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Is your groundwater too young? New study finds risks for Parkinson’s and type of water you drink

Karin Kloosterman
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Is your groundwater too young? New study finds risks for Parkinson’s and type of water you drink
Austrian woman at water well in 1940
Europe was built with free access to safe, clean, spring water in cities. Here is an Austrian woman at water well in 1940

People whose drinking water came from newer groundwater had a higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease than those whose drinking water came from older groundwater, according to a preliminary study released March 2, 2026, that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 78th Annual Meeting taking place April 18–22, 2026, in Chicago and online.

The study does not prove that newer groundwater causes Parkinson’s disease; it only shows an association.

The research focused on the age of groundwater and the aquifers that supply it. An aquifer is an underground layer of porous rock, silt, or sand that stores and transports groundwater. Scientists increasingly see water sources as a window into long-term environmental exposures.

“One way to examine our exposure to modern pollution is through our drinking water,” said study author Brittany Krzyzanowski, PhD, of the Atria Research Institute in New York City, who conducted the research while at the Barrow Neurological Institute. “Newer groundwater, created by precipitation that has fallen within the past 70 to 75 years, has been exposed to more pollutants. Older groundwater typically contains fewer contaminants because it is generally deeper and better shielded from surface contaminants. Our study found that groundwater age and location is a potential environmental risk factor of Parkinson’s disease.”

The study analyzed data from 12,370 people with Parkinson’s disease and more than 1.2 million people without the disease, matched for age, sex, race, and ethnicity. All participants lived within three miles of 1,279 groundwater sampling sites across 21 major U.S. aquifers.

A case for raw water from ancient sources

A natural raw water spring in Nipissing, Ontario.
A natural raw water spring in Nipissing, Ontario.

Researchers examined groundwater age, aquifer type, and drinking water source—such as municipal groundwater systems or private wells—as indicators of possible exposure to neurotoxic contaminants.

Two types of aquifers stood out. Carbonate aquifers, made mostly of limestone, often allow water to move quickly through fractures, making them more vulnerable to surface contamination. Glacial aquifers, formed more than 12,000 years ago as glaciers advanced and retreated, are composed of sand and gravel that can naturally filter water as it moves underground.

After adjusting for factors such as age, sex, income, and air pollution, people whose drinking water came from carbonate aquifers had a 24% higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease compared with those whose water came from other aquifers. When compared specifically with people whose water came from glacial aquifers, the risk was 62% higher.

Researchers also found that older groundwater appeared to have a protective effect in carbonate aquifers. For each increase in groundwater age, the risk of Parkinson’s disease declined by about 6.5%. In contrast, groundwater formed in the past 75 years in carbonate systems was linked to an 11% higher risk compared to water dating back to the ice age.

“We speculate that the apparent protective effect of older groundwater is seen mainly in carbonate aquifers because these systems can show a clearer contrast between newer and older water,” said Krzyzanowski. “In these aquifers, newly recharged groundwater is more vulnerable to surface contamination, while older groundwater can remain cleaner if it is separated from recent inputs by a confining layer.”

“In contrast, glacial aquifers tend to slow groundwater movement and naturally filter contaminants as water travels underground,” she added.

The findings highlight how where drinking water comes from may matter for long-term health. People can often learn about their water source through local utilities or regional groundwater agencies. For households using private wells, testing water periodically and considering filtration systems can help reduce potential exposure to contaminants.

“This study highlights that where our water comes from, including the age of groundwater and the type of water source, could shape long-term neurological health,” said Krzyzanowski. “While additional research is needed, bringing together knowledge about groundwater and brain health may help communities better assess and reduce environmental risks.”

Mango and avocado combine for heart health

Green Prophet
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Mango and avocado combine for heart health

For the one in three (98 million) Americans living with prediabetes, a surprising fresh fruit pairing may hold promise for heart health. A new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association suggests that adding one avocado and a cup of mango to your daily routine may help support key markers of cardiovascular health.

Adults with prediabetes who enjoyed this combination daily for eight weeks saw improvements in blood vessel function and diastolic blood pressure – two important indicators of cardiovascular wellness.

Amba is a mango relish you can make
Amba is a mango relish you can make

Conducted by researchers at Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech), the study asked adults with prediabetes to follow an Avocado-Mango (AM) diet – adding one medium Hass avocado and a cup of fresh mango to their daily meals and snacks for eight weeks. A calorie-matched control group followed a similar diet, with avocado and mango replaced by calorically comparable carbohydrate-based foods. Those on the AM diet saw meaningful improvements in blood vessel function, which supports healthy circulation, and diastolic blood pressure, a key factor in long-term heart health, compared to the control group.

avocado-poached-egg-sandwich
Avocado toast, a family favorite

Blood vessel function improved significantly in participants on the AM diet. They experienced a significant increase in flow-mediated dilation (FMD) – a key measure of endothelial function (blood vessel health) – to 6.7%, compared with a decline to 4.6% in the control. This suggests a meaningful improvement.

Diastolic blood pressure also significantly improved, particularly among men. In the control group, men saw an average central blood pressure increase of 5 points (mmHg), while those on the AM diet experienced a reduction of about 1.9 points – a difference that can be clinically significant if sustained. These benefits occurred without changes in calorie intake or body weight, suggesting that nutrient-dense fruits like avocado and mango may support cardiovascular health without major lifestyle changes.

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

“This research reinforces the power of food-first strategies to help reduce cardiovascular disease risk, particularly in vulnerable populations like those with prediabetes,” said Britt Burton-Freeman, PhD, Principal Investigator and Professor at Illinois Tech. “It’s an encouraging message: small, nutrient-dense additions—like incorporating avocado and mango into meals and snacks—may support heart health without the need for strict rules or major dietary overhauls.”

The Avocado-Mango group also saw increases in fiber, vitamin C, and heart-healthy monounsaturated fat – nutrients tied to cardiovascular wellness – without changes in calorie intake or body weight. Select kidney function markers, such as estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), also improved.

While no significant differences were found in cholesterol, blood sugar, or inflammation, the findings highlight the value of adding nutrient-rich fruits to the diet, especially for those at risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

How plastics can increase food poisoning

Green Prophet
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How plastics can increase food poisoning
Ground beef comes in a plastic container. How do microplastics react with salmonella and E. coli? A new study
Ground beef comes in a plastic container. How do microplastics react with salmonella and E. coli? A new study

Plastic products are ubiquitous in our food supply chain, shedding microplastics into every part of the human ecosystem. As they degrade, microplastics break down into even smaller fragments called nanoplastics — tiny particles that can affect biological molecules in ways not fully understood.

In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign examined what happens when nanoplastics interact with Salmonella, potentially affecting food safety and human health.

“Salmonella enterica is a major foodborne pathogen that is often found in meat, poultry, and ready-to-eat food. We are testing ground turkey from grocery stores in our lab for a study on food safety, and finding that it is frequently positive for Salmonella.

“If you cook the meat properly, you should not have a problem. However, ground turkey is often packaged in plastic, and we wanted to explore how Salmonella react when they come into contact with plastic polymers,” said senior author Pratik Banerjee.

Banerjee’s team previously studied the interaction of nanoplastics and an E. coli strain responsible for major outbreaks of severe gastroenteritis. In this study, they focused on Salmonella enterica and polystyrene, a commonly used plastic material for food packaging and disposable utensils.

