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Starbucks Chooses Bug Colorant Over Really Gross Alternative

Tinamarie Bernard
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Starbucks Chooses Bug Colorant Over Really Gross Alternative

woman drinking coffee
Starbuggs? Starbucks is now turning to natural food colorings, using bugs? The bad news for vegans and those who keep kosher.

It might not be able to turn a profit in Paris, but Starbucks coffee has a sizeable presence in the Middle East, operating in nine countries, employing thousands and serving up coffee and treats since 1999. Coffee drinkers take note: those frothy beverages (aka strawberry creme frappuccino) that glow a pretty shade of pink now get their delicious hue from a crushed cochineal beetles instead of coal tar. Technically – if you don’t keep kosher, that is  —  it’s a real food, as Jess Zimmerman from Grist reminds us.

“Lots of folks eat bugs — people in most developing countries…But almost nobody thinks coal tar or petroleum are foods, and it turns out that’s the other available option,” he writes.

What’s more, given the choice of a fru-fru beverage that is eons away from natural roasted beans, we can thank the coffee giant for choosing the natural colorant, providing a source of income for those who crush te critters and extract their bright bug juice, and making us want to gag at the thought of ingesting a petrol by-product.

If this makes you want to consider swearing off coffee and you’re not sure, remember the mind-blowing effects of coffee and sex.

For the rest of the coffee drinkers out there, just make sure the milk you use in the real deal, not something, like, human milk made from a cow.

Read More Coffee and Weird Drink News:
The Mind-Blowing Effects of Coffee and Sex
Udderly Creepy? Human Milk From a Cow?
Make Authentic Turkish Coffee Like a Native

Egypt Suffers When Israelis Spend Passover Elsewhere

Tafline Laylin
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7
Egypt Suffers When Israelis Spend Passover Elsewhere

Passover, Israel, Egypt, Sinai, eco-tourism, travel, nature, Bedouin, desertHundreds of Israelis used to spend Passover in Sinai but this year that’s very unlikely to happen and Egypt suffers as a result.

Every year the government warns Israelis to avoid Sinai during Passover. Friends and relatives worry that they will become the next Ghalid Shalit, which is silly given there are now zero Israeli captives, but the fear is real for a people who have always felt surrounded. Even so, many intrepid Israelis in the past made the journey south, where they stayed in small sustainable beach shacks from Dahab to Sharm el-Sheikh, eating local food, living in harmony with the Bedouins – if only for a week. This is as close as Egypt gets to eco-tourism, but this year, it is very unlikely that even the most courageous Israelis will cross the Taba border into Sinai.

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Wind Energy and Organic Farming Collide in Western Turkey

Julia Harte
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Wind Energy and Organic Farming Collide in Western Turkey

traditional turkish windmillVirgin wilderness on Turkey’s western coast is threatened by the construction of new wind infrastructure. Above, an image of a traditional Turkish windmill.

An organic farmer near Ä°zmir in western Turkey awoke a few weeks ago to the sound of poles and transmission lines being installed on a hill near his farm. The lines will connect new wind energy projects in ÇeÅŸme to the city of Ä°zmir, but pose a serious threat to future farming activity in the region, according to the farmer. The twist: this organic farmer is also the manager of one of Turkey’s first wind energy project developers.

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Thimar Farm in Palestinian Territory Grows Food and Dignity

Tafline Laylin
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0
Thimar Farm in Palestinian Territory Grows Food and Dignity

agriculture, Middle East, Palestinian Territory, food, health, An expanding farm in the Palestinian Territory provides jobs to more than 100 locals.

More than 600,000 Palestinians living in the West Bank are without jobs. That’s just over 16% of the population, and in the Gaza Strip the situation is worse with fully 40% of the population unemployed. In the past we’ve explored the value of green jobs, but frequently projects in the Palestinian territories only benefit a handful of people. Not so with THIMAR (Nature’s Produce for Agricultural Investment and Marketing.) Established in 2008 by the Nussiebeh family, the farm has grown more quickly than anyone could have imagined, not only fueling the local economy, but also restoring dignity to 140 workers and their families.

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What Recycled Paper Products from Poo Looks Like

Karin Kloosterman
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applied clean tech recycled toilet paper Poo paper produced by Applied Clean Tech.  

