“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
The Solar Impulse flies from Switzerland into the Moroccan sun.
Just 107 years after the Wright Brothers became famous for successfully flying the world’s first airplane, Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg made history in July, 2010 by piloting the longest solar-powered flight at 26 hours, 10 minutes, and 19 seconds. Now they have announced plans to break their own record in May or June by flying their Solar Impulse plane from Switzerland to Morocco in preparation of their round-the-world trip scheduled for next year.
Saudi Artist Abdulnasser Gharem is surviving on oxygen released by this tree in the Gulf.
If you’ve ever had a plastic bag around your face, even for a second, you will know how quickly it cuts off the oxygen supply. Depending on your character, this can result in immediate panic, or in my case, extreme violence until the idiot who put the bag there in the first place gets it off!
Which is why Saudi artist Abdulnasser Gharem’s exhibit for the 8th Sharjah Biennale is so surprising. Gharem wrapped plastic around imported Cornocarpus Erectus trees and then stepped inside one of them, relying only on oxygen released from the tree for survival. This exhibit was shown in 2007, but we definitely think its message is still relevant today.
Scientists warn that we are about to hit a tipping point beyond which it will be impossible to curb runaway global warming.
Scientists gathered at the Planet Under Pressure Conference in London warn that failure to drastically slash greenhouse gas emissions this decade could push the planet past certain thresholds that would keep climate change manageable, according to a Reuters report. If carbon emissions continue to rise, the overall global temperature could increase by a full six degrees celsius by the end of the century. That might seem negligible, but such changes would render certain parts of earth uninhabitable.
This beautifully-restored adobe granary in Tunisia keeps food cool without any kind of mechanical intervention.
The benefits of earth architecture have been well-documented on Green Prophet, so we were very excited to discover these wonderful adobe granaries called Ksar (Ksour is plural) on our Tunisian journey. Possibly built as early as the 12th century by ancient Berbers, who had water management and agricultural skills that rival any modern farmer, these multilevel structures keep food cool without any kind of mechanical intervention!
Plastic is pervasive and so are the carcinogenic chemicals that leach from them.
The rapid growth and urbanization of the United Arab Emirates is associated with increased uses of plastic in every aspect of modern life. In 2008, the World Health Organization voiced concerns that rapid urbanization may be negatively impacting people’s lives. Rapid growth is causing air quality to decline in large cities, due in part to industrial emissions and increased a number of vehicles.
This is evident in the increased incidence of respiratory diseases in the last 10 years. But another urgent yet unstated concern is the health impact of chemicals leaching out of the mountains of imported plastic items: plastic toys, canned food, consumer goods and so much more.
Plastic is everywhere!
Since the turn of the 20th century, plastic has entered almost every aspect of our lives: medicine, transportation, construction and consumer products. There seems to be no end to cheap, lightweight, colorful plastic. In the past 10 years alone, we have consumed more plastic than in all decades of use before.
Plastic Soup is a website that draws an atlas of plastics and where it is accumulating around the world.
And while plastic offers great many price and feature advantages, a growing body of scientific evidence suggests some serious connections to human health. In the UAE, as in many other countries, breast cancer is the most frequent cause of cancer-related death. It makes sense to begin to explore possible environmental causes for this devastating disease.
What exactly is the problem? All plastic products start their life as “nurdles”, small pieces of resin product. In order to make a plastic bottle, a shower curtain, a toy or any other product, manufacturers add chemicals, which give the final products color, malleability, sturdiness, inflammability or other qualities. In other words, these chemicals make the final plastic products what they are.
Human carcinogens
This is where the problem emerges: most of these additive chemicals are well known and documented human carcinogens or synthetic hormones, acting as endocrine disruptors. They include PVC, or polyvinyl chloride, which leaches phthalates; polycarbonate, which leaches Bisphenol-A; polystyrene, which leaches styrene, a well-known carcinogen.
These chemicals leach out during the prolonged life of plastic products, especially in high temperatures, or during stress such as freezing and defrosting. A just released study by twelve leading world scientists confirms the danger of endocrine disruptors and hormones at low doses.
What do we know about these chemicals? Where do they come from?
