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Turkey’s Most Sustainable Cities Share A Spotlight

Julia Harte
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Turkey’s Most Sustainable Cities Share A Spotlight

Gaziantep is the only city in Turkey with its own climate change action plan. 

Everything from sustainable agriculture to waste-to-energy technology will be on the agenda  today, as dozens of mayors, academics, and NGO representatives assemble in Istanbul for the 2011 Sustainable Cities conference, a project of Turkey’s Regional Environment Center. Municipalities often accomplish environmental goals more swiftly and efficiently than national governments, according to Barış Baykan, author of a recent study on the Turkish government’s lackluster efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

While participants learn how to draft and fund environmental action plans in their respective cities, we’ll take a look at the most sustainable towns and cities in Turkey today.

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Is Bicycle Sharing Coming to Beirut?

Karen Chernick
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Is Bicycle Sharing Coming to Beirut?

"beirut bike sharing"Could a bike sharing system work in Beirut?

Bicycle sharing has become all the rage in certain cities in the past few years, ever since the Parisians got the trend going with the Vélib’ shared bike rental system approximately three years ago.  In the Middle East, Nicosia implemented a bike sharing system a few weeks ago, Tel Aviv and Doha have recently started bike sharing systems, and now the Lebanese Prime Minister is suggesting that it may be on his mind as well.

In a tweet a couple weeks ago (yes, he tweets), Prime Minister Najib Mikati wrote that “the example of Vélib’ rental bikes in Paris is interesting for Beirut to be more ecologically/pedestrian friendly and reduce traffic.  Agree?!”

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Ocean Bricks Create More Land for a Climate-Changed World

Susan Kraemer
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Ocean Bricks Create More Land for a Climate-Changed World

ocean bricksOcean bricks are underwater infrastructure for wind turbines and more futuristic ideas.

Here’s a business that might do really well in the future. Israeli inventors Yoram Alkon and Dr. Eli Kent have come up with a giant “ocean brick” concept that would have many uses in the strange new world that we are inadvertently creating – a world of rising sea levels, sinking aquifers, flooding wetlands and melting permafrost.

Their invention is simple. A scalable, modular building block with a largely hollow base that can be used to meet many needs for support upon which to build a kind of artificial land, wherever needed, on both land and sea.

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Tuataras Not Hybrids Rule the Road at Dubai Car Show

Karin Kloosterman
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Tuataras Not Hybrids Rule the Road at Dubai Car Show

SSC Tuatara dubaiAn SSC Tuatara at 444km/hour or a Nissan Leaf? As Europe, North America and even Israel rolls out modest EVs and hybrid cars, they are a no-go for the luxury brand shoppers in the Gulf region.

“Hybrid cars still can’t cut it in United Arab Emirates,” is the sub-heading sum-up of an article in this week’s Gulf News covering the Dubai Motor Show. The business editor Orlando Crowcroft goes on to brag how few people can sit through Al Gore‘s eco-educational film: “After all, I’d rather feel like a racing driver than an ex-presidential candidate who, if we’re honest, few of us really listen to and — if we’re even more honest — fewer still have sat all the way through An Inconvenient Truth.”

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Watec – Meet Green Prophet at Israel’s Huge Water Event

Karin Kloosterman
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Watec – Meet Green Prophet at Israel’s Huge Water Event

watec conference water israel tel avivMeet Karin at the WATEC conference this week in Tel Aviv.

It happens every two years, and this week delegations from all corners of the planet are expected to converge in Tel Aviv, Israel for the two-day water conference and expo called WATEC. I interviewed Booky Oren this year, the conference chair, about what to expect. Formerly the chair and CEO of Mekorot, Israel’s national water carrier, Oren says that this year’s conference focuses on I2I: Innovation to Implementation.

Israel has experience in water technology innovation and implementation, and the country is aiming to attract open-source water partnerships with cities around the world to solve water shortage and energy efficiency problems on a global scale.

The event – for first-timers – is a great way to meet some local innovators, and big water companies like IDE. For local entrepreneurs it’s a good way to rub shoulders with  potential investors.

Last week Tafline was at the Dii Desertec conference in Cairo, and this week I will be at Watec on November 15. To connect with me email [email protected].

::Watec

Better Place Electric Car Co. Raises $200 Million

Karin Kloosterman
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Better Place electric car Israel EVA pregnant me at the very sunny Better Place visitor center last year.

With the launch of the first nationwide electric car networks rolling out in Israel and with Denmark just months away, the electric car company Better Place today reports that it has secured another $200 million in financing, on top of the $55o million already invested in it. The company which is developing infrastructure for electric cars and thus speeding up the process of getting a quick “charge” needed for electric cars, says it will use the money to expand its business in Western Europe. It will also build on projects in Northern California, Southern China, Japan, Ontario, Canada, and Hawaii.

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Upcycled Tea Wraps Into Miniature Origami Masterpieces

Karen Chernick
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Upcycled Tea Wraps Into Miniature Origami Masterpieces

"tea bag origami"Origami and some creativity saved these Earl Grey tea bag wrappers from the recycling bin and made them functional again.

We are constantly surrounded by paper.  It is in our mailboxes, surrounding our dry food items, and pretty much everywhere.  It is all too easy to toss unwanted or used papers into a wastepaper basket or recycling bin (a more valid ecological choice), but it would be even better if one or more uses could be gotten out of something before it is recycled.  Israeli crafter Ruti Ben Dror, who has a love for reusing pre-existing materials and color-matching, has found a use for her used tea bag wrappers and other paper scraps in the form of origami.  Her origami creations are not merely decorative, however, and are highly sturdy and functional.

