Brightsource-storage.jpeg

Israel’s BrightSource Still Private After IPO Withdrawal

Concentrated solar power company BrightSource doesn’t wear its Israeli identity on its sleeve. “We’re a U.S. company with Israeli engineering, not an Israeli company. It’s a nuance but important to get right,” Keely Wachs, senior director of corporate communications for BrightSource, wrote in an email message. And with an American President and CEO named John […]

Pouya-Khazaeli-Parsa-bamboo-And-Rice-Dome-Iran-1.jpg

Raistudio’s Bamboo Dome Shelter Pops up in Iran

Iranian architect Pouya Khazaeli Parsa founded Raistudio in 2007 in order to revive what he believes is the lost spirit of architecture, a spirit his latest project seems to exemplify best of all. Reminiscent of the work of fellow Iranian Nader Khalili, who perfected economical earth bag construction, this minimalist dome shelter is made of […]

recipesUS-food-blogs.jpg

Keeping Up With the Food Blogs

Recipes US offers a portal into hundreds of thousands of blogger recipes, many connected to the Middle East. There is no doubt that home cooking is a good thing for our planet. Forget about the packaging waste you save by cooking up a storm at home, but there is all that petrol going out to […]

earth-day-arab-spring-globe.jpg

The Origin of Earth Day and Greening the Arab Spring

It is worth remembering that a few decades ago, there were no environmentalists in the United States. There were no rules that prohibited polluters from spewing toxic fumes into the atmosphere. Nobody was watching the agriculture industry to ensure that their pesticides weren’t contaminating water ways. Americans were asleep. Then Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring hit […]

Neora-Zigler-pebbles-carpet.jpeg

Carpet Made From Pebbles Gives Great Foot Massage

An Israeli designer creates a rug that incorporates real pebbles. Walking on them is like a foot massage! It’s pretty common these days to see pottery and household objects that are designed to resemble nature. And carpets too. While you may see pathways made of pebbles, it’s not likely you’ll find them inside your carpets. […]

Eole-Water-1.jpg

Eole Uses Wind Power to Make Water From Desert Air

Abu Dhabi hosts successful test of prototype water condensation, using wind power. A  revolutionary way to condense water from the desert air, powered by – and housed within – a wind turbine has been tested in the UAE  since October of 2011, by French innovation startup Eole Water. The ground-mounted version has proven that it can […]

burgers-saudi-boys1.jpg

Saudi Arabia’s Fast Food Boom is Finger Lickin’ Awful

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) fast food market is expected to reach $4.5 billion in gross sales by 2015, driven by growing demand from its young, western-influenced population, higher disposable incomes, and new financing arrangements, according to a report by Euromonitor, a leading analyst of global markets.Western coffee chains are less about catching a […]

factory-chickens-arsenic1.jpg

Arsenic-Fed Chickens – Watch Out!

 Arsenic and hormones? Until someone checks your chicken, be suspicious of what’s in it.  Is this bad news for all those folk in America and probably us in the Middle East who eat factory farm raised chickens: When we wrote previous articles about factory farm raised chickens, such as those used by fast food chains like […]

eye-arab-world.jpg

Greenwashing the Brotherhood

Surprisingly they are inspired by Hassan Fathy: we interview Egypt’s Brotherhood’s Think Tank on Environmental Policy – A Green Prophet Exclusive The Muslim Brotherhood estimates that 70 percent of Egypt’s agriculture might be affected by pollution. And in a while they will probably be in charge. It’s time to ask them how they’ll remediate this. […]

OGE-Haifa-Flower-Festival-1.jpg

Creative-Young-Workaholics OGE Grow Magic at Israeli Flower Festival

Perhaps best known for their extraordinary 2009 solar-powered night garden installation in Jerusalem, or their creative street branding cooperation with Castro, Israeli designers OGE were entrusted as the creative directors of the largest flower exhibition to ever take place in Israel. 19 years after the original Haifa International Flower Exhibition, the self-described “Creative-Young-Workaholics” helped to […]

flea-market-yaffo.jpg

Consumerism, Ecology, and the Sabbath

Ben-Gurion researchers claim that Israel’s urge to shop will eventually force Shabbat laws to change.   This is a typical side street in the Yaffa flea market, Israel. From left to right, notice a charming second-hand shop that sells amusing things like the full-sized statue of a Roman gladiator. Blond tourists with cameras hanging from their […]

dirtball-eco-clothing-DGrade.jpg

DGrade’s Hipster Trash Clothing is Made Cheap in China

Determined to make a positive environmental contribution, the UK-based clothing manufacturer DGrade perfected a method that converts recycled plastic into yarn. They use 20% less water, 50% less energy, and produce 55% less carbon emissions than the cotton manufacturing process requires, and they have recently opened a branch in the Dubai mall. (As of 2022 it […]