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Eco condom, Love Begins with L., the Tom’s shoes for safe sex

Tinamarie Bernard
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Eco condom, Love Begins with L., the Tom’s shoes for safe sex

women with legs in the airA new condom company, Love Begins with L., epitomizes the heart and soul of ecosexuality. Founded by independent photojournalist, Talia Frenkel – whose work with the Red Cross exposed her to the plight of women in Africa, South East Asia and the Middle East – the message behind the product is simple:

Provide the most environmentally friendly condoms available, market them to women in western countries, and provide free supplies to women in disenfranchised communities across the developing world to advance female reproductive health and sovereignty.

Sex is universal, but protection is not

In Africa, the scope of the HIV/AIDS problem is unimaginable: 5,000 new transmissions a day, and 4,000 deaths a day, mean that an estimated 25,000,000 millions deaths due to this disease could have been prevented with better reproductive health care. The company

‘Love begins with L.’ seeks to empower the millions of young women in Africa by providing free prophylactics and sex education. There are now an estimated 14.4 million AIDS orphans living in Sub Saharan Africa.

During the course of her work in Africa, Frenkel discovered that condoms were often unavailable. According to the U.S. office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, nine out of 10 African countries goes without condom supplies for more than two months. The condoms that were available were mostly treated with chemicals harmful to women. Frenkel determined to work with non-profits including Direct Relief health in Africa, and manufacturers to create an enterprise that could distribute natural condoms to a paying western market while ensuring availability in HIV/AIDS struck Africa, focusing primarily on the female consumer.

“Today, 75% of Africans aged 15-24 are girls. L. is a movement dedicated to supporting women globally by focusing on their sexual empowerment. That’s why we’re not just dropping off condoms and hoping for the best. Our movement involves education and distribution programs, peer-to-peer outreach and integral partnerships with grassroots women leaders.”

“Safe sex doesn’t stop at preventing HIV transmission, it’s the beginning of a greater quality of life,” the company insists.

Ecosexuality and Sustainability

Sustainability and responsibility are at the heart of Love Begins with L. The condoms are skin-sensitive and female-friendly, made with a glycerin-free and paraben-free lubricant that is designed to emulate the body’s own natural lubrication.

Glycerin from non-vegetable sources can lead to common problems such as yeast infections. Paraben is linked to a whole host of health problems as well. Every triple tested condom is made from sustainably tapped premium natural latex from Malaysia, and are vegan-friendly and low in latex odor. Even the minimalistic packaging is designed to be green and reduce the carbon footprint of manufacturing.

“We take measure to be as sustainable as possible, but beyond that, we strive to become restorative and enriching.”

Frenkel explains how her “camera quickly became my passport to places that I might otherwise have never had cause to visit,” including the Middle East where she documented tsunamis, earthquakes, fires and floods for the Red Cross.

She became keenly aware of the destruction of HIV/AIDS to women and girls while working in Africa: “My assignments documenting the effects of this epidemic left me with an anger that I needed to channel in a productive way. Everyday, countless lives were lost for lack of something that I could buy in any western convenience store,” she tells Green Prophet.

Since then, she has dedicated herself to making L., believing that safe sex is a human right, and that condoms marketed specifically to women in Western countries to help take a stand to protect and empower female sexuality.

L. launched in February, and the condoms are available now on Amazon.

Dive into more ecosexuality articles:

Eco-Sexy Nutrition for Women, From Horny Goat’s Weed to Vitamin C

Are You an Eco-Sexual?

Lights Out During Earth Hour 2011 in Israel this Week

Karen Chernick
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyMNbXVxj8s&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

20 Israeli cities will be participating in this year’s annual lights-out Earth Hour.

Following an initiative that began in Australia in 2007, Israeli cities (spearheaded by Tel Aviv) have observed Earth Hour for the past few years.  Earth Hour is a global movement that urges individuals, businesses and governments to support action on climate change by powering down their lights for an hour – at the same time.  Thankfully, this year is no different and 18 Israeli cities will be turning off their lights on Thursday evening between the hours of 8pm-9pm.

Tel Aviv has traditionally observed Earth Hour by gathering residents in Rabin Square for a free biodiesel and/or cyclist-energy-powered concert by a popular musician, and this year will be no different as The Giraffes (seen in the clip above) will be performing together with Carolina and Red Band.