“We examined the physiology of Salmonella in response to nanoplastics, and we found an increased expression of virulence-related genes. The bacteria also formed thicker biofilms, which further indicates they are becoming more virulent,” said Jayita De, a graduate student in Banerjee’s lab and lead author on the paper.

Biofilm is an agglomeration of microorganisms growing together to form a protective layer, increasing survival for pathogenic bacteria under physiological stress. You might see biofilms as a slimy film in your kitchen sink or on your cutting board after handling raw meat.

However, while Salmonella initially showed increased virulence, prolonged exposure to nanoplastics slowed its stress response.

“When the bacteria first encounter nanoplastic particles, they go into offensive mode and become more virulent. But after a while, they start losing their resources and energy, so they switch to defensive mode, which allows them to persist in the environment for a longer time. If the concentration of nanoplastics rises, they can again switch to an offensive mode. It’s a trade-off between offense and defense,” De said.

The overall conclusion is that interaction with nanoplastics induces behavioral changes in Salmonella enterica, but further research is needed to determine the direction and impact of those changes.

Equally concerning is the possibility that nanoplastics can affect antibiotic resistance in Salmonella, Banerjee said.

“Any compound that puts physiological stress on the bacteria can trigger antimicrobial resistance. Nanoplastics are not antimicrobials, but mere exposure to them could convert bacteria that previously were not resistant to a particular antibiotic in a process called cross-resistance,” he explained.

This is the topic of an ongoing study, but initial findings indicate that polystyrene nanoplastics can cause Salmonella to increase the expression of antimicrobial-resistant genes, Banerjee added.

“However, we don’t want to sound the alarm and advocate that people stop using plastics. Plastic packaging provides a lot of benefits, such as reducing food spoilage and waste while keeping expenses low. We don’t know yet whether this is something we should be worried about,” he said.

Banerjee’s research team is among the first to examine the interactions between foodborne pathogens and plastic particles, thereby advancing this emerging field from a food safety perspective. He hopes other researchers around the world will pick up the mantle, because there is a lot more to learn about consequences, risks, and tolerances before any policy recommendations can be made.

Exposure to wildfire smoke leads to strokes

Green Prophet
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Exposure to wildfire smoke leads to strokes
Wildfires and strokes, a link

Short-term surges in air pollution in New Jersey from the 2023 Canadian wildfires were associated with a higher stroke rate and more serious strokes, according to a preliminary study released March 3, 2026, that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 78th Annual Meeting next month.

“Wildfire smoke contains pollutants like ozone and particulate matter, so it is more than a nuisance, it can be a public health hazard,” said study author Elizabeth Cerceo, MD, of Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden, New Jersey. “The 2023 Canadian wildfires resulted in unprecedented declines in air quality across the northeastern United States. Our findings show that short-term exposure to elevated air pollution from these wildfires was associated with a higher incidence and severity of stroke.” 

Related: smoking and strokes

For the study, researchers used a stroke registry to identify all cases of stroke that occurred during June and July 2023 and during the same months a year earlier. Ischemic strokes are the most common kind of stroke. Bleeding strokes are more severe and often more fatal.

Researchers reviewed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data for both periods from air quality monitors located in Camden, New Jersey. They calculated average daily exposures for ozone which, when inhaled, can cause shortness of breath, coughing and aggravation of conditions like asthma. They also calculated daily average exposures for fine particulate matter, also called PM2.5, which is air pollution with particles that are 2.5 micrometers in diameter or less.

Ozone levels peaked at 136 parts per billion (ppb) during the wildfires in 2023 compared to median ozone concentration of 36 ppb. Particulate matter reached 211 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³) compared to median concentration of 48.5 µg/m³.

Daily air quality data was matched with the timing of each stroke. Because pollution effects may take a few days to impact the body, researchers also took into account the levels from the preceding one to two days before participants had their stroke.

For ozone levels, 72% of the days were 50 ppb or less, with 28% of the days above the recommended level. The World Health Organization guideline for ozone is 50 ppb. Researchers compared 42 strokes that occurred on above average ozone days, with 80 strokes that occurred on below average days. For strokes that occurred on above average ozone days, the incidence of stroke, or the rate at which new stroke cases occurred, was 1.25 strokes per day compared to 0.93 strokes per day that occurred on below average days.

After adjusting for factors like age, sex, race, and cause of stroke, researchers found higher average ozone days were associated with a 0.32 higher incidence of stroke per day.

They also found for strokes on above average ozone days, there was a higher proportion of bleeding strokes and more large artery atherosclerosis, plaque buildup in major arteries.

For particulate matter levels, 38% of the days were above average days and 62% were below average days. Researchers compared 39 strokes that occurred on above average particulate matter days to 83 strokes that occurred on below average days. They found above average particulate matter was associated with longer hospital stays and higher scores on a scale measuring stroke severity.

“While longer-term air pollution has been recognized as a risk factor for stroke, less is known about short exposures to wildfire smoke,” said Cerceo. “Our study addresses a critical gap by providing more information about the neurological impact of wildfire smoke. Our findings can help guide stroke prevention and underscore the need for public health interventions during wildfires.”

Why we might be missing messages from aliens

Julie Steinbeck
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Why we might be missing messages from aliens
SETI search, alien signals, extraterrestrial intelligence, technosignatures, radio signals from space, narrowband signals, space weather, stellar plasma turbulence, interstellar communication, SETI Institute research, M-dwarf stars, search for aliens, astrophysics discovery, radio astronomy, signals from alien civilizations
Are we listening?

I am with Elon Musk and his dream to move to Mars. I have always had a feeling that we’re not alone.

For decades, scientists searching for extraterrestrial intelligence have focused on one specific type of radio signal, extremely narrow spikes in frequency. These “narrowband” signals are considered strong candidates for technological transmissions because natural astrophysical processes rarely produce them. However, new research from the alien-hunting organization, the SETI Institute, suggests alien signals might be harder to detect than previously thought, not because they do not exist, but because they may become distorted before leaving their home star systems.

A SpaceX Moon Base rendering by Doge Norway
A SpaceX Moon Base rendering by Doge Norway

The study, published in The Astrophysical Journal, explores how stellar “space weather” could blur radio transmissions from distant civilizations. Turbulent plasma near stars, including charged particles carried by stellar winds and eruptions such as coronal mass ejections, can interfere with radio waves as they travel outward from a transmitting planet. Even if a civilization sends a perfectly narrow signal, the plasma surrounding its star could spread the signal’s energy across a wider range of frequencies.

A planet’s radio signal may begin as a sharp tone (left, white) but can be spread out by the star’ssurroundings plasma winds into a wider, fainter signal (right, green). The study suggests we may be missing signals by mostly looking for the sharp white shape instead of the broader green one (credit: Vishal Gajjar).
A planet’s radio signal may begin as a sharp tone (left, white) but can be spread out by the star’s
surroundings plasma winds into a wider, fainter signal (right, green). The study suggests we may
be missing signals by mostly looking for the sharp white shape instead of the broader green one
(credit: Vishal Gajjar).

This process weakens the signal’s peak strength and makes it more difficult for traditional SETI detection systems to identify. Many current search pipelines are optimized to detect ultra-sharp signals, meaning broadened transmissions could slip below detection thresholds.

