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10 Israeli Cities Celebrating Environmental Achievements in 2010

Karen Chernick
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10 Israeli Cities Celebrating Environmental Achievements in 2010

"carmel fire israel"Was 2010 good or bad for the environment?

Depending on whether you’re a glass half full or glass half empty kind of person, you could reflect upon the year 2010 and see it in either a positive or negative green light.  There were some environmental catastrophes, such as the Carmel fire – the worst fire in Israeli national history, but there were also some positive strides.  Green Course, an Israeli student-run environmental NGO, has chosen to look at the glass as being half full, and recapped 10 Israeli cities celebrating environmental achievements in 2010.

Here’s what Gil Yaacov, Executive Director of Green Course, had to say about the past year:

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Grapes In Moisturiser Are Sweet For Skin, Not Sour

Tafline Laylin
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Grapes In Moisturiser Are Sweet For Skin, Not Sour

Esdor’s beauty products contain healthy, antioxidant-rich extracts from grape skins, of which Israel has aplenty, and none of the bad stuff.

Israel is well-known for its wines that were popular among Romans. The industry really took off in 1989 when Baron Edmond James Rothschild started the Bordeau estate Château Lafite-Rothschild. Ironic, then, that the Elah Valley wine industry today  is threatened by oil shale ambitions supported by Lord Jacob Rothschild.

There are many ugly beauty products on the market that are full of chemicals better off used in an industrial zone. These don’t get my money. A Spanish firm has patented a product that is infinitely healthier and that, as a bonus, uses grape skins that might otherwise go to waste.

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Segway “Police” Achieve Fame For UAE Corniche Cleanup

Tafline Laylin
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234
Segway “Police” Achieve Fame For UAE Corniche Cleanup

corniche-cousins-on-segwaysKnown as the “Corniche Police,” these cousins have transformed Ras al Khaimah’s urban park.

Despite their numerous environmental faux-pas, like the RAK global warming park, the UAE must be credited with its moments of genius. The latest campaign in Ras al Khaimah to clean up the Corniche is one such example. A popular park among tourists and locals alike, in recent years it has acted like a giant trash dump.

In anticipation of increased traffic, and therefore increased rubbish, the Department of Public Works imported four segways from the United States on which employees patrol the park. They were delivered last month, and have revolutionized how the public perceive their treasured green space.

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Ethical Foraging Saves Native Flora

Miriam Kresh
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Ethical Foraging Saves Native Flora

image-nettles
Care for wild edibles as if you’d grown them yourself, and they’ll come back year after year.

The Jewish springtime Tu B’Shvat festival is just around the corner on Wednesday night, the 19th of this month. The flowering of the almond trees on that day also signals new green growth on Israel’s dry soil. It’s tempting to go out, field guide in hand, and fill a backpack up with lots of edible wild greens.

But over-enthusiastic foraging can backfire. When plants aren’t allowed to re-seed, or if most in an area get uprooted, there won’t a new crop for next year.The forager will have to search farther afield to find the healthy, tasty wild plants that once grew close to home, while the plants slowly recede and disappear from the landscape.

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Sharjah Launches ‘Environment Awareness Award’

Zaufishan
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Sharjah Launched the ‘Environment Awareness Award’ with aims to increase students’ environmental awareness and encourage them to actively participate in environmental activities at school.

Bee’ah, an innovative education initiative from the Bee’ah School of Environment, along with the Sharjah Education Zone (SEZ) and Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services (SCHS) launched the Sharjah Environment Awareness Award.

With over AED100,000 in total prize money to be given away in different categories, the award programme aims to increase environmental awareness among students from kindergarten through to Grade 12, and encourage the youth to actively participate in environmental activities within their schools.

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United Arab Emirates To Be Plastic-Free By 2013

Zaufishan
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Sony makes plastic bio

The UAE is well on its way to rid the country of plastic bags by 2013, Dr Rashid Ahmed bin Fahd, Minister of Environment and Water, said on Saturday 9th January.

