An ecomom on playing indoor games
So what can we do with the kids indoors that does not involve TV and video games?
Lifestyle
Inbal Dayagi Designs a Boom Box With Eco Soul
For whatever reason, the Ipod and its classic white earphones have become a symbol of music and street cool. People use them on the street, on the bus, on the train, in a plane… they’re everywhere. But Ipods just aren’t Israeli designer Inbal Dayagi‘s style. Nope. She’s too funky and too green for that. Guided […]
Eco-Rabbi: Parshat Chukat – Hitting The Land
Last week, God took care of the waste in the camp. This week Moses hits the rock. The Israelites had been traveling in the desert for roughly forty years, and Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, dies. After Miriam dies suddenly the People of Israel lack water. Commentaries explain that in Miriam’s merit a […]
'Field Notes from a Catastrophe' by Elizabeth Kolbert, a Review
This is the first book I’ve read in a long time that I have felt so conflicted about. I bought it after having seen it prominently displayed in UK bookshops, and having read some of the author’s incisive political writings in The New Yorker. I anticipated that it would be illuminating and instructive, and expected […]
Furniture Fabric Samples Rethought Sustainably
In the spirit of using every possible material available and avoiding waste, Israeli designer Zohar Yarom has found a creative and functional purpose for furniture fabric samples. She makes handbags out of them. After receiving degrees in design from the Bezalel school in Jerusalem and Parson’s in New York, Zohar founded her own ZY design […]
Green Prophet Logos
A guide to greening your home lighting
We had just settled into a quiet cottage near the Dead Sea. Despite the intense heat outside our windows, we were still excited about getting out to float in the mineral-rich salty water. My friends had their swimsuits on and were just out the door. But wait a second, I said. All the lights are […]
Eco-Rabbi: Parshat Korach – Using The Land to Cover Up Our Mistakes
This week’s Bible segment describes revolution and miracles. The leadership of Moses and his brother Aaron are questioned and God comes and backs up his choice with various miracles. But the challenge was no simple disagreement. Korach’s challenge to Moses was seen as blasphemy. God had set up the camp to be an incubator for […]
Jeremy Zauder Reviews 'The Emerald Planet' by David Beerling
“The illumination is made possible thanks to the emergence of an exhilarating new discipline, one that integrates unprecedented knowledge of plants as living organisms with their fossil record and the role they play in driving global environmental change. “As we do so, we can see clearly that plants are not ‘silent witnesses to the passage […]
Brigitte Cartier Creates Baladi Recycled Design
Baladi, a word that Israelis adopted from Arabic, means “national” or “of the country”. It is also the name that French-born Israeli designer, Brigitte Cartier, decided to give her design studio. Her Baladi Company for Ecological Progress takes our national garbage and transforms it into beautiful designs that we can all be proud of. After […]
Amit Brilliant’s Recycled Wallets from Hebrew brands
According to that old expression, beggars can’t be choosers. But Israeli designer Amit Brilliant proves that saying wrong with her line of recycled wallets, bags, notebook covers, and hats – Beggars. She chooses not to dump what would normally end up in the trash and turn it into something useful and aesthetic instead. In other […]
Fred Pearce's "Confessions of an Eco-Sinner" on Where Stuff Comes From
“We face the most almighty hangover, as the toxins unleashed by our century-long binge work their way through the earth’s system. We have to detoxify. We have to sober up. We have to come to grips….” from ‘Confessions of an Eco-Sinner’ by Fred Pearce. Pearce has written a book for the ecologically and socially minded. […]
Waste Not, Want Not: Doron Sar-Shalom Recycles With Style
It’s one thing when designers take brand new ready-made materials and transform them into something else. It’s another thing entirely when designers take old ready-mades and reincarnate them in order to avoid waste. Reincarnation is what Israeli designer Doron Sar-Shalom is all about. His designs, which consist mainly of lamps, are constructed out of unlikely […]
Shulayim Eco Design Studio Brings Art Lovers and Treehuggers Together
Strolling down the glitzy northern part of Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Street this week, something strange caught my eye among all the designer gowns and stiletto pumps. Garbage. Literally, garbage. No, not on the street. In the window display. The garbage – which included aluminum cans and newspapers – was in the window display of Cotton, […]
EcoMum and Friends of the Earth on Flame Retardants and Killer Cribs
I recently wrote about Environment California’s report on Formaldehyde in nursery furniture and the potential threat to our children’s health. Well, Friends of the Earth (FoE USA) are hot on the heels of this report and have released their own findings regarding toxic fire retardants common in baby products and it does not paint a […]