Jerusalem, the Holy City for three religions, is often known as Jerusalem of Gold due to the yellowy-pink stones from which the buildings are cut. Until the winter that is. We’ve had heavy snowfall in the city this past 24 hours covering it in white and leaving schools, businesses and buses at a standstill (check […]
Kids in Beit Shemesh schools–religious and secular alike–will soon be learning about environmental issues. A new initiative on the part of Sviva Israel, a religious environmental NGO, is bringing discussion of ecological topics into the classroom. In particular, kids will learn how to recognize their “ecological footprint” and be encouraged to tread lightly with some […]
This recently published book’s full title is ‘A Crack in the Earth: A Journey up Israel’s Rift Valley,’ and it is just that; in 2004 Jerusalem-based writer and translator Haim Watzman took 2 weeks to travel up the Jordan Valley from Eilat in the south to Kiryat Shmonah in the far north, meeting a wide […]
All that new furniture and "essential" items you are all being told are necessary for your baby are NOT. Swap and borrow furniture from friends and family.
Israel was ranked #1 in the Middle East on Yale and Columbia’s 2008 Environmental Performance Index, a system which consists of variables that relate to environmental health and ecosystem vitality. But in comparison to the rest of the world, we’re #49.
We’ve been a little skeptical about the electric car project proposed by Shai Agassi. Israel relies still on heavily-polluting coal power plants; and a great deal of infrastructure will need to be put in place for this scheme to work. Not to mention the fact that Israelis barely recycle. That’s quite a jump from throwing […]
The Kishon River was once a notorious dumping ground for seven chemical plants, with the result that the entire ecosystem died and the river was even blamed for causing cancer in soldiers (though that has never been proven conclusively). In recent years, the Ministry of Environmental Protection has initiated what they refer to as a […]
“Gie me a spark o’ natures fire, thats a’ the learning I desire: Then, tho’ I drudge thro’ dub an’ mire at pleugh or cart, my muse, tho’ hamely in attire, may touch my heart.” Israel’s small but distinguished Scottish community may well be nursing hangovers and sore throats this week, after celebrating the anniversary […]
Last week Green Prophet took you on a whirlwind tour of a green kitchen party. This week we head to the bathroom. Some first steps in making the bathroom green, could start with natural cleaners on your tub, toilet and sink. You can buy them or make your own. We’ll talk in more detail about […]
Natalie Portman has taken up design… big deal! Another hot actress designing clothes… This actually is a big deal. Sizzling its way through all the hottest fashion blogs is the actress’s Vegan footwear! In previous posts we talked about a skirt that can save your life (Yael Mer’s evacuation skirt), a patch that can save your […]
Central Tel Aviv’s beach and tayelet. Democracy is a messy system. Churchill was probably right when he said that democracy was the worst system of government, except for all of those other systems that have been tried from time to time. However, democratic decision-making is an art, and in most cases its practitioners are […]
Israel has a number of Eco-Tourism options. But we suppose, at the end of the day, it all depends on semantics, marketing and what one classifies as “ecological.” We are of the notion that an eco-trip could be as simple as a walk in the forest, basking in the sunshine at your local cafe, or […]
So while our thoughts remain on what we eat and where our food comes from, Green Prophet would like to recommend some seasonal reading material in the shape of Michael Pollan's In Defence of Food which critiques Western diets and the modern obsession with nutrition:
A short public service announcement from our friends over at Zalul.Last year we wrote a story on Israel’s sewage problem “The Sludge Report” and the fact that it regularly flows into the sea. You’d have thunk by now, that a country as advanced as Israel (talking ’bout electric cars and mighty microbes) that we’d find […]
Last week, we set off in search of time out from hectic, sometime frazzled lives in the Holy City. Some 2 hours later, we arrived at the gate of The Castle in Kerem Maharal, an 11th Century Crusader castle, nestling within a moshav of the same name, deep within the Hof Harcarmel forest, between Haifa […]
We bumped into Neta’s blog “bobilina” by accident and have been so charmed by her unique hand-made creations, often done with the help of recycled materials and socks (like the creature pictured above). When we lived in Tel Aviv there was always such a bounty of neat fabrics – both at the pedestrian mall on […]
Although Israel has grown into a modern post-industrial economy, the country still has strong agrarian roots, most famously, the agricultural socialist community of the kibbutz. But earlier than that, the Bible proscribes things to do to mark the passing seasons. There are rights and rituals for nature in Judaism and it all started thousands of years ago.
Throughout history when a great event happened people would reset their calendar. When a new king became ruler the year would start again with one. Similarly, that is why we are in the year 2008 Anno Domini, Latin for: in the year of our Lord, referring to the birth of Jesus. In the Jewish calendar, […]
It could only happen in 2008. During the year of Shmitta, which is every seven years, Jewish law dictates that we not work the land of Israel in any way. The Jewish National Fund customarily organizes tree-planting activities that attract thousands of people in honor of Tu B’Shvat…but not during Shmitta.
Controversial Danish Eco-Skeptic Bjorn Lomborg is currently in Israel. Today he is due to present a lecture at the Knesset arguing that funds set aside for environmental protection would be better spent on research and development for the “possible” negative effects of global warming.Professor Lomborg, author of the book, ‘The Skeptical Environmentalist’, which ruffled many […]
This kicks off the first in a series of tips to make you and your life, a little more green. Home is where the green heart is, and the kitchen is a great place to start making your home more environmentally friendly. As children, who can’t remember the kitchen being the center of activity in […]
Here is a video recap of Israel’s recent WATEC (water technologies), conference. We were there this past November, and collected tons of notes and brochures on clean technology and innovation you’ll be hearing about in the near future.See also the story on Israel21c.::WATEC
“There are four heads of the year… on the fifteenth of Shvat for the trees…” Mishna, Tractate Rosh Hashana, 1:1 As our home revolves around the Sun, the Jewish calendar is circular as well. How does one year have four beginnings? A circle does not have any beginning, nor does it have an end. Wherever […]
It reminds us a bit of the canary in a coal mine story – throw a living creature into a dangerous situation, and if it lives, forge ahead.If it dies, oh well. Rethink strategy.An Israeli company Checklight has put this concept into practice, using the luminscent bacteria found in the sea, like on the beaches […]
Micheal Reynolds is a true visionary of a sustainable way forward for humanity, housed in buildings that use throwaway materials and don’t need external power or sewage systems. ‘Food, Energy, and Sewage’ is his mantra, and getting them or getting rid of them without reliance on the National Grid system is his pre-occupation. Thankfully, Reynolds, […]