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

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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.

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.

How to Become a Middle Eastern Invasivore

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"edible weeds invasivore middle east"Protect the environment by eating the (animal or plant) species trying to invade it.  What does a Middle Eastern invasivore look like?

Environmentalists have a lot of crazy eating habits.  You’ve got the hardcore vegans who avoid all meat and animal byproducts, the vegetarians who will not eat meat (but eat dairy and eggs), the vegawarians who eat meat but try to consume it sparingly, the strictly organic crowd, and the locavores who will not eat anything that came from outside a particular geographic radius.  Just when you thought you had all of your eco-friendly culinary terminology down, there’s a new environmental eating trend out there: invasivores.

As described in the New York Times last week, invasivores choose to eat invasive animal and/or plant species in order to protect the local environment (and eat local at the same time).  In the Florida Keys this has meant eating lionfish, and in San Francisco vegetarian invasivore Rachel Kesel has started eating an edible invasive weed – field mustard.  But what would a Middle Eastern invasivore diet look like?

Will the Saudis Be the Last to Get into the Gas Guzzler Biz?

saudi gazl suv gas guzzlerA last hurrah for the age of oil as Saudis look to build the Gazl gas guzzler.

History, if there is any, will not look kindly on our 20th Century addiction to oil in the face of the looming danger of 100,000 years or more of a dangerously destabilized climate staring us down with the real possibility of even our own extinction as the known result.

So file this move under truly clueless defiance! The oil rich nation of Saudi Arabia is now belatedly getting into the gas guzzler biz, just as the rest of the world turns its attentions to the 21st century cars that we will need in the carbon constrained world of future centuries. They plan to make their very own gas guzzling SUV, which they named, appropriately enough: the Gazl – 1.

New Machine Converts Plastics Back To Oil

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGGabrorRS8[/youtube]
This may well be one of the most revolutionary machines to hit the market, although, in a way, it couldn’t be simpler. Plastic chokes everything. Our water ways, including the Mediterranean. Camels and other animals. And given that it is made from petroleum products, it is a drain on our energy sources.

A Japanese man concerned about the environment his children have inherited dreamed up a way to convert plastic back into oil, reducing carbon emissions in the process. With all the plastic in the world still in existence, and peak oil on its way, plastic (and a machine like this) may soon become one of the world’s most prized commodities.

Dubai’s Conservation Incentive: Higher Energy And Water Bills

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billsWith an extra 15% added to electricity and water bills, Dubai’s residents are bound to cut back their consumption. And that is a good thing!

Unlike many other Gulf countries, Dubai is not blessed (or cursed, according to some) with fountains of fossil fuels. As such, the Emirate must import the power that provides customers with electricity and desalinated water.

Consumers, perhaps disconnected from the source of their energy, consume more than most countries in the world. But that is about to change since Dubai’s Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has added an additional 15% to electricity and water bills, and will also include a new fuel charge, taking even more from the savings accounts of consumers. Though consumers are likely to feel jilted, DEWA hopes the move will cut down on unnecessary consumption and waste.

100 Lebanese recipes on an iPhone

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-image-lebanese-recipes-ipod
Classic Lebanese recipes for a tiny token price.

Green Prophet has covered at least a dozen recipes from Lebanon. And now the LebGuide site is featuring a culinary opportunity — 100 classic Lebanese recipes you can download to your iPod or iPhone for $1.00.

Very delicious! You must download iTunes in order to download the recipes.

Lebanese cuisine is light and savory, with a big emphasis on vegetables and fresh, local ingredients Learn more about why local eating is important at our interview with  locavore expert Leda Meredith.But if your phone still isn’t i-savvy, you can still view 20 free recipes for traditional Lebanese foods from the LebGuide on this page.

Enjoy!

LebGuide website

More on traditional Lebanese foods:
Recipe: Lebanese lentil soup
Freekah, Ancient Delicious “New Grain”

World Bank to Fund Massive Grid Expansion To Link Desertec Region and the Arab World

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desertec mapA gigantic electricity network would link electric grids throughout the Middle East and extend them much further in a massive infrastructure investment in a smart grid.

At a press conference in the Cairo office on Saturday, Mohie Eddin said the World Bank is considering a smart grid plan that would link the eastern Arab states, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia with Egypt, down through the Sudan into Ethiopia, and along the top of the Desertec region linking the western outposts of the Arab World. This would connect up nations as far away as the Maghreb region of Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Mauritania and the Western Sahara.

