage.

She feels that their journey has proved that ecology is “all about people and not just natural issues” and has been very inspiring; resulting in “lots of ideas” about ecology.

“We went to both the Dead Sea and the Kinneret and saw the dire environmental situation that both of these lakes are in – and for similar reasons, since the Dead Sea receives nearly all of its water from the Jordan River, much of which has been diverted for human and agricultural use.”

Friedman’s message that she says she personally learned from the series so far is that “you cannot separate the problems and solutions (of ecology) from the people.”

On their journey, Friedman and her friends met a number of Arabs during the series and now she wants to study Arabic to be able to relate to them better. She has also started her own company Green Leaves, to introduce people to green projects in order to “show people how to be green,” and she is interested in what is known as a “thema culture” in which water that might originally be thrown away (after cooking, drinking, etc.) can be used for plants and similar uses.

“If we can all do these little things to make a difference, we will see the good that come out of it,” she added.

The Zomet Drachim series is being shown on the Channel 8 documentary channel, Saturday night , June 6, at 21:30.