This is an issue of global concern. Climate change, urbanization, and resource depletion (more mouths to feed, burn wood in stoves for, graze more cattle for) is still happening at a fast an alarming clip, influencing our planet’s ability to store CO2 emissions, and protect diversity. We hate scare tactics, but put it into scale and see how much we are losing compared to reference points you can understand.
Via eCO2 Greetings
Technology is a driving force of innovation. Everything we build, adapt and refine, generally has the express purpose of making our lives on this planet easier. Whether it’s transportation, growing food, or the sending and receiving of information, technology exists to solve a problem or streamline a process. Nevertheless, the environmental cost of this technology is vast. For example, the average carbon footprint for the manufacture and use of an iPhone is between 55kg and 75kg depending on the model.
However, emerging technologies are reducing environmental pressures across the board. This is in part to large companies taking a positive stance on sustainability. For example, Nike has stepped up to the plate to show others that recycling on a large scale is possible with its Reuse-A-Shoe program. Web hosting companies such as 1&1 made known their own green efforts, demonstrating how their data centers are some of the most energy efficient worldwide, preventing upwards of 30,000 tons of CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere every year. Even in the banking sector, financial organizations are doing their share, as The World Bank has earmarked $16 billion to mitigate climate change in 2016 alone.
But a lot of credit is also due to ingenious inventions by lesser-known start-ups and inventors. These technologies operate with the intention of reducing carbon output, producing clean energy and depolluting water source; in essence, to mitigate the damage our current technological advances have caused.
inesWind turbines have been a staple of renewable energy for a while. However, for all the good they do, they are large, incredibly noisy, and not particularly friendly to bird populations. Vortex Bladeless is one company working on a turbine that leaves behind the cumbersome blades of conventional turbines. Instead, their models will harness power via the vibrations caused by wind. Two bladeless models exist for domestic and industrial use, and the carbon footprint is 40% less than traditional turbines.
Cities such as Delhi and Beijing suffer from very poor air quality. Daan Roosegaarde and Bob Ursem recognized this and designed a seven-meter tall filtration tower, which sucks in polluted air and expels it smog-free. Currently situated in Rotterdam, the tower is able to clean 30,000 cubic meters of air per hour.
Solar panels are nothing new, but tech mogul Elon Musk is taking it one step further. His solar energy company, SolarCity, proposes not just installing solar panels onto roofs to power homes, but instead to make the roofs themselves out of solar panels. As Musk himself says, “It’s a solar roof as opposed to a module on a roof.” This technology, combined with the Tesla Powerwall – proprietary technology from one of Musk’s other endeavors – will effectively allow homes to exist off the power grid, and generate completely clean energy.
If you’ve ever visited a Middle Eastern country, one noticeable difference to Europe is restriction on alcohol. Muslims are not allowed to drink according to scripture (read why Muslims don’t drink here) so depending on the ruling government, access to alcohol may be restricted to your local hotel or nearby speakeasies (big in Iran) or it may be available widely, like in Turkey.
Some Middle East Muslims do choose to drink alcohol, with brewing traditions that span back to ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian times (try our recipe for Tej, Ethiopian honey beer), and not all of the Middle East is Muslim. And read about this 5000 year old microbrewery found in the Holy Land.
Yazan Karadesh, a local Arab Christian from Amman, for instance has started brewing Jordan’s first craft brewery, hoping to compete in the $22 billion US craft beer market. He went through a difficult experience getting the permit and the land on which to brew (according to this article in Haaretz). He eventually found Christian-owned land in a Christian suburb called Fuheis.
Karadesh’s brand brewed in Amman is called Carakale Brewery. It is infused with Middle Eastern flavors, unique to the region, he says.
Taybeh beer from the West Bank, Israel is one of the more notable beers from the region. There is also Shepherd’s and Wise Men’s Choice.
But Jordan’s Yazan Karadesh wants his own in Amman: “Alcohol might be taboo but you can find alcohol and buy alcohol easily in the market,” he says.
Craft beer is a good alternative to cracking the monopoly that beer makers such as Carlsberg and Heineken own in the Middle East region.
