Does that box of luscious chocolates bear the taint of slavery?
I eat an ounce of dark chocolate daily, for its antioxidant properties. And frankly, because I love chocolate. These chilly winter nights, my family asks me for hot chocolate milk, and I’m happy to simmer some up for them. But I go to a certain amount of trouble to get Fair Trade chocolate. (See Green Prophet on Palestinian farmers and Fair Trade here.) Or organic chocolate. Because I don’t like the taste of blood.
“In that pure moment of orgasm, nobody thinks of their utility bills,” jokes relationship experts and Tantra practitioners, Ben and Efrat, world-renowed teachers who reside in Israel.
A two part series on sustaining love with sacred sexuality
Ben and Efrat are world-renowned relationship coaches who incorporate a deep knowledge of tantra in their practice with couples, individuals and small groups. Perhaps best known to non-practitioners of sacred sexuality as the relationship experts on a 2010 episode of the Israel version of The Bachelor, Ben and Efrat have created a new series of at-home CD based lessons of love: Tantra Nights to Remember: Guided Intimate Evenings for Couples.
Intrigued by their emphasis on “Touching love through loving touch,” I recently asked them to share their philosophies with the readers of Greenprophet.com. In particular we explored the connection to the newest philosophical expression of love – eco-sexuality – with one of the world’s oldest: Tantra. Below is part One of our two part series on sustaining love with sacred sexuality.
The Israeli government wakes up to concerns about hormones and antibiotics in drinking water.
Last week at Green Prophet, we wrote about how an increase in breast size may be connected to hormones in the water supply. Estrogens in the environment or in our food are implicated in lower sperm counts and higher rate of breast cancers, and antibiotics in the environment could increase the risk of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Israeli lawmaker Dov Chanin, a member of the committee on the environment, is trying to do something about it. The first target is extra, unused drugs that consumers throw into the trash or down the toilet. Ninety percent of the active material in drugs returns to the water system via landfills or sewage.
Put up a tomato confit on your next day at home.
Yes, fresh tomatoes are but a dream in frozen Northern countries right now. But here in the Middle East, hot house tomatoes are abundant and surprisingly inexpensive. I had six fat ones on my kitchen counter, just at the cusp between very ripe and over-ripe. I’ve often made slow-roasted tomatoes with big juicy ones like those. But I didn’t want to keep the oven on all day. The solution: tomato confit – a truly slow food recipe and just right for a day spent at home. Like preserved lemons, these deliciously caramelized tomatoes take time but not too much trouble, and add bright flavor to many foods when they’re done.
Green software from Israel, Solergy’s Israeli CEO, Egyptian gas in Israel, and more headlines related to Israeli cleantech and the environment.
The water crisis in Israel, the Palestinian Territories, and Jordan will reach a point where they are likely to solve it together in the future, predicted an Indian think tank in a report released earlier this week . Israeli solar energy company SolarEdge was among Red Herring’s Global 100 2010 winners and Israel is planning to invest billions of dollars into testing alternatives to oil in Israel. For these stories and the rest of this week’s headlines, see below.
Nobody thought to ask him if he approves of a mega solar project on his home turf
Solar energy, whether from photovoltaic panels, solar thermal systems, or concentration of sunlight to heat water and create steam to operate an electricity producing turbine, is being promoted by many as the most promising energy source of the future. While widespread use of solar energy does appear promising as an energy supplier, there are downsides to solar energy that people should be aware of.
Israel is fortunate to have an Environmental Protection Minister who is passionate about his job. So passionate, he gave up an opportunity to work as ambassador to the UN.
Israel’s Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan turned down an opportunity to represent Israel as ambassador to the United Nations, according to a Jerusalem Post report. He expressed his gratitude to both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman for their confidence, but decided that Israel needs him more.
This move comes hot on the heels of a fervent campaign to re-educate Israelis about food waste with a series of billboard, television, and radio advertisements, and to instill greener habits throughout the country. Environmental agencies expressed their respect for the decision.
One unexpected consequence of the riots is cleaner air, because fewer factories are running.
