Kickstart a property maintenance business in 2022 – What are the steps involved?

Business

Bhok Thompson

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June 20, 2022

Kickstart a property maintenance business in 2022 – What are the steps involved?

ribwort plantain medicinal plants — Plantains growing instead of a lawn. The greenest lawn is no lawn. What if property owners ask you to help them make a wild weed garden? Property maintenance for the sustainably-minded consumer will give you these challenges.

Are you someone who has long been thinking of kickstarting a property maintenance business? If yes and if you have done your research, you must already be in a soup after getting to know the large numbers of companies that wind up their property maintenance services overnight due to lack of planning. And maybe you want to look at a special niche: like green or eco services to give you a special edge.

If you have to start off on the path to this kind of business, make sure you write down a precise business plan to make sure there’s no area of your business model that goes overlooked. Maybe you are passionate about indoor air health or wild lawns? Being passionate about property maintenance, you must be trying to turn your dream into a profitable business. Here’s how you can go about the process.

Acquaint yourself with the industry

In case of non-residential or residential properties, there is a range of services that needs to function primarily, some of which are exterior and interior cleaning, carpentry, painting, groundskeeping, locksmith services, plumbing, and much more. Unless you get acquainted with the industry, you’ll find it difficult to forge a good path.

Some clients will ask for ecological solutions like chemical-free paint and pest solutions. Will you have the right answers and partners to satisfy these requests?

Determine your experience and training skills

If it’s a commercial or business property, you need to be able to offer business key performance indicator’s, failure metrics like MTTR in order to let the company get an idea about its performance. On the other hand, in case of residential properties, your training and skill will depend on whether or not you provide the services yourself or you hire experts for each service. For rendering plumbing, electrical and HVAC services, you will need formal training. Or be able to find the pros in your area.

Evaluate the challenges and risks

Most often, it is seen that property maintenance needs serious physical labor where you may have to be exposed to precarious and dangerous environment conditions such as dust, fumes or the risk of falling. You and your employees might even be subject to bodily injuries and other hazards. Consider that on top of the risks, you will have to put in the hours, especially when your property maintenance business is in its initial stage. It is only when you’re ready to face the challenges that you think of setting up the business.

Ask yourself whether you prefer a team or work alone

It might happen that you don’t possess the skillset that is required to offer the array of property maintenance services that you’d like to offer. If this is your case, are you open to hiring new employees and their skillset? Are you ready to work with a team of employees or would you like to work solo? Do you enjoy talking with people during the day or do you like to work alone?

Decide on an appealing name for your business

Among several other things, the name of your business should not only be easy to pronounce and spell in your local language but should also be fitting with the brand identity you’re looking for. Ask some friends and colleagues what they think before you settle on a name.

Draft a business plan

Your business plan should mainly speak about the core goals of your company and also the significant steps you’ll take to achieve the goals. The business plan will serve as a tool and a roadmap to hold yourself accountable later on. Your business plan should have the following details – summary, overview of the company, marketing strategy, market analysis, financial summary, and future goals. Consider sustainability milestones too. All businesses are moving in this direction.

Get a bank account for your business

Once you have a business bank account, you can distinguish between your professional and personal finances. This will also serve as a sign of professionalism while dealing with vendors and clients. For some novice business owners, having a business account is nothing more than just a nice feeling. But the IRS makes it mandatory for all businesses to have a business bank account.

Assemble all the required tools

Lastly, start assembling all the supplies or tools you may require for carrying forth your first week of operations. This will help you avert a last-minute discrepancy while making sure you didn’t forget vital supplies.

Now that you know the steps to start off with a property maintenance business, why not make it more sustainable?

B Corp’s sustainability status slides as Nespresso joins the ranks

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June 19, 2022

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B Corp’s sustainability status slides as Nespresso joins the ranks

nespresso B Corp marketing material — *Nespresso is now a B Corp. A fair trade organization along with B Corp members are outraged.*

For some years having a B Corp certification in the United States meant you were leading the competition on how to build a sustainable business. Is it organic? Do you pay your adult workers a fair wage? Are you reducing the carbon cycle of your product in a meaningful way? Can you see 100 years into the future? If you passed a series of challenges, and paid the yearly dues, you could join the B Corp club.

But the Fair World Project – a fair trade advocacy organization and certification watchdog – is calling bluff on B Corp. By letting Nespresso wear the badge of honor as a B Corp company, they petition, the trusted B Corp label is no longer meaningful.

“There’s a long history of certifications getting co-opted by corporations as they reach the mainstream,” says Dana Geffner, Executive Director of Fair World Project. “We’ve seen it with fair trade certification as well as with organics. Unfortunately, Nespresso’s certification suggests that B Corp Certification is heading that way as well.”

Among those calling to retract B Corp status from Nespresso, which makes the polluting coffee pods, are other ethical coffee brands and sustainable businesses such as Cooperative Coffees, Exilior Coffee, Peace Coffee, and Thanksgiving Coffee Company.

*Dr. Bronner soap. 18 uses. 18 is also the Hebrew number for “chai” symbolizing life.*

Dr. Bronner’s, Grove Collaborative, LAUDE the Label, and Lotus Foods have also signed the letter to B Lab Global, the organization that runs the B Corp certification process and label.

Here is the Nespresso B Corp marketing page they list on their site with a score of 84.

The companies against Nespresso joining as a B Corp collectively write:

“The fact that Nespresso can achieve a score that allows them to be certified as a B Corp and use the Certification to greenwash its business model and practices demonstrates that the B Impact Assessment scoring system and certification process is in serious need of repair.”

Nespresso produces single-serve coffee capsules. George Clooney who is a part owner of the company along with Nestlé is “saddened by child labor on Nespresso farms’ – article from 2020. While they do provide a bag to encourage recycling of their pods, few people bother to do it. But there are bigger problems than that:

Nespresso received B Corp status on May 2022 and this is “despite a recent history of human rights violations on farms that grow their coffee including child labor, wage theft, and abuse of factory workers,” writes the Fair World Project in a press briefing they sent Green Prophet.

B Lab, a non-profit organization, created and awards the B Corp certification to for-profit companies that voluntarily meet certain standards of transparency, accountability, sustainability, and performance, with an aim to “Be a Force for Good” in the business community and create value for society beyond shareholder profits.

How can coffee do it better?

One example: In 2018, Peace Coffee was named among B Lab’s “Best For Community” list, which includes businesses that earned a Community score in the top 10 percent on the B Impact Assessment.

“We take the commitment to be ‘In it for Good’ seriously,” says Lee Wallace,” CEO of Peace Coffee. “It shapes every aspect of our business, from the way we reinvest profits with the farmer cooperatives who grow our coffee to our commitment to bike delivery and giving back to our local community. That’s not been the norm in a coffee industry historically defined by the likes of Nestlé’s Nespresso—but we think it should be.”

peace coffee headquarters — *Brewing peace, at Peace Coffee*

The Fair World Project members say they are concerned and that Certified B Corp brands should hold higher standards to avoid “greenwashing” by the certification. They are calling that the greater Certified B Corp community demand the same.