Dancing Camel brewery with 2 locations in Tel Aviv is cracking through the monopoly in its own way. It already infuses its beers with local flavors such as pomegranate. It was Israel’s first craft brewery and by many standards has influenced a whole culture of craft beer making in the entire region.
This movement of craft beer making joins the local DIY movement in the Middle East. Trends such as urban farming (hydroponics), craft making and returning to a simpler lifestyle is taking root.
Israel! You are so good at so many things beyond technology. And food, as locals and tourists know is becoming Israel’s rising star. With hyper-local fresh food production capabilities, Israelis from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem enjoy traditional Mediterranean food, hybridized with any international trend.
It makes complete sense in a country that’s into food, and in the know for startups and technology, that the two intersect in a new industry. It’s called Food Tech. Potentially one of the last frontiers in tech and all of us have to eat. Kimbal Musk, the brother of Elon Musk, calls Food, “The New Internet.”
Thanks to a french import Yossi Dan, and his company Challengy, Israel is about to put some serious spice into the international Food tech scene. Dan is looking for 100 Food Tech companies to duke it out Battleground style, at the Google Campus in Tel Aviv later this month.
Dan is calling all innovators to collect and compete at The Foodtech Startup Contest, part of Global FoodTech TLV. This coincides with the DLD, one of the largest and craziest conferences and tech/art expos Israel does every year. The contest is calling for 100 startup entrants, so if you are just coming to scan for new opportunities, bring a bag of healthy snacks and a cold pressed juice as you watch companies inside the ring pitch their startups.
Ten semi-finalists go onto an even bigger stage to compete for chances to be seen by even more investors, and to get the chance to be swept under Dan’s wing as his firm Challengy leads business development efforts in Food Tech in various global cities.
Do you have what it takes to take a bite out of the Food Tech industry?
Do you:
1. Build vertical farming technologies (like hydroponics), create new opportunities for farming in business development, or have a way to make food tastier, healthier or more sustainable. If yes, Click Here.
2. Build technologies that serve the digital landscape making it easier to order online, cut food waste from restaurants, or build platforms to manage inventory at point of sale? Click Here.
3. Build technologies in new
frontiers to understand food quality of industrial chains, from farm to fork, can you monitor water, detect toxins, certify that food is safe? If you are one of these guys or gals, Click Here.
Details about the pitch:
Where? Google Campus TLV
When? September 27, afternoon
Who? Food Tech startups from anywhere. Internationals are encouraged to apply
Cost? Free. You just need to register here and be selected among the 100.
If selected, you’ll come and pitch in front of a panel of International experts.
The event is framed around the annual DLD event which is part serious, part crazy. Mostly fun.
Your entrance to the Food Tech scene in Israel, Dan suggests, will be a part of some bigger acceleration program he is putting into place with international partners.
Get some ideas from innovators from Israel featured at Dan’s event last year.
Le Chaim and good luck.
In the recent past, renewable energy has been in the limelight of most of the countries and global corporations. This is due in part to the fact that, there is need to develop sustainable means of energy production that does not have negative impacts on the environment. Solar power is one of the major options and employs 12 v actuators for the solar trackers to maximize the amount of energy harvested.
The linear actuators are highly favored relative to the fact that they help achieve the desired movement with precision. These are actuators that enhance the element of automation of the solar arrays. Ideally this is geared towards ensuring that the solar arrays achieve the best levels of efficiency by placing the solar panels at the correct angles for insolation (or solar irradiation).
Solar energy is slowly gaining popularity as one of the main energy sources of the future as the world shifts towards cleaner energy options. It is a must for regions in the Middle East. With new providers popping up almost weekly, you should compare reviews of solar energy providers if you’re thinking of doing an installation for your home.
In the past, most of the solar panels would be placed on a fixed array. This meant that, for most of these panels, they only got to their best efficiency during the peak hours of the days. Ideally, the sun moves from East to West, which is associated with the rotation of the Earth. As such, the solar plants have to ensure that they are able to move their solar panels to the positions that best give the highest level of insolation. This means that the solar panels are constantly converting at a higher rate than for the static panels on most conventional platforms such as rooftops. It is estimated that, with the mobile solar panel arrays, the level of efficiency is increased by close to 50%. This is a significant gain compared to the static arrays.