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Women going green

Tafline Laylin
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Women going green

green marketing jen drexlerJen Drexler talks to Green Prophet about how to help women make greener choices.

An American marketing extraordinaire, Jen Drexler knows what women want. She also knows what they aren’t telling!

Along with her partner Mary Lou Quinlan, Jen founded Just Ask a Woman more than a decade ago, a marketing firm that helps brands understand and better serve female consumers.

We first learned of her through The National, where she discusses the concept of “green-ish” – a term based on the notion that women often say one thing (the Half Truth) but do another (the Whole Truth). In an interview, she tells us how women often “talk a big game around green but don’t necessarily follow through,” and how we can influence them to be more green.

Jen, can you tell us a bit about your role at Just Ask a Woman?

I co-founded our company 12 years ago with our CEO Mary Lou Quinlan.  My primary roles are servicing our consulting clients and developing content for our books, speeches and blogs.

We heard about you through a story published in The National. Ann Marie McQueen discusses formerly eco-friendly expats who “backslide” in the UAE as a result of have access to fewer “green” resources. What is the challenge facing them?

I guess my question is are they really backsliding because of fewer resources? My hunch is that they may backslide because it is easier and less expensive to not go green or they just don’t rank it as high on their value system.

You note that one of the solutions is to become “greenish.” Can you explain this to our readers?

I wouldn’t say being Green-ish is a solution but rather that it is an inevitable truth for real women living in a real world.  Women want to do the right thing by their families and their environment but have to make daily compromises because of their financial resources.  Green products generally cost more so women will prioritize the areas in her life where they are the most important.

What, in your opinion, is so hard about going “green”? Is this a marketing failure? A government failure to provide adequate resources to make smarter choices, or is this good ol’ fashioned laziness?

I think it comes down to cost and quality.  Do organic cleansers work as well as the ones filled with chemicals? Not usually.  And even if they did Americans have been trained to associate the smell of products like bleach with cleanliness and with the absence of that sensory signal they doubt the efficacy of their green cleaners.

As a marketing guru who best understands how women make consumer choices, what can we do in the Middle East to influence women to make more responsible choices?

You have to understand the barriers to green for her and then look for the opportunities to overcome them.  If there aren’t enough products on shelf for her to choose from think about ways to help her make her own (water & vinegar as a cleanser, baking soda as a stain remover…)

And lastly, from a marketing perspective, how do we know we’re winning?

When women feel like they have more in their repertoire that is green versus not. Shifting the balance will be the signal that progress is being made.

More Interviews on Green Prophet:

From Rockstarts to Recycling: Interview with Kristiane Backer

Eco-Sexuality of Tantra: Interview with Israeli Relationship Specialists

Interview with Abu Dhabi’s Most Innovative Design Couple

Leviathan Energy To Dedicate Wind Turbine To Hilton Hotel

Tafline Laylin
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Leviathan Energy To Dedicate Wind Turbine To Hilton Hotel

leviathan energy wind turbine dedicationLeviathan Energy will donate a small wind turbine in honor of Earth Day 2011.

In honor of Earth Day, Israel’s Leviathan Energy will dedicate a small wind turbine to the Hilton Queen of Sheba in Eilat. The ceremony near the southern end of the Dead Sea will commence at 20h30 on March 24 this year. When Eilat’s fossil-powered lights go out, the lights powered by the small turbine will take their place. The first Earth Day took place on April 22, 1970 and has become one of the most internationally-recognized environmentally themed dedication days with 1 billion participants in 192 countries. (Read an interview with the Earth Day Network’s President Kathleen Rogers.)

Read more about Earth Day and Leviathan:

Interview with Earth Day Network Kathleen Rogers

Leviathan and Solaris Imagine if the Water for the Shower Can Create Energy To Turn On Lights

Israel Celebrates Earth Day With An Earth Hour Sweeping Across 14 Cities

leviathan energy wind turbine dedicationLeviathan Energy will donate a small wind turbine in honor of Earth Day 2011.