“B Corp certification should take account of historically exploitative companies who do not take care of the people and communities impacted by their supply chains,” says David Bronner, CEO of Dr. Bronner’s, the top-selling natural brand of soap in North America and third-highest scoring Certified B Corp overall, who also signed onto the letter.

“The entire fair trade movement was born to address inequities and exploitation in the coffee supply chains of major CPGs like Nestlé, Nespresso’s parent. Given Nespresso’s recent and egregious track record of sourcing from coffee farms engaging in documented human rights abuses, it is disappointing that the brand was granted B Corp status.”

How can B Corps do better? Fair World offers some ideas:

Rather than a minimum total score, there must be minimum scores per Impact Business Model and per applicable Score Area.
The B Corp Standard must center human rights in the Supply Chain Impact Business Model and reference the UN Guiding Principles on Business Human Rights framework, including a company’s responsibility to respect human rights and provide remedy and remediation for harms.
Unless there is demonstrated evidence of remedy and remediation for harms, and course correction to prevent future harm, human rights abuses should be a non-negotiable Disqualification Factor preventing certification.
Sourcing a majority of raw materials from non-fair trade certified supply chains, CAFOs, or industrial farming systems should be added as Risk Factors for consumer goods companies, requiring documented improvement over time.
Risk Factors must be reflected in scores, monitored closely over time for required improvement, and re-certification should be contingent on demonstrated improvement. If Risk Factors are not corrected over time, re-certification should be withheld.”

After the announcement was made that Nespresso received B Corp Certification, Fair World Project published “Nespresso: Known for Human Rights Violations, Now B Corp Certified,” an article further detailing the issues surrounding the company’s dismal track record on human rights and the environment, authored by Anna Canning, Campaigns Manager of Fair World Project.

“We’re seeing a grim trend of B Corp certified companies engaging in union-busting and other violations of working people’s fundamental rights,” says Canning. “Is B Lab going to take action, or is their certification going to become yet another way for companies to rebrand the exploitative status quo as ethical?”

Are you a registered B Corp against Nespresso joining your league? Sign the petition here.

We’ve reached out to Nespresso for comment.

Insect radar monitors the web of life

Lifestyle

Karin Kloosterman

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June 16, 2022

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Radar entomology: The first insect radar installed in Israel near the Hula Valley.

Despite your hatred for mosquitos, or the Fall Armyworm that’s eating lawns and football fields, insects are an important part in the web of life. The bodies of insects contain 10% nitrogen and 1% phosphorus and they are full of protein. Some startups like Flying Spark are even marketing insects for human consumption as part of the Alt Protein movement. Insects, of course, and their larvae, are already a nutritious food source in countries in Africa and East Asia.

But beyond how insects can feed us humans directly, they are excellent fertilizer for plants and crops, they make nutritious meals for birds, bats, and amphibians like frogs and salamanders. Frogs and salamanders are indicator species, helping us know they health of ecosystems. Insects pollinate the food we eat.

If insects go, amphibians go. And if anyone reading this has noticed how much fewer insects stick to your windshield when driving in the country, you can maybe surmise – we have a problem.

Reasons for fewer insects? Pesticides, human development, invasive pests taking over, forestry, industrial pollution.

To help understand insect populations, a new insect radar, the first for Israel, has been installed near the Hula Valley nature reserve. The area is a major rest stop for millions of migratory birds moving between Africa and Europe each year.

The insect radar offers a chance to gauge the quantity of insects in Israel’s skies and was installed by the University of Haifa. The insect radar, like the bird radar installed by Prof. Yossi Leshem a couple of decades ago, will allow researchers to estimate the density, direction and speed of migration, elevation, and body size of the insects, and to assess factors influencing the insects that fly in this area.

“We will be able to identify pollinating insets that are of great importance for wild plants and agriculture, as well as other insects that cause damage to agriculture, such as various species of moths,” said Prof. Nir Sapir at the University of Haifa.

Insects mass migration larger than birds

In a previous study in which Prof. Sapir was also involved, and which was published in the journal Science, it was found that insect migration is the largest migration in terrestrial environments.

In Britain alone, some 3.5 trillion insects migrate every year, creating a biomass almost eight times greater than that of migrating birds.

Prof. Sapir anticipates that insect migration in Israel will be on an even larger scale: “In northern areas such as England, there is no insect activity in winter. In our region there are large insect populations throughout the year, including in winter. The conditions for the development of large populations are much more favorable here.

“Thanks to the radar, we will be able to calculate the quantities of insects of each given size and group that cross Israel – something that was impossible with the previous tools. We will be able to understand if between environmental temperature and other conditions, such as wind, affect the number of insects. We will be able to gauge the impact of global warming on the number of insect.

“This is importance, because insects constitute a major part in vital ecological interactions in many ecosystems,” Prof. Sapir concluded.

Monitoring invasive insects

One of the first studies undertaken by the researchers with the help of the insect radar seeks to monitor the fall armyworm, an invasive species of moth that arrived in Israel recently from South America. It was also detected in Egypt in 2021 so its spread could be rapid and devastating for countries in the Middle East already on the brink of starvation. Prof. Sapir explains that this species is one of the most harmful in the world and is known to cause damage to more than 350 species of plants.

“The crop that is worst affected by the fall armyworm larvae is maize…we have begun to use the radar in order to understand the movement of these moths, as a first step toward controlling their spread,” Prof. Sapir added.

fall armyworm, 1 cm — A fall armyworm in its final, moth stage. As a larva it devastates. Fall armyworms feed on a wide range of plants, including corn, fescue, Johnsongrass, rice, ryegrass, small grain crops, sorghum, Sudangrass and timothy. In corn, caterpillars can injure foliage as well as the ears.

Using such variables as size, flight speed, wing movement pattern, and body shape obtained from the radar, the researchers plan to apply a classification tool based on “teaching” the machine to identify groups of insects and later on specific species, such as the fall armyworm, with the help of the radar.

Could it works as an early warning system against locusts and new invaders? Let’s hope countries nearby, such as Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and Syria, will also invest in insect radars so that science can help draw links in a regional, rather than a local scale.

radar entomology cabi biosciences — *Radar Entomology, a handbook published by CABI Bioscience*

CABI, an England-based agriculture NGO I used to do with research with as a graduate student in Switzerland, published a book some 20 years ago – Radar Entomology – indicating how radar can be used for insect pest management. The book deals with the applications of radar findings in the management and forecasting of both pest and beneficial insects, and is an important reference for those working in agricultural entomology and pest management.

What’s in season in June – plus recipes and forager’s notes

Food
Health

Miriam Kresh

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June 16, 2022

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What’s in season in June – plus recipes and forager’s notes

Middle Eastern markets are bursting with the color and aromas of summer’s soft fruits. This is the guide to getting the most out of June.

Fruit:

There are lots of honeydews and cantaloupes. Keep an eye out for heirloom melon varieties offered in Arab markets. Vendors will offer a fresh orange or green sliver, dripping with juice for you to taste, but don’t get carried away; test before you buy.

A ripe melon’s stalk end should yield slightly to the finger, and the fruit should be firm, with a perceptible sweet aroma. However, if you’re buying with intention to serve melon in a day or two, an under-ripe one will ripen quickly in the Middle Eastern heat. Watermelons are always a risk, as far as I’m concerned. No matter how carefully I thump them, listening for the solid sound of a good ripe one, I won’t know if I’ve got a good one until I’ve cut it open.

