Lebanon faces a number of environmental threats, including air and water pollution, risks associated with climate change, and the impact of the 2006 war with Israel. IRIN, the United Nations environment news source, takes a look at the top five.
RECIPE: Kreplach For The Pre-Yom Kippur Meal
Did you know it’s a mitzvah to eat well before the Yom Kippur fast? Kreplach (Ashkenazic traditional stuffed noodle dumplings) are a delicious addition to the pre-fast meal.
This year, Yom Kippur starts on Friday evening the 17th of September, and lasts till Shabbat is over on Saturday night. Although the fast falls on Shabbat, folks must still cook in advance – not only the pot of something for the little ones, but a meal rich in carbs, light protein, and fluids, to eat before the fast. Fruit and veg are important, like our butternut squash stuffed with quinoa. And the traditional pre-fast soup with kreplach supplies a good part of the nutrition a body needs to get through the next 25 hours.
This recipe calls for chicken-filled dumplings served in chicken broth. But vegetarians can enjoy kreplach soup by using any savory filling (such as sauteed tofu, mashed potatoes, and mushrooms seasoned with fried onion) and a hearty vegetable-based soup. Vegetarians and carnivores both enjoy supplementing the soup with a light, yet high-protein dish like our Majadra recipe.
Israel Cleantech Intelligence: Green Towers and 7 More Headlines
Israel-China deals, green synagogues, droughts and more headlines related to Israeli cleantech and the environment.
Solaer, a Spanish renewable energy company, is expecting to claim 10% of the the Israeli PV solar market within five years. Progress is being made on the construction of Tel Aviv’s first green office tower, as well as on Ormat and Solar Millennium AG’s attempt to win a contract to develop and run a solar thermal energy plant in Israel. For these stories and more, see this week’s headlines below.
Turkey’s New Step Towards Wind Energy in Balıkesir
On the heels of Turkey’s smart-grid connection to Europe, the country announces that it will host a new wind-turbine factory in the Western province.
News moves quickly in the blogosphere. Roughly two weeks ago we reported Turkey’s new “smart-grid” connection to Europe, which is expected to not only improve the country’s own renewable energy sector, but will allow it to boost its economy by exporting energy to Europe.
While Leviathan promotes miniature wind-turbines, and others are leasing their roof space for smaller-scale agricultural and renewable energy projects, Turkey will host a full-scale wind-turbine manufacturing plant in the western province of Balıkesir.
UAE Man Campaigns Against Reckless Driving That Killed His Sister. Part II.
Every day, 35 people are killed in the Gulf as a result of poor driving. Mohd Shahnawaz has launched a new campaign to change the attitude behind the Gulf’s reckless drivers.
This is the second in a two-part series about the Suraya Foundation. In the first (which you can read here) we described how Mr. Shahnawaz started the Suraya Foundation in the United Arab Emirates after the death of his sister in an undisputed and possibly reckless driving incident.
In this second part, Mr. Shahnawaz describes his methodology for changing the cultural attitudes that wreck havoc on the roads.
In the Arab world, though particularly in the Gulf region, reckless driving accounts for a devastating string of traffic accidents and attendant fatalities. We reported that Iran has the highest rate of traffic fatalities, though Saudi Arabia also has a very serious traffic problem. Mr. Shahnawaz believes that a campaign that combines both an emotional and logical appeal is the most effective way to sway the public.
Tel-Aviv’s $60 Million Eco-Office Tower A Go
Tel Aviv’s first ‘green’ office tower uses recycled, sustainable and domestic building materials and ecological maintenance procedures for a long-term low impact on nature.
Israel’s scarce water and energy resources were foremost in the minds of constructors Ronen and Alon Azouri when they designed Tel Aviv’s first ‘green’ office tower. Using recycled sustainable and/or domestic building materials and ecological maintenance procedures, their goal was to create an office block with a long-term low impact on nature.
Can Shmuel Ovadia’s SDE Wave Energy Compete with World’s Largest Wave Power Hub?
Wave energy may be Mankind’s future energy resource.
Generating electricity from ocean currents and waves is still far from being an accomplished reality, despite efforts being made by innovators like Shmuel Ovada and his SDE wave energy company. But now, the idea of using the tremendous power of the sea to create energy is much closer to practical reality with the completion of what is being hailed as the world’s largest wave power hub that is estimated to be able to produce as much as 187,000 MWh of electricity per year.
