Let’s admit it: the Kony Video is big. With more views in a week than any other TV show and YouTube video showing a number usually reserved for the latest antics of the Kardashian Clan, the video has quickly and effectively managed to communicate its message. The controversies surrounding the cause as pointed out by some […]
Israel will host the first SlutWalk in the Middle East this weekend, but the movement has growing support in other countries, including Morocco. Will these efforts finally lead to greater freedom for women of all religious persuasions? When I wrote the article, The Middle East Needs More Sluts, the response was overwhelming and heated, with […]
The Middle East can learn about energy savings from the Japanese, and the Japanese concept of setsuden. Sometime during the mid 1990s a series of heat waves coincided with a refueling shut-down at one of my home state’s nuclear power plants. Citizens were asked to voluntarily cut usage. Somehow we managed to conserve the equivalent […]
Cold, wet and utterly miserable, this is no “dancing camel” Regular Green Prophet readers have surely seen our articles on animal cruelty and abuse. They range from cruelty toward circus animals, to abuse towards animals in private and public zoos. Cases of wild animals like cheetahs and baby tigers being kept as pets by jaded […]
A “green” Arab renaissance cannot be accomplished without the rise of women in Arab countries. Recently in Jordan, the Google image was of Middle Eastern intellectual, feminist and writer, the late May Ziyade. Don’t you love peeling the evolutionary onion, seeing who came before to take us where we are today? A century ago, in a pre-digital world, ideas were exchanged […]
Karin draws a line between women’s rights and green issues in light of upcoming SlutWalks in Israel. Last April Green Prophet asked: Should the Middle East Have More Sluts? Of course we wanted to attract our reader’s attention, and we did with thousands of readers, hundreds of “Likes” and dozens of comments. Although I am […]
The Jewish holiday of Purim begins this coming Wednesday night, the 7th of March. Fulfill the mitzvah of sending treats to your neighbors the green way. Purim celebrates the victory of the Jews over Haman’s “final solution,” in 356 BCE. It’s a deceptively childlike holiday. Families gather in the synagogue to hear the colorful Purim […]
Laura offers tips on unloading the stuff that comes between you and a broken heart. Broken relationships may leave us sad, lonely, or even relieved, but they also leave us with a pile of stuff acquired over that love-lifetime. Oh, the twaddle we collect in a romantic stupor. Maybe your lonely-heart loot has amped up value: […]
Are you up for a bit of quiet activism? Take our plastic bag challenge This is a call to arms, and to hands: my challenge to you when you shop this week, this month or this year. Tell the clerk you’ll pass on that bag, instead tuck your purchases into your pockets or purse. Bring your own sack and […]
Country data reveals that Syria, Lebanon and Iraq are potentially the only virtual water exporting countries in the Middle East. Get in the know about blue, green and grey water footprints. Following the previous article on measuring your Ecological Footprint, here we will focus on the Water Footprint. Let’s start with understanding the Virtual Water […]
When looking for country-specific environmental indicators, it is often difficult to find a single indicator that holistically summarizes the environmental situation in a tractable and visual manner. This is the first part of two articles (the second one on your water footprint is here). Two interactive environmental info graphics will be explored to help you better understand what is […]
The world’s most expensive bottle is encrusted in Swarovski crystals and costs a mere $2,600. Earlier today we poked a little fun at Dubai Mall’s conspicuous consumption, leaving us with a tinge of guilt. After all, shouldn’t we feel compassion for our Emirate neighbors whose oil-wealth has veiled the absurdity of their white gold Mercedes, […]
When professional photographer Alex Tricani sent this image, I couldn’t get past the giant red craters on my face. I’ve always been incredibly lazy about beauty. This isn’t because I don’t dream of being an illustrious goddess who rides into the sunset with an equally exotic suitor, but because tending to my mind and soul […]
As it turns out, I haven’t received a Valentine’s Day gift since 2006, but even when I wasn’t single and out saving the world, I never encouraged my boyfriends to give me chocolates or flowers. A book? A sweet card? Maybe. But since anyone can go out and buy a box of chocolates at the […]
Jews around the world celebrated Tu B’Shvat last week. The holiday began as a “new year” for trees – a time when the tithing of fruits was determined. But for the past 100 years it has become known as an ecological holiday.