Apricots are at their peak. Their season will end from one day the next, soon, so be sure to buy that extra kilo or two for preserving. Plums of many varieties have made their first appearance, and are already sweet. The little green sour plums mentioned last month are still in season, although ripening and turning purple now.

White and yellow peaches and nectarines are in full, glorious flush. How about the delicious geranium-scented cream to cover sliced peaches? It’s a deliciously different way to serve fruit.

Kiwis from New Zealand are still present, although expensive. Bananas are very good and cheap right now. Fig season has just started, and you can find both black and green figs. Choose one of these delicious fresh fig desserts.

The promise of a good cherry crop came true. Prices are going down as the season advances, but take care: cherries left out in the heat of open-air markets – or left refrigerated in supermarkets – lose flavor. Taste before you buy. If you love cherries and find good ones, buy now for pickling, freezing, baking, preserving, or eating out of hand.

There are still bags full of green almonds. Avocados still linger, but are expensive and under-ripe. Avocados teach patience to those who must ripen them on kitchen counters. And craftiness in choosing a good one.

An avocado tip:

A tip I recently learned about choosing a good avocado: flick the tiny bump off the stem end. If the color underneath is yellowish-green, it’s a good avocado. If the little depression is dark, brown, or black, put it back in the bin; it’s most likely rotten.

Grapefruit, oranges, and lemons are still going strong. Grapes are sweet and worth buying, and you can still buy their lemony leaves to wrap fish in, or to line a pot of rice. You might find the season’s first mangoes.

mangoes are summer season fruit — Mangoes – exotic, delicious. Luscious.

Salads:

Tomatoes have come down in price and all the colors and sizes are already good. Some heirloom tomatoes may be found in Arab markets. Those excellent tomatoes are ridged and squat in shape rather than round, and may have dark-green streaks.

July is the month for a tomato glut, but if you have time and inclination, it’s already a good time to cook up lots of tomato sauce. Keep some for immediate use, and then cook part of it down to a thick, concentrated mass for freezing by quarter-cups – so handy for impromptu flavoring or quick sauces.

Broccoli is available, but often wilted and showing a yellow top. But cauliflowers are still good. Cabbages, sweet corn, string and wax beans are good too. Sweet corn is a summer favorite and its price is average now. Okra is available, although expensive. Kohlrabi, fennel, red radishes, beets, and bell peppers of every color are good, with average prices.

The root vegetables are still full and fat. Carrots, celeriac, parsley root, and especially red and white potatoes continue excellent.

Cucumbers and eggplants are good, but already feeling the heat. Buy in the cooler early hours of the day to get the best ones. Now is the time for different eggplant varieties, like the ridged baladi (wild variety) for baba ganoush and small ones for pickling or stuffing.

You may still find fresh, green chickpeas with their flavor like that of green peas. Some open-air markets sell them roasted, as a snack.

Pale-green squashes, dark zucchini and pumpkins continue firm and flavorful. You may catch this year’s second artichoke crop, which is scanty but offers good-sized ‘chokes. Onions have finally gotten over the winter doldrums and are big and firm, with healthy golden peels and no more sprouts.

Herbs:

The familiar herbs are in full evidence, with the exception of basil, which is available but looking sad. Last month’s list still serves: parsley, coriander leaf, chives, celery, and scallions. As in last month, sorrel, tarragon, wormwood, Swiss chard, and leeks are out on the stands. Many varieties of lettuce have appeared: romaine, iceberg, and ruffled green and purple lettuces are the most popular. Asparagus is back, as are endives.

Another seasonal treat is Jerusalem Sage, a broad leaf that’s excellent for stuffing with rice. And melochia’s season is now. Make some soup! As noted last month, rinse and hang up any melochia leaves you’re not using, for future use.

jute leaves soup — *Melokhia or melochia, known in English as jute. Makes a good Egyptian soup.*

Forager’s notes:

St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum, known also as perforate) is blooming now, for those who know how to dry it or even better, tincture it, for medicine.

Purslane is strong, healthy, and sprouting up everywhere (see our purslane recipe here).

Knotweed (polygonum multiflora) is an almost invisible weed whose aerial parts make an excellent skin-soother and facial rinse as tea. Capers are blooming now. Pick the tightly-closed buds and cucumber-like fruit for pickling if you’re brave enough to withstand the thorns.

A lovely thing to do with caper buds with a white streak showing that the flower inside is almost ready to burst forth: put them in a little bowl of water. They will open in a few hours and look like white and purple butterflies floating. Gather enough of them to enjoy their faint, sweet scent.

Some white mulberry trees are still bearing fruit, especially in the hilly regions. Both red and white mulberries are still putting forth new leaves. Young, tender mulberry leaves are good to wrap lamb or chicken patties in, or to dry as a tea. Tea of dried mulberry leaves is said to control blood sugar. Be aware: fresh mulberry leaves are slightly toxic and must be cooked or dried before use.

mulberry red purple berries from Jaffa — *Mulberries, plucked fresh from the tree. Too tender to transport, you won’t find these in any markets.*

Broad-leaved chicory, known as olesh in some places, may be found wild, although some Arab markets also sell it. Here is a recipe for cooking chicory.

Elecampagne, with its pungent odor and yellow flowers, is now sprouting and flowering. Elecampagne, or Inula, has strong anti-microbial properties and may be used as a field poultice or as a wash to keep wounds from becoming infected.

It’s said that the Bedouin have over 40 uses for elecampagne. If you want to know more about Bedouin folk medicine, follow the link here from our writer in Jordan.

Delicious things you can do with Junes’ produce:

Naples Ecotourism: Best Attractions and Activities

Travel

Bhok Thompson

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June 14, 2022

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Walkway bridge at Corkscrew Swamp, Naples

Since its emergence in the 1980s, ecotourism has become ever more popular with each passing decade. As the need for responsible travel and conserving the environment grows, you may be interested to know how you can participate in this exciting trend in the US.

The state of Florida offers many eco-tourism possibilities, especially in the city of Naples. So today we look at the best ecotourism attractions and activities that you can enjoy in Naples, Florida.

Explore Ten Thousand Islands By Boat

The Ten Thousand Islands Refuge is one of the top choices for an ecotourism destination in Naples. And one of the best ways to see this maze of lagoons and mangrove swamps is by boat. There are several boat tours of the area that you can look into, with expert guides.

If you like to be the “captain of your own ship” then one of Naples boat rentals may suit you better. In this way, you can spend as much time exploring the area as you like, without the noisy chatter of fellow tourists. But be cautious of the depth of the water. Shallows are common here.

Whichever option you choose, though, you will not be disappointed, as these shallows house a great variety of marine species.

Go For A Hike In Audubon Corkscrew Swamp

Hiking in the outdoors is beneficial for both the body and the mind. And part of the hiking experience is enjoying the great beauty and diversity of nature all around you.

Audobon Corkscrew Swamp is part of a sanctuary that was established to protect the bald cypress and pond cypress of North America. Some of the species that inhabit this swamp include the Florida Panther and the Black Bear.

