People are searching for information about global warming online. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the “Global Warming” Google Trends page based on searches performed around the globe on the world’s most popular search engine. It’s our responsibility to get better at communicating the things that matter most to building a sustainable future for […]
Tomorrow, March 15, youth across the globe will leave their schools to strike to draw attention to climate change. The roots of these strikes trace back to Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old from Sweden who sat outside the Swedish parliament almost every Friday since last August in the hope politicians would enact laws and policies to bring […]
The mention of palm oil is enough to make a serious environmentalist wince in shame of what this oil harvesting has been doing to local ecosystems. In a bid to make the industry more sustainable the United Nations Food and Agriculture (FAO) director José Graziano da Silva is calling on innovators, including hydroponics specialists, to […]
Not all witches get the opportunity of going to Hogwart School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to polish their skills. Take my dad for example – a water witch from Newmarket, Canada. Maybe it is because he never made it past grade 8 or because he was never confident enough in his witching powers. Known as a […]
Iceland, made progressive or well at least famous by Bjork, has made some monumental strides by electing Katrin Jakobsdottir, the 41-year-old chairwoman of the Left-Green Movement, as Prime Minister. She is well liked and while a former education minister she is also an avid environmentalist. Iceland, this is the country that slows down speed racers […]
A landmark law was just passed in Israel this year. The Israeli Parliament, known as the Knesset just passed a new law on January 1, that allows both public and non-profit organizations to file a civil suit against any person or organization that damages the environment in general. The law was put into effect after […]
Save the Tigris Campaign and partners announce the first alternative civil society forum for water in Mesopotamia: the Mesopotamian Water Forum will be held from 5-7 April 2019 in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and will involve civil society actors from the states of Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria. It will be an open space to give voice to those who are marginalized […]
The small but mighty country of Kuwait wants to wake and shake you up. Join a a new community building festival this November that will bring people together from different backgrounds to think creatively about social issues in Kuwait. The two day event will use interactive talks, stories, learning, music, theatre, art, food and more […]
That is why we believe that at your next PTA meeting or when choosing your MBA, you should promote incorporating environmental education into the curriculum. Here are ten talking points that you should focus on.
Hundreds of people in Casablanca joined today Greenpeace sun-shaped human banner reading: “Break Free – Go Solar” with the landmark mosque Hassan II in the background in Casablanca-Morocco. Participants delivered a message in English, Arabic and Amazigh calling on world leaders notably from the Middle East and North Africa to accelerate the transition to renewable […]
Spencer Tunick is coming back to the Dead Sea! In 2011, artist Spencer Tunick invited hundreds of people to shed their inhibitions (and their clothes) to raise awareness to the environmental threats facing the Dead Sea.
Part of International Coastal Cleanup Day 20 kayakers will paddle from Caesarea to Jaffa, Israel this weekend September 18 to 20. The team of kayakers are supported by the Mare Nostrum Project, which aims to raise awareness of the need to protect the Mediterranean Sea and its coastlines. The Israeli event “Rowing for a Clear […]
An old (2010) video clip is making the rounds, clunky imagery of a very cool piece of street art, it's underlying message remains perfectly relevant.
"We are Tyred" by Bokja Studio. Bokja design in Beirut embroiders the tires, in protest
Water murals in the Gaza Strip explore the daily struggle with water shortage and water contamination The Gaza Strip is known to indulge in political murals but water murals are definitely a new thing. Over the summer months, US activists along with local artists, teachers and school children got together to paint 8 murals exploring […]
From a long line of egg farmers in Holland, Karin’s dad finally builds her a chicken coop March, 2020 update. A lot has passed since I wrote this post. My dear father Harold died in 2018, my baby girl has grown into a kid, and she has a brother. We now face COVID-19 or the […]
It started with cotton and oil: the Middle East oppressed now seek freedom and a future. image via AP The autocratic rule now being challenged in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East has its roots in the state system that developed in the region during the twentieth century. This system is based on […]
Karin tries urban foraging and eating weeds from her garden. What are the chances she will live after this experiment? Taking cues from the Arab women foraging for mallows in the kindergarten in front of my house, and Miriam’s latest winter salad recipe, I decided to do a little urban foraging myself. (That’s me above […]
The first thing visitors to the Bedouin town of Rahat notice is the litter. Household garbage lies strewn at the sides of treeless streets. When the wind picks up, plastic bags, newspapers and sacks billow across the surrounding desert wasteland. Discarded construction materials mar the landscape. “First you have to understand why they throw litter […]
Some of us are already using air conditioner water in our homes. Saving water may not be critical in Canada, but it is in the Middle East. Saving water to save money and energy is not only a personal financial consideration, but a global issue, as natural resources belong to all of us. Today I want […]
Just the way disposable diapers are a nightmare for our environment and children’s health, so are all those disposable sanitary products being aggressively marketed. Yes I know that for many, just as cloth diapers, the idea of cloth menstrual pads and moon cups are hard to swallow but really these days there are many converts, […]
Shai Zakai: Self portrait 4X2 m. photograph on canvas purchased by the Ministry of Environment. Since nature can’t speak for itself, Israeli environment artist Shai Zakai has appointed herself as the human moderator. For more than a decade she’s been working as an ecological artist, to communicate and record humankind’s impact on our fragile world. […]
For every ton of paper, roughly 200,000 sheets of paper, that is recycled paper saves us from cutting down approximately 17 trees. The average school tosses 38 tons of paper each year, the equivalent of 644 trees. When you buy notebooks and paper think green and spend a couple extra to get recycled (it’s not […]
Jesse Fox, urban planning and sustainability writer at Green Prophet
We all know the saying: one's mans trash is another man's treasure. Embarrassing as it was in my younger years, my father was a collector and seller of other people's trash and today makes a living from it. He calls it curbside shopping.