“The UAE and the GCC are on the forefront of countries preserving the environment when it comes to producing plastics. The UAE will be free of plastic bags in 2013. The national plastics and petrochemicals companies are adhering to the environmental measures […] to enhance the environment friendly approach of the UAE as part of their corporate social responsibility towards the community. Their adherence to environment measures also enhances their global competitive edge,” he said during the inauguration of ArabPlast and Tekno/Tube Arabia 2011, a trade platform for rubber, plastics and plastic processing in the Middle East.

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The Surprising Impact Of Dust On Climate Change

Tafline Laylin
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The Surprising Impact Of Dust On Climate Change

dust-stormDust in the atmosphere can mitigate the heating effect of trapped greenhouse gases.

If climate science were simple, perhaps we could design a quick fix that would suck out the carbon trapped in the atmosphere, and restore weather to it’s pre-freaky ways. Unfortunately, that’s not how nature works.

To further add to the complexity, The Economist has released a report that in addition to providing nutrients to oceans and forests, dust has cooling qualities. Even that is not simple. Sometimes dust is a good thing, and there is more of it than previously, but then sometimes it can set off an unhappy chain of reactions.

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“Spy Vulture” Cleared Of Espionage Charges

Tafline Laylin
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“Spy Vulture” Cleared Of Espionage Charges

tagged-israeli-vultureThe vulture (which may actually be a bald eagle) captured in rural Saudi Arabia will be released.

Following widespread (and embarrassing) news coverage, the vulture captured in Saudi Arabia and reportedly “arrested” on charges of espionage will be released. Israelis told Sky News that associating the migrating vulture with Mossad – one of Israel’s intelligence agencies – was a product of an “overactive imagination.”

Emirates 24/7 meanwhile quotes Prince Bandar bin Saud Al Saud, who acknowledged that the GPS bracelet fitted to what is actually a bald eagle is legitimate, and not “Israeli spy systems arsenal.” He accused local media of sensationalizing the story without checking the facts.

This story received additional attention on the heels of accusations late last year that Mossad had planted rogue sharks in the Red Sea off Sinai, which proceeded to wreck havoc on Egypt’s tourism after a spate of attacks. One woman was killed by an oceanic white tip shark.

More bird news in the Middle East:

Birds Help Israel, Jordan and Palestine Flock Together

Iran and Qatar Make Bio-Lateral Ties for Birds?

Where Abu Dhabi’s Flamingoes Roam

image via dobac

Fossil Fuels Skyrocket In The Middle East

Zaufishan
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CM Capture 15
The Middle East has so much oil, but energy use is increasing. Applied Oil Technology and others could make oil use more efficient.

Until recently, much of the attention regarding amplified energy use has been directed towards China and India, but new data from GE indicates the Middle East is experiencing greater energy demands than any other nation. Why is this? As has been expected, global fossil fuel use continues to rise as a result of huge economic expansion, population growth environmental development. And the failure of alternative energies in developed nations to reduce sky-rocketing green house gases emissions, has allowed these gases to become more of a threat than ever.

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Environmental Oxymoron: A ‘Green’ Filling Station In UAE

Zaufishan
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ENOC Dubai's 'Green' Petrol StationHow green can a gas station be? Dubai’s Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) launches the first “green station” in the UAE.

We reported on the green gas station in the UAE last week. Featuring solar-powered lights, a waterless car wash system, eco-friendly products, and the vapor recovery system, a new technology that reduces carbon emission and fuel wastage.

It does sound like an environmental oxymoron: an ‘eco-friendly’ petrol station? But officials at the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) last week showcased its first green station, with environmental upgrades worth about Dh3.6 million. ENOC has an aim to reduce the ecological footprint of the station’s consumers, so they are literally pumping eco-sensibility.