This is also a haven for the Wood stork and many other types of birds. Learn all the ways that you can help birds and other wildlife, while you take a guided boardwalk tour.

Pedal Your Way To The Pier

One of the best and healthiest ways of eco-traveling is cycling. It’s kind to the environment, as well as great exercise. And we discovered three cycling trails that are perfect for your eco-friendly vacation in Naples.

Pine Island Bike Path starts in St. James City and ends in Bokeelia. Ride through forests, marshes, and swampland as you enjoy the fresh smell of nature. And if you have kids traveling with you, you can enjoy a family picnic at one of the picnic facilities.

The Gordon River Greenway biking trail will take you past scrubland, palm trees, and Pine Flatwoods. And you’ll be treated to the sight of various types of wildlife from the more elevated sections that cross the wetlands.

On the John Yarbrough Linear Park Trail, you may spot everything from gators and herons to egrets and eagles. This biking trail runs parallel to the Ten Mile Canal and offers plenty of awesome photo-taking opportunities.

Camp Out In The Everglades

Your trip to Naples is the ideal gateway to a marvelous ecosystem, The Everglades. Visitors to Naples and Marco Island can enter the Everglades National Park in Everglades City. But few people realize that there are several campground facilities in the Everglades region.

Your choice of the campground will be determined by whether you choose to drive in with an RV or walk-in. But there are options for both. Taking the kids camping will teach them about the natural world, and can also be loads of fun. And what better place to take them camping than this.

This tropical wilderness is home to alligators, crocodiles, snakes, and turtles as well as a vast number of smaller wildlife. Go on one of the airboat tours, or take the kids kayaking for an adventure they will never forget.

Volunteer At The Rookery Bay Reserve

Do you want to make your vacation time count for something more? Volunteering is often overlooked as a tourism activity, but this is more often than not due to a lack of information. Many environmental causes rely on the generosity of donations and volunteerism.

One of these is the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, situated at the northern end of the Ten Thousand Islands. Volunteers play a crucial role in the preservation and restoration of this protected mangrove estuary.

There are opportunities to get involved at the aquarium, butterfly garden, and many other facilities. And this is only one of many nature reserves that would appreciate your time and dedication to nature. So put your skills, and love of the outdoors, to good use and enjoy a vacation with true purpose.

Muslim shaving: the halal and the haram

Beauty

Bhok Thompson

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June 12, 2022

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One of Green Prophet’s most-read stories ever is our how-to article on sugar-waxing, an ancient method of hair removal that predates waxing. What is it about body hair that makes for riveting reading? Come learn what I’ve picked up about dealing with body hair in the Arab Middle East.

Feedback welcome: I’ve been knocking around the region for four years, happy to hear if I’m presenting “fake news”!

The Hairline Timeline

Humans first started removing hair from men’s faces, most likely for cleanliness, and the first “razors” were rock blades made of flint. Shaving got a boost by Alexander the Great who required his soldiers to be beardless in battle so as to gain an advantage in hand-to-hand combat. Many contemporary militaries still follow this practice.

Egyptians are also credited with inventing sugaring, believed to predate shaving. It’s similar to waxing, but uses a sugar-syrup paste that gets spread onto skin. When the mixture cools, it’s quickly peeled off, yanking hair out at the roots. You can eat the sweet pre-product if you use our recipe.

Hair removal by “threading” started in India 6,000 years ago using thin cotton thread to wrap and tug hair out in a rapid rolling motion. Called fatlah or khite in Arabic, Middle Eastern men and women both partake as a method to highly define brow shape. Fingers and toes also get plucked as part of the routine regime in most gender-segregated beauty salons.

Arab hair removal — *Toe plucking time.*

Below-the-chin hairlessness now seems the norm for women, while men tend towards judicious man-scaping. If you’re dealing with a forest of fur (see our lead image), electrolysis may be the answer. Performed by licensed technicians, a needle-like probe is inserted into each individual hair follicle, zaps it with heat or chemicals, and the hair is removed with tweezers. Multiple treatments are needed, but your hair will be history.

To grow a beard or shave?

According to a hadith of Ibn ‘Umar’s (a hadith is a collection of traditions containing sayings of the prophet Muhammad which, with accounts of his daily practice (the Sunna), constitute the major source of guidance for Muslims apart from the Koran), Muslim men are obligated to keep their beards as a means to differentiate them from non-believers, advising men to, “Do the opposite of what the pagans do. Keep the beards and cut the mustaches short.”

But what about all the hipster beards we see today?

Or those that can’t grow can knit one instead. Pattern is here.

Most Islamic scholars agree that the mustache should be trimmed to ensure hygienic practice so the hair does not touch the lip, and that beards are kept at an appropriate length, which is generally a fist length.

What About the Hairy Head?

According to Islamic scholars, there are only several kinds of head shaving that are permissible: when performing Hajj, Umrah, shaving a child’s head on the seventh day after birth, when a man converts to Islam, and shaving the head as a remedy for disease.

Pubic Hair and Shaving for Women

Women are not permitted to shave their heads or eyebrows, but everything else is fair game including the pubic region, armpit and forearm hair, and thighs.

When showing the above image to local Arab men in Aqaba, Jordan, they didn’t see the gorgeous face, instead recoiled from the naturally hairy arms!

Curiously, removing a unibrow is permissible as it is not exactly part of the eyebrows. Although in some countries and regions like among Bukharian Jews, a woman is revered for her unibrow.

A unibrow is a sign of beauty in Tajikistan and among Bukaran Jewish culture

It is widely advised for Muslim men and women to remove pubic hair and armpit hair as a way to remain clean; pubic hair is shaved with a razor, while armpit hair is tweezed (ouch!), but what matters is the removal, and in modern times depilatory substances (even edibles ones like sugar wax!) are permissible.

Make your own sugar wax

In an increasingly challenging sociopolitical and geopolitical climate, the symbols and meanings attached to fatwas are rapidly changing. Which hair removal method you choose and on which part of your body seems less important in comparison to very real and pressing issues the Muslim world is facing.

Curious about a new movement to keep body here? Follow Januhairy.

Can CBD oil help your pets?

Animals

Bhok Thompson

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June 9, 2022

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cat and dog cuddling, CBD anxiety, epilepsy, arthritis pets — *Does your cat or dog have anxiety or arthritis? CBD might help.*

Just like their human friends, our beloved pets can suffer from anxiety, chronic joint pain and epilepsy. My first dog, a poodle, took seizures on a weekly basis as she got older, and years later as my boxer aged into her 14th year the pain in her hips and joints made her whine into the evening hours. What’s painful to our pets is also very painful for us.

And as some people find that CBD supplements and oil –– in beverages or drops or gummies – ease our way through rush-hour, cut down on brain fog and help calm that nagging back ache, scientists are beginning to find that in the right dosage CBD may also help our furry friends. But you don’t have to guess. There are companies that formulate CBD for pets online.

With medical cannabis laws being remarkably different from state to state in the United States, some states that have been targeting medical marijuana as medicine may also take the same stance with CBD, even though it’s a part of the cannabis plant that will not get you high. Products marketed as CBD contains no THC, or very trace amounts, and legally can be transported over state lines.