SETI search, alien signals, extraterrestrial intelligence, technosignatures, radio signals from space, narrowband signals, space weather, stellar plasma turbulence, interstellar communication, SETI Institute research, M-dwarf stars, search for aliens, astrophysics discovery, radio astronomy, signals from alien civilizations

“SETI searches are often optimized for extremely narrow signals,” said Dr. Vishal Gajjar, astronomer at the SETI Institute and lead author of the study. “If a signal gets broadened by its own star’s environment, it can slip below our detection thresholds, even if it’s there, potentially helping explain some of the radio silence we’ve seen in technosignature searches.”

A hospitality concept proposed for an eco-resort in a remote natural setting in Qatar. Balsam Madi.
A hospitality concept proposed for an eco-resort in a remote natural setting in Qatar. It might as well be a base station for Martians. Balsam Madi.

To understand how strong this effect might be, researchers studied radio transmissions from spacecraft within our own solar system. By measuring how solar plasma affects these signals, the team developed models that estimate how stellar turbulence might distort transmissions in other planetary systems.

Their findings suggest the effect could be particularly strong around M-dwarf stars, small and active stars that make up roughly 75% of the Milky Way’s stellar population. Because these stars often produce intense stellar activity, signals from planets orbiting them could become significantly broadened before escaping the system.

The research suggests future SETI searches may need to expand their approach, developing detection systems capable of identifying signals that have been smeared or broadened by stellar environments, not just perfectly narrow ones. By accounting for how stellar activity reshapes radio transmissions, scientists hope to design searches that are better matched to what actually arrives at Earth, potentially revealing signals that have so far remained hidden.

140 companies bought dubious carbon credits from Brazil; BlackRock, Deloitte, and Phillip Morris among them

Karin Kloosterman
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140 companies bought dubious carbon credits from Brazil; BlackRock, Deloitte, and Phillip Morris among them
Brazil rainforest and waterfalls
A Brazil rainforest could store carbon

 

Consulting giants EY, BCG, KPMG and Deloitte relied on the offsets, raising concerns about how corporate climate claims are being verified.

All the more reason to hire an in-house sustainability agent who understands carbon credits and sustainability. An investigation published today in the Wall Street Journal reveals that more than 140 corporations were allowed to claim carbon offsets credits from one of the world’s largest projects hosted by Verra in Brazil, despite the fact that the project was under investigation for claims regarding its legitimacy.

Related: Carbon capture technologies, markets and trends

Corporations such as BlackRock, Mastercard, and Phillip Morris International were allowed to retire and count these credits towards their emissions-reducing activities while the project was suspended. Evidence suggests that the project may have been illegitimate from its establishment, due to claims that it was located on public lands where it did not have a legal right to operate.

The Panatal in Brazil via National Geographic
The Panatal in Brazil via National Geographic

Additional research by Corporate Accountability released today reveals that over 70% of all carbon credits recently retired in Brazil are “problematic” and cannot be counted on to deliver their promised emissions reductions. If you are filing shareholder reports for ESG activities which include Brazil, dig deeper.

The researchers examined the top 50 carbon offset projects in Brazil between January 2024 and June 2025 — which are also among the largest projects globally — and found that millions of these problematic offsets were retired by multinational corporations and counted towards their emissions reductions despite not being likely to deliver.

“Carbon offsets have failed to lead to a decrease in global greenhouse gas emissions,” said Rachel Rose Jackson, Director of Climate Research and Policy at Corporate Accountability.

“Meanwhile, the claims of harm to communities and ecosystems caused by these projects continue to pile up. Yet again, the evidence suggests that those promoting and profiting off these projects cannot be counted on to help protect the planet. With life at stake, who is liable for the continued failures of these projects and the carbon market more broadly? And how many more times do we need to see evidence of their failure before we reorient towards more meaningful and proven solutions that reduce emissions and keep fossil fuels in the ground?”

The research in the new report from Corporate Accountability shows that 32 of the top 50 carbon offsets projects in Brazil are unlikely to reduce emissions. These projects retired 15.7 million carbon offsets credits between January 2024 and June 2025. This means that a substantial portion of the offsets from these projects that corporations were counting towards their emissions reductions were likely doing little to nothing to reduce emissions.

All of this while communities around the world face worsening floods, droughts, and extreme weather — as well as systemic violence fueled and enabled by some of the world’s largest corporate polluters in places like Palestine, Sudan, Venezuela, Iran and elsewhere.

Verra, the world’s largest carbon credit certifier, hosts 23 of the 32 problematic projects in Brazil, which accounts for 12.8 million carbon offsets credits retired between January 2024 and June 2025. Despite promises of reform amidst repeated integrity concerns, Verra appears to continue to host projects that are not proven to deliver real and lasting emissions reductions, says Corporate Accountability.

The Clean Development Mechanism hosts the remaining nine problematic projects, accounting for 2.9 million offsets retired during this period. The Clean Development Mechanism has a history of hosting projects that lack real emissions reductions and has been estimated to actually increase global emissions by 6.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide through approval of empty offsets, according to Corporate Accountability.

Corporate Accountability’s research also revealed that many major international corporations across sectors have retired offsets from these problematic Brazil-based projects. Petrobras retired nearly 200,000 credits from these problematic projects during the research period. Shell retired approximately 66,500 credits, and Equinor nearly 21,000. BlackRock retired 137,000 problematic credits from these projects.

Consulting firms also made significant use of these questionable offsets. EY retired nearly 179,000 credits from problematic Brazil projects. BCG retired around 90,000 credits. KPMG and Deloitte each retired around 5,500 credits. Other corporations using these problematic offsets include Barilla, Philip Morris, Uber, SWIFT, Mastercard, S&P Global, Engie, Yamaha Motor, and Dell.

The voluntary carbon market is predicted to grow significantly in coming years. Climate advocates, academics, communities, and experts are calling for immediate action to reverse the harms and failures of the carbon market, and to course-correct to real solutions that will put us on a proven pathway to Real Zero emissions.

Carlos Augusto Pantoja Ramos, a forestry engineer and PhD student at the Amazonian Institute of Family Agriculture at the Federal University of Pará in Brazil, has worked extensively with communities impacted by carbon offsets projects. He explained that it is not the communities near projects like Pacajaí that have benefitted from these projects.

“The attempt to capture public and common goods, such as land, by projects such as Pacajaí can intensify the concentration of income in the hands of a few corporations and institutional investors, deepening the severe social inequality in regions like the Amazon. This reveals disproportionate gain relationships between the parties involved, many of whom lack the structure and/or technical knowledge to assert their rights.”

 

Botoxed camels disqualified at beauty pageant

Karin Kloosterman
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Botoxed camels disqualified at beauty pageant
camel beauty pageant, botox camels, camel fillers, camel cosmetic surgery, camel hump injections, camel beauty contest, camel pageant cheating, Oman, Gulf culture, Saudi camel festival, King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, Middle East traditions, desert culture, camel breeding industry, animal welfare, animal cruelty, veterinary ethics, cosmetic procedures animals, viral animal story, strange competitions
Oman camel with natural looks. Image for illustrative use.

