Before promoting sustainability progress, companies must ensure their initiatives are genuine and measurable. Today’s audiences are increasingly skeptical of vague environmental claims, particularly as awareness of “greenwashing” has grown.
Sydney is best known for the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. If you’re looking to enjoy dinner with views of these landmarks, here are some great options.
It's sea turtles which may in the end save islands in the Seychelles. They may also better help us understand climate change. Like rings on a tree, scientists have found a way to read sea turtle shells and how they are impacted by climate change tells a story.
For centuries, the Sámi shaman drum was one of the most powerful sacred objects in northern Europe, and one of the most feared by church and state. If ISIS looks bad to us today for its religious fundamentalism, Christians were just as fervent.
Before promoting sustainability progress, companies must ensure their initiatives are genuine and measurable. Today’s audiences are increasingly skeptical of vague environmental claims, particularly as awareness of “greenwashing” has grown.
Sydney is best known for the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. If you’re looking to enjoy dinner with views of these landmarks, here are some great options.
It's sea turtles which may in the end save islands in the Seychelles. They may also better help us understand climate change. Like rings on a tree, scientists have found a way to read sea turtle shells and how they are impacted by climate change tells a story.
For centuries, the Sámi shaman drum was one of the most powerful sacred objects in northern Europe, and one of the most feared by church and state. If ISIS looks bad to us today for its religious fundamentalism, Christians were just as fervent.
Before promoting sustainability progress, companies must ensure their initiatives are genuine and measurable. Today’s audiences are increasingly skeptical of vague environmental claims, particularly as awareness of “greenwashing” has grown.
Sydney is best known for the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. If you’re looking to enjoy dinner with views of these landmarks, here are some great options.
It's sea turtles which may in the end save islands in the Seychelles. They may also better help us understand climate change. Like rings on a tree, scientists have found a way to read sea turtle shells and how they are impacted by climate change tells a story.
For centuries, the Sámi shaman drum was one of the most powerful sacred objects in northern Europe, and one of the most feared by church and state. If ISIS looks bad to us today for its religious fundamentalism, Christians were just as fervent.
Before promoting sustainability progress, companies must ensure their initiatives are genuine and measurable. Today’s audiences are increasingly skeptical of vague environmental claims, particularly as awareness of “greenwashing” has grown.
Sydney is best known for the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. If you’re looking to enjoy dinner with views of these landmarks, here are some great options.
It's sea turtles which may in the end save islands in the Seychelles. They may also better help us understand climate change. Like rings on a tree, scientists have found a way to read sea turtle shells and how they are impacted by climate change tells a story.
For centuries, the Sámi shaman drum was one of the most powerful sacred objects in northern Europe, and one of the most feared by church and state. If ISIS looks bad to us today for its religious fundamentalism, Christians were just as fervent.
Before promoting sustainability progress, companies must ensure their initiatives are genuine and measurable. Today’s audiences are increasingly skeptical of vague environmental claims, particularly as awareness of “greenwashing” has grown.
Sydney is best known for the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. If you’re looking to enjoy dinner with views of these landmarks, here are some great options.
It's sea turtles which may in the end save islands in the Seychelles. They may also better help us understand climate change. Like rings on a tree, scientists have found a way to read sea turtle shells and how they are impacted by climate change tells a story.
For centuries, the Sámi shaman drum was one of the most powerful sacred objects in northern Europe, and one of the most feared by church and state. If ISIS looks bad to us today for its religious fundamentalism, Christians were just as fervent.
Before promoting sustainability progress, companies must ensure their initiatives are genuine and measurable. Today’s audiences are increasingly skeptical of vague environmental claims, particularly as awareness of “greenwashing” has grown.
Sydney is best known for the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. If you’re looking to enjoy dinner with views of these landmarks, here are some great options.
It's sea turtles which may in the end save islands in the Seychelles. They may also better help us understand climate change. Like rings on a tree, scientists have found a way to read sea turtle shells and how they are impacted by climate change tells a story.
For centuries, the Sámi shaman drum was one of the most powerful sacred objects in northern Europe, and one of the most feared by church and state. If ISIS looks bad to us today for its religious fundamentalism, Christians were just as fervent.
Before promoting sustainability progress, companies must ensure their initiatives are genuine and measurable. Today’s audiences are increasingly skeptical of vague environmental claims, particularly as awareness of “greenwashing” has grown.
Sydney is best known for the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. If you’re looking to enjoy dinner with views of these landmarks, here are some great options.
It's sea turtles which may in the end save islands in the Seychelles. They may also better help us understand climate change. Like rings on a tree, scientists have found a way to read sea turtle shells and how they are impacted by climate change tells a story.
For centuries, the Sámi shaman drum was one of the most powerful sacred objects in northern Europe, and one of the most feared by church and state. If ISIS looks bad to us today for its religious fundamentalism, Christians were just as fervent.
Before promoting sustainability progress, companies must ensure their initiatives are genuine and measurable. Today’s audiences are increasingly skeptical of vague environmental claims, particularly as awareness of “greenwashing” has grown.