If you have ever been to a dispensary you will find that CBD can come in a range of very creative products, starting from simple oil drops to health drinks and candies like gummy bears. And if you search online you can find a range of CBD for pets near you. Or ask a vet near you.

With the advice of an expert, pets can consume CBD oil in their morning food, just like you would you sprinkle the spirulina to clean your dog’s teeth; but some pets, cats especially are very suspicious of any kind of food tampering so special CBD pet products for dogs and cats can be found. They look like cat and dog treats and taste like meat –– great if you don’t want to experiment or figure out dosing.

If you are interested in science-backed medicine there are some new studies on toxicology and the effects of CBD or cannabidiol on pet health. This 2018 study found that CBD could help pets with arthritis (osteoarthritis – OA). The researchers concluded that 2 mg/kg of CBD twice daily can help increase comfort and activity in dogs with OA. And a 2019 study showed that CBD helped reduce seizures in dogs. Currently it is not known what are the range of health effects of CBD on pets so parents who are medicating their pets should do it under supervision. To play it safe, ask your vet.

The FDA has not approved CBD for any use in animals. Like any natural supplement you can buy at the health store and which is untested, the FDA recommends pet owners talk with their veterinarians about supplements used on pets.

Recycle your contact lenses

Faisal O'Keefe

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June 8, 2022

0

New research presented by the American Chemical Society at their August meeting warned of the damage disposable contact lenses cause after they are flushed down our home plumbing, a daily habit of many of the 45 million Americans who wear them. Plastic is pollution in whatever form it comes in.

Those flimsy, flexible lenses easily pass through sewage treatment plant filters. Sinking to the bottom of rivers and oceans, the impacts to bottom-feeding fish and other marine life is real.

With awareness on plastic straws covered, it’s time to switch to recycling contact lenses. Some opticians in Canada have started accepting used lenses, a compounding problem if you wear dailies. Canada is a leading country in environmental awareness.

Myopic me has had a long love/hate relationship with contact lenses, made somewhat better when disposables came online. Pop a fresh pair in, see the world in crystal clarity, maybe even play with a new eye color change, and at the end of the day, kick off my shoes and chuck the used lenses. I toss them in the trash, but what happens if you opt to flush them down a toilet?

Colored lenses means you can change your eye color every day. But when happens when you flush these plastic lenses down the drain?

The researchers tested how 11 types of lenses survive in wastewater treatment facilities, finding that they can fragment into tiny shards, becoming part of the increasing amounts of microplastic pollution in our oceans and other waterways. Alarmingly, the shredded plastic sops up high volumes of other pollutants on its trip to the sea, which are ingested by the marine life as part of a dystopian food chain, eventually making its way into human food.

Plastic micro-particles now taint everything from German beer to table salt. That’s an argument for buying pink Himalayan salt which is farmed in Pakistan from the mountains before humans started polluting the sea.

In theory, these sewage-stewed contact lens slivers could hurt coral too. According to The Guardian, a recent study found that microorganisms borne by microplastics that then snag on a single coral can sicken entire reefs an a gangrene-like sweep.

Is the concern overblown? According to the researchers’ anonymous study, 19% of all contact lens wearers flush their lenses down the toilet or dumped them down the sink drain. An estimated 10 metric tons of lenses end up in wastewater each year, and that’s just calculating the American contribution.

An article in Quartz advises that US consumers can participate in a used contacts recycling program offered by lensmaker Bausch + Lomb, check their website for details. But the simplest solution? Put them in the trash, not down the drain.

New research finds microplastics may be released in the eye

Hydroquinine, an organic compound found in the bark of some trees, is known to have bacterial killing activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and several other clinically important germs, including Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. — Contacts may be polluting your eyes with microplastics.

In a 2023 study from the State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environment, Nanjing University China, researchers found that thousands of bits of microplastics may be released in your eye during the normal course of wearing them. They report in Environmental Science & Technology:

“The widespread use of plastic products leads to the ubiquity of microplastics in daily life, while the release of microplastics from long-used contact lenses has not been reported due to the limitations of conventional detection methods.

“Here, we established a new and rapid method to capture and count microplastics by using a high-content screening system. This method can simultaneously measure the diameter, area, and shape of each plastic particle, and the reliability and applicability of this method were verified with commercial microplastics. It is estimated that 90,698 particles of microplastics could be released from a pair of contact lenses during a year of wearing.

“Our study reveals an undiscovered pathway of microplastic direct exposure to humans, highlighting the urgent need to assess the potential health risks caused by eye exposure to microplastics.”

The solution? Daily eye exercises to correct vision naturally or going back to glasses or the glass-based contact lenses that people wore in the past.

Top 8 Natural Remedies to Fight Nighttime Anxiety

Health

Bhok Thompson

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June 7, 2022

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Top 8 Natural Remedies to Fight Nighttime Anxiety

After Covid more and more people are noticing nighttime panic-attacks, including this author. Green Prophet looks at some natural solutions to help you cope.

Having a panic attack is an extremely unpleasant experience for anyone, but, this can be even more frightening for a person who experiences it at nighttime. Nighttime anxiety can manifest itself in several different ways, some including the occurrence of nocturnal panic attacks which can over time begin to disrupt your normal sleep patterns. As a result, one feels tired and sleepy throughout the day.

Causes of Nighttime Anxiety

Expert researchers have done studies and have discovered factors that can contribute to nighttime anxiety, such as:

Genetics. Which means a history of parental anxiety or family history of this condition.
Tension and stress due to life circumstances.
Previous life events that have caused trauma.
A mental or emotional disorder such as depression.

Natural Ways of Treating the Condition

Any person that has this condition can cure nocturnal panic attacks in natural ways. Let’s discuss how this is done.

Stay Active

Exercising regularly not only has a positive effect on your physical health – but also helps you mentally.

Doing cardiovascular exercises and lifting weights can help a lot to boost anti-anxiety neurochemicals such as:

Serotonin
Gamma-aminobutyric acid
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor

Stop Drinking Alcohol

Researchers have shown that there exists a clear connection between anxiety and alcohol drinking.

Drinking in excess and consistently can start to interfere with neurotransmitters. This results in an imbalance – leading to anxiety.

Alcohol also interferes with the body’s natural ability to put itself to sleep. This way, heavy alcohol drinking can become a cause of nighttime anxiety. It’s important to moderate the usage of alcohol.

Quit Smoking

Smokers often say that they smoke when they are under stress. But in reality, the state of anxiety only gets worse as a person smokes cigarettes.

Scientists have shown that the patients with nighttime anxiety included many of those who started smoking at an early age. The chemicals, including nicotine that are used in the making of cigarettes, are responsible for altering brain functions and causing anxiety.

Slow Down and Take Deep Breaths

Whenever in a state of stress, a person’s breath feels heavy, and their heartbeat increases. It’s therefore important to do deep breathing exercises. To do this, take a moment to slow down and really focus on the in and out of your breathing.

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is a way of healing that has been used by humans for centuries.

The goal is to heal the mind, body, and spirit.

It’s important to note that for aromatherapy, natural extracts of certain plants are used. These extracts are infused in essential oil to use for aromatherapy.

