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Cluster Of Turkish Buildings Cool Off With Roof Pools

Tafline Laylin
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3
Cluster Of Turkish Buildings Cool Off With Roof Pools

turkish-pool-roofGlobal Architecture Development circumvents heat and building codes with this house in Southwest Turkey.

There’s all kinds of things you can do with roofs: in the Middle East, we like to party on the roof – that’s for sure, and you can lease it to farmers and electricity generators if you have enough space. You can also cool your home with the roof. Though critics suggest that Turkey’s hot sun (which is great for solar panels) smears the ingenuity of Global Architecture Development’s  rainwater catchment that doubles as an air-conditioner on a collection of buildings in Southwest Turkey, we’re convinced that it’s an interesting alternative to energy-intensive air conditioning units.

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UAE To Cut Electricity Output, Carbon Emissions

Green Prophet Guest
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0
UAE To Cut Electricity Output, Carbon Emissions

carbon footprint

The United Arab Emirates has one of the largest carbon footprints in the world. Not surprising considering the small country has an indoor ski hill in the middle of the desert and a number of other Las Vegas-esque attractions (like the IceLand waterpark), but the government has said enough. A new high-tech plan was announced on Sunday that could see the UAE’s daily electric power consumption reduced by 30 percent, the government said.

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More Signs Of Dubai’s Foul Ecology At Jumeirah Islands

Tafline Laylin
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3
More Signs Of Dubai’s Foul Ecology At Jumeirah Islands

jumeirah-islands-dubai
An ecological disaster in their own right, Dubai’s Jumeirah Islands’ environmental record is sinking deeper with this algae-choked lake.

Tourists are charged $200 a night to stay in this Jumeirah Islands apartment. Residents similarly pay a handsome sum to live at one of Dubai’s much-touted artificial palm islands. Within the last few years, despite warnings from environmentalists, people flocked to snatch a share of this exclusive, sinking, erosive man made island. And already, they are beginning to experience the side effects of such an ecological calamity.

Dubai’s daily, The National, followed up on residents’ year long complaints that the algae-choked lake surrounding Jumeirah Island emits a foul odor and attracts mosquitoes after the developers, Nakheel, failed to follow through on their promises to improve the situation. The paper submitted water samples to an independent laboratory which confirmed that levels of ammonium, as well as dissolved and suspended solids, are considerably higher than permitted by the municipality.

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A Story About the Elephants and Sparrows of Israeli Society

Dr. Yosef Gotlieb
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1
A Story About the Elephants and Sparrows of Israeli Society

sami ofer
Twenty families own most of the “free” economy in Israel: a recent report points to disturbing trends concerning class and society. Dr. Gotlieb sees fault in the free market policies that injure people and the environment.

In his comments on Israel’s invitation join to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) last May, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu stated: “The more we continue to free up Israel’s economy, and the more we continue to remove barriers to competition, the more Israel’s economy will thrive and the more the people of Israel will prosper.…”

A government report published on Sunday suggests differently: Statistics from the report by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), indicate that large swaths of Israel’s population have been left behind by the Likud’s liberal economic program (Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel). Class division has increased, the number of people living under the poverty level is rising and Israel’s compares most unfavorably to European standards of socioeconomic welfare.

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Is Jerusalem Stone Under Threat?

Ilana Teitelbaum
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Is Jerusalem Stone Under Threat?

jerusalem stoneWe’ve heard about peak oil. Ilana asks about “peak Jerusalem stone” – and if it will ever be under threat.

My earliest memory of arriving in Jerusalem in 1993 is permeated with a sense of bewilderment. Coming from Queens, New York, everything was strange to me as I stared out the window of a car speeding from the airport – from the palm trees to the massive banner stretched across three buildings with an unintelligible slogan (in later months I’d discover it said, “The nation is with the Golan”).

But what stood out most to me was the beauty of the luminous stone buildings, so different from Queens architecture and seemingly so appropriate to all that the ancient holy city is and should be. Even now, after becoming jaded to the sight of Jerusalem stone, I feel a pang that is almost like pity when I visit other parts of the country and see that they – like Queens – have dull slabs for facades instead of the stone that makes Jerusalem unique.

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Better Place Gets a “Charge” With GE Partnership

Maurice Picow
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0
Better Place Gets a “Charge” With GE Partnership

better place GE charge spotsGE’s  handsome designer car charging post the Watt Station even “talks” to drivers!