In honor of Earth Day, Israel’s Leviathan Energy will dedicate a small wind turbine to the Hilton Queen of Sheba in Eilat. The ceremony near the southern end of the Dead Sea will commence at 20h30 on March 23 this year. When Eilat’s fossil-powered lights go out, the lights powered by the small turbine will take their place. The first Earth Day took place on April 22, 1970 and has become one of the most internationally-recognized environmentally themed dedication days with 1 billion participants in 192 countries. (Read an interview with the Earth Day Network’s President Kathleen Rogers.)

How Green and Lean Is the New USDA Food Pyramid?

Hannah Katsman
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How Green and Lean Is the New USDA Food Pyramid?

French fries picture USDAPotatoes are bad for heart health, according to recent research.

The United States Department of Agriculture released the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010, a little bit late–on January 31, 2011. And according to the Harvard School of Public Health, the recommendations are behind the times as well. The new USDA guidelines emphasize a diet rich in plants and fish, and replacing some of the high-fat protein like red meat with plant-based proteins like legumes. But the pyramid still allows low-fat dairy products,  and up to half of carbohydrate intake can include refined grains like white flour. Even potatoes raise the level of blood sugar more quickly than whole grains.

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Dubai Marine Life At Risk After Devastating Shark Catch

Arwa Aburawa
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Dubai Marine Life At Risk After Devastating Shark Catch

A five-metre-long female shark and its litter of forty-five hammerhead pups was found dead at the Deira Fish Market in Dubai

The Arabian Gulf marine ecosystem took a devastating hit this week after a pregnant great hammerhead shark was landed and forty-five pups gutted out of it in a Dubai fish market. Despite a shark fishing ban from January to April, endangered shark species are being put at risk by fishers who continue to hunt them down in the United Arab Emirates. The horrific find was recorded by shark researchers monitoring the decline of the species in the region and Thomas Vignaud, working with the Shark Quest project, along with Julia Spaet discovered the forty-five dead pups after an inspection of the female hammerhead.

Shark fishing has skyrocketed in the UAE in recent years and according to figures from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FOA), the gulf state is one of the main Middle East exporters of shark fins to Hong Kong.

Speaking to Gulf News, Jonathon Ali Khan who is an expedition leader for sharks in the region and director of Shark Quest Arabia explained that the importance of the region for the survival of certain shark species needed to be better highlighted so that birthing sharks are protected. “When a slow-reproducing shark is found at the market with 45 pups something needs to be done for the welfare of the species,” he added.

Great hammerhead sharks are an endangered species and the forty-five pups that were found were almost ready to be born. “If even half of these shark pups had survived, it might have made a significant contribution to the survival of this species at least in this region,” Khan told the Gulf News.

It is believed that the shark may have been caught in the waters of Oman and brought to the UAE for sale to make a better profit although it is impossible to tell for sure. In Oman, shark fining at sea is banned and in the UAE shark fining and shark hunting between January to April was banned in 2008. Even so FOA figures show that from 1998 to 2000, around 400-500 tonnes of shark fins were exported from the UAE annually. Latest findings also reveal the growing popularity of shark-hunting as they indicate that the shark catch in the UAE shot up in 2003 to 3,060 tonnes a year.

These statistics are particularly worrying as sharks are extremely sensitive to fishing at they mature quite late and produce few offspring. As such, the death of forty-five great hammerhead pups is a serious blow to their future existence in the Arabia Gulf.

Photo courtesy of Julia Spaet- KAUST PhD student researching shark populations in the Red Sea.

For more on Sharks and the Middle East see:

Kuwaiti Sharks, Ecosystems and Exxon

Shark Attacks Up 25% Worldwide

25 Shark Species In Persian Gulf Need Urgent Protection

Visionary Creator of the Na’vi People Visits Masdar, Approves

Susan Kraemer
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Visionary Creator of the Na’vi People Visits Masdar, Approves

navi image avatarWould the Na’vi people feel at home at Masdar?

The acclaimed Hollywood director James Cameron, creator of the powerful green message movie Avatar, was in Abu Dhabi recently to tour Masdar. Unsurprisingly to me, with his green perspective, he had some very positive things to say. Hollywood’s greenest director was given a comprehensive overview of Masdar’s approach to tackling the complex energy challenges the world faces, and included a tour of Masdar Institute, the Middle East’s first graduate research institution dedicated to clean energy research and education, according to Arabian Business.