In the desert culture of Oman, camels are more than a transport system, camels are status, heritage, used for health products – especially their milk, and sometimes camels are beauty queens. But at this year’s 2026 Camel Beauty Show Festival in Al Musanaa in Oman, judges had to disqualify some of the contestants for the enhancements used to look their best.

Some 20 camels were disqualified by contest inspectors who found cosmetic enhancements used on the camels including Botox, dermal fillers, hyaluronic acid injections, and silicone used to inflate humps or alter facial features or the skin on the camels neck. Maybe one day the same beauty standards will be applied to women who undergo insane procedures to enhance their looks.

Related: the benefits of camel milk

We wrote about Botox on camels in 2018 at Saudi Arabian festivals and the practice hasn’t stopped. Camel beauty competitions judge animals on a variety of measures such as coat shine, neck strength, head shape and the size and symmetry of their humps. Winning camels, and those with the longest lashes and fullest lips, can increase their value by the thousands when used in breeding markets.

camel beauty
Some camels need orthodontics

Festival organizers say they are starting to take a serious stance and are cracking down on beauty forgery and use X-rays and scans to see what Botox can’t hide: the beauty under the skin.

The stakes for beautiful camels are high. Some camels can fetch millions of dollars in prizes, including pageants at the Saudi Arabian King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, where similar cosmetic cheating has led to disqualifications in past years.

Festival organizers have said they are working to halt “all acts of tampering and deception in the beautification of camels,” adding that they would impose “strict penalties on manipulators” going forward.

Veterinarians and animal-welfare advocates warn that injecting camels with cosmetic substances can cause pain, infection and long-term health complications. In some cases the animal body parts are plumped by elastic bands that restrict blood flow and which can cause animal suffering and pain.

In Saudi Arabian camel contests that fetch prizes worth $60 million USD, owners are also required to swear on the Quran that they are telling the truth about camel appearance and ownership. Judges report that this is proving to be the best tactic to weed out cheaters.

In the desert, it seems even camels are not immune to the global pressure to look perfect. What’s worse is it’s a form of animal abuse, and such critiques should be passed on to people choosing wives, even if you don’t have to trade a certain number of camels to get one.

erthos uses AI to scale bio-plastics that work in industry

Karin Kloosterman
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erthos uses AI to scale bio-plastics that work in industry

When I first studied forestry at the University of Toronto with Professor Sandy Smith, I didn’t realize how deeply the school’s ecological roots would shape the way I look at the world. The University of Toronto has always been, at its core, an environmental university. from its forestry program and plant biology labs to courses in sustainable cities.

So it’s not surprising that one of Canada’s emerging cleantech companies tackling plastic pollution also began there. Meet erthos, a Toronto-area startup developing plant-based materials designed to replace traditional petroleum plastics and help move the global economy toward a circular model.

The company began as a student project at the University of Toronto, where the founders started exploring alternatives to plastic while studying subjects ranging from environmental economics to plant biology. Their early work focused on whether agricultural byproducts and plant-derived ingredients could replicate the performance of conventional plastics, without leaving behind the same environmental legacy.

What began as a campus sustainability idea has since grown into a cleantech company that uses AI to design bio-based resins that can replace common plastics such as polypropylene or polystyrene, while still working within existing manufacturing systems. One of their recent talks was with Colgate-Palmolive.

erthos works with Budweiser for a plastic cap solution
erthos works with Budweiser for a plastic cap solution

That compatibility with industry matters. One of the biggest barriers to replacing plastics is the massive infrastructure already built around them. Factories, molds, and production lines are designed for petroleum-based materials. If a sustainable material requires entirely new manufacturing systems, adoption slows dramatically. We see that working with big brands isn’t enough. The pineapple textiles and leather company Pinatex, which uses pineapple waste, emerged to great fanfare and worked with brands like Stella McCartney, but one-off and non-committal marketing opportunity can’t build a business. We need more commitment and responsibility taken by brands such as Colgate-Palmolive, H&M, and all ranges of food and plastics industries.

Sustainable fashion by Stella McCartney
Sustainable fashion by Stella McCartney. The threads are created by Pinatex, now bankrupt

Can erthos help? It focuses on designing materials that can fit into the systems companies already use, making it easier for brands to transition away from fossil-fuel plastics without rebuilding their supply chains. Getting a product to fit into existing moulds and machines is the key for change from plastics to bio-plastics.

The company combines biomaterials science with advanced data tools, they say, to design plant-based formulations made from renewable ingredients such as plant fibers, starches, and oils. By using AI to test and refine formulations quickly, the goal is to create materials that match the durability and functionality of traditional plastics while reducing environmental impact. See Tipa, a brand that works.

The stakes are enormous. Hundreds of millions of tonnes of plastic are produced globally each year, and only a small portion is recycled. The rest accumulates in landfills, waterways, and ecosystems where it can persist for centuries. Worse even, bits of plastics called microplastics are getting into our lungs, our waterways, our food, our brains.

Startups like erthos are trying to change that equation by addressing plastic at its source, replacing the material itself rather than simply managing the waste it creates.

Today the company works with brands exploring alternatives for packaging, consumer products, and other plastic-heavy industries, helping design materials that can be recyclable, compostable, or derived from renewable feedstocks.

Erthos is a Canadian cleantech startup developing plant-based materials designed to replace petroleum plastics and support a circular economy. Founded in 2019 by Nuha Siddiqui, Kritika Tyagi, and Chang Dong at the University of Toronto, the company combines biomaterials science with artificial intelligence to create sustainable plastic alternatives.

Erthos has raised $11.2 million in total funding, including a $6.5 million oversubscribed Series A led by Horizons Ventures, with participation from The51 Food & AgTech Fund, Thrive Venture Fund at BDC Capital, Francis Family Fund, TELUS Pollinator Fund for Good, DcarbonVC, Middle Cove Capital, and earlier investors Golden Ventures and Bee Partners.
Erthos founders Kritika Tyagi and Nuha Siddiqui are the cofounders of erthos.

Its proprietary platform, ZYA, uses AI to design bio-based resins that can perform like traditional plastics while working within existing manufacturing systems.

Erthos has raised $11.2 million in total funding, including a $6.5 million oversubscribed Series A led by Horizons Ventures, with participation from The51 Food & AgTech Fund, Thrive Venture Fund at BDC Capital, Francis Family Fund, TELUS Pollinator Fund for Good, DcarbonVC, Middle Cove Capital, and earlier investors Golden Ventures and Bee Partners.

::erthos

More Bio Plastics News from Green Prophet

Eco organization offices destroyed by Iran missile

Karin Kloosterman
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Eco organization offices destroyed by Iran missile
Heschel Center offices destroyed by Iranian missile

The Heschel Center for Sustainability, one of Israel’s most influential environmental organizations, and one which trains generations of sustainable leaders in media, art and politics, saw its Tel Aviv offices damaged during a recent missile attack from Iran, a reminder that even institutions dedicated to protecting the planet are not immune to regional conflict.

As the old Yiddish phrase says: “Mann Tracht, Un Gott Lacht” (Man plans and God laughs). Last Thursday, Tamara and Oded from the center dispatch “as we left our offices for the weekend, we had been looking forward to a busy couple of weeks, including a special event for our alumni community around the regeneration of our Heschel Fellows Program and a webinar exploring the transformative practice of “Commoning” within the education system.