Tafline likes toilet talk, products and innovation that comes from human waste. See her round up on 5 innovations that turn the toilet into power. Following this article she picked up on the great new story of Applied Clean Tech, an Israeli company that is developing recycled paper from used toilet paper and other solid waste from the toilet. Sounds gross at first thought – imaging having your tofu burger wrapped in paper that previously came from someone’s toilet? But with sanitary issues aside, the idea is brilliant. It’s upcycling in the best way. 

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Green Designers’ Cloudy Thinking

Faisal O'Keefe
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Green Designers’ Cloudy Thinking

the cloud korea MVRVD

Rotterdam-based architects MVRDV were smacked with a powerful backlash after unveiling their design for The Cloud, a pair of posh residential skyscrapers located in Seoul, Korea. Hovering about 300 meters above the streetscape, the towers are linked at the 27th floor by a ten-story-high girdle of cubist forms, intended to represent a pixelated “cloud“. The building is sited at the entrance of a new business district, the Yongsan Dreamhub, designed by wunderkind Daniel Libeskind.

The concept’s not awful and something tower builders in the Middle East can learn from: raise up private green spaces typically placed at ground level to the sky. Create more surface for greenery, increase interior daylighting, and use street level set-backs for an open-to-public park. Occupants will hop express elevators that shoot them into this lofty “bridge” connecting both towers. The 14,000 m2 volume will house a sky lounge, restaurants, a conference center, and health club. Vegetated roofs, open decks and swimming pools will sit atop the stacked cubes, centrally located to all residents, offering astounding (and vertigo-inducing) city views.

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FRX Polymers Raises $26.7 Million in Multinational Funding for Green Plastic

Brian Nitz
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green plastic red jellybearAbu Dhabi and Israeli investors among new financiers of dioxin-free flame retardant plastic.

FRX Polymers manufactures and markets a range of environmental friendly and inherently flame retardant plastics. The company recently raised $26.6 million in series B venture capital financing from a diverse group of investors including Masdar Capital of Abu Dhabi, Israel Cleantech Ventures (ICV), Capricorn venture capital, SAM private equity and BASF Venture Capital of Europe.  This funding will allow FRX polymer to complete its first full scale production facility in Antwerp, Belgium.

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Tour Nazareth in the Arms of An Angel

Karin Kloosterman
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Tour Nazareth in the Arms of An Angel

fauzi araz inn free tour nazarethGo on a mind-shifting free tour of Nazareth with Linda (above) when you stay at the budget hotel the Fauzi Azar Inn.

Nazareth, a Galilean City between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Galilee is an important one for all major monotheistic religions. Most notably it has become a must-see pilgramage site for Catholics looking to see the Basilica of the Annunciation, and Mary’s Well. The city is believed to be the hometown of young Jesus. And it is there where faithful believed he attended synagogue and gave sermons. In a bold attempt to keep the busload of tourists in Nazareth for more than an hour or two in the crumbling city, the delightful Fauzi Azar Inn, in the Old City of Nazareth, has designed a must-see Old City Tour. The best part is that it’s free, the better part is that you’ll see nothing like it if you ventured around the Old City on your own, or even on an expensive historical and religious tour.

Touring Nazareth is a great way to learn how to support the local economy and learn more about the traditional ways of life in Nazareth, as they were then, and as they are today.

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SpiderNet’s Artificial Spider Web Protects Crops from Tiny Pests

Karin Kloosterman
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spidernet, spider web on flowersWhat would Charlotte the spider think of this man-made SpiderNet?

An Israeli made artificial spider web made to protect crops from insect pests will be one of the showcased products at Israel’s Agritech 2012 exhibit. Made from a special weave of micro-fibers, this new netting called SpiderNet is woven to catch insects in the field, much in the same way that real spiders entrap their prey. Developed by the company Meteor Nets, the SpiderNet is designed to create a blanket of protection around crops. It allows air to flow through freely, but the micro-fibres ensnare even the tiniest crop pests like whiteflies or thrips. These pests can be devastating to crops.

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Astronauts to Watch Earth Hour From Above

Brian Nitz
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5
Astronauts to Watch Earth Hour From Above

international space station light pollution Dubai

International Space Station view of Dubai Light Pollution on February 22, 2012. Can we change the world by switching off for an hour?

People from all over the world are encouraged to turn off their lights for Earth Hour, which takes place on Saturday March, 31 2012 at 8:30 pm local time (check the Earth Hour website for details of your home country). The first Earth Hour was organized in Sydney, Australia in 2007 by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). By 2011, millions of people across 137 countries participated in this reminder of our ability to change the world for the better.