Amid the turmoil and disappointment of Egyptian President Mubarak’s refusal to leave Egypt despite ongoing and increasingly desperate protests, an unexpected consequence has emerged. Infamous for its stultifying smog, Cairo is packed with factories and cars that create an unhealthy breathing environment for its constituents. Long term government plans include relocating the factories but in the meantime, despite Mubarak’s pleas for Cairenes to return to work, many businesses remain closed. This in turn has cleared the air.
This should be the scene of a brand-new prefab building made in the UAE, but the building is still sitting in an Essex container port.
The UAE is well-known for its ginormous skyscrapers and oil-guzzling lifestyle, and increasingly Abu Dhabi is making a name for its eco-consciousness, but it can’t be said that our Gulf friends are the go-to people for eco-friendly buildings.
Which is why the UK paper this is Leicestershire has grabbed the following story by its rather slippery horns. Why, they wonder, would the Rutland Primary Care Trust spend £2.3 million on a building made in the UK, rather than one from Europe, and why, six months after its expected installation, is that building still at the Essex container port?
The latest research out of Israel hints to pregnancy prevention via antioxidants.
It’s a tale with two endings, a conundrum for consumers of antioxidant-rich foods, drinks and facial products. What has been touted as a natural way to slow the aging process by minimizing cell damage via oxidation may be one culprit in female infertility. So suggests Professor Nava Dekel of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.
With the Pope’s thumb’s up – confess to a phone, and save greenhouse gas emissions?
The Catholic Church is embracing the burgeoning digital world and encouraging its followers to do the same. With its own You Tube channel and Facebook page (hopefully this won’t encourage a host of Catholics with eating disorders), the Holy See believes that technology and Catholicism can be mutually beneficial. Which is why Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Fort Wayne Diocese approved the iPhone confession app created by Patrick Leinen of Little iApps in Indiana. Too cold or too lazy to drive to Church? Pick up your iPhone instead, and save some greenhouse gas emissions while you’re at it.
This 1934 streamlined DIY car could go 50-70 miles on a gallon of gas. Not bad, in today’s terms.
The idea of building environmentally friendly or “green” cars is not something new, even though Green Prophet has written many articles on new electric and hybrid cars. In addition to factory produced models, other articles have on “do it yourself” (DIY) models, which have included a home-made electric car, using conventional wet cell car batteries; and even a Palestinian home made electric car powered by solar energy. Let’s look back a little at what people before us had come up – well before the notion of Peak Oil and global warming.
Around 2,500 took part in the car-free day – aiming to encourage the use of public transport
Empty car parks and full Metros and buses is not a sight you’re likely to see very often in the Dubai but for one day it became reality. On Wednesday, around 2,500 employees decided to leave their cars at home and ride the metro or bus to work as part of the car-free day initiative organised by the Dubai Municipality. Considering that this is a nation where only 4 percent of population walk anywhere in a week, this really is a breakthrough. The event was declared ‘a huge success’ for actually getting people to see the benefits of using public transport and for convincing them to leave their cars at home. How did they do it!?
Carrots are fat and sweet now. Dress dinner up with this tangy Moroccan carrot salad.
We’re enjoying every drop of blessed rain, Arabs and Jews having prayed for it during the hot, bright summer. The moisture in the earth fattens root vegetables, which we usually think of as soup ingredients but which make delicious salads as well. Find more winter salad recipes from Green Prophet here. Carrots do more than coleslaw: Brighten their sweetness with lemon juice and balance the whole with Middle Eastern spices, and you have an easy side dish for lunch or dinner any time, these rainy days.
The UAE takes another green step with a sustainability camp set for February 26.
The United Arab Emirates has been up to all manner of green things over the last couple of years. From solar-powered cash machines to plans to go plastic-free by 2013, and now they are hosting a unique sustainability camp on February 26, 2011. Rather than taking a narrow understanding of sustainability, the campaigners insist that sustainability is more than just being a tree hugger. The groups says that, “sustainability is the potential for long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions.” As such, they’re inviting everyone from human rights groups, animals rights activists to compost makers and tree planters along to share their struggles and successes in becoming more sustainable.
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