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) – Found in #3 plastic. Also in cling wrap, some plastic squeeze bottles, vinyl shower curtains, wall and floor coverings PVC has been linked to increased mortality from breast cancer and has been designated as a known human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
Bisphenol A (BPA) – Found in #7 plastic and also in thousands of consumer products, including lining of baby formula and soup cans, dental fillings, food packaging, coating of grocery receipts, etc. BPA is an unstable polymer and tends to leach out of plastic. It is also lipophilic, which means it tends to seek fatty substances to attach to. The leaching process accelerates when BPA is heated. BPA has been linked to prostate cancer, lower sperm count, and reproductive abnormalities. New studies are linking BPA to obesity and diabetes, which is on the rise in the UAE as well as the rest of the world.
Phthalates – Found in #3 plastic, and also in children’s toys, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, baby care products, building materials, modeling clay, automobiles, cleaning materials and insecticides. Phthalates are added to plastic products to make them soft and malleable. Phthalates are a well-known endocrine disruptor and have been shown to disrupt the development and functioning of male and female reproductive systems by interfering with the production of testosterone and an estrogen known as estradiol.
Dioxin– Found in #3 plastic. Like PVC, dioxins have been designated as a known human carcinogen by the IARC. It is also a known endocrine disruptor.
Styrene – Found in #6 plastic and Styrofoam items such as Styrofoam food trays, egg cartons, disposable cups and bowls, carryout containers and opaque plastic cutlery It has been designated as a known human carcinogen by the IARC,
While attention is given to Breast Cancer Awareness Week and other vehicles to share information about this disease, it is really important to begin raising awareness on (1) environmental causes for cancer, and (2) ways to prevent it. By reducing our use of disposable plastic and cutting down on our reliance on this complex material, we can make healthier choices and educate others about the dangerous chemicals that leach out of our everyday products.
This post was contributed to Green Prophet by Daniella Dimitrova Russo, Co-founder and Executive Director, Plastic Pollution Coalition.
Faisal spring cleans with her daughter and is shocked at the toxic chemicals she finds in her cupboards. Teens are especially at risk.
When your ancestral roots include a tangle of Irish housewives, you instinctively interpret “Vernal Equinox” as “spring cleaning”. I live in a furnished apartment. I’ve shed most of my superfluous stuff after a couple international moves. So mine is a micro spring-cleanup. Sort photos; recycle books; shakeout a closet and the bathroom shelves.
The bathroom shelves sound simple enough. But I have a teenage daughter. So, we suit up in old clothes, open windows to air out long-spilt nail polish remover and exploded body wash, and jump in. Boxes of ancient lotions; mini-shampoos and conditioners swiped from a year’s-worth of hotels; dust-covered toiletry gift sets, never opened; and then, the nail polishes.
Crazy thing is this kid doesn’t use make-up. She just loves scent. Her motley collection would disappear if only I could source scratch ‘n sniff wallpaper. She agrees. We start sorting. As we unscrew each cap to whiff and judge the fantasticness of each smell, I read labels.
It starts with parabens, benzoates and xylens. Moves on to butyl, methyl, ethyl and propylisobutyl. In comes formaldehyde, nonylphenol, octylphenol, and tongue-twisting alkylphenol ethoxylates. Top it all off with perfumes. It’s a chemistry lab Madame Curie would kill for, neatly packaged in pretty bottles and teensy tubes.
I swap stories with a mother of twin 6-year-olds. Her girls are mad for nail polish, the next rung up from bubble bath on the kiddie-cosmetics ladder. Twenty minutes of internet meandering on this and we both have headaches.
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (CSC -links to website) is a coalition of women’s health, environmental health and consumer-rights organizations. They publish reports, host a website, and run a companion blog exposing the chemical truth about toiletries we all use. They relentlessly query cosmetic giants on flash-points like how can products pitched to women contain ingredients linked to reproductive illness? Can companies self-marketed as leaders against breast cancer use chemical ingredients that might cause the disease?
The Environmental Working Group (EWG), one of the CSC’s founders, strives to expose health and environmental threats hidden in everyday products. Their excellent website broadcasts some dizzying findings.
In industrialized nations, nine out of ten girls regularly wear makeup by age 14. Pubescent girls are most vulnerable to makeup’s chemical ingredients, some of which have proven links to breast cancer. In a study of 20 teenagers, EWG found evidence of 13 different hormone-altering chemicals in the girls’ blood and urine samples. Their research shows that a typical kid is exposed to about 27 product ingredients that haven’t been found safe for growing bodies.