“On Saturday, everything changed. The transition from routine to war has become a familiar, painful and all-too-familiar reality in Israel. As we prepared our families and returned to emergency routines, a missile struck the heart of Tel Aviv.

“Buildings in the vicinity were damaged, including the Heschel Center’s beloved offices… Seeing our workspace, our place of gathering and collaboration, reduced to broken glass and debris is deeply painful.

They add, “We are here to stay, fighting for a world that is more just, sustainable, and democratic. We know that better days will come, and we are grateful to have you by our side as we build that future together.”

Founded in 1994, the Heschel Center has played a central role in shaping Israel’s modern environmental movement. Named after the Jewish philosopher and environmental thinker Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, the organization focuses on education, policy innovation, and leadership training aimed at building a more sustainable Israeli society.

Our concern with environment cannot be reduced to what can be used, to what can be grasped. Environment includes not only the inkstand and the blotting paper, but also the impenetrable stillness in the air, the stars, the clouds, the quiet passing of time, the wonder of my own being,” once said Heschel.

“I am an end as well as a means, and so is the world: an end as well as a means. My view of the world and my understanding of the self determine each other. Forfeit your sense of awe, let your conceit diminish your ability to revere, and the world becomes a market place for you. The complete manipulation of the world results in the complete instrumentalization of the self.”

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

For decades the center has served as a bridge between government, academia, grassroots organizations, and young environmental leaders. Through programs such as its environmental fellows initiative, Heschel has trained hundreds of activists, planners, and policymakers who now work across Israel in climate policy, urban planning, and environmental justice.

They’ve trained Rabbi Pearlman, who I’ve interviewed here.

From its Tel Aviv base, now wiped out, the center has helped push forward conversations about sustainable cities, climate resilience, and responsible land use. It has also worked closely with Israeli universities and municipalities to integrate environmental thinking into public policy and infrastructure planning.

Green Prophet has followed the work of the Heschel Center over the years as part of its coverage of Israel’s environmental innovation ecosystem. In previous reporting we have highlighted the center’s efforts to cultivate a new generation of sustainability leaders, particularly through fellowships that combine academic research with real-world policy engagement.

The organization has also been active in urban sustainability and climate planning, contributing ideas about how Israeli cities can adapt to rising temperatures, water stress, and population growth. These issues are especially pressing in the Middle East, where environmental challenges often intersect with geopolitical tensions. They don’t consider man outside of the environment, but rather part of it, and what that entails.

Despite the damage to its office, the broader mission of the Heschel Center will continue, according to their update.

 

Nearly the half the world’s migratory species are declining, in new UN report for COP15

Julie Steinbeck
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Nearly the half the world’s migratory species are declining, in new UN report for COP15
Millions of birds are killed in Cyprus to satisfy the demand of ambelopoulia, a dish of songbirds. Image via Wikipedia.
Millions of birds are killed in Cyprus to satisfy the demand of ambelopoulia, a dish of songbirds. Image via Wikipedia.

Every spring and autumn billions of animals cross borders without passports, navigating oceans, skies and continents along routes older than human civilization. Millions of birds fly from Africa to Europe along the Great Syrian Rift and risk getting shot by owl hunters in Jordan who see them as superstitious and negative omans. Or songbirds turn into a pickled dish Cyprus. Sea turtles, dolphins and sharks are getting eaten in Gaza. Can you blame them?

With larger, land-bound animals human encroachment and Middle East warns make it more troubling for the survival of migratory animals on land, air and at sea. A new United Nations report released this week warns that the situation is getting worse, not better. Some of the causes for concern are poisonings, illegal fishing, and wind turbines.

Over the years we have reported on a Kuwaiti posing with dead wolves, the massacre of 12 flamingoes as well as thousands of endangered fruit bats which were gunned down in Lebanon. Whats more, despite laws to ban the ownership of exotic animals in the Gulf, we wouldn’t be surprised to see more pet cheetahs being paraded around.

According to the interim update to the State of the World’s Migratory Species, prepared under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), 49 percent of migratory species populations protected under the treaty are now declining, up from 44 percent only two years ago. At the same time, 24 percent of listed migratory species now face extinction risk, a two-percent increase since the last assessment.

The findings arrive just weeks before governments gather in Brazil for the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the treaty, where conservation policies for migratory wildlife will be debated. The numbers matter, say UN officials, because migratory animals do more than travel. They also swoop in and pollinate plants, transport nutrients between ecosystems, regulate pests which are local and seasonal, and help store carbon in forests and oceans.

Monk seals are numbering only about 1000 but they could be recovering.
Monk seals are numbering only about 1000 but they could be recovering.

“The first global report was a wake-up call,” said Amy Fraenkel, Executive Secretary of CMS. “This interim update shows that the alarm is still sounding. Some species are responding to concerted conservation action, but too many continue to face mounting pressures across their migratory routes.”

Twenty-six species protected under the treaty have moved into higher extinction risk categories since the previous report. Among them are 18 migratory shorebird species, which rely on fragile coastal habitats that are increasingly lost to development, climate change and pollution.

Is there hope? Seven CMS-listed species have improved in conservation status thanks to coordinated international protection efforts, including the saiga antelope, the scimitar-horned oryx, and the Mediterranean monk seal, a marine mammal that once hovered near extinction.

Asiga antelope

Scientists have also made progress mapping the invisible highways animals follow across the planet. And some countries like Canada and Israel have built land bridges over highways so migratory species such as deer and moose can cross dangerous roads. We crossed under such bridges last summer in Canada.

Initiatives such as the Global Initiative on Ungulate Migration, the Migratory Connectivity in the Ocean (MiCO) system, and BirdLife International’s work identifying six major marine bird flyways are helping conservation planners understand how species move across landscapes and oceans. The report can be found here.

Still, many of the places these animals depend on remain unprotected. Researchers identified 9,372 Key Biodiversity Areas important for migratory species, yet 47 percent of the area they cover lies outside protected or conserved zones.

Two threats dominate the global picture: overexploitation of wildlife and the loss or fragmentation of habitats, which disrupt migration routes that may span thousands of miles.

“If we intervene only at the point of crisis, we risk acting too late,” Fraenkel said. “By strengthening governance, monitoring, legislation and community engagement upstream, we can reduce pressure on these remarkable animals and put them on the path to lasting recovery.”

Mediterranean and Middle East waters are a hotspot for threatened sharks

The report confirms that extinction risk for sharks and rays has risen sharply in several regions including the Mediterranean Sea and the Northern Indian Ocean.

  • Populations of sharks and rays have declined by roughly 50% globally since 1970.

  • Overfishing and bycatch are the main causes.

  • Species such as the Oceanic Whitetip Shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) are now Critically Endangered.

  • The Angelshark (Squatina squatina), once widespread in the Mediterranean, is now fragmented due to overexploitation.

These trends matter for countries around the Mediterranean basin including Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon and Greece, where coastal habitat loss and fishing pressure are major issues.

Migratory birds in the Middle East

According to the report:

  • 53% of raptor species monitored in the African-Eurasian region are declining.

  • Major threats include:

    • habitat loss

    • illegal hunting

    • poisoning

    • collisions with power lines and energy infrastructure.

The Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis), which migrates through the Middle East from Central Asia to Africa, is now globally Endangered. The report notes that energy infrastructure — power lines and wind installations — is a significant cause of mortality for migratory raptors.