As such, the use of the solar trackers has become crucial, as they help with the placement of the solar panels relative to the insolation quotients. The linear actuators are important when it comes to delivering the right mechanism for the movement required. This is relative to the fact that, of the many types of actuators, they are considered to give the most accurate movement relative to inputs.
The 12v linear actuators are also associated with easy installation, relative to the fact that all they need is a power source and means of controlling them. Some of the best examples that commonly used with the solar panels arrays are the PA-17 industrial actuators that are used together with the PA-17 control boxes. These are actuators that are quite strong as they can handle forces estimated at 2000 lbs. When setting up the solar arrays, the users have to make sure that they are secured and safe. This is crucial relative to the capital outlay associated with setting up the solar arrays.
With the 12v actuators, it is easy for the users to take advantage of the movement precision offered. It is important to mention that, while tracking the sun is going to increase the level of insolation on the panels, there is a catch. The movement of the solar panels has to be precise to the position of the sun and more importantly to the controls. If the precision of the actuators is compromising, the efficiency of the solar panels will not be achieved and in fact may even be more inefficient that the conventional fixed solar arrays.
Now you know all about actuators!
Our favorite eco-organization EcoPeace Middle East are arranging a full moon hike in the West Bank this week with a local center, the Auja EcoCenter which offers tried and true alternatives for better living in desert climates.
Auja has been the focus of a number of stories we have covered here on Green Prophet, namely because the village has agreed to pilot a number of solutions that can greatly improve the welfare of people in Palestinian Territories, but also in Syria, Jordan, Israel and anywhere where the sun is plentiful and water is scarce. See pictures below of some projects ongoing there.
Want to get educated on the Middle East eco issues and be part of something bigger than yourself? Join EcoPeace Middle East and Auja EcoCenter for a Full Moon Hike and Bedouin dinner this Friday, September 16th. The hike is 3 hours long, and it’s at Beginner’s level. Cost is $25 and it includes an authentic Bedouin dinner. Expect to be spoiled by a rich experience and good people.
Auja is a short drive from Jerusalem. And is accessible from Jordan via the Allenby Crossing. Guests can stay overnight for an additional $25, and the cost includes bed and breakfast.
I remember that when I visited Byblos, in the Jbeil district of Lebanon, in the summer of 2011, I felt like a true beholder of history. Historians agree that it’s the second oldest continuously-inhabited city on earth, runner-up only to the Palestinian city of Jericho. I sat at Feniqia restaurant in the heart of the old Phoenician city, eating shanklish cheese and tabbouleh and imagining life in that very spot, if time were to rewind 7,000 years.
Since about 5,000 BCE, people have been walking the streets of this city. Bartering turned into buying and selling; hunting and gathering was first conducted out in nature, but in the present day, it all goes down in the local souk. Undoubtedly, homemakers hunt for the freshest red peppers to use for muhammara (see our recipe here) and gather the heartiest chickpeas for making hummus, a recipe that has been perfected over generations.
Through successful trade with Egypt, Byblos grew from a small village to a wealthy city. Today still it thrives, by way of a modern phenomenon called tourism, attracting travelers like me looking for a journey back in time.
Byblos was named the 2016 Arab Tourism Capital by the Arab Council of Tourism. Green Prophet was here to salute Erbil and Sharjah as the Arab Tourism Capitals of 2014 and 2015, respectively.
Although thousands of tourists visit Lebanon every year, with Byblos as the top of their to-see lists, municipal leaders say they expect an increase in tourism by up to 30 percent, in the foreseeable future. There are plans to inaugurate five-star international hotel chains and, well, keep up the good work with the Lebanese cooking.
Archaeologically, Byblos is fascinating. It is home to Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Greek and Roman ruins, including a Church of St. John the Baptist and a restored 12th century Crusader castle.
