Nothing is more earth-friendly than carving out an existence in the belly of a cave. Yet, despite its 1985 UNESCO cultural and natural World Heritage Site listing, development and mass tourism often overrun traditional life in the surreal fairy-chimney-pocked landscape of Turkey’s Göreme-Cappadocia, rendering genuine cave dwellers a near-extinct species. Gripped by a longstanding love […]
Israeli cleantech has long been present in the American market. Companies like Ormat have been developing geothermal resources in the US for decades. Now Israeli companies may be getting support to expand to developing countries as well. A senior official from the International Finance Corp (IFC)–a member of the World Bank, with a portfolio of $12 […]
She might travel on a budget, but this backpacker can spend double the amount of money of the average non-budget traveller, and she’ll probably have more fun. It’s easy to look down on the lowly backpackers when you are a country looking to earn lots of income from tourism. Many Middle Eastern countries rely seriously […]
Verdolaga con queso recipe made from foraged superweeds.
In ways both understood and yet to be discovered, the Arab Spring has changed us. All of us. Having finally tapped their personal and collective power through social media and community engagement, youth in the region are taking their creative, environmental and intellectual lives back into their own hands. But the unfolding of this process is […]
This past weekend Yael Stav offered tours of her home and vertical garden as part of the “Houses From Within” Batim Mibifnim exhibition in Tel Aviv. Some of the garden was built using recycled materials and compost from her children’s eco-friendly diapers.
Ramallah is leading the way as the heart of Palestine’s environmental awakening. City-dwellers are planting trees, creating and restoring open, natural community spaces and reviving bygone environmental protections. But there is still much work to be done. There will need to be a complete shift in culture. A recent history of crumbling infrastructure and inadequate public […]
Last week Kibbutz Naan sold 50 percent of its stake in the irrigation technology company NaanDanJain Irrigation Ltd. to its Indian business partner, Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd. Representatives from both groups met in Tel Aviv for the Agritech 2012 Conference and Exhibition in Israel. The joint company currently employs 120 workers at Kibbutz Naan. Jain […]
Volvo’s new C30 electric model emphasizes safety over performance Electric cars, including the Better Place Renault Fluence EV, of which 100 cars were launched on Israel’s roads in January of this year; are having issues involving safety factors. This includes GM’s Chevy Volt where lithium battery packs were catching fire in side impact crash tests. But […]
Claiming the the World Bank's Clean Technology Fund is supposed to be used to alleviate poverty, a British group is objecting to the use of World Bank funds in Morocco to deploy a Desertec solar project in Morocco that will export power to Europe.
Think Wem Wenders meets Knots Landing at this natural cliff top resort on Koh Samui, Thailand. As I get older and find myself with the itch to get away, I am turning more and more to all inclusive holidays, especially the last minute deal sites to help me find a cheap, and simple holidays not […]
Installed already in Qatar, reef recovery time can be decreased from 50 to 100 years to 7 to 15 with these ceramic antler-like artificial reefs. One of the great dilemmas for marine protected areas is ensuring marine ecosystems overcome issues related to “shifting baselines”: the extent to which marine areas have been driven from their […]
Turkish designer Gunes Peksen doesn’t say much about this concept for a minimalist summer retreat, but it is definitely reminiscent of the Prefab LoftCube in Lebanon that received so much attention earlier this year. Although we tend to favor earth architecture, like Nader Khalili’s wonderful earth bag homes fit for space, or Hassan Fathy’s mud structures […]
For hundreds of years, Saudi’s Wadi Hanifah River carved out a scenic valley extending from sand dunes and agricultural land pocked with date plantations into the heart of Riyadh before it seeped underground. But the city’s expansion into a thumping metropolis of 7 million people brought the 4500 sq km catchment area close to extinction as […]
Jordan’s mobile phone users will soon receive SMS tips on smart water use. It’s part of a public awareness campaign to alert Jordanians to the vital need to protect against pollution and reduce water consumption. (Well, at least alert Jordanians with cell phones, or more accurately, those with cell phones and contracts with the Zain […]