A lot of patients who have nighttime anxiety have seen improvements from aromatherapy.

The ways to do aromatherapy broadly are:

Inhaling directly
Add the oil to a warm bath
Add the extract to a diffuser

Drinking Chamomile Tea

Another natural remedy to cure nocturnal panic attacks at night is to drink chamomile tea. It’s an effective solution for promoting healthy sleep.

In a scientific study conducted on rats, extracts of chamomile helped rats to go to sleep and improve their quality of sleep.

Maintain Healthy Diet

Diet matters a lot when it comes to setting the mental, physical and emotional health right.

A bad diet causes a lot of damage to health and it directly contributes to stress and anxiety.

Today, more than 70% of the foods we see in grocery stores are processed. Processed foods have artificial flavors, chemicals, and preservatives in them that have a direct effect on mood.

Processed foods result in:

Dehydration
Low blood sugar levels
Adverse chemical effects on health
Loss of temperament
Mood swings
High levels of anxiety

If you notice that whenever you eat processed foods, your anxiety is increased – then know that your diet is becoming a problem.

What you need to do instead is:

Keep yourself well-hydrated by drinking 7-8 glasses of water.
Avoid all processed foods whenever possible.
Eat a good diet that is rich in nutrients.

Incorporate Meditation

Meditation brings you to a state of being present in the current moment. By meditating regularly, you make your mind and body calm and content.

This way, most of the negative thoughts that cause stress and anxiety can be made to go away.

Mindfulness and meditation are known to be powerful methods of coping with nighttime anxiety disorder.

Hemp solar house highlights vernacular building potential in Morocco

Karin Kloosterman

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June 7, 2022

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The Sunimplant team developed a concept for the preservation of the environment and cultural heritage in the rural region of the High Rif in north of Morocco.

A team from a Moroccan cooperative and international experts from the Solar Decathlon have highlighted the beauty of vernacular architecture and building in Morocco by creating a hemp house outfitted with solar panels. The hemp and solar panelled house called Sunimplant, is an off-grid house made as a sustainable, relatable demo home for Moroccan people.

Student creators built it as part of Solar Decathlon organized in part by the IRESEN Institute for Research in Solar Energy and New Energies in Morocco, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, the Moroccan Ministry of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment and the United States Department of Energy (DOE).

This biannual international competition we’ve covered here challenges teams to design and construct buildings powered by solar energy. The last edition took place in 2020 and this gorgeous building located in Ben Guerir, Morocco is built from locally sourced hemp, plant bio-resins and non-synthetic materials found in the region.

It was planned and built by Adrar Nouh, a Moroccan cooperative created in 2017 to develop biotechnology for socio-economic development in the Central Rif region of Morocco. Members from Adrar Nouh worked with a team of Moroccan architectural students and international partners in the design of a prototype hemp house of about 90 square meters. The house was first revealed in 2019.

Blueprints from the hemp solar house are below:

Sunimplant uses local and ancestral hemp from the Rif region, transforming it into new aggregates via a process developed by one of Adrar Nouh’s co-founders Monika Brümmer while doing a doctoral thesis at the University of Granada.

Brümmer also owns the Granada-based Cannabric, a load-bearing hemp-clay blocks and bricks company.

Natural earth buildings cost a fraction of those built by modern construction companies that use non-renewable resources such as cement and steel. They are passively cool in the summer and tend to stay warm in the winter. They can be built by the hands of the owners of the property, and often don’t require extensive technological know-how.

What is vernacular architecture?

Vernacular building is making a comeback in the Middle East thanks to Caltech Earth’s Nader Khalili and Hasan Fathy of Egypt. Both were educated and from well-off families but admired the vernacular of their regions, Iran and Egypt respectively, and wanted a sensible, natural approach to building homes for the people.

Vernacular architecture can be defined as a type of local or regional construction, using traditional materials and resources from the area where the building is located.

Consequently, this architecture is closely related to its context and is aware of the specific geographic features and cultural aspects of its surroundings, being strongly influenced by them. For this reason, they are unique to different places in the world, becoming even a means of reaffirming an identity.

vernacular architecture, sustainable architecture, green building, clay building, Shibam, UNESCO World Heritage Site, vernacular architecture, sustainable agriculture, sustainable development, — *Yemen’s Manhattan of the desert, vernacular architecture from the Middle East created from mud*

Builders can be peasants and simple craftspeople. Vernacular architecture can be done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance.

Smart Cemetery: Graves with Technology

Green Tech and Gadgets

Bhok Thompson

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June 7, 2022

0

burial pods part of estate planning — *Burial pods are a modern but ecological way to bury your loved one. Now, IoT and technology is catching up with burials? Is this technology we want and need?*

As technology has revolutionized every field of life, it also brings revolution in the cemetery and the way people remember their loved deceased. Advancement in technology as well as ecological principles brings changes in the traditional concepts of graves. The technology is now used to preserve the record of deceased and his/her life. The smart cemetery provides the facility to people to remain in touch with their loved ones who left them for good by various technological methods. Smart cemetery is getting traction across the world and is now burgeoning business to provide modern facilities at a grave.

Preserving record of a grave

Over a period of time, the grave often vanishes owing to weathering effect and erosion. The information of deceased disappears over a period of time, and people are unable to preserve the information of the deceased. The smart cemetery provides a solution to this by providing mechanism to save a grave. In a smart cemetery, QR code is used to save the information about the grave. A lawyer can use this information to prove his case in the court in case the criminal elements are involved. The Criminal justice system is indispensable for the justice in a society. Just as the cemetery has adopted the modern methods, the educational field has provided a criminal justice degree online. Students can start by scanning a QR code to get their educational data and assistance from their instructors while learning criminal justice system online.

Services to save the life of deceased

The memory of deceased often diluted in the mind of people as the time goes by. Some people might want to be remembered by having an eco funeral. The Smart Cemetery assists in saving the life of the deceased by using modern technological methods. The QR code is used to provide information about the life of deceased. The smart cemetery maintains a website which directs the user to the life of deceased, it includes photos, videos, his/her accomplishments, and other events associated with the life of deceased. This is the revolutionary steps in history, as it provides details about the deceased after he passes away.

Reminder to pay visits to your loved one

The smart cemetery has the service of reminding people about their loved deceased, if they fail to pay a visit. This keeps the deceased alive in the memory of living people. This smart cemetery service is able to keep people recalling their loved ones frequently. This system is helpful for the bereaved to recall the deceased. Or maybe your loved one will be remembered in a natural setting, starting in a burial pod.

Watching graves online

In this time of harsh struggles because of Covid. People find difficult to visit graves physically. The smart cemetery provides videos of the graves streamed live using modern technology. The camera footage is provided to the bereaved live on their cell phones and televisions. The bereaved are able to watch the deceased’s grave, to some degree, by sitting at home.

Smart Cemetery and IoT

The Internet of Things has changed the way cemeteries are managed. IoT is used in a cemetery to provide information about every grave. The sensors are used in graves that communicate with other graves and provides information about the cemetery and details of the cemetery. Management becomes more easy and effective with the use of IoT.