EWG claims that 77 percent of the ingredients in 1,700 child-specific products have yet to be assessed for safety. CSC’s 2009 report, No More Toxic Tub, revealed that dozens of bestselling kid’s bath products are contaminated with cancer-causing formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane.
The toxins in your make-up:
Lipstick toxins
1. Phthalates – Used in hairsprays, perfume and nail polish; they act as hormone disruptors and affect fertility. They cause allergies, damage kidneys, and have been linked to asthma. Phthalates are banned from US children’s toys, but not toiletries.
2. Parabens – Used as a preservative in deodorants, moisturizers and toothpaste; parabens are estrogen mimics. They’re linked to breast and testicular cancers.
3. Xylene – Used as a nail polish solvents; it irritates the skin and respiratory tract, may cause liver damage, and is narcotic in high concentrations.
4. Formaldehyde – Used as a disinfectant, germicide, fungicide and preservative in deodorants, shampoos, handwash and nail polish; it’s been found to cause lung cancer in rats. It irritates eyes, respiratory tract and mucous membranes.
5. Alkylphenol ethoxylates – Used to make shampoos foam; these are hormone disruptors and extremely toxic. They may be carcinogenic. They cause asthma and eczema, and damage the central nervous system.
6. Perfume – Synthetic fragrances are linked to breathing difficulties and allergies. About 2,600 chemicals are commonly used in perfume; 95% of chemicals used to scent cosmetics are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum. Twenty-six of these chemicals are on the EU banned list.
Cosmetic ingredients are often considered trade secrets, and they’re exempt from labeling laws. The industry is widely unregulated. The very nature of these products hold their greatest danger: applied directly to the skin, chemicals are easily absorbed and pass into the bloodstream.
Consider the youngest users. These chemicals are found in baby shampoos, lotions and soaps. How often is your baby rub-a-dub-dubbed in the chemical tub?
How to shop for make-up without toxins:
Product standards vary internationally. Ingredients within a same-name product can differ based on point of manufacture. Testing standards are globally inconsistent; chemicals banned by one nation may be acceptable in another. Consumer protection websites can educate and inform, but we’re fully responsible to take care before we buy. CSC offers these few tips on how to shop smart:
Simplify: Select products with fewer ingredients and no synthetic fragrance or dyes. Use fewer products overall. Look for natural creams and deodorants with materials you recognise. Good face creams may need to be kept refrigerated.
Choose safety: Learn more. Check out EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Database and search almost 70,000 products. Learn about ingredients and associated risks. See if they test on animals. Find safer alternatives. See also their Safety Guide to Children’s Personal Care Products.
Read labels: Select products that don’t contain any of the ingredients mentioned in this article.
It’s not all ugly. Hundreds of companies meet CSC safety standards, and another hundred are making measurable progress towards those goals. These industry champions show it’s possible to make safe products, that work great (and, yes, kid, they smell fabulous) without using hazardous chemicals.
Asthma? Allergies? Eczema? Maybe she’s born with it – but maybe it’s her choice of toiletries.
Thousands of Emirati families have been clearing space for their brand new recycling bins, distributed as part of a new waste management program started this month.
Dubai Municipality is growing a culture of recycling in both national and expat residents by providing almost 4,000 families with bins for separating household waste. Bin recipients were taught basic recycling principles; families and their maids learned to segregate household waste into food and non-food containers. Collection is via three private waste companies, and the service is free for residents.
Neighboring Sharjah already beat them to the punch, launching a similar project in February, and last year, Green Prophet told you how Abu Dhabi distributed solar-powered recycling bins throughout the capital.
The poor man’s Riviera, that’s how we see it: Eilat is a vacation hotspot for tourists looking to catch some cheap winter sun, and for local Israelis who want a quick jaunt out of the north without having to change time zones and a wad of cash into foreign currency. Not necessarily a poor town, the location and isolation does drive a lot of opportunities for locals, especially if they don’t work in the tourism industry.
For want of food, or a simpler way of life, here a Green Prophet reader spots a dumpster diver in the city of Eilat, just inside the hotel zone along the sea. Taken from the third story of a mid-range hotel that offers an unlimited feast of breakfast and buffet-style dinner, we can just imagine the tonnes of perfectly good food that gets thrown out here every year. It certainly isn’t being composted. Multiply the waste from this bin times 100 or more to account for all the hotels in the area.