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Oil-Rich Gulf Invests $106 Billion in Six States of Rail Connections

Susan Kraemer
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Oil-Rich Gulf Invests $106 Billion in Six States of Rail Connections


Can the Gulf states beat dwindling oil supplies while keeping their own people moving?

The oil-rich states of the Middle East are planning for their burgeoning populations – and dwindling oil – by investing in an alternative to the very same private transport that made them rich in the first place. They are building a massive public railway system connecting the six states.

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Oxford Scholar Brings God’s Wife Back To Life

Tafline Laylin
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12
Oxford Scholar Brings God’s Wife Back To Life
Hebrew god, asherah, tree of life
Is the Hebrew god’s wife, Asherah, The Tree of Life? Though an uncomfortable notion for some, scholarship suggests that God had a wife.

Scholars have known since the late 1960s that the ancient Israelites worshiped both Yahweh and his wife Asherah. Despite efforts by some editors to translate Asherah’s name to mean ‘Sacred Tree,’ archaeological findings and excerpts from the Book of Kings depict God’s wife as a powerful fertility Goddess.

(Read how present day Jews continue to maintain solid connections to nature.) Formerly an Oxford scholar and currently Senior Lecturer at the Department of Theology and Religion and the University of Exeter, Francesca Stavrakopoulou’s books, lectures and journal papers present background on a subject that is bound to be controversial.

You might know him as Yahweh, Allah or God. But on this fact, Jews, Muslims and Christians, the people of the great Abrahamic religions, are agreed: There is only one of Him, writes Stavrakopoulou in a statement released to the British media. He is a solitary figure, a single, universal creator, not one God among many … or so we like to believe.

In 1967, the historian Raphael Patai revealed that the ancient Israelites worshiped both Yahweh and his wife Asherah. Stavrakopoulous has since taken up this issue anew and after several years of research has presented several finds that remove all doubt.

Stavrakopoulou discovered references to Asherah in the Bible and an 8th century BC pottery inscription. Found in the Sinai desert at a site called Kuntillet Ajrud, the inscription, she says, in a petition for a blessing.

Crucially, the inscription asks for a blessing from ‘Yahweh and his Asherah.’ Here was evidence that presented Yahweh and Asherah as a divine pair. And now a handful of similar inscriptions have since been found, all of which help to strengthen the case that the God of the Bible once had a wife.

Many ancient texts, amulets, and figurines found mostly in the Canaanite city Ugarit (modern day Syria) reaffirm that Asherah was a ‘mighty and nurturing fertility goddess.’ The Book of Kings describes how she was worshiped in the temple of Jerusalem alongside Yahweh, and how female personnel wove ritual textiles for her.

Both J. Edward Wright, President of the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies and the Albright Institute for Archaeological Research, and Aaron Brody, Director of the Bade Museum and Associate Professor of the Bible and Archaeology at the Pacific School of Religion confirm Stavrakopolou’s assertions.

Brody notes that ancient authors intent on maintaining Judaism as a monotheistic tradition replaced mentions of Asherah with the translation ‘Sacred Tree.’

This is what he told Discovery News:

Asherah as a tree symbol was even said to have been “chopped down and burned outside the Temple in acts of certain rulers who were trying to ‘purify’ the cult, and focus on the worship of a single male god, Yahweh.”

Stavrakopolou’s research will form the basis of a three part documentary series airing in Europe.

:: Discovery News

More on religion and the environment:

Eco-Activist in Jerusalem Brings the Torah Down To Earth

Rabbi Julian Joins Others to ‘Love God, Heal Earth’

Faith and the Environment: Multi-Faith Perspectives

Demand for “Anti Radiation” Pills and Vaccine Grows Despite Limited Protection

Maurice Picow
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Demand for “Anti Radiation” Pills and Vaccine Grows Despite Limited Protection

Checking radiation levels. Will potassium iodide work?

When I wrote a Green Prophet article in the summer of 2009 dealing with research into a vaccine to protect against the effects of radiation sickness,  I never realized that this topic would be as relevant as it is today. This is due to the ongoing crisis of the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plants in northeastern Japan, which if not fully contained soon could wind up being a serious threat to not only Japan’s local environment, but even as far away as the USA and Canada.