Sydney is best known for the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. If you’re looking to enjoy dinner with views of these landmarks, here are some great options.
It's sea turtles which may in the end save islands in the Seychelles. They may also better help us understand climate change. Like rings on a tree, scientists have found a way to read sea turtle shells and how they are impacted by climate change tells a story.
For centuries, the Sámi shaman drum was one of the most powerful sacred objects in northern Europe, and one of the most feared by church and state. If ISIS looks bad to us today for its religious fundamentalism, Christians were just as fervent.
For Mohammad Sabir Khedri, compiling the pages of this enormous and intricately detaied holy book was a 5 year labor of love.
A master calligrapher has lovingly unveiled the world’s largest Quran in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to a Reuters report released last week. The giant holy book measures 7.5 by 5.10 feet, weighs over 1,000 pounds, and cost half a million US dollars to put together. Its 218 pages are made of cloth and paper and feature complex gold script designs created with the input of nine students. And it is bound in the skin of 21 goats.
Turning trash into art and employing women who have never worked for pay before — two difficult tasks that Turkish company Çöp(m)adam accomplishes at once.
Turkey’s recycling culture is largely unseen. Recycling is usually carried out by poorly compensated workers who salvage reusable materials from trash collected by the municipality and take them to recycling centers. But one Turkish company is raising the profile of recycling in Turkey, making trash into beautiful objects and paying Turkish women a decent wage to do so.
Lebanon boasts one of the world’s most sophisticated hiking trail networks, which traverses 75 towns and villages.
A few years ago, John Keyrouz fled the fast lane in Los Angeles and returned to Lebanon. When he ventured into the mountains to relive fond childhood hiking memories, he was astounded to discover a world class trail system that transects 75 towns and villages and 275 miles of breathtaking mountain scenery.
Besieged with a desire to uplift the country’s rural poor through eco-tourism projects, in 2005 Joseph Karam from ECODIT and his colleague Karim El-Jisr applied for a $3.3 million USAID grant to establish a trail that would rival the organization and professionalism of America’s famed 2,175 mile Appalachian Trail. They got the grant, but the hard work was yet to come.
Building Lebanon’s Mountain Trail
In just two years – between 2006 and 2008 – Karam and El-Jisr developed a feasible concept and proposal for the Lebanon Mountain Trail or LMT trail, obtained substantial funding to implement their ideas, and then worked with a variety of local stakeholders and government representatives to get it “off” the ground.
Not only did they seek council from Lebanon’s own Environmental and Tourism ministries, but they also received guidance from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the United States Forest Service, and the International Ecotourism Society.
Dozens of local guides were trained to administer first aid, navigate with a map and compass, recognize trees, and in general conduct professional tours through 3 Nationally Protected Areas, 1 World Heritage Site, and 75 quaint towns and villages, while local guesthouses were empowered to offer affordable accommodation and other facilities for intrepid adventurers.
Each of the LMT’s 26 sections are comprised of trails that both start and end in a village. Some are as short as 9km and the longest distance between two villages is just 24 km. Altitudes range from 3,000 to 5,000 feet above sea level.
A trail with guest lodging along the way
There are numerous guest lodges on the trail along with a few campgrounds for those on a tight budget, and hikers can use ablution facilities at almost all of the networked villages.
Experienced hikers have been known to get from the north to the south in just 26 days (otherwise known as a walk-through), although less experienced hikers are urged to afford themselves an additional week.
More than just another sustainable development project, Keyrouz says of the Lebanon Mountain Trail:
It is a trail of Promise. A promise that, through dedication and love, great strides can be accomplished in the development and protection of the physical, ecological, geographical, historical and cultural treasures of Lebanon. It is also a promise that with proper education and empowerment, we can encourage ownership of the trail by the rural villages and communities along it.
The LMT’s success offers an extraordinary glimpse of what is possible “when a few group of caring individuals set their sites on a common, worthwhile goal.
More on Hiking in the Middle East and North Africa:
New study shows connection between fluoride consumption and hardening of the arteries.
Our previous post on fluoride brought up some startling facts on the dangers lurking in our water. Water laced with fluoride, that is. The list of ills associated with fluoridated water is long and scary: Alzheimer’s, asthma, cancer, arthritis, thyroid dysfunction are among them. On top of that, we know that fluoride doesn’t prevent cavities and may actually cause bones to become brittle. Now we have to worry about what the water we use for drinking, cooking, and hygiene is doing to our hearts and arteries.
One alternative to the Red-Dead Canal is the Med-Dead Canal hydro pump. The massive hydro pump idea has been around since the 70s and has questionable environmental outcomes.
The Israel Chamber of Commerce recently requested that the government reinvestigate a project to connect the Dead Sea and Mediterranean Sea. In a joint letter to Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan and Energy and Water Minister Uzi Landau, Chamber president Uriel Lynn argued that the project would have multiple benefits. Apart from augmenting water flows to the ever-dwindling Dead Sea, Lynn noted the project would improve the environment, tourism and agriculture and produce energy.