The upcoming COP15 meeting in Campo Grande, Brazil will test whether governments are ready to respond. Have the report ready to send to your local: “We have a baseline. We have better tools. And we have growing public awareness,” Fraenkel said. “The question before governments at COP15 is straightforward: will we match this knowledge with the political will and investment needed to secure the future of the world’s migratory species?”

For more on animal rights abuses in the Middle East see:

Kuwaiti Man Kills Wolf and Then Shows Off

Gulf Country Completely Bans Ownership of Wild Animals

Kuwaitis Use Shotgun to Kill 12 Flamingoes

Jordan’s Gray Wolves Are Hunted, Poisoned and Run Over

Kinder Rain imagines vernacular architecture for early learning

Julie Steinbeck
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Kinder Rain imagines vernacular architecture for early learning
Kinder Rain: All images by Alex Shoots Buildings

In the Veneto region of northern Italy, a kindergarten rises like a small village from the earth. Its roofs are steep and terracotta-colored, its forms simple and geometric, and its courtyards open to sky and garden. The building is called Kinder Rain, designed by the Italian studio AACM – Atelier Architettura Chinello Morandi, and it feels less like a school and more like a small settlement where children can wander, gather, and grow gardens and themselves.

Kinder Rain, a terracotta, vernacular-inspired play space Kinder Rain, a terracotta, vernacular-inspired play space

At a time when many educational buildings resemble efficient boxes of steel and glass, and thankfully container houses are out (read here why container houses can be a health hazard)  Kinder Rain looks backward to move forward in the way our spirits need. Its design draws inspiration from the Casone Veneto, a traditional rural house once used by farmers and fishermen in the surrounding landscape. These structures were humble but deeply rooted in place: thick clay walls, steep roofs, and forms shaped by weather, agriculture, and the rhythms of everyday life.

A traditional casone via Wikipedia
A traditional casone via Wikipedia

Kinder Rain reinterprets this vernacular architecture through a series of pyramidal classroom volumes, clustered together like houses in a tiny town. Instead of corridors and rigid classroom grids, the kindergarten is organized around open courtyards and shared spaces.

These spaces function as an architectural commons, allowing children to move fluidly between indoor learning and outdoor play.

Kinder Rain, a terracotta, vernacular-inspired play space

The result feels almost like something from a Waldorf-inspired environment, where architecture becomes part of the educational philosophy. Spaces are tactile and human-scaled, encouraging exploration and imagination rather than control. A pigmented concrete bench traces the base of the building, forming a soft threshold between garden and classroom. Children can sit, climb, gather, or simply watch the world from its edge.

Materials play a central role in this atmosphere. The kindergarten is wrapped in a continuous terracotta envelope, referencing the clay tiles and earthy construction traditions of the Veneto countryside. The tones are warm and grounded, connecting the building visually to the surrounding landscape.

Inside, wooden ceilings echo the texture of traditional thatched roofs. A skylight above the central space lets sunlight pour downward through the structure, quietly marking the passage of time during the day. Morning light spills into classrooms, while afternoon shadows stretch across the courtyards.

Kinder Rain, a terracotta, vernacular-inspired play space
Kinder Rain, a terracotta, vernacular-inspired play space

Each classroom opens outward into a protected patio, creating semi-enclosed outdoor rooms where lessons can spill into fresh air. These patios blur the boundary between inside and outside, an important idea in early childhood education where nature and play are inseparable.

The spatial logic of Kinder Rain follows an interplay of solids and voids. Pyramidal classrooms provide shelter and focus, while courtyards provide openness and community. At the center lies a shared internal agorà, a gathering space that allows teachers and children to see one another across the building.

The architecture is simple, but its message is powerful. Kinder Rain suggests that schools do not need to dominate their landscape or overwhelm young minds with scale and complexity. Instead, they can grow organically from local traditions and materials.

Pinatex bio-materials files for bankruptcy

Karin Kloosterman
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0
Pinatex bio-materials files for bankruptcy
Ananas Anam made Pinatex from leather waste

Ananas Anam, the UK-based company behind Piñatex, a plant-based leather alternative made from pineapple leaf fiber, has entered insolvency proceedings after more than a decade in operation. Are bio-materials where dreams go to die?

Founded in 2013 by Carmen Hijosa, the company was considered an early pioneer in the “next-generation” sustainable materials movement. Piñatex uses fibers extracted from pineapple leaves, an agricultural by-product typically discarded after harvest, to create a non-woven textile marketed as an alternative to animal leather. (Dead Sea cement bricks apply the same concept).

Piñatex, pineapple leather, plant-based leather, vegan leather alternative, sustainable fashion materials, bio-based textiles, agricultural waste fiber, pineapple leaf fiber, eco fashion innovation, leather alternative fabric, sustainable textiles, circular fashion, next generation materials, cruelty-free leather, fashion sustainability, Carmen Hijosa, Ananas Anam, sustainable material startup, green fashion industry, biodegradable textiles
Pinayarn raw material, from Ananas Anam

Over the years, Ananas Anam secured collaborations with global brands including Nike, H&M, Inditex and Ecoalf. However, according to UK insolvency filings, the company struggled to achieve sustained commercial scale. And Ananas Anam UK formally entered insolvency proceedings last year. This is a business lesson to hopefuls looking to create an impact business.

According to Companies House filings: 2023 turnover: £240,849 (down from £419,849 in 2022); 2023 loss: £1.14 million. The Spanish subsidiary reported €518,515 in revenue in 2023 (down 20.4% year-on-year) and losses of €1.03 million.

Stella McCartney supports the use of sustainable materials without the risk. A smart business model or a parasitic approach to sustainable fashion?

The same month that Ananas Anam was filing bankruptcy, Stella McCartney was advertising its materials in her latest collections.

Stella McCartney supports the use of sustainable materials without the risk. A smart business model or a parasitic approach to sustainable fashion?
Stella McCartney supports the use of sustainable materials such as Pinayarn, without the risk. A smart business model or a parasitic approach to sustainable fashion?

The filings state that the company required continued external investment and was unable to generate sufficient operational cash flow to sustain growth. Ananas Anam probably should have raised VC or investment capital to scale and grow its dream to make natural waste a viable bio-material that could work in the machinery of today’s textile operations.

Piñatex, pineapple leather, plant-based leather, vegan leather alternative, sustainable fashion materials, bio-based textiles, agricultural waste fiber, pineapple leaf fiber, eco fashion innovation, leather alternative fabric, sustainable textiles, circular fashion, next generation materials, cruelty-free leather, fashion sustainability, Carmen Hijosa, Ananas Anam, sustainable material startup, green fashion industry, biodegradable textiles
Pinatex leather

In late 2024, restructuring firm Leonard Curtis was engaged to assess the company’s financial position. Ananas Anam sought new investors, including discussions with produce company Del Monte, which provided interim funding totaling €300,000, followed by an additional €100,000 from existing investor Compagnie Fruitière. Negotiations for acquisition were ultimately unsuccessful. too bad Del Monte didn’t “buy” the idea for its CSR venture

Scaling Remains a Barrier in Next-Gen Materials

Industry observers note that many alternative material startups face similar commercialization hurdles. While leather from mushrooms sounds exciting along with shoes that decompose, brands often test these innovative materials in limited capsule collections, converting pilot projects into large-volume, long-term supply contracts has proven difficult across the sector. That’s what we see with Stella McCartney. She tests new materials on her collections but she doesn’t take an all-in risk approach.