The Byblos International Festival is an annual summer music festival and the biggest public event in Lebanon. Musicians and singers from all over the world, including but not limited to the Middle East, fill the air with everything from classical sounds to pop tunes. For the last few years, the municipality has projected a brief 3D animation movie showing historical highlights of Byblos on tower walls in the fishermen’s harbor.
Efforts for environmental sustainability are also at work. The air in Byblos is cleaner than it has been in a while. With aims to make Byblos more pedestrian-friendly, local leaders recently closed part of the old city to vehicles after 4pm on weekdays and noon on weekends. With decreased air pollution and less noise, visitors will be breathing fresh air in this very old city.
I’d recommend a few days in Byblos, although it could easily be made into a day trip from Beirut. I think spending more than 24 hours there only makes sense, for you’ll be stepping far, far back in time and there’s a lot of ground to cover!
What will the Arab Tourism Capital of 2017 be? Comment below with your guesses.
Three public spaces in downtown Amman have been temporarily re-purposed as platforms to promote contemporary design from Jordan and the wider region. This is Amman Design Week, a first-time consolidation of the kingdom’s artistic capabilities, established and emerging, and the excellent choreography of its exhibits rivals that in any world-class city.
Supported by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, and with corporate sponsorship from Manaseer Group and Zain, Amman Design Week will be an annual event to encourage growth in Jordan’s design sector. This year’s pilot featured workshops and lectures to stimulate collaboration and learning, many with a theme of environmental stewardship.
“The Hangar” in Ras el Ain is curated and designed by Sahel Al Hiyari, the Jordan Museum “MakerSpace”, and the upper level of Raghadan Tourist Terminal (in lead image) are hosting different installations – many interactive – available to the public for free. A shuttle bus – also free – manned by helpful bilingual (Arabic and English) staff, transports visitors to each venue throughout the day.
Pieces include a gigantic soaring bird made of electric light tubes by Iraqi artist Adel Abidin (above) and an intricately woven screen made of fine copper wire by Jordanian architect Hiba Shahzada (below).
Architects Yazeed Obeid and Jeries Al Ali contributed a skeletal tower that references the welded metal minarets towering over rural Jordan. The sculpture morphs with movement; walk around it and the shape of the internal void creates new illusions of mass.
There are spectacular furnishings made from marble and granite, some carved with lasers to mimic Palestinian embroidery. Arabesque motifs inspire the “Unfolding Unity Stool Marble Edition” by Aljoud Lootah Design Studio (below).
Jordanian architect Ammar Khammash melds music with geology in his astonishing instrument constructed from shards of flint. Without any intervention in shape or the size of the stones, he tested each to identify its inherent sound, using tuning apps and frequency identification computer programs. He discovered flints that hit all the notes of the chromatic scale found in a typical piano. The installation – which visitors can play – reflects the natural occurrence of notes that are hidden in the desert landscape. See the story of the singing flints in the video below.
[vimeo 180695489 w=640 h=360]
Jordan Museum’s MakerSpace, the second venue, is the site of lectures and hands-on tech demonstrations, and a smaller array of interactive exhibits.
The pieces begin to engage more fully with their urban surroundings at the Raghadan Tourist Terminal, where portions of the facility have been wrapped with brilliantly colored fabric and rope, creating marvellous shadows that move with the sun (above and below).
An open-air marketplace features some of Jordan’s most innovative craftspeople, including the Safi Crafts group, Canadian artist Jean Bradbury‘s posse of natural dye mavens from the southern Dead Sea. There is unusual jewelry by architectOla Medanat, set within handmade terrarium that are dazzling as the gems within. The Crafts District is curated and designed by Dina Haddadin.
Find handmade paper cards, notebooks, and home accessories by the Association of Iraq Al Amir Women, a small community south of Amman supported in part by the craft collective. Their colorful paper spice bowls are shown, below.
Twenty-seven artists crocheted the #KeesChic Canopies providing shade along the marketplace corridors (below), diverting 25,000 plastic bags from local landfills.
Many of the vendors at Raghadan Tourist Terminal are actively involved in on-site production, and are happy to explain their inspiration and techniques. This venue also offers food and drink and live entertainment. is also available at this venue.