The World’s First Green Petrol Station

The new station is located in The Meadows, part of Dubai’s Emirates Living residential area, and is fitted with noise reduction barriers and a system that collects the harmful vapours released from fuels, as well as solar lights, water recycling and other “green” features. ENOC’s ‘green’ station is the first of its kind in the region to generate half of its energy requirements from renewable sources.

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Abu Dhabi Builds Huge Artificial Aquifer to Hide Desalinated Water from Terrorists

Susan Kraemer
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Abu Dhabi Builds Huge Artificial Aquifer to Hide Desalinated Water from Terrorists


Abu Dhabi is almost entirely dependent on desalination for its vital water supply. If desalination plants were bombed, the city would have just four days of water.

The wealthiest of the United Arab Emirates federation has just begun to build the world’s largest artificial aquifer beneath its scorching sands, at a cost of $436 million, according to a report in the Washington Post.

With no rivers, the UAE shares with its neighbors an inherently unstable reliance on a diminishing natural groundwater. Add in the threat of terrorism from Al Quaeda, and Abu Dhabi is in a precarious position due to this most fundamental weakness.

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Israeli Green Police to Receive More Arrest Powers

Karen Chernick
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uASd-doKOlk[/youtube]

Are you an environmental criminal?  Don’t mess with the Green Police.

Until a few years ago, environmental law enforcement was a big problem in Israel (as it is in many countries – Interpol is even getting tough on green crimes).  There were some really great environmental laws in place, but the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection was having a hard time collecting environmental fines.  But a few things have happened in recent years to remedy the situation: local authorities have been given more power to enforce environmental laws (instead of the central government), and the Green Police has been fortified.

Yes, there is such a thing as the Green Police.

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Platform For Architecture & Research: This Is How To Build In The Desert

Tafline Laylin
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Platform For Architecture & Research: This Is How To Build In The Desert

eco-dwellings-desertNotice that there are no lush gardens? No towers of glass? This is how to build in the desert.

Modern humans have always wanted to make their presence known, from the earliest cave drawings to opulent Ottoman architecture. Although we occupy but one of billions of galaxies, our ego knows no bounds.  In the desert, we build giant structures like the Burj Khalifa. And we build with glass, which draws in rather than deflects heat, as though no problem is too great for us to conquer.

There is a better way, a way to live without disfiguring nature in our wake. And for those who aren’t excited about cave dwellings, Platform For Architecture & Research’s villas planned for the Mojave desert are not only attuned to its harsh surrounds, but are sleek and intelligent. In other words, we need not revert to a primitive past in order to show our respect for nature.

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Brown Rice and Bisli: Why Don’t Consumers Make Healthy Food Choices?

Hannah Katsman
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Brown Rice and Bisli: Why Don’t Consumers Make Healthy Food Choices?

young woman purchasing greens in grocery, candy in backgroundBad food choices lead to obesity and poor health. Why do we do it?

Israeli business magazine The Marker reports that sales of healthy foods have increased in the last two years. However, sales of snack foods and soft drinks have remained stable or increased slightly. People are simply buying more food, and obesity rates continue to rise. Of course, purchase of healthy food doesn’t mean it gets eaten. The brown rice might find a home at the back of the cabinet, or  the garbage.

We all know we should eat healthier food, so why don’t more people choose it? Here are the main factors that affect all of us.

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Jordan’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Set For 2012 Inauguration

Tafline Laylin
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0
Jordan’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Set For 2012 Inauguration

amman-jordan-trafficTo unclog Amman’s road arteries, the municipality hopes to bring its state-of-the-art public buses online by next year.

While it’s neighbor brings Better Place electric cars online, a move that may reduce emissions but not congestion, Jordan is instead pursuing a state of the art BRT system for its capital, Amman, the site of several green projects. Emissions reduction will be an important side effect, but Amman’s municipality is mostly concerned to clear out the city’s traffic bottlenecks. The intention to publish tender for the BRT’s second construction phase was announced at a press briefing last week. Plans are also in place to beautify Amman’s streets and improve waste management.

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