Jordan passes new building codes requiring solar water heaters on all new commercial and residential buildings. It’s about time: Regulations come into effect in April 2013 and make solar water heaters obligatory for every new residence (including apartments) sized 150 m2 or greater in Jordan where there is ample sun. Private houses sized a minimum […]
Faiza Hussain, who has started a small online business selling halal and organic skincare products, tells us why she ditched the chemical-laden products she used to love Like most women, Faiza Hussain’s fascination with creams, lotions and potions started at a young age. As a teenager she had a collection of skincare products she adored […]
The Bee’ah School of Environment (BSOE), an education initiative created by a United Arab Emirates-based environmental and waste management company, recently announced it is expanding its networks in the eastern and central region of Sharjah, engaging with 160,000 students in over 200 schools. The BSOE envisions an expansion of this initiative, hoping to spread throughout […]
Established in the lead up to the COP18 Doha negotiations, the Arab Youth Climate Movement brings together over 20 campaigners from 15 Middle East/North Africa countries As the saying goes, there is power in numbers. So it’s great to see environmental organisations across MENA come together to “create a more sustainable, prosperous, meaningful, just, and […]
Smoking can cause cancer, emphysema, birth defects, and – in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – divorce. Saudi Arabian authorities enacted a ban against smoking in government buildings, curbing a habit enjoyed by six million of its people. Smoking’s now banned at all ministries and government facilities in all provinces of the kingdom, according to the […]
Publishing a detailed recipe of how to make and then activate molotov cocktails is more suited to a militant underground leaflet than a publication intended for children, but that didn’t occur to the editors of a magazine in Tunisia. Either desperate for readers or keen to ingratiate themselves with the hardliners emerging in post-revolution Tunisia, […]
Eco Future is an engaging interactive exhibit on Al Saadiyat Island that teaches children the ABCs of going green in Abu Dhabi. Partially modeled after the Emirate’s own long term sustainability plans, the exhibit features a series of games that promote virtual decision-making about real-world issues such as green building, healthy living, and moderate water and […]
At the end of September an interactive multi-media exhibit, Eco Future, opened at Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi. The family-oriented exhibit presents children and their families with the opportunity to engage with environmental issues, with an emphasis on urban planning, and to see how the decisions they make today might impact the future. In […]
Oh Joe. It’s hard to believe that after all these years I finally have to let you go. You have been the only constant in my life for well over a decade. You warmed my soul every morning, filled my various homes with your rich musky smell. And you carried me through those long and […]
Legal, or a human rights violation? The “Bodies” exhibit raised a storm of controversy in Israel. Israelis are no strangers to making art from live naked humans. Green Prophet’s coverage of Spencer Tunick’s photo events showing hundreds of social and ecological activists standing nude in the Dead Sea proves that “prudish” doesn’t describe the Israeli […]
Khaleafa, an Eco Islam blog created by Muaz Nasir, has been nominated for the Brass Crescent ‘Best New Blog’ Award Over the last year, I’ve stumbled across lots of great posts from the Khaleafa blog exploring the Islamic approach to environmentalism on my internet travels. As such, it’s great to hear that the site has […]
If you are in Cairo, don’t miss these fun and fabulous recycling and upcycling workshops at Darb 1718 Following what looks like a very successful Recycling Art festival at the end of August, Darb 1718 are hosting a set of four recycling workshops this month. With sessions on the 9, 10, 16 and 17 of […]
Giacomo de Stefano raises his hat as he rows into Istanbul’s Golden Horn, the final stretch of a trans-Europe experiment in sustainable travel. It shouldn’t be any surprise that a man who adopted Venice as his hometown loves to be near water. But the way 44-year-old de Stefano decided to raise awareness about this precious […]
Former English footballer Gary Neville’s $9.7 million eco-home was granted planning permission. But is this really what environmentally-smart building’s about? The ex-Manchester United club captain’s five-bedroom subterranean mansion will be the first carbon neutral home in Bolton, a city near the West Pennine Moors in England’s north west. The posh eco-home bears a striking resemblance to the Teletubbies’ house, where the starring […]
A new SARS-like mystery illness has health authorities alert ahead of the millions-strong Haj pilgrammage to Mecca. There have been two recent cases of a mysterious SARS-like virus linked to Saudi Arabia. It killed one of its victims from Saudi Arabia. The second who is still alive travelled through the country. The unknown mystery virus […]