Probably my best memory of Israel is hiking in the Galilee as a teenager. With its green expanses enlivened with blood-red and yellow flowers and sparkling streams, there is no place in Israel like the Galilee. Much political furor has been provoked by Minister Meir Sheetrit’s promise to build an Arab city in the Galilee. […]
Try to buy in bulk from warehouse stores or the shuk. Often these items come in big jars which you can use. But even if you cannot, you’ll often find that they offer items that have less packaging and therefore have less trash when you are done using them. An added benefit is that it can […]
I can go on “home-binges” where I will coop myself up inside for days at a time. There can be the productive kind where I’m a workhorse and so do not get out. There are other times when it’s just out of laze… After one of these binges my house will inevitably end up a pigsty. […]
A $100 million investment by Afcon Industries is more than hot wind. It’s a testament to put Israel on the cleantech map and the country’s renewable energy goals set in the right direction. When ready, the cleantech project could supply up to 5 percent of Israel’s energy needs. It could set an example for the […]
Every morning I feel oneness with nature and my creator when I go to my green city garden just outside my front door in Tel Aviv. There I watch my passion fruit vine grow with tenacity; every morning I check its small tendrils racing to catch the sun while it reaches out to clasp any […]
Installing Low-Flow showerheads and faucet aerators is probably the single most effective water conservation action you can do for your home. Inexpensive and simple to install, low-flow shower heads and faucet aerators can reduce your home water consumption as much as 50%, and reduce your energy cost of heating the water also by as much […]
For some reason my mother always hated hanging plants. And clutter. And collecting things. And although I admire her from here to the moon and back – and learned a great deal from her as well, especially in the taste department – it took one Israeli design student to question her authority. Well, not really […]
Living in Jerusalem’s city center is an occasionally harrowing, occasionally exhilirating experience. Towards the middle of the spectrum (with “harrowing” being defined, roughly, as beer bottles shattering against the side of the building at 3am) is the state of grocery shopping in the center of town, or rather, the lack thereof.
The wonderful wild weather of last week, and according to forecasts, in the week to come; has inspired a series of special water-related posts. This first one examines the findings of a new International report focusing on the condition of the World’s Oceans. It does not unfortunately make for happy reading…………………. Ben Halpern, a […]
It’s only February and the beach is already a hot topic in Israel, but alas, for all the wrong reasons. Work has got underway in the last few weeks to build a 350-apartment holiday resort on a virtually untouched part of Palmachim Beach, which lies midway between the cities of Tel Aviv and Ashdod. It […]
Did you know that when you drive at a speed that is over 40 mph using the air conditioner uses less fuel than having the windows open? Because of air resistance when you travel with your windows open you slow down your car and you use more gas. If you are traveling over 40 mph […]
Israel is no stranger to wind power, but using it as a source of viable alternative energy has been criticized by green groups such as SPNI for several reasons. One major reason is that Israel is a flyway for millions of migrating birds heading to Europe via Africa and vice-versa. And no system is in […]
(In Hebrew) Channel One’s Yoman reports on the struggle by residents of Florentine, a neighborhood in south Tel Aviv, against the city’s building plans in the area. The city wants to build a ring of skyscrapers encircling the adjacent Neve Tzedek neighborhood, as well as a new neighborhood in Florentine that would include buildings up […]
Most neighborhoods have recycle bins for paper. However there still are many that do not. If you are unlucky enough to live in one of these neighborhoods tie your newspapers into a bundle before you dispose of them. This way you can prevent newspaper from blowing through your neighborhood and you can use one less […]
Eco-Mom Sophie started the debate on cloth diapers (or nappies as she calls them – it must be a UK thing). She continues her argument for why parents should switch over to cloth. Stinky khaki buckets aside, her arguments are in favor of making this earth a little bit greener. “The Cloth Nappy Reigns” It […]
An Israeli scientist, Dr. Siegal Sadetzki, has found a link between cell phone usage and the development of tumors. Dr. Sadetzki, a physician, epidemiologist and lecturer at Tel Aviv University, published the results of a study recently in the American Journal of Epidemiology, in which she and her colleagues found that heavy cell phone users […]
Fifteen of the largest cities and towns in Israel have signed an international environmental resolution to cut down on greenhouse gases emissions, joining 800 local governments worldwide. The pledge is to reduce emissions by 20% by 2020. It will be interesting to see how this resolution is enforced. While there’s a lot of talk about […]
Israel has lured climate Change evangelist Al Gore to the Holy Land. Come May, Gore is expected to drop in at Tel Aviv University to collect a $1 million in prize booty awarded by the Dan David Foundation. It is reported that Gore will donate all the prize money to a good environmental cause. ::ISRAEL21c
It once happened that a farmer was removing stones from his field and putting them onto a public thoroughfare. There was a certain pious person who challenged the farmer: “Why are you taking stones from what is not yours and putting them onto what belongs to you?” The farmer just laughed.
We’ve talked about the wonders of bamboo, but another material, being researched and improved by Israeli scientists may become the new bamboo, the new hemp and the new wood. Watch Jonathan Dayan from Tel Aviv University talk about his PhD research on kenaf.
It started as a trip to Africa and adopting an imprisoned chimp. It ended with him starting an organization to stop animal trafficking in Africa.
One of my fondest memories of my childhood is going out to explore the new world the day after a big snow. I can still remember vividly how the snow would hang off the trees, the pristine white fields so bright that they blind you if you look at them directly. I always felt […]
This post is devoted to the sheer joy of growing something, in this case, an organic gooseberry bush (Hebrew: Hazrazar) (Latin: Ribes Grossularia). Growing something – anything really, from a geranium stem, roughly transplanted and shoved in soil, to vegetables for your plate; can be a mystical experience. It mesmerizes, absorbs, transfixes … and continues […]
We’ve already had a green kitchen party, we’ve learned about ways to conserve water while greening the old bathroom; we’ve even talked about ways to green your bedroom (hey, you know what we mean). Today we’re moving over to the living room, with a focus on energy conservation. Roughly two-thirds of our annual energy budget […]
Jerusalem art students tried their luck recently at weaning Israelis off their addiction to plastic bags at the city’s Machane Yehuda market.Green Prophet recently reported on ‘Plastic for Free’ phenomenon of nylon-binging in Israeli shops, so it’s welcome news that their new shopping bags are not only eco-friendly (made from cloth instead of plastic), they’re […]