Amman Design Week is co-directed by Jordanian architects Abeer Seikaly and Rana Beiruti. Green Prophet previously reported on Seikaly’s award-winning design for refugee shelters (story here). The event runs from September 1 through 9, with exhibitions open from 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM. Download the program of events (link here).
Images by author, Desert Sound Instrument by Ammar Khammash from Ammar Khammash on Vimeo.
لرُبما الشمس في غياب على رفيقة الصباح، إذ أن 50 بالمئة من صناعة القهوة قد تتضرر بسبب تغيير المناخ بحلول العام 2050، و ذلك بحسب تقرير أصدره معهد المناخ. و قد يكون هذا الخبرسيء لمحبي القهوة، و لكنه كارثي على ال120 مليون شخص في مختلف الدول النامية و الذين يعتمدون على صناعة القهوة كمصدر أساسي لكسب قوت يومهم
و يتوقع التقرير هبوط إنتاج القهوة إلى النصف خلال العقود الثلاثة القادمة بسبب ارتفاع معدل درجات الحرارة و تغيُر أنماط هطول الأمطار، و الذي من شأنه جعل بعض مناطق الزراعة المشهورة عاجزة عن تلبية الطلب العالمي للبن. و ستعاني تحديدا المنخفضات الاستوائية من تغييرات مناخية محلية تؤثر سلبا على كمية الإنتاج و نوعيته، مُجبرة بذلك المنتجين على نقل مزارعهم إلى أعالي الجبال المغطاة بالغابات، مما يؤدي ذلك بدوره إلى تأثيرات بيئية سلبية على تلك المناطق. و في هذا الصدد علق المدير التنفيذي للمعهد جون كونور قائلا أنه لوحظ وجود زيادة في الأمراض التي تصيب النباتات في تلك المناطق العالية و التي هي حديثة العهد بزراعة القهوة، بالإضافة طبعا إلى الإرتفاع في نسب درجات الحرارة في تلك المناطق و الذي يجعلها قابلة لزراعة البن
و بالرغم من أن بعض المناطق أظهرت زيادة في إنتاج القهوة في السنوات القليلة الماضية كالهوندوراس و إندونيسيا و فييتنام، إلا أن مستقبل الصناعة بشكل عام يبقى قاتما، فالمكسيك ستغدو غير قابلة للزراعة أولا، تتبعها نيكاراغوا في عدم القدرة على الإنتاج التجاري للقهوة بحلول العام 2050. أما البرازيل، و هي أضخم زارع للقهوة عالميا، فمازالت تعاني من موجة حرارة منذ العام 2014 كانت هي السبب في تدمير المحاصيل، رافعة بدورها أسعار سلع التجزئة على المستهلكين. و يُعتبر البن العربي من مرتفعات اليمن و إثيوبيا و بن الروبوستا من أكثر المتضررين من هذه المتغيرات، إذ أن هذا الأخير من المتوقع أن ينقرض من موطنه في مزارع الكونغو بحلول العام 2050
و بحسب تقرير المعهد، يستهلك العالم حوالي 2.25 مليار كوب من القهوة يوميا، و بينما هذا العدد في ازدياد، يتوقع التقرير أن تُباد القهوة الطبيعية بحلول العام 2080 إن لم تُعالج قضية تغيير المناخ. و بينما أيضا باستطاعة شركات الإنتاج الكبرى تشكيل تحالفات من شأنها الضغط على الحكومات العالمية لمعالجة تغيير المناخ، يستطيع الفرد العادي أن يُساهم في هذا المجال عن طريق شراء القهوة المُنتجة بطرق تضمن استدامتها و تضمن أيضا عدم المس بتوازن الكربون في المناخ، و يتسنى ذلك للفرد عن طريق التأكد من وجود ختم موثوق على تلك المنتوجات في الأسواق
If a tree falls in the woods, does it make a sound? If a food worker in Egypt fails to properly wash his hands, does it cause an epidemic in another nation? More than 80 people in seven US states have been infected with food-born Hepatitis A, and at least 32 people have been hospitalized. The outbreak is linked to frozen strawberries from Egypt that were served up in smoothies in a Virginia restaurant chain. Well, hello there, global food network.