Sustainable fashion by Stella McCartney
Sustainable fashion by Stella McCartney and fibers created by Ananas Anam. All the glory and business to the fashion industry?

Ananas Anam had attempted to shift its model from direct brand partnerships to collaborations with textile manufacturers, including Textil Santanderina, and explored outsourcing production while remaining focused on fiber supply.

Pinatex raw material

The broader sustainable materials landscape has also shifted in recent years. Textile recycling technologies have accelerated in response to anticipated European Union eco-design regulations emphasizing recycled content. Some companies developing bio-based materials have found it challenging to compete for investment and manufacturing capacity in this evolving regulatory and commercial environment.

Sustainable fashion at a landfill runway, Stella McCartney
Sustainable fashion at a landfill runway, Stella McCartney

From Pioneer to Precedent

Piñatex was among the earliest widely publicized plant-based leather alternatives and played a significant role in raising awareness of agricultural waste valorization within fashion supply chains.

Balena Stella McCartney
A Stella McCartney decomposing shoe made with cinammon waste

Its insolvency highlights the persistent gap between innovation and industrial-scale deployment in sustainable materials.

This bra is edible
This bra in a co-production by Balena is made from a plastic that decomposes, but is it edible?

Learn from Balena

Vivobarefoot, 3D printed and knitted uppers.
Vivobarefoot, 3D printed and knitted uppers in collaboration with Balena

The next-generation materials sector continues to evolve, but the case of Ananas Anam underscores a recurring challenge: scaling production, securing stable demand, and achieving financial sustainability remain decisive factors in determining which innovations survive beyond the pilot phase. The company might have better taken the B2B approach, which is seen with Balena, a biomaterial company that provides materials for the shoe industry. They have collaborated with VivoBarefoot and Stella McCartney but never risked having to develop and cater to the consumer directly,

Essaouira Offshore Wind and what it means for surfers, music festivals and the wild

Karin Kloosterman
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Essaouira Offshore Wind and what it means for surfers, music festivals and the wild

Morocco’s proposed 1,000 MW offshore wind project near Essaouira promises climate leadership and renewable energy for this Magreb country, but along this stretch of Atlantic coast, wind is more than energy. The coastline is culture, economy, and identity. Essaouira is a historic, windy port city on Morocco’s Atlantic coast known for its UNESCO-listed 18th-century Medina, white-and-blue architecture, and the backdrop used in Game of Thrones.

The Essaouira wind project represents a major step for renewable energy in Africa. Scheduled to begin construction in 2029, this project on the Atlantic coast leverages strong, consistent winds of roughly 11 m/s to support the country’s goal of over 52% renewable energy by 2030.

While specific financiers have not yet been fully announced, the project is expected to attract a blend of public and private capital, drawing on several common sources used for large-scale renewable infrastructure in North Africa and Europe.

Essaouira is Morocco’s wind capital. Surfers and kitesurfers rely on its steady trade winds; local schools, rentals, and guesthouses depend on them. Offshore turbines are typically placed several kilometers out at sea, beyond surf breaks, meaning wave formation itself is unlikely to be directly affected. However, construction phases from vessel traffic, cable laying, temporary exclusion zones, all these could disrupt access during key seasons.

The project, planned to have an installed capacity of 1 GW, will be built near Essaouira, with construction beginning by 2029.This was announced by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), which held a session on finance and innovation as sustainable blue economy accelerators during the Mediterranean Day at UNOC3.
The project, planned to have an installed capacity of 1 GW, will be built near Essaouira, with construction beginning by 2029.
This was announced by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), which held a session on finance and innovation as sustainable blue economy accelerators during the Mediterranean Day at UNOC3.

Then there is the view: Essaouira’s wide Atlantic horizon is part of its aesthetic appeal, especially during the internationally known Gnaoua World Music Festival, when thousands gather along the seafront. Studies from Europe suggest that visual impact can influence tourism perception, particularly in heritage or festival cities. Developers often mitigate this by pushing turbines farther offshore, reducing skyline dominance.

Coastal ecosystems present a more complex issue. Offshore wind foundations can alter seabed habitats but may also create artificial reef effects that increase marine biodiversity over time. The greater concern often involves bird migration and collision risks.

Scotland offers useful lessons. In projects such as Hywind Scotland, environmental monitoring has shown that careful siting by avoiding major migratory corridors does significantly reduces bird mortality. Developers there use radar tracking, seasonal curtailment (temporarily slowing turbines during peak migration), and pre-construction avian studies to protect seabirds and raptors.

Alphaventus, German offshore wind
Alphaventus, German offshore wind

Morocco sits along critical migratory flyways between Europe and West Africa. Baseline ornithological data will be essential before construction begins. Noise during pile-driving can also disturb marine mammals; mitigation measures used in the North Sea, such as bubble curtains to dampen underwater sound, could be adapted.

Related: travel with teens to the Kasbah in Morocco

The question is not whether offshore wind and coastal culture can coexist. In Scotland, Denmark, and Portugal, surfers now share horizons with turbines. The question is whether Morocco designs this project with local identity at the table. If done thoughtfully, Essaouira could become a symbol of how renewable energy integrates with living coastlines rather than erasing them.

International best practice increasingly requires community consultation and free, prior, and informed consent processes, particularly when projects affect cultural landscapes. While Morocco does not have the same legal frameworks as some countries with formally recognized Indigenous status regimes, global lenders and European partners often require social impact assessments that include cultural stakeholders.

If the offshore wind project proceeds, inclusive consultation will be critical:

  • Festival organizers and cultural leaders

  • Local fishermen’s cooperatives

  • Tourism operators and surf communities

  • Environmental NGOs and bird conservation groups

In Canada, energy projects also pay restitution to indigenous people. In Essaouira, the Amazigh (Berber), especially the Chiadma and Haha tribes, are the original inhabitants of the Essaouira region, with Tamazight language and traditions still rooted in the surrounding countryside.

The Gnaoua, descendants of West Africans brought through historic trans-Saharan trade, are not indigenous in origin but are a deeply embedded spiritual and cultural community whose music defines the city’s global identity. Essaouira also once hosted one of Morocco’s most significant Jewish communities, whose legacy remains visible in the historic Mellah despite large-scale emigration in the 20th century after they were persecuted.

Another “Mediterranean Women’s Event” —  and the same political stage for the Union for the Mediterranean

Karin Kloosterman
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Another “Mediterranean Women’s Event” —  and the same political stage for the Union for the Mediterranean

 

Time and again, Mediterranean policy platforms disproportionately center the Palestinian question, subtly redefining a gender and agrifood discussion into a geopolitical one.

A new regional forum on women in agrifood systems is being presented as a Mediterranean-wide platform for gender equality, resilience, and rural justice. Hosted under the institutional umbrellas of CIHEAM and the Union for the Mediterranean, the agenda appears technocratic and inclusive on paper: welcome remarks, keynote evidence on gender gaps, and a panel discussion on justice pathways in rural and agrifood contexts.