This man singlehandedly produces up to 5,500 bottles of delicious red wine each year, despite living in a frequently drought-stricken region
Dave Levitan from Onearth, one of our favorite environmental blogs, traveled to Israel to meet with a hardy winemaker in the Negev desert and came away gushing. No, not from all the red wine he drank, though he insists it was good (his emphasis, not ours), but because he was so impressed by how well Daniel Kish manages his vineyard even though the region receives less than four inches of rain a year.
(Earlier this year Maurice called for a boycott of other vineyards that are a deathtrap for wildlife.) Many insights came from this excellent profile, but here’s the most exciting: climate change could destroy everything in its wake, but it might not get our wine!
Fresh produce stands like this one are popular all over Turkey. But these colorful displays contain a toxic blend of pesticides, according to a new Greenpeace report (in German).
Of 76 different fruits and vegetables recently evaluated, Turkish peppers contained the most excessive and dangerous amounts of pesticide chemicals, according to Food Without Pesticides, a new 26-page guide to European food released this week by Greenpeace Germany.
The Dubai Mall is just one in the emirate that will be required by law to recycle waste.
A few years ago, many Emiratis didn’t even though that it is possible to recycle a plastic container, but now it is unlawful not to – at least in Dubai malls. A new law puts the burden of recycling plastic, glass, metal, and other recyclables upon mall management, which is required to use recycling bins provided by the municipality. The National reports that affected facilities have been informed of the new mandate by postal circulars, and it will go into effect on 1 May, 2012.
Doha-based architect Romi Sebastian questions the feasibility of Qatar’s urban planning ahead of the 2022 World Cup
Qatar is moving rapidly towards its vision to host the world cup in 2022. Yet if scrutinised, current progress in urban infrastructure and architecture seems to be frail in terms of character and functional approach. Is the idea of developing an ‘instant city’ going to be a harmful one? Are designs being developed on the burden of unnecessary stylistic demands? Will the city planners commit to making the same mistakes made in the other developed cities in the Middle East region?
Architecture here is already being needlessly influenced by predominantly western concepts. One should not forget that most of the iconic designs are developed by expatriates who don’t understand that cities in the Middle East lack a public realm. The skyline of the west-bay area already resembles Sheikh Zayed road in Dubai.
Leading researchers from around the world gathered in Istanbul, Turkey last week to marvel at the sustainability of ancient water conservation methods.
Even though World Water Day is behind us, many researchers are looking to our forebears for inspiration to deal with ever present challenges. At the third Conference on Water and Wastewater Technologies in Ancient Civilizations (WWTAC) held last week in Turkey, attendees from Libya to Australia and Israel revealed technologies used by their respective ancestors that were in many cases far more sustainable than our modern interventions. Case in point: a 56 km 2,800 year old earthen water well from Eastern Anatolia that still works today!
Zahed Sultan is an internationally-celebrated musician from Kuwait who also happens to promote sustainability!
Zahed Sultan is one of the most visible musicians in the Arab world. Not only does he enjoy a massive following on regional social networks, but he is also internationally recognized. One of his tracks was included in the Hotel Costes 15 compilation released on Sept. 26th 2011 and another was featured on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation – Season 5, Episode #519 “4×4.”
Sultan uses both Arabic and English lyrics and his style comprises a fusion between alternative and electronica music that have appeal across a variety of social stratums. But here is the most exciting and inspiring about the artist and social entrepreneur: his latest track Reuse Me is designed to draw awareness to environmental issues!
Lean, finely textured beef (LFTB) is really Pink Slime
First it was McDonald’s and other fast food chains that caught the flack for using the ammonium nitrate laced filler product known colloquially as pink slime. The giant hamburger chain afterwards agreed to quit using pink slime in their hamburger patties. We were able to find out that this product, made from scraps of beef and fat taken from the floors of slaughter houses and combined with ammonia to kill bacteria has never been used in Israel’s 160 McDonald’s eateries. Nor is it used in food processing plants that make kosher meat.
Faisal spring cleans with her daughter and is shocked at the toxic chemicals she finds in her cupboards. Teens are especially at risk. 