Hepatitis A is a highly contagious liver infection and a “self-limited disease that does not result in chronic infection” according to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Symptoms include jaundice, fever, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain, and they can range in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a severe illness lasting several months, as per the CDC.
The virus is transmitted through direct contact with someone who has Hepatitis A or by consuming food or drink that has been contaminated with the virus. This commonly occurs when contaminated fecal matter finds its way to food items via improper handling, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Most of those infected are Virginia residents, according to that state’s Department of Health and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Confirmed victims also hail from New York, Maryland, North Carolina, West Virginia, Oregon and Wisconsin, a CDC spokeswoman said Tuesday. All had consumed strawberry smoothies from the Tropical Smoothie Cafe chain.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe immediately removed the fruit from all of its locations, according to CEO Mike Rotondo in a YouTube video posted Sunday by the chain. They are now sourcing strawberries from suppliers in California and Mexico, but health officials are braced for more illnesses to arise due to the disease’s long, asymptomatic incubation period. That incubation period can last for 50 days, making outbreaks are difficult to identify and investigate.
Virginia health officials became aware of the current cases between May and the end of August, but did not identify them as a cohesive outbreak until early August, at which time they notified the restaurant. The state did not alert the public for another two weeks.
That two week delay is now central to looming victim litigation because of the narrow window for administering post-exposure Hepatitis A vaccinations, which are only effective if given within 14 days of exposure, according to Virginia health officials and CDC.
“I think it’s important for the Virginia Department of Health and Tropical Smoothie Café to say why they didn’t alert the public sooner,” said Bill Marler, a Seattle food safety attorney who is representing outbreak victims. “By not coming forward they kept people who had been exposed from having the opportunity to protect themselves and their families from Hepatitis A.”
The state health department said officials waited because they wanted to gather as much information as possible “to determine with enough scientific certainty what the risk to the public was so we could understand the risk and communicate it accurately.”
But even with confirmation from CDC on August 12, Virginia officials waited before warning the public. A September 2 editorial in the Charlottesville Daily Progress asserts that there are more reasons to question the health department than the delay in issuing a public alert.
A lawyer (among a group of attorneys who have been in contact with victims and potential victims who might eventually file lawsuits) is complaining that Tropical Smoothie franchises took up to four days to remove all of the suspect strawberries.
Attorney William D. Marler says that two-week gap was critical, as – if warned – people can stave off infection by getting vaccinated. Some victims contracted the disease who, if forewarned, might have protected themselves.
Virginia officials continue to urge anyone who had a smoothie at any restaurant “within the last 50 days” to monitor themselves for symptoms of Hepatitis A.
Stave off spread of Hepatitis A with frequent hand-washing before preparing food and after using the bathroom or changing a diaper. Eat food that is grown local, by people you know, using processes that are clean and safe. Hydroponically-grown food is a great way to better “know” the source as its highly monitored.
Routine vaccination which involves two injections given six months apart has reduced cases of Hepatitis A in the past ten years. Injections are specifically recommended for children, travellers to certain countries, and for people at high risk for infection.
This is the second recent outbreak of food-borne illness linked to frozen produce.. A listeria outbreak in May led to a massive recall of frozen vegetables that touched 50 states.
Word to the wise: watch what you eat.
Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy of Art and Design – Israel’s oldest institution of higher learning – is a prolific incubator of brilliant ideas, with its post-grads serving as the school’s best advertising. They move on to produce beautiful artifacts, while kicking forward the antique design credo of “build a better mousetrap”. Now one student has developed a device that can pasteurize raw milk, and do it off-grid, improving human health and safety and the environment, and it looks good too. Meet Guy Feidman Reshef’s battery-powered milk machine.
The sun may be setting on a popular morning brew. According to a new report issued by the Climate Institute, global warming will underpin an estimated 50 percent drop in coffee production by 2050. Bad news for coffee lovers, but catastrophic for the 120 million people in dozens of mostly developing nations who depend on the coffee trade to make ends meet.
