One of the wonderful elements of the open market is that we actually do have the power to make changes. You don’t like the way a store treats its customers? Tell your friends to complain. If that store is smart, it will change it’s ways. This can be applied to environmental products as well. If […]
Last week in Haaretz, Naamah Lanski reported on the new green police in town. They’re about a meter tall, can’t read or write yet, and you better not throw away plastic bottles (or any other recyclables), leave lights on, or even pack lunches in plastic bags around them. That’s right. Israel’s kindergartens are going green. […]
Should Israel’s premiere environment preservation group support settlement activities? Regarded as one of, if not the, most respected environmental NGOs in Israel, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) has a lot to be proud of. Perhaps best known for its tours and field schools, it also works on grassroots community initiatives […]
Anyone who has ever experienced Bedouin hospitality will know that the kettle is always on in a Bedouin home: brewing either the strong bitter coffee, or a special infusion of sweet tea, brewed with desert herbs. If you delve a bit further, you will hear that although the Bedouin know all about life and survival […]
Every Israeli knows what the Sea of Galilee’s (a main source of Israel’s drinking water) red line means. It’s bad. It means Israel is running out of water and we’re all in trouble. So when the Israel Water Authority came out with a campaign about two weeks ago saying that Israel’s water levels were deteriorating […]
Last month Green Prophet wrote about the controversy over the so-called “Peace Canal” or “Peace Valley” lauded by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in his recent trip to Israel. A huge man-made canal carrying water north from the Red Sea was envisaged as the centrepiece of the joint Israeli-Jordanian initiative, backed by claims of breathing life […]
Sea pollution closes the beaches in Bat Yam. (Credit: Zalul Environmental Association) For a long time now, Israel’s water resources haven’t been getting the respect they deserve. Out of the 16 rivers that flow into the Mediterranean Sea, all 16 are polluted – many to the point that you wouldn’t even let your dog go […]
Lycored has been in the natural food coloring business for some time and realized the amazing anti-oxidant properties found in tomatoes could be used in the cosmetics business. The company has recently developed an alternative sunscreen that you ingest. This is good news for bleaching corals, transexualizing fish, and for our health — it is […]
Leaders from Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority concluding talks in Tokyo yesterday with the announcement that they plan to start building an agro-industrial park in the Palestinian Territories by next year. The agro-industrial park could provide jobs for up to 6,000 Palestinians in the West Bank. According to Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, the […]
Desalination plant in Israel Earlier this week, Michael Green wrote about Shimon Peres’ “Peace Valley” project, which will create a canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, as well as a huge tourist complex in the Arava dubbed the “Las Vegas of the Middle East.” Although the Peace Valley is relatively new, plans […]
There are lots of green businesses out there – cleantech businesses, organic farmers, environmentally conscious designers, and plenty more. But what about businesses with no clear environmental agenda? What’s a software company or a furniture manufacturer that wants to go green supposed to do? Hire a greener. A business greener, that is. Erez Steinberg, an […]
From creating the world’s most popular puzzle website (and a Time Magazine top 50), Israeli-British entrepreneur and hightech whiz Gideon Greenspan decided to change gears and put a focus on the environment. A couple of years ago, Gideon (who is based in Tel Aviv) was looking for a way to offset his travel and was […]
Summer is here, the pools are open and the sea is beckoning. Let’s pack our bags get our swimsuits and go for a swim. Going to the pool or beach with your little ones can be great fun, a fabulous way to cool down and relax with the kids and helps build their confidence in […]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNY_-1Fsd2k[/youtube] The Israel cleantech world is buzzing over BrightSource and its subsidiary Luz II. The companies recently invited the press to visit the world’s first operating solar thermal field in the Negev Desert, for creating clean and efficient solar energy. The 12,000 square meter test site will generate 1.5 MW of electricity. Cheaper heliostats, no […]
Last week, I visited the town of Umm El Fahem with staff members from Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME). FoEME is a trilateral Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian environmental organization that brings environmentalists together to work on issues of shared regional concern. As the Summer 2008 FoEME intern, I am assisting with the Pro-Aquifer […]