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Egypt’s Foot-and-Mouth Disease Outbreak has Already Killed 10,000 Animals

Tafline Laylin
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3
Egypt’s Foot-and-Mouth Disease Outbreak has Already Killed 10,000 Animals

livestock, Egypt, foot-and-mouth disease, outbreak, food, health, FAO, UNThousands of animals have died and more are infected with a deadly strain of foot-and-mouth disease that has plowed through Egypt.

Despite government assurances that they were in control of Egypt’s foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), an outbreak has swept through the country, killing more than 10,000 animals to date. The UN Food and Agriculture Association (FAO) warns that 6.3 million buffalo and cattle and 7.5 million sheep and goats are at risk of contamination, and the General Authority for Veterinary Services claims that more than 60,000 animals have already contracted a new strain of the virus (SAT2) against which local livestock have no immunity.

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Another Day in Tunisia: Chasing Balls Through Trash (PHOTOS)

Tafline Laylin
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1
Another Day in Tunisia: Chasing Balls Through Trash (PHOTOS)

pollution, waste management, Tunis, medina, tourism, travel, health, recycling, waste, hazardous materialsA boy chases a ball into one of Tunisia’s 400 unofficial dumps.

After the hustle and bustle of Tunisia’s capital medina dies down, the kids come out to play – in the trash! A large open area just a few blocks from the main tourist attraction, a space between two buildings has been converted into an unofficial dump full of disused toilets, chemicals, and all manner of organic and recyclable waste.

Compared to Egypt, Tunisia has a 5 star waste management system but lags when compared to European cities. In 2009, 10 landfills serviced 10 million people. But now, with help from World Bank funds, nine new landfills are being created throughout the country and a 5th cell will be added to one in Tunis. Check out our photos of just one of 400 uncontrolled dumps in the country.

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Looking for Sustainable Alternatives for Endangered Word

Brian Nitz
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7
Looking for Sustainable Alternatives for Endangered Word

sustainable wordSorry folks, but nothing on this earth is sustainable, even words. Brian argues the dire need for new words to replace ‘sustainable’ in our eco-English vocabulary. 

Peak oil came and went in 2008.  Everyone knows this– with the possible exception of some US presidential candidates and one wildcat oil prospector in Cairo, Illinois.  Most Green Prophet readers are also aware that the Nubian ibex, Persian fallow deer, Arabian gazelle, Egyptian tortoise and hundreds of other animal species may become extinct within our lifetimes.

When Persian Sufi poets and the Jewish King Solomon told us that, This too shall pass, they were speaking of everything.  Solomon elaborated, that to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.  In other words, nothing on this earth is… sustainable.  There, I’ve said it.  This is the first time I’ve used the “s” word on Green Prophet.  Yes, I know that I should conserve this overworked word but please let me explain its history and why I believe it is endangered. 

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Sea of Galilee RisesTwo Meters, But Still Runs Short of Water

Maurice Picow
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0
Sea of Galilee RisesTwo Meters, But Still Runs Short of Water

kinneret, sea of galilee, boy in water Despite recent and heavy rains in Israel, the Sea of Galilee is still three meters lower than it should be

Unusually heavy rains have helped restore water levels in Israel’s main water source, the Sea of Galilee or Lake Kinneret; a body of water that has been known since ancient times and until recently was also the primary water source for the Lower Jordan River. Due to increasingly dry conditions, Israel has had to depend more on desalination plants, such as ones in Ashkelon, Palmachim and Hadera, to supply the country’s population with needed fresh water. An abundance of winter rainfall has replenished the Sea of Galilee, but it’s not enough. 

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How NASA Sees the Changing Middle East Landscape

Linda Pappagallo
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1
How NASA Sees the Changing Middle East Landscape

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q4YTpa3Bwg]
Who would have known 50 years ago that Angel Falls can be experienced like this?

Flying in a motorized paraglider over one of the most diverse continents in the world I find it absolutely awe inspiringly mind blowingly beautiful that nowadays we have the technology to provides us with new perspectives on this spherical rock called earth, أرض. This new perspective is not only important for scientific purposes, for instance to track changes of the Mesopotamian Marshes or Urbanization in Dubai or to track human rights abuses in Syria. But also simply to shows us the stunning beauty of our temporary dwelling.

We can now seize the moment and forever record what is left of this earth, places that will undoubtedly no longer exist in years to come. For example, George Steinmetz has been photographing remote landscapes for the past decade by flying ultralight air crafts. He has managed to capture some unique aerial pictures, without being noticed or heard.

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