The idea is not new. Known as the “Med-Dead” project, it has been kicked around by engineers and environmental experts for decades. In response to Lynn’s letter, Minister Landau wrote that his office had been conducting a feasibility study for a similar project, the “Red-Dead” canal, which would connect the Dead Sea with the Red Sea.
The World Health Organization gets LEED Gold certification, a first for the Hashemite Kingdom.
It’s like the Olympics, but in green building codes: The new Amman headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) just grabbed top kudos for green building: Certified Gold under Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a world standard for green building certification.
Investment in renewables grew 104 percent in 2010 in the Middle East and North Africa region- is this a step towards a renewables revolution?
According to data from the United Nations Environment Programme, new investment in renewables in the Middle East and Africa region grew 104 percent in 2010 to $5billion. From inspiring solar projects in Israel, Egypt and Algeria to impressive wind farms in Morocco, it seems that the region is beginning to recognise its abundant renewables energy potential. But can renewables really break into the Gulf market and challenge the dominance of hydrocarbon-based energy?
We have listed 6 big and small solar-powered projects in the MENA region that have inspired us in the hopes that it will do the same for you.
Big or small, solar-powered projects in the Middle East and North Africa are transforming our region. Not only do they hold promise of slowly improving air quality by reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, but they also send the people who live here both an overt and subliminal message: renewable energy is possible and it is cool. Here are 6 solar-powered projects in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) that make us especially proud – from Desertec’s first 500 MW solar power plant in Morocco to a planned photovoltaic plant in Israel’s sunny south that Arava Power is pushing on the Bedouins’ behalf. If you need hope for our future, this list could help.
Are you lyrical about your two-wheeler? If so, contribute to a literature project on the humble bike
It seems that the majority of people serenading the magic and innocence of cycling are American and European males. In a bid to change this, professors Elamar Schenkel, Alon Raab and Jinhua Li are asking writers from the Arab world to contribute to a special section on cycling in World Literature Today. “Previous anthologies have devoted 90% of their pages to writings by American and European males,” they state. “We will include writings from lands rich in cycling traditions such as China, Turkey, India and Cameroon, by men and women. We are seeking additional poems, stories, sections from novels, essays as well as references to the bicycle in plays, music, and plays.”
From Linz to Tel Aviv: the lifeguard loveshack, a future Pixel Hotel in Tel Avi rendering.
Tafline reported last week on the unusual and super neat project of Pixel Hotels. The idea started in Linz, Austria where unconventional and unused urban properties like garages or spaces within galleries – like a trailer in a gallery – is converted into micro-hotel rooms for unconventional tourists. I stayed in a room in a castle in Syria, all alone with my travel mate Kara about ten years ago. And it was a true in your face cultural experience with Syrian ghosts and all, but this new Pixel Hotel concept is a gorgeous green way to change the face of bland and severely overpriced hotel rooms. Read on for pictures and more.
Villagers gather around a kiosk in Afto, Ethiopia to charge their cell phones using solar power and to fill up their jerry cans with UV clean water
Out in the middle of nowhere Ethiopia, fresh water and electricity are hard to come by. It is partly for this reason that the country’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has been pushing so hard to implement the controversial Grand Renaissance Dam that will re-write Egypt’s historical control of the Nile River. But DWC, the same people who designed Morocco’s first chemical-free eco pool, have completely transformed life for the villagers of Afto by installing a groundbreaking solar-powered cell-phone charging and water service.
It is true that 2012 may be the last year for President Obama’s bold support for clean energy – because in the wake of the Citizens United decision by the bought-and-paid-for plutocratic new Supreme Court, it is the Koch brothers who get to decide – but oh boy, did he ever get his licks in!
Last year, the US government gave out more loans for clean energy – than even China, which came second in the rankings.
US clean energy investment rose 33% last year to a staggering $55.9 billion – while in China it increased 1 percent to $47.4 billion, according to a study of the industry’s top 20 lenders by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
One high-tech polymer start-up has developed a coating to solve the problem.
The huge and visionary Desertec Industrial Initiative (Dii) plan to ship vast amounts of solar to Europe has one glaring potential weakness. Dust. Deserts have all the sun that is needed to power vast cities, and recently, the 3rd Desertec deal was signed, but they also have dust. Lots of it. And little water to clean it.
Ever since the classic The Book Of One Thousand and One Nights, which include tales on Aladdin and the Lamp, Sinbad the Sailor and Alai Babba and the Forty Thieves, the Arabian Peninsula, and seacoasts have never been the same. While the characters may be fictional (or maybe not?), the actual location of these magical tales have fascinated people of all ages for centuries. And these places exist. One of the tales, the actual hometown of Sinbad, may be lost from over-development and rising seas in Oman.
For Mohammad Sabir Khedri, compiling the pages of this enormous and intricately detaied holy book was a 5 year labor of love.
The World Health Organization gets LEED Gold certification, a first for the Hashemite Kingdom.
From Linz to Tel Aviv: the lifeguard loveshack, a future Pixel Hotel in Tel Avi rendering. 