VR and Smart Cemetery

Virtual reality is emerging technology across the world, this has changed the way people interact and see things. VR heads are used by visitor to see the 3 Dimensional videos of their loved ones. The bereaved can watch their loved deceased and refresh the memories of his/her. VR is a corner stone in developing the smart cemetery, and improves the relationship between the deceased and the living.

Record of Cause of Death and Criminal Justice

The Smart Cemetery provides information about the cause of death, time and date of death. This assists in improving criminal justice system, the details of victims of violence are shared by the concerned authority whenever they are needed.

Technology is playing an ever-growing part in how we bury and remember our loved ones today. In addition to choosing Smart Cemeteries, families hire professional funeral live streaming services to broadcast the funeral to family and friends abroad. This has become particularly popular during the Covid pandemic and seems to be a common way to include mourners overseas.

Conclusion

The smart cemetery has changed the concepts of traditional graves. Graves are now equipped with technology to provide information about the dead person, and present the history of the deceased to the visitors. IoT is being used in smart cemetery to effectively manage graves and VR technology is used to provide the bereaved 3D views of the deceased.

Money and energy-saving laundry tips

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Karin Kloosterman

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June 7, 2022

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eco laundry machine wood shelves — *Make an impact in the laundry room*

You use paper straws, say no to plastic bags and use reusable food containers for lunch. Small changes add up. Here are some tips to doing your laundry sustainably. These tips are good for the planet and for saving money too.

Don’t wash it it if it’s not dirty. Use smocks and aprons to protect clothes. Find vintage aprons at second hand shops or made by seniors for sale at local libraries.

havie upcycled apron — *Havie creates upcycled aprons from old army tents*

Always fill up the machine. Fill your front loader to the top, turning the drum to make more room. With a regular cycle (lower numbers) the machine can really be stuffed, as long as closing it doesn’t put stress on the door. Be gentle with the door as the hinges are a weak point, as are the knobs.

Have enough clothes. If you are always doing a load because you run out of socks, buy more socks (or work out a system to keep them organized). You should have enough clothes to have something to wear when you are washing, plus something extra in case of emergency.

Hand wash the things you love. They will last longer. Hang them to dry.

Don’t have too many clothes. They tend to fall on the floor and require rewashing, and it’s harder to find what you need. So balance is key.

Have clothes you love. Wear them several times before you launder them.

Give family members or settle the idea with roommates and their partners, that each person has their own distinctive towels. They are more likely to reuse them.

When visiting friends offer to bring your own sheets, or a sleeping bag. Take the sheets you just took off the bed for changing. This takes stress off your friends and allows you to reuse the sheets when you get home. Same goes for towels although consider if you will need to travel with it wet.

Grey water from the bath or from the air conditioner can be reused for laundry. Keep a couple of buckets in the shower and pour the used water into the machine through the opening for detergent while the water is running. I’ve noticed that my machine adds water to the first cycle in intervals. I add water until the water stops running, and try to be around for the second addition of water as well.

Use a minimum of detergent. If your laundry smells like detergent after washing, you’re probably using too much. The extra soap also clogs up your machine. My go-to favorite is Ecover and I add about 1/3 less than what they suggest and the laundry turns out just fine. I don’t use a softener, because it’s not necessary.

Overly perfumed soap and laundry softener can disrupt your endocrine system. Avoid artificial smells. My dad used to scratch his arms after my mom laundered his clothes with regular commercial detergent. Now she uses ECOS now, an ecological brand found in Walmart and hardware stores, and the bulk sized jug goes a long way. The non-eco detergents can have harmful biological compounds in them that can irritate your skin.

Seventh Generation offers products you can find in regular shops too.

Hang laundry to dry.

Have more tips or products you want to share for sustainable laundering?

Greening the pride parade, Tel Aviv

Lifestyle

Green Prophet

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June 6, 2022

0

green pride poster — *Pride parades have come a long way since the 70s in New York. Israeli activists look to see how the largest pride parade in the Middle East can do better, environmentally speaking.*

Tel Avir, an Israeli environmental non-profit organization serving the the country’s English-speaking community, hosted its first event of the year at the end of February.

The virtual event, titled Greening Pride – Let’s keep the green in the rainbow, focused on making LGBT pride parades and events more sustainable. For over 50 years these events have been a pillar in the LGBTQIA+ community promoting acceptance, achievements, legal rights, and pride.

Today such gatherings attract hundreds of thousands around the world. As the climate crisis worsens, organizers and attendees are becoming more concerned about environmental impacts, including carbon footprints, transportation, and waste.

The event was moderated by József Kádár, a Ph.D. candidate at Haifa Center for German and European Studies, Haifa University, and researcher at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, and includes three speakers from around the world.

Dr. Rachel Dodds, a professor of tourism at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada, brought her expertise in working with numerous North American LGBTQ+ pride parade organizers, music festivals, and other large public events.

George Rody, the founder of OUT for Sustainability, spoke about their work as a non-profit organization that provides a platform for co-creating climate resilience and environmental justice by and for LGBTQIA+ communities through advocacy, training, fundraising, and relationship-building.

*Holding a discussion on how to green pride parades*

Their initiative, Greener Pride, engages the LGBTQ+ community to advance more sustainable practices in events, businesses, and other community-building centers. Ruby Magen, the Tel Aviv LGBTQ+ Community Center director, spoke on his experiences working with the city to plan the Pride parade.

Ways to make pride parades more sustainable

The lively discussion centered on making Tel Aviv Pride more sustainable. Tel Aviv Pride is the biggest pride parade in the Middle East and in Asia, with over 250,000 people attending in 2020. The week-long celebration takes place in June each year and includes a parade, numerous parties, concerts, and cultural events mostly located on and near the beach.

While the city does an effective post event cleanup, the amount of garbage and plastic waste is relatively high from the hundreds of thousands in attendance.

This Zoom event addressed the ways in which waste can be reduced, such as providing reusable cups and increased water stations, encouraging better recycling through manned garbage cans, prohibiting free single-use plastic gifts, and discouraging single-use plastics among participants.

Other potential initiatives include soliciting corporate sponsors for recycling centers located on the parade’s route, advertisements with pro-environmental and sustainable messaging, increasing public transportation and discouraging driving during the events, and including environmental groups in the planning stages of the parade.

There are several initiatives the Municipality of Tel Aviv must undertake to make the LGBT pride parade more sustainable and meet the needs of the LGBTQ+ community in the city. The parade is a celebration of positivity, diversity, and inclusion which can be expanded to include environmentalism, as well.

Most importantly, the municipality must include sustainability experts and advocates in the planning of the parade and other pride celebrations with a clear commitment towards reducing the environmental impact. An audit must be run to measure the amount of waste and carbon emissions produced at the parade. Then a clear plan to reduce these externalities must be published and executed.

Next, the parade must ban the distribution of single-use plastic bottles and instead provide a deposit-based system in which people can rent reusable water bottles for the day with filling stations located throughout the parade route. This empowers citizens to feel like they are part of the solution instead part of the problem.

Lastly, recycling and trash centers must be staffed to direct parade goers to the appropriate bin to toss their litter, recyclables, and compost to prevent co-mingling. This preemptive sorting reduces the number of recyclables that end up in landfills. This plan must be coupled with a community compost system for the entirety of the parade festivities that will be shared with local farms.