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Helping Turkish Wildlife Cross the Road

Julia Harte
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Turkey’s Environment & Forestry minister has demanded that the state highway construction agency build “green bridge” crossings for wildlife.

Although the country’s environmental policy is rather bleak overall, with the prime minister vowing to continue building a nuclear reactor on a fault line in the southern region of Akkuyu, and the country’s clean energy program more rhetoric than reality, at least wild animals won’t have to risk their necks crossing Turkey’s highways anymore. Environment and Forestry Minister Veysel Eroğlu has called on the General Directorate of Highways, the state agency which constructs public roadways, to build wildlife crossings over highways that bisect major wildlife habitats.

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Libyan Violence Dampens Great Man-Made River Project

Tafline Laylin
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Libyan Violence Dampens Great Man-Made River Project

pipe for libya manmade river projectThis pipe was slated for use on Libya’s ambitious Man Made River project.

The Omar Mukhtar Reservoir in Libya’s southern desert is the second largest in the world, and an integral component of the $20 billion Great Man-Made River project (GMMR). Begun in 1984, the mammoth pipeline designed to transport water from the south to Libya’s dry northern cities has experienced huge setbacks as a result of Gaddafi’s power struggle with rebel forces. Despite the recently announced ceasefire, CNN reports continuing violence, which is taking its toll on the Canadian firm Pure Technologies’ bottom line.

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Despite Japan, Turkey Goes Ahead With Nuclear Reactors

Karin Kloosterman
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Despite Japan, Turkey Goes Ahead With Nuclear Reactors

turkey coast akkuyu region seaForty years in the making: Turkey still intent on building the country’s first nuclear reactor on this serene spot on the Mediterranean Coast. Cyprus says the zone falls right on a fault line.

Despite the insanity and the imminent meltdown of Japan’s nuclear facilities now going from bad to worse, countries in the Middle East are announcing their clear intentions to stick with nuclear programs. Earlier this week Israel announced it would continue planning for a nuclear reactor in the Negev Desert, Australia offered uranium to the United Arab Emirates, and now Turkey, the People’s Daily of China reports, is going ahead with the construction of its first nuclear reactor, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday. In fact for Turkey, the sooner, the better he urged.

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Bloggers Mourn Four Iranian Parkrangers Shot Dead By Terrorists

Tafline Laylin
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Bloggers Mourn Four Iranian Parkrangers Shot Dead By Terrorists

iranian park rangerIn the last 30 years, 110 Iranian park rangers have been killed. Environmental bloggers pay tribute.

Despite certain joint environmental initiatives between its government and that of  Qatar, Iran really needs its nature lovers and advocates. Twenty-seven people die a day as a result of the Tehran’s pollution, its national parks are strewn with rubbish, and iconic natural monuments such as Lake Orumiyeh are in deep trouble.

And yet, park rangers over the decades have been the target of uncalled-for violence. Global Voices report that four men were recently shot dead in a village in Sanandaj in Iran’s Kuridstan. In response, an environmentally-themed website invited bloggers to say their piece.

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Flood Victims Get New Cars in Saudi

Arwa Aburawa
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1,000 cars have been donated by the Alwaleed bin Talal Foundation to the recent Jeddah flood victims

Heavy rainfall in Jeddah in Saudi this January led to the deaths of a reported four people and left hundreds more families stranded and distraught as they dealt with the flood. Although the floods in 2010 did not cause the same level of destruction as the 2009 floods which left over 120 dead, many Saudis feel that the city’s flood protection remains inadequate.

So whilst the donation of 1,000 cars will no doubt be valuable to the victims of the floods, what is really needed is clear policy and plan of action to improve Jeddah’s flood defenses.

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How to safely remove astroturf and plastics from your backyard

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Is artificial turf bad for your health?

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Artificial turf, the green plastic stuff that is supposed to look like grass, was sold to many home-owners as a clever compromise: a green-looking surface that makes you feel homey, but which needs no mowing. It survives heavy use, and in dry places like Middle East deserts, and in California or Texas, it can replace thirsty lawns. But it is toxic.

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