Imagine a beautifully designed tree that you can place outside your house or look at in public spaces and that, when blown by the wind, produces enough energy to light your place up. That’s right; wind turbines can now have a different size and be harmonically integrated within the landscape. So instead of the huge […]
No matter where you roam, by choice or for political reasons, food brings us all back home. It’s like a time machine that transports us backwards to memories of our mothers and fathers. Or forwards when we share food traditions: A new project in a troubled neighbourhood of Tel Aviv, Neve Sha’anan, is attempting to […]
Saltwater greenhouses can save the Middle East and humanity from drought and climate change. Three cheers to Sundrop Farms in Australia for pioneering saltwater greenhouses in Australia: they are now harvesting tomatoes for a leading grocery store called Coles. And Sundrop is producing what they say is a “better product, better for the people, better for […]
I live in the Middle East. Whenever my mom comes to visit she freaks out over the new flavors. Middle East cuisine has its own distinct curries and flavors for vegetables, fish and meat. There aren’t thousands of varieties, but like Indian cuisine the flavor of a good spice blend depends on its source, blend […]
Michelle Obama has made America’s gardening great and she’s now laying down roots so the gardening tradition will continue even after her family leaves the White House this January. Obama created the garden in 2009, and made sure to expand it twice so it will be hard to plow under by the next family. She’s […]
Local, real food (#realfood) is more than a rage. It’s the new everything in food. After decades of eating shipped-in waxy veggies, greens and fruits, consumers and chefs are demanding a new kind of food. Vegetables and fruits that are local, and full of flavor. We want food with high oil and vitamin content that […]
Amid news of France’s overturned ban of the full-body “burkini” swimsuit, Playboy and Women’s Running magazines featuring women in hijab for the first time the hijab is turning heads and making headlines. The hijab or face-covering for Muslim women needs to be comfortable and sport-relevant says Qatar-based founders of Oola Sportswear. They just launched an Indiegogo campaign that […]
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have been living in a concrete jungle for decades. Unlike the tents and temporary conditions of Syrian refugees in Jordan, Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have put down roots. More than 400,000 refugees live in a labyrinth of concrete structures, built one on top of the other. It’s a mess, but volunteers now plan […]
Researchers at Tel Aviv University have revealed how microalgae produce hydrogen, a clean fuel of the future, and suggest a possible mechanism to jumpstart mass production of this environmentally-friendly energy source. Their results have been published in back-to-back studies in Plant Physiology and Biotechnology for Biofuels. The research was led by Dr. Iftach Yacoby, head […]
We all need better food in our lives. Now Denmark is putting its stake in the ground and ploughing ahead with new ideas. It’s working with leading architects and is making investments in a making huge investments in a balanced whole-systems and ecological approach to growing our food. William McDonough + Partners, GXN, 3XN Architects, […]
Urban farming. High-tech farming. Modern farming, or maybe it’s traditional farming? However you call it, farming in the US is shifting against the tide of large-scale monoculture, chemical company-controlled mega farming, where farmers measure success by operating at smaller loss than the year before. The farming industry is on the verge of collapse. Oil prices are […]
This is an issue of global concern. Climate change, urbanization, and resource depletion (more mouths to feed, burn wood in stoves for, graze more cattle for) is still happening at a fast an alarming clip, influencing our planet’s ability to store CO2 emissions, and protect diversity. We hate scare tactics, but put it into scale […]
Technology is a driving force of innovation. Everything we build, adapt and refine, generally has the express purpose of making our lives on this planet easier. Whether it’s transportation, growing food, or the sending and receiving of information, technology exists to solve a problem or streamline a process. Nevertheless, the environmental cost of this technology […]
If you’ve ever visited a Middle Eastern country, one noticeable difference to Europe is restriction on alcohol. Muslims are not allowed to drink according to scripture (read why Muslims don’t drink here) so depending on the ruling government, access to alcohol may be restricted to your local hotel or nearby speakeasies (big in Iran) or it […]
Israel! You are so good at so many things beyond technology. And food, as locals and tourists know is becoming Israel’s rising star. With hyper-local fresh food production capabilities, Israelis from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem enjoy traditional Mediterranean food, hybridized with any international trend. It makes complete sense in a country that’s into food, and […]
Our favorite eco-organization EcoPeace Middle East are arranging a full moon hike in the West Bank this week with a local center, the Auja EcoCenter which offers tried and true alternatives for better living in desert climates. Auja has been the focus of a number of stories we have covered here on Green Prophet, namely because the […]
Cities in Iran are some of the most polluted in the world. It’s estimated that 27 people a day die in Tehran from the low quality of air. Mohammad Bakhtiari, 25, from Arak decided he couldn’t take it anymore, and started car-free Tuesdays –- a day when he’s encouraging Iranians to find alternative ways to […]
Today on the streets of Jaffa, where I live, I saw for the first time in my life a woman in hijab (helmet on top) driving her motorbike in full throttle along Jerusalem Boulevard. She was too quick for me (on my peddle bike!) to take a photo. I was pretty proud of her, because […]
Like Israel and Jordan’s Dead Sea, Iran has it’s own inland salty lake called Lake Urmia. Climate change and dam construction has caused its demise to about 10% of its of former glory. Local protestors who have dared called on the government to fix it have been tied up, beaten and tortured. One trusted source I […]
In 2014, Israel was ranked first in the world in the field of innovation related to clean technology according to the “Global Cleantech Innovation Index 2014.” With a strong entrepreneurial culture, a high-level education system and facing significant geographical and natural constraints, Israel meets the specific conditions for the emergence of innovative start-ups in the […]
Over here in the Middle East we look to the “enlightened West” to show us the ropes –- to set the standards for studying and enforcing climate change goals. What kind of signal does this send to the world when Australia basically lays off 275 climate change researchers, one of whom was John Church, considered […]
I don’t care about spots on my apples, leave me the birds and the bees… this was the Joni Mitchell song in the 70s when DDT was a common pesticide. It may be banned in America but its effects linger on. Then there are entire classes of pesticides that are believed to be killing us in […]
The earth warming is not a recent invention. Scientists were already alarmed 20 years ago and more as they saw ozone layers ripping apart and the world getting warming. Back then I was charged to lead a forestry project –– finding if and how poplar trees could grow beside roads and highways to suck up […]
Controlled environment agriculture is rapidly becoming an important part of the global food system. For example, there has been much interest in the potential of large-scale, indoor agricultural production – often referred to as vertical farming – as a means to produce high quantities of produce. These “plant factories” are expensive to operate, however, in […]
A new breed of companies are showing how innovation can be scaled for both business opportunities and global good. Led by resolute and independent thinkers, these companies are making dents in conventional ways of thinking to defy and fight for global change. The Katerva Award identifies 10 of these companies as finalists annually in its […]