In the upcoming years more sustainable initiatives can be enacted; a greener pride is not a destination but a movement that is always working on ways to improve. It’s important to recognize that the path to sustainability is challenging but immediate action is required to get closer to our goals.

The LGBTQ+ community is at more risk of environmental challenges because they face social, economic, and health inequities just like many other marginalized populations. Tel Avir is proud to support the struggle for equal human rights and the celebration of love in all its colors.

This year, Tel Avir plans to march in the parade and assist with recycling efforts. The LGBTQIA+ community has consistently been strong supporters of environmentalism and sustainability.

Contributed by Ezra Messinger, Ben Snyder, Jozsef Kadar. For more information on green initiatives at festivals, see Rachel Dodds

4 Reasons Environmentalists Care About Forex Trading

Lifestyle

Bhok Thompson

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June 5, 2022

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4 Reasons Environmentalists Care About Forex Trading

currency from around the world, canada, america, europe — The foreign exchange market is a global decentralized or over-the-counter market for the trading of currencies. The idea is being revived among amateurs after Bitcoin and NFTs started to nosedive in 2022. But can trading currencies, often considered as dubious investments, benefit the planet?

How is forex (FX) trading connected to the push for a greener world? There are plenty of obvious and not so apparent connections between the two seemingly disparate topics. However, it’s important to realize that the recent COVID lockdowns led to millions of new at-home trading enthusiasts, primarily in forex and blockchain markets. Why is that such a big deal? Because even part-time traders tend to use fewer resources like gasoline, electricity, and natural gas.

But the big plus for green devotees is not just about a jump in the number of people working from home. It’s also about the kind of financial activity they’re engaged in. Remember that FX is not crypto mining, which was, just a few years ago, the hottest at-home employment activity for the financially minded. There are numerous reasons to be optimistic about the recent surge in forex trading. In all, there are at least four major reasons that ecology aficionados should not only follow but also take part in the international currency markets.

The Greenback is Rising

The dollar has had a very good year, rising against most of the world’s major currencies and holding its own amid inflation, massive shortages, wars, supply chain problems, and a potential recession at home. The benchmark financial index that tracks the dollar’s strength, DXY, tells the story of a choppy performance over the past five years but with a recent resurgence in 2022. Why do the green minded care about the fate of the greenback? Because a stronger dollar and an impending recession, while not so beloved by economists, are very good news for the health of the planet.

For several years, people from all walks of life have been warning of a potential economic reset or correction. The stock markets were the first signal just weeks ago. Then the Federal Reserve Bank raised rates three times in a row at successive meetings, which appeared to strike a blow against inflation and dampen growth. Perhaps these changes, a bearish stock market, and slow growth are a sign that environmentally friendly events are finally taking hold. Recessions aren’t all bad. Often, they represent a needed slowdown and typically bring much lower levels of energy consumption via weak demand for petroleum. An added bonus for green devotees: all-time highs at the pump also lead to decreased fuel use and cleaner air.

Demo Accounts Show Anyone How to Trade

Learning how to trade FX is not rocket science, fortunately. In a global economy where everyone seems to be looking for a side job, anyone can join up with a reputable online broker, use a metatrader 5 demo account to learn all the basics, and begin making forex trades with international currency. If you are looking at ditching the long commute and are looking for a job where you can slowly transition from your current career, FX trading can be the ideal, low-carbon footprint choice. No more huge gasoline bills, traffic jams, or office politics. Many people find that a week or two on a demo simulator is all it takes to test the waters as an international currency trader.

FX is Not Proof of Work Crypto

A few years ago, one of the fastest growing home-based financial careers was related to the cryptocurrency industry. It was called mining, and bitcoin (BTC) was the kind of the miners’ community. The problem with what is called proof of work mining, or the creation of bitcoin, is that it uses vast amounts of electricity, up to 1,000 times as much as a standard personal computer. Luckily, the newer proof of stake method does not gobble as much electricity but is still a long way from being as environmentally responsible as buying and selling foreign exchange currencies. If you’re considering working for yourself as a financial trader, FX is a far wiser and greener choice than being a bitcoin miner.

Currency Markets are 100 Percent Digital

FX markets and all related trading activity are fully digitized. What’s more, no tangible assets ever trade hands, as is the case with commodities and some futures exchanges. Thus, forex represents one of the very few careers that use electricity alone, and even then, in very small amounts. Some of the newer low-consumption computers on the retail market use about one-fifth the energy that standard PCs used a decade ago. Financial trading as a job is an energy miser. Few other professions, part-time or full, create less of a carbon footprint. One of the more subtle advantages of the digitized financial sector, particularly FX, is that it can accommodate an almost limitless number of participants. There aren’t many job niches that can make that claim while simultaneously being among the lowest consumers of energy.

After you swipe right, read this

Lifestyle

Karin Kloosterman

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June 2, 2022

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eco friendly dates — *A loving relationship can be predicted by the first date. You want sustainable love and a sustainable planet? Read on.*

Looking for a sustainable romantic relationship? One that will last till the end of days? Then you’ll know how important that first date can be. When falling in love, what makes us attracted to some people, and not to others?

The answer will be surprising to most of us – but it wasn’t to the team of researchers led by Shir Atzil of the Department of Psychology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

“Connecting with a partner depends on how well we can synchronize our bodies. We specialize in studying parent-infant bonding – and we had already seen the same thing there,” she explained.

The researchers looked at how a heterosexual couple’s physiology and behavior adapt to each other during that first encounter.

The study was based on a speed-date experiment consisting of forty-six dates. Each date lasted 5 minutes during which the levels of physiological regulation of each partner were recorded with a band worn on the wrist. Behavioral movements, such as nodding, moving an arm, shifting a leg were also recorded in each partner during the date.

After the encounter, the couple assessed the romantic interest and sexual attraction they felt for each other. The study clearly showed that when couples synchronize their physiology with one another and adapt their behavioral movements to their partner during the date, they are romantically attracted to one another. This research was recently published in Scientific Reports.

Intriguingly, the study also showed that the degree of synchrony affected men and women differently.

Although for both genders synchrony predicted attraction, women were more sexually attracted to men who showed a high level of synchrony – “super-synchronizers”; these men were highly desirable to female partners.

“Our research, ” said Atzil, “demonstrates that behavioral and physiological synchrony can be a useful mechanism to attract a romantic partner. However, we still don’t know whether synchrony raises attraction or does the feeling of attraction generate the motivation to synchronize?” An area of research that Atzil is planning to investigate.

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The Hairline Timeline

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What About the Hairy Head?

Pubic Hair and Shaving for Women

New research finds microplastics may be released in the eye

Causes of Nighttime Anxiety

Natural Ways of Treating the Condition

Stay Active

Stop Drinking Alcohol

Quit Smoking

Slow Down and Take Deep Breaths

Drinking Chamomile Tea

Maintain Healthy Diet

Incorporate Meditation

Blueprints from the hemp solar house are below:

What is vernacular architecture?

Ways to make pride parades more sustainable

The Greenback is Rising

Demo Accounts Show Anyone How to Trade

FX is Not Proof of Work Crypto

Currency Markets are 100 Percent Digital

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