Entrepreneur Shai Agassi’s Better Place electric car battery exchange infrastructure projects will probably get a new “power boost” vi an announced partnership with the American General Electric Company (GE) to develop electric car infrastructures in the USA and other locations, according to  the NY Times. The article reported that GE announced it would be “working with one of the most experienced players in the field, Better Place, with the parties promising to collaborate on technology, battery financing, fleet electrification and consumer awareness.” We love the charge spots designed by Gadi Amit, but worldwide and outside of Israel it looks like Better Place has other plans for how its cars will recharge. 

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Why 60 Percent of Iranians Are Overweight

Mehrdad Parsipour
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5
Why 60 Percent of Iranians Are Overweight

pizza hut hot iranPizza Hut or Pizza “Hot” – Iranians are getting fatter. Maybe because they are ignoring public transport.

The statistics show that obesity is growing among Iranian families. According to Dr. Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, Minister of Health, only 20 percent of the Iranians do regular sport activities and about 60% of them are overweight. She also has said that 11% of Iranians have diabetes and 12%  are in danger of this disease. Such news is spread while 30 minutes daily walking can reduce the danger of diabetes by 50%.

Recently Dr. Fereidoun Azizi the head of the Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences in Tehran had announced that the obesity rate in Iranian families was rising. The result of the research of this institute indicates that the obesity rate in the women is 35 percent and the same factor for men is 15 percent.

While the news and statistics show this worrying fact, fundamental change in transportation and urban planning strategies of the country is not observed.

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Biodiversity Convention In Nagoya: Keeping The Jellyfish Out Of Our Sandwiches

Tafline Laylin
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1
Biodiversity Convention In Nagoya: Keeping The Jellyfish Out Of Our Sandwiches

jelly-fishWill the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) in Nagoya, Japan fare better than Copenhagen?

It’s easy to bandy about the term biodiversity, but much less easy to pin down its meaning. Harder still is to enumerate just how important biodiversity is to human life. The rate at which species are going extinct is 100-1000 times as high as normal. According to the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIEE), 33% of our genetic resources for food and agriculture have been lost, 40% of birds, 42% of amphibians, and roughly 70% of fisheries are stretching the sustainable threshold.

Fish is a staple source of animal protein for many of the world who do not have ready access to McDonalds. But we’ve nearly depleted the larger stock such as bluefish tuna and keep hauling out smaller and smaller species. At this rate, all that will be left to eat are jellyfish and algae, according to a recent IIED report called “Banking on Diversity.” The task of representatives gathered at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Japan, then, will be to create policies that will stay what some call the sixth mass extinction.

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Hezbollah Chief Compares Environment To Freedom of Speech And Religion

Tafline Laylin
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0
Hezbollah Chief Compares Environment To Freedom of Speech And Religion

nasrallah-plants-treesHezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah adds environmental stewardship to its political platform.

In order to reach the populace in the Middle East, where environmental awareness has not yet reached the pinnacle necessary to combat problems such as pollution and waste, Islamic leaders have met several times to suss out religious mandates to maintain ecological integrity.

In so doing, they circumvent prevailing (western) climate science of which many lay people are suspicious, and appeal to religious sensibilities that are more likely to sway behavior. Following that tradition, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the militant Islamist movement Hezbollah has also taken up arms in defense of the environment.

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Tel Aviv Will Ban Trucks During Morning Rush Hour to Reduce Congestion

Karen Chernick
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2
Tel Aviv Will Ban Trucks During Morning Rush Hour to Reduce Congestion

Will a simple morning truck ban solve Tel Aviv’s traffic problems, or is the problem much more complicated?

Anyone driving into Tel Aviv on a Sunday morning (the first day of the Israeli work week) knows that it’s a traffic nightmare.  As the main hub of central Israel, many people need to get to work in Tel Aviv, bring goods into Tel Aviv, etc.  And the congestion is a mess.  In an attempt to free up the roads and create more space for efficient public transportation, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz announced a few weeks ago that trucks will be banned from entering the greater Tel Aviv area on major roads during the morning rush hour.

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Denmark Prepares to (Slowly) Enter Electric Car Network

Maurice Picow
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2
Denmark Prepares to (Slowly) Enter Electric Car Network

Better Place taxicab debut in Tokyo. A rollout of exchange spots is planned for Denmark.

Better Place’s battery exchange network will be launched soon in Denmark; but at a much slower pace than originally planned, according to an article in the Danish Ingenoren transport website, and Martin Thomson, host of the electric car news web blog Easyecar.com. According to the Ingenoren site, the cost of the cars in Denmark will run around Kronen 205,000 ($38,500) and a monthly battery rental fee of DK 589 ($ 110). These prices are really overly extravagant as compared to other types of electric cars, especially high performance sport models like the ones made by Tesla Motors.