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3 Sustainable Hotels In The Arab World Win Big Virgin Awa

Arwa Aburawa
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3 Sustainable Hotels In The Arab World Win Big Virgin Awa

srcset=feynan lodge jordan eco tourism middle east” width=”560″ height=”373″ />
An inn in Nazareth, a retreat in Morocco and an eco-lodge in Jordan make waves at the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2011.

The Middle East and North Africa region is slowly building a reputation as an exciting holiday location for those tourists with a green conscious. And nothing confirms this like a win and two high commendations from the recent Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2011.

Read on to find out who the three lucky winners are.

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Greenpeace Israel Begins Urban Recycling Campaign

Karen Chernick
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Greenpeace Israel Begins Urban Recycling Campaign

"recycling city israel"Greenpeace Israel calls on Jerusalem and other municipalities to stop recycling their promises and start recycling trash.

Recycling has improved over the past decade in Israel.  Hiria, a large garbage dump in Tel Aviv, has transformed into a recycling center, metals are starting to be recycled, and some urban recycling bins have become targets for artists.  But there is still a long way to go.  Organic waste still ends up in Israeli landfills for the most part, despite the promises of several municipalities.  Greenpeace Israel is starting a new campaign tomorrow morning to call these municipalities’ bluff.  Their first target is Jerusalem.

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Greenwash Alert: Shell To Fund Environmental Education In Jordan

Arwa Aburawa
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Greenwash Alert: Shell To Fund Environmental Education In Jordan

A Jordanian oil shale company owned by Shell is funding university courses on the environment

As a global oil and gas company, Shell has a murky history not just environmentally but politically. Yesterday we commemorated the death of environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa who was murdered for his campaigns against oil companies – and particularly Shell – in Nigeria back in 1995. Now, it has emerged that the oil company is funding university courses on water, energy and the environment in Jordan. What’s more, the funding is through the Jordan Oil Shale Company- a subsidiary of Shell that is currently exploring oil shale.

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Morocco to Pioneer 1 GW Hydro-Wind Hybrid Power

Susan Kraemer
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Morocco to Pioneer 1 GW Hydro-Wind Hybrid Power

hydro power moroccoA huge hydro-wind hybrid power station will double Morocco’s entire installed hydropower capacity – and be a world’s first.

Morocco is developing a project that will be the largest in the world to combine two natural clean power allies, wind and water, in a hybrid power project rated at a little over 1 GW (1,070 megawatts) as part of Morocco’s ambitious renewable energy targets set just two years ago in 2009, to get 10% of its electricity from renewables by 2012 and a staggering 42% from solar by 2020.

The African Development Bank (ADB) has made an offer to invest $329 million of its own money in the groundbreaking hybrid wind and hydro-electric power plant.

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Adi Zaffran Weisler Makes Upcycled Bullet Jewelry, Not War

Karen Chernick
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Adi Zaffran Weisler Makes Upcycled Bullet Jewelry, Not War

"used bullet ring"Used copper bullets found at a firing range transform into sculptural objects incorporated into rings.

Bullets are, objectively, ugly things.  They have an ugly purpose, and are not much to look at, either.  But what would happen if you removed a bullet from its violent context?  Could it be beautiful?  Israeli designer Adi Zaffran Weisler (the same designer that created the wooden branch and rubber stool) seems to think so, and has created a line of rings in which used bullet cases (found at a firing range) serve as the sculptural centerpiece.

While not the first designer we’ve seen use upcycled materials to create jewelry, he’s definitely the first one we’ve seen use bullets.

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#Occupy Climate Change: The Arab Spring & Occupy Wall St. Movement

Arwa Aburawa
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#Occupy Climate Change: The Arab Spring & Occupy Wall St. Movement

occupy-wall-st-arab-spring-climate-change-environmentWhat do the Occupy Wall Street protests and the Arab Spring have in common? A desire for radical change

The Arab Spring protests which swept through the Middle East show us that despite years of apathy, humans do have the ability to make radical changes. As such, the difficult decisions we need to take to avoid the worst aspects of climate change are not as impossible as some would have us think. I wrote a piece explaining why and it is currently on the frontpage of Adbusters, which is a not-for-profit organisation best known for its pro-environment and anti-consumerist stance.

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Urban Beehive So You Can Make Healthy Honey at Home

Karin Kloosterman
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Urban Beehive So You Can Make Healthy Honey at Home

urban beehive
Philips has created a plastic, urban beehive. Honey, I am home!

When I told my husband that I want to build an urban beehive on the roof, he thought I’d flown the coop. It’s enough that we have 15 chickens running around the urban homestead. Bees sting, he reminded me. I, like many other “informed” eco-ists know that there is something up with commercially-produced honey. It no longer tastes like honey. Turns out a lot of our honey no longer has anything valuable in it. Enter the new Philips invention: half flower pot, half honey pot.

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Remembering Ken Saro-Wiwa: Why The Middle East Needs Eco-Activism

Arwa Aburawa
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Remembering Ken Saro-Wiwa: Why The Middle East Needs Eco-Activism

In memory of the murdered Nigerian environmental activist who campaigned against Shell, we look at the importance of environmental action in the Middle East

On the 10th of November 1995, Ken Saro-Wiwa who had campaigned against the environmental devastation caused to the Niger Delta by oil companies such as Shell, was hanged by the Nigerian military government.

His life was cut short due to his effort to seek justice for the Ogani people who had suffered at the hands of Shell which extracted oil from their lands whilst leaving them with nothing. The battle for the environment goes on today in various shapes and guises all over the world including the Middle East. Over this last year we have seen everything from Iranian activists risking imprisonment and torture to protect salt lake Orumieh, campaigners in Jordan fighting against nuclear power to Israelis battling with the oil companies who want to drill for oil shale in their neighbourhoods.

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