But look more closely. While the Mediterranean spans more than 20 diverse countries — from Spain and Italy to Morocco, Israel, Egypt, Türkiye, Greece, Tunisia and beyond — the panel composition again leans toward a familiar narrative axis. The inclusion of Dr. Zeina Jallad of the Palestine Land Studies Center signals that land and political grievance will likely dominate the “justice” framing.

Related: How the Mediterranean’s most hopeful UN green organizations fail at peace-building

Palestinian rural women face serious challenges, as many religious women are not allowed to work outside the home, as do women farmers in Lebanon’s collapsing economy, Morocco’s drought zones, southern Spain’s migrant labor farms, Israel’s border agriculture, and North African climate-vulnerable regions. Yet time and again, Mediterranean policy platforms disproportionately center the Palestinian question, subtly redefining a gender and agrifood discussion into a geopolitical one.

This pattern matters. When events branded as regional repeatedly foreground one national conflict lens, it risks distorting priorities and narrowing solutions. Women farmers across the Mediterranean face structural gender gaps in land rights, financing, market access, and climate adaptation. Those issues require cross-border cooperation, not selective amplification.

The upcoming International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026 offers an opportunity for genuine Mediterranean solidarity. But that requires balance. If the conversation becomes another stage for symbolic positioning rather than practical agrifood reform, the women most in need — from Andalusia to the Negev to the Atlas Mountains — will once again be sidelined.

Bees for peace
Muslim women learn how to raise bees using the biodynamic method with Bees for Peace

EU and UN funding mechanisms must decide: is the UofM convening for rural transformation — or rehearsing familiar political scripts? I vote for the latter. This time they didn’t put a woman with a hijab on the cover. We know that in many traditional Muslim societies women face restrictions on working outside the home, never mind farming. A panel worth featuring would have been beekeeping for peace, an actual initiative that could help Palestinian women earn income from their rooftops. But the UofM would never dare mention it because the founder of the project is Israeli.

What are AWG air-water generators, and why they aren’t a golden-bullet solution (yet)

Karin Kloosterman
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What are AWG air-water generators, and why they aren’t a golden-bullet solution (yet)
Jordanian-American scientist wins with the Nobel Prize for advancing AWG, pulling water from thin air, using chemistry and physics.
Jordanian-American scientist Omar Yahgi wins with the Nobel Prize for advancing AWG, pulling water from thin air, using chemistry and physics.

Atmospheric water generators (AWGs) sound like magic: machines that can pull drinking water out of air. The idea is mentioned in the Bible, where the elders would pray for water collected as dew on plants and the catch on turning this into a machine is in the physics. To turn invisible vapor into liquid, you must remove heat, especially the latent heat of condensation. In real machines, that usually means refrigeration (cooling air below its dew point) or heating/desorbing moisture from sorbents. Either way, energy use rises fast as humidity drops. While many solutions exist on the market, the solutions aren’t magic. Too much energy needs to go into the AWG machines to make the water from thin air concept work.

Peer-reviewed assessments put many active AWGs in the rough range of ~0.35 to >1.1 kWh per liter depending on climate and design see this paper. A broader scientific review of atmospheric water harvesting thermodynamics estimates maximum yields around 0.34 to0.73 L/kWh under various assumptions, equivalent to roughly ~1.4 to 2.9 kWh per liter in the “best case” envelope. See PNIH resource. Lab and field results can be lower or higher depending on temperature, humidity, airflow, and heat exchange losses.

The core problems of AWG, water from air generators

Watergen's Ofer Inbar
Watergen’s Ofer Inbar
  • Low humidity = tiny water per cubic meter of air. The drier the air, the more air you must process to get a liter, which means bigger fans, larger heat exchangers, and more power.
  • Cooling penalty. Condensation-based AWGs must cool air below dew point; that’s energy-intensive, especially in hot-dry regions where dew point can be very low.
  • Heat management. You must dump heat to the environment (or recover it). Poor heat rejection and frosting risks can crater performance.
  • Water quality isn’t “free.” Collected water still needs filtration/UV/mineralization and safe storage, adding energy and maintenance.

So how can AWGs be solved?

AC unit collects water. Use it as a part of the water-savings methods at the home or in the factory.
AC unit collects water. Use it as a part of the water-savings methods at the home or in the factory.

The most promising pathways don’t “beat physics” — they change the system boundary:

  • Use low-grade heat or solar thermal to regenerate sorbents instead of running compressors. MOF-based devices have shown solar-driven harvesting in arid climates (Kim et al., in this 2018 Nature article).
  • Hybridize with HVAC/dehumidification you already pay for to run. If a building must remove humidity anyway, capturing and polishing that water can be “incremental” rather than “extra.” While it might not run showers, the water can be used to water gardens or flush toilets. See our article on top uses for AC water.
  • Raise efficiency via better sorbents + heat recovery. New cycling strategies and materials aim to cut regeneration energy and speed cycles (Kang et al., 2024).
  • Target the right use cases. Emergency backup, remote sites, islands, and places where trucking water is expensive can justify higher kWh/L.

10 promising companies in the AWG space

watergen water from think air
Watergen generates water from air in Bukhara
  1. SOURCE Global (solar “hydropanels”) — promising for off-grid drinking water where sunlight is abundant (SOURCE how it works).
  2. Watergen — large deployments and claimed efficiency improvements; best fit in warm/humid conditions. See our past article on Watergen.
  3. Genesis Systems — containerized systems positioned for disaster resilience and humid climates.
  4. Aquaria — scaling “water from the sky” for housing developments; success depends on cost per liter vs local supply (Time on Aquaria).
  5. Skysource / Skywater Alliance (WEDEW) — notable for renewable-energy framing and resilience applications (XPRIZE profile).
  6. AirJoule — one to watch if real-world data confirms lower energy via novel separation/recovery approaches (AirJoule investor deck).

    Airjoule
  7. Uravu Labs — interesting liquid-desiccant path tied to renewables and local bottling models (Mongabay India).
  8. Kara Water — consumer appliances; compelling product story, but energy economics must be transparent (Kara Water).
  9. EcoloBlue — long-running commercial/home units; performance varies heavily with climate (EcoloBlue specs).
  10. WaHa from Saudi Arabia is positioning around “water + dry air” and grid-independent operation; worth watching for verified field performance (WaHa). Professor Omar Yaghi, a distinguished chemist from the University of California, Berkeley, and pioneer of reticular chemistry (inventor of Metal-Organic Frameworks/MOFs). Born in Jordan and working in California, he was awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared with Richard Robson and Susumu Kitagawa, for this work. Waha is active in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
    WAHA

    Omar Yahgi, a Jordanian-American Nobel Prize winner who founded Waha

AWGs are rarely the cheapest way to make water where pipelines, wells, or desalination are available. They are commonly used by armies to create water in remote locations where energy isn’t an issue. Diesel or solar does the heavy lifting. But as materials improve, and as systems tap waste heat, solar thermal, or existing dehumidification loads, AWGs can become a practical niche tool, especially for resilient, point-of-use drinking water in the places that need it most in off-grid sites and in emergency settings.

Mayu team Elad Erdann(center), Shay Eden (left), Ze'ev Zohar
The Mayu team has cracked the code on how to make spring water

Let’s aim for the day when fusion energy is real, and we can all pull water from the air to drink. Just add some Mayu minerals to make the water work well for your body.

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