Is the World Bank indirectly getting involved with Desertec? A glance at this planned grid is almost like an overlay of the Desertec plan, but extended – not up into Europe, as the Desertec plan – but across, to the increasingly hot and energy hungry nations of the rapidly growing Arab world.

Luxury Architecture in Mecca: Has Hajj Lost Its Egalitarian Spirit?

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hajj-mecca-architecture-clocktower

As the most iconic structure of Islam, the cuboid Ka’bah in Mecca is one of striking simplicity. Covered in black material it’s a bold yet uncomplicated structure, with bare walls and a simple interior consisting of lamps and three supporting arches. Over time, however, this simplicity has been undermined by the proliferation of luxury hotels, malls and towering skyscrapers which surround the holy site. You can even start your day with the usual Starbucks coffee if you like or pick up a Macdonalds after prayers.

Now nearing completion, the ‘Royal Mecca Clock Tower’ which is one of the tallest buildings in the world and resembles London’s Big Ben, appears to have delivered the final blow to Mecca’s architectural dignity and the egalitarian spirit of hajj.

“Lease Mobiles” Take Over Israel’s Crowded Roads

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How much recyclable material will this new Mazda have when it goes to the shredder in 2030?

Lat year 2010 was a record year for new car sales Israel, according to an article just published in Globes. The article reports that 216,430 vehicles were bought during the year, a whopping 25.3 % more than in 2009. Of these 181,526 were private cars, which surpassed the amount sold in 2009 by 25%. What this means is that since environmentally friendly cars like electric cars are still in the testing stage, only a few of these nearly 1/4  million units will be converted to burn more environmentally friendly fuels like liquid petroleum gas.

Sturdy Chamber Pot Doubles As Watering Can

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chamber-pot-water-canThis nifty device made in Sweden allows avid farmers to create their own fertilizer!

Urine has been getting a lot of attention recently. Though most city dwellers are opposed to a quick public wee,  urine is so powerful it can be used to energize fuel cells and as fertilizer.

Small scale farmers or gardeners who want to eschew expensive fertilizers have a more natural option. And thanks to a Swedish company called Guldkannan (Gold Can), a neat technology that makes their own urine easy to capture.

Dubai Gets Its First “Green” Gas Station

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dubai-green-petrol-stationEnoc collects fuel vapors and incorporates other green elements into Dubai residential filling station.

Last September, Dubai ran short on gas, while other Gulf countries re-evaluated their long term energy plan as a result of looming peak oil. Now The National reports that Dubai has installed a “green” petrol station that not only captures and recycles harmful vapor emissions, but incorporates other “eco” features, including a friendlier car wash.

Israeli Clean Air Act Goes into Effect

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"air pollution israel"Passed in the summer of 2008, Israel’s Clean Air Act went into effect this month.

As with its neighboring Middle Eastern countries, things can be slow moving in Israel sometimes.  Maybe its a regional thing.  But better later than never.  While it would have been great if Israel’s Clean Air Act went into effect back in 2008 when it was legislated, we are still happy that it went into effect this month (a short two and a half years later).  (In the meantime, the Israeli government has been tackling other issues such as the water crisis, so we’ll cut them a little slack.)

Maybe the recent UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun (COP16) inspired the government to finally put the Clean Air Act into effect, or maybe it was just next on the “to-do list”.  Either way, it is the first large-scale legislation governing Israeli air pollution.

Israel Cleantech Intelligence: 2010 and 8 More Headlines

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Oil Drill

2010 year in review, Israel’s new wind tariff, Israel’s driest year, and more headlines related to Israeli cleantech and the environment.

Speculation continues on what Israel’s Leviathan gas find – the world’s largest gas discovery of the decade – will mean for Israel politically and economically and the impact it will have in the Middle East and rest of the world. Israel’s HCL CleanTech and Verint Energy received a grant for the research and development of converting wood into biofuel and Gulf countries looking to implement water treatment solutions are likely to turn to Israel for its expertise. For these stories and the rest of this week’s headlines, see below.

How Fair Is That Rose, Dear Egypt?

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textured-roses-imageBefore you pick up your sweetheart’s flowers this years, check first to find out where they come from.

Only one month before Valentine’s day, when thousands of women are expected to swoon over after a last minute pitch to be romantic, Egypt will host the world’s leading flower producers at a three day long exhibition.

Almasry Alyoum reports that flowers create numerous jobs and that tens of thousands of visitors to the show are expected. But what they failed to mention is the extraordinary cost – environmental and social – decorative flowers often represent.