Why Israel Breathes Easy On Car-free Yom Kippur Day
Israel’s green campaigners note the quiet streets and clear skies on Yom Kippur Day
Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year in Judaism and begins this Friday. For non-Jews in Israel it is a day when the streets are quiet, peaceful and vacant of anything but feet.
But beyond urban tranquility, green campaigners in Israel have noticed an unexpected benefit to the Jewish day of prayer and fasting: the country’s ecological footprint is significantly reduced.
Sue Tourkin Komet Integrates Recycling (and a whole lot of other stuff) Into her Sukkah
Before you start building your sukkah, think about the materials and values that you want to use.
Sukkot, the Jewish Festival of Booths, will begin next week and many Jews all over the world are starting to think about building their sukkah. While intended to imitate a natural makeshift shelter and honor certain forms of plant life, sukkot are often decorated with plastic ornaments and other non-eco-friendly items. Sue Tourkin Komet, based in Jerusalem, shows us that it doesn’t have to be that way. You can integrate upcycled and recycled elements into your sukkah (and perhaps even fully create it out of them).
Bridging Syria’s Bio-Tech Gap
Syria’s building its environmental research infrastructure one Masters at a time
In addition to de-congesting its markets, albeit at the expense of certain locals, and improving local and foreign knowledge about Syria’s extraordinary biodiversity, the country appears to be taking important steps to educating their public about environmental issues. Often the unsung heroes spend their lives doing critical research, which if any good is then applied to real-world scenarios. Thanks to the National Commission for Biotechnology, developed in concert with the Ministry of Higher Education in 2002, Syria is beginning to close the East-West gap in biotechnology and other critical environmental research.
Organic Honey versus Mass Produced?
The honey bee chooses the flower, which changes the flavour of the honey. Which honey do you choose?
The Jewish New Year, otherwise known as Rosh Hashanah, was celebrated just this past week, and one of the most common symbols of this time is honey. A jar of honey symbolises a sweet new year, so around this time it is a popular commodity in Jewish households. When buying honey, no matter the time of year, do you stop to consider which type of honey you are purchasing?
Beware Turkey’s Naysayers: Some Agricultural Chemicals ARE Harmful
It’s worthwhile to heed the “eco-washers” and other insincere marketers, but to completely overlook the harm in certain chemicals is to do a disservice to the community.
We are as quick to take eco-washing to task as any rabid consumer. Earlier this year, we called out Foster & Partners for their “sustainable” architecture, which is only sustainable for maybe the next few years. And we are willing to take a critical view of vegetarianism and sustainable fishing – both practices that we promote but that are controversial issues in the blogosphere. However, we don’t have a lot of patience for the naysayers who blithely publish erroneous information that threatens to undo years of campaigning for better health for everyone.
Feather Project’s Young And Old Get Together To Save The Planet
What lesson would you like to share with the next generation? What does it take to create a better future for the human family and all life on this planet?
These questions are at the heart of the Feather Project which seeks to bring together young and old people to create solutions for the problems facing the planet.
Launched by the award-winning humanitarian Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp from the Netherlands, the project states that using the wisdom of elders, the dreams of the young, and the world’s spiritual traditions we can create a more sustainable planet.
Rabbi Soetendorp also notes that the key to safeguarding the planet is intergenerational dialogue in which wisdom is passed on and the hopes and wishes of the future generations are expressed.
He wrote: “It is the natural but too often neglected passionate cooperation between the generations, blending the lessons from the past with daring visions for the future that will pull us out of the trap of self-indulgence and callousness, which could only lead to destruction of ourselves and the diversity of all life.”
Israel to Make Public Buildings More Energy Efficient – At No Cost to the Taxpayer
Energy will soon be used more judiciously at the Supreme Court (shown here) and other public buildings in Israel.
The Israeli government has awarded a tender for improving energy efficiency in public buildings by over 30% – without spending a shekel of taxpayer’s money. Under the tender’s Energy Saving Sharing plan, EHS Tech will bear all of the costs of acquiring and installing new lighting systems and other equipment, and the company will receive 70% of the anticipated savings in energy costs during the first seven years.
Spain’s Solaer is Bullish on Israel’s PV Market, Hopes to Win 10% Market Share
Solaer sees ‘huge potential’ for solar arrays in Israel.
After building a number of photovoltaic solar facilities in Spain, the Spanish renewable energy company Solaer is now exploring several other sunny markets, including Israel. In fact, Solaer’s founder and CEO, Ignacio Arganza Alvaro, told the Israeli business newspaper Globes that his company hopes to achieve a 10% share of the Israeli market within five years.