The report predicts that worldwide coffee production will drop by half over the next three decades due to climbing temperatures and changing rainfall patterns, rendering regions historically suited for coffee cultivation unable to meet global demand. Production may be forced to move away from low-level equatorial regions and higher up into forested mountains causing new negative ecological impacts. Significantly altered micro-climates will affect both coffee quality and yield sizes.
“It’s not just the heat, which is a big factor which is driving some of the regions where coffee is produced uphill,” John Connor, Climate Institute’s chief executive officer, told ABC. “We’re also seeing extra diseases increasing and being able to go up into those areas.”
The overall outlook is bleak, although earlier studies had indicated that Honduras, Indonesia and Vietnam are producing more coffee than usual. Mexican coffee fields will become “nonviable” first, followed quickly by Nicaragua; both regions are expected to lose commercial productivity by 2050.
Brazil, the world’s largest coffee grower, has been crippled by heat waves since 2014, which have devastated harvests and prompted retail price hikes.
Coffee has grown increasingly gimmicky in our lifetime. It’s earned faux foreign-language drink names and secret drinks menus at top franchises. We can sip coffee crapped out of a marsupial’s bum and crunch edible coffee cups.
Lady Gaga donned a dress made from coffee filters and Green Prophet even brought you 15 #LifeHacks using coffee grounds. But all that spin-off is done if the beans disappear.
Beans most affected have been popular Robusto and Arabica, the latter requires sequential rainy and dry seasons to mature. This is noteworthy since Arabica beans, which originated in mountainous regions of Ethiopia and Yemen, are the basis for 75 percent of the world’s coffee. Robusta – so named as it is more tolerant of climactic differences – is expected to become extinct in the Congo (its birthplace) by 2050.
Currently, according to the folks at Climate Institute, we drink about 2.25 billion cups of coffee daily, and global demand is rising. The report concludes that unless climate change is addressed, wild coffee could become extinct worldwide by 2080.
“We have a cloud hovering over our head. It’s dramatically serious. Climate change can have a significant adverse effect in the short term,” Mario Cerutti, a director at Lavazza, one of Italy’s top coffee roasting companies, told Think Progress. “It’s no longer about the future; it’s the present.”
Industry officials have been issuing warnings for years. In 2011, Starbucks director of environmental affairs, Jim Hanna told the Guardian, “What we are really seeing as a company as we look 10, 20, 30 years down the road — if conditions continue as they are — is a potentially significant risk to our supply chain.” Hanna pointed out that farmers were already seeing how climate change was creating severe hurricanes and more resistant bugs.
While big business forms coalitions to press governments to tackle a changing climate, what can the individual coffee drinker do? The report urges consumers to choose carbon-neutral brands and also demand action from companies and governments to ensure all products, business models, and economies are carbon neutral or carbon negative. Green Prophet suggests you also cultivate an appreciation for plain water.
“Our concern is primarily for the 25 million farmers out there whose entire livelihoods depend on this incredibly important global commodity,” Molly Harriss Olson, chief executive of Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand, which commissioned the report, told ABC. “We’ve got to build a new economy that doesn’t threaten things in our lifestyle such as our coffee.”
Consider coffee brand Maxwell House and its iconic slogan, Good to the Last Drop!, which may turn out to be the world’s most prescient advertising motto. Download the full report – link here.
Last week in Florida, a judge ruled on an ordinance banning front yard vegetable gardens. This allowed the upscale village of Miami Shores to take legal action against residents who to grow food in their yards on the grounds that vegetable patches are “ugly.” Seems, in at least one part of America, that growing your own food is now a crime.
It’s coming up on two years since Cameron Sinclair announced the shutdown of Architecture for Humanity, probably the best thing to ever emerge from an architect’s imagination. That San Francisco-based nonprofit brought pro-bono architecture to the world’s neediest communities. Now a young husband/wife team have stepped into the void, launching a venture to make affordable, ecological housing accessible to everyone.
Dip a dowdy dress into one of the world’s saltiest lakes and see what happens. Artist Sigalit Landau did, and ended up growing a crystalline gown straight out of Frozen. Take a look at these images. It’s unlikely you can “Let it go”.
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