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Quinoa Tabouleh Salad recipe

Miriam Kresh
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2
Quinoa Tabouleh Salad recipe

image-quinoa-tabboulehTry a new twist on traditional tabbouleh, with quinoa instead of bulgur.

Tabbouleh or tabouleh is a standard part of mezze – the array of small, piquant dishes set down on the table before a serious meal in the Middle East. Traditionally made with bulgur wheat, tabbouleh is really a cold salad packed with herbs and vegetables. But we’ve found that for a change, or to boost nutrition, quinoa, an “ancient new grain” like freekah, makes a very good substitute for bulgur. Try this modern variation on a traditional Middle-Eastern dish.

Quinoa Tabbouleh

4 generous servings

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed twice and drained

1- 1/2 cups boiling water

1 teaspoon olive oil for cooking the quinoa

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup olive oil for the dressing

1/4 cup lemon juice

3 ripe tomatoes, chopped finely

1  cucumber, diced

3 scallions, chopped finely

1 raw carrot, coarsely grated

1 cup  parsley, chopped finely

1 /4 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped finely

1/2 cup feta cheese chopped into small cubes

Method:

1. Put the quinoa in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the teaspoon of olive oil, salt,  and the boiling water. Stir, then cover.

2. Steam the quinoa over a low flame for 15 minutes. Allow it to rest, covered, another 5. Before removing it from the pan, fluff it up with a fork.

3. Combine the 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice, and all the vegetables and herbs in a bowl. Mix the cooled quinoa in. Stir the feta cubes in. Taste the salad and add salt if needed.

4. Cover the tabbouleh and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours to overnight, to allow the flavors to marry.

Drizzle tehina over each serving, and enjoy!

Discover more Middle-Eastern recipes with Green Prophet:

10 Hyper-Miling Techniques for Greener Driving

Hannah Katsman
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4
10 Hyper-Miling Techniques for Greener Driving

View of petrol station in car side mirror
Your mileage can vary —with driving techniques that save fuel.

Here at Green Prophet, we’re in favor of increasing “green” mass transportation and reducing dependence on private vehicles. But people who need to drive fuel-based vehicles, whether for work or emergencies, can use “hypermiling” techniques to save gas. There have even been contests to get maximum fuel efficiency, sometimes double the kilometers per liter advertised by the car manufacturer. Using less fuel means less pollution, less drilling and a greener planet.

Here are ten simple hyper-miling techniques to get you started:

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Gulf Countries Are Picking From Sudan’s Breadbasket

Tafline Laylin
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1
Gulf Countries Are Picking From Sudan’s Breadbasket

sudan bread pita

With insufficient arable land of their own, Arab countries are farming in Sudan to secure their food future.

Early last year Karin reported on a troubling trend – a neo-colonial land grab occurring in Africa: Britain, Sweden, Germany, and South Korea have all usurped fertile African land in order to develop various agricultural pursuits. Then Gulf countries entered the fray since the combination of their own non-arable land and dependence on Western countries for food signaled a potentially insecure future.

That trend now appears to be escalating. Egypt is taking advantage of its Arab ties with Southern Sudan and has signed agreements to allow private companies to grow food to feed its burgeoning population, while the United Arab Emirates controls more farm acreage in Sudan than they have in their own country.

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“Earth Day Network” President Kathleen Rogers Defines “The New Environmentalist”

Tafline Laylin
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0
“Earth Day Network” President Kathleen Rogers Defines “The New Environmentalist”

kathleen-rogers-earth-dayKathleen Rogers and the world wide web have revolutionized citizen environmental activism.

Since 1970, Earth Day has pivoted grassroots environmental activism in a powerful way, uniting the global community with global concerns.

Numerous other campaigns have also emerged, providing untold opportunities for ordinary citizens to voice their insistence on a cleaner, safer, and saner future.

And while these campaigns appear to “just happen,” it is important to acknowledge the extraordinary people shepherding the flock.

We interviewed Kathleen Rogers, President of Earth Day Network, who has worked as an environmental attorney for 20 years. She has been the Chief Wildlife Counsel for the National Audubon Society, the Environmental Representative on the United States Delegation-Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), and brought the first citizen complaint before the Commission for Environmental Cooperation. Though her accolades are endless, she talks with us about the Earth Day Network, where she is helping to define the “new Environmentalist.”   

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