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Israel Joins Prestigious OECD Economic Club. What Does That Mean for the Environment?

Maurice Picow
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Israel Joins Prestigious OECD Economic Club. What Does That Mean for the Environment?

oecd membersOECD Officials: Is Israel’s entry enough to ward off political adversaries? We hope it will advance clean tech and initiatives like Desertec into the Middle East. Israel is the only Middle East member.

Israel’s dynamic economy, especially in science, information technology (IT) and now clean technology has propelled it to ascend to one of the world’s most prestigious world economic bodies: the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (the OECD) announces the organization’s own formal press release. In addition to Israel, Estonia and Slovenia are also being invited to join, which will bring the world economic body’s total country membership to 34. Considered as a “major diplomatic achievement” according to Haaretz the timing of Israel’s entry into the NGO “is what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is getting from the international community in return for starting proximity talks with the Palestinians.” But what does this mean for advancing clean tech, something Israel has become well-known for in recent years.

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Get Your Organic Produce at Amman's Souq al Balad Farmer's Market

Karen Chernick
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Get Your Organic Produce at Amman's Souq al Balad Farmer's Market

Amman’s Souq al Balad Farmer’s Market is the place to go for organic and local produce (and some other fun stuff, too).

The warm weather sweeping across the Middle East must be putting people in the mood to pay more attention to their produce and spend time shopping outdoors, because farmer’s markets are popping up everywhere.  Just last week, an all-organic farmer’s market opened up at the historic Turkish train station in Tel Aviv and it looks like there’s another farmer’s market – Souq al Balad – going strong in Amman.

Operating every Saturday since April, the Souq al Balad Farmer’s Market in Amman will continue to operate every Saturday through June.  It is held at the YWCA behind Le Royal Hotel at 3rd Circle, from 10am – 2pm.

The products sold at the market include organic and local produce, traditional pastries, baked goods, potted plants and flowers, hand-made soaps, traditional and innovative handicrafts (including the beautiful work of Rima Malallah’s Love on a Bike), fresh dairy, breads, olive oil, preserves, and more.

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Join the Betacup Competition. Win $10,000 for Sustainable Coffee Cup Design

Karen Chernick
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Join the Betacup Competition. Win $10,000 for Sustainable Coffee Cup Design

Betacup competition urges global participants to find a sustainable alternative to the wasteful, ubiquitous coffee cup. [image via: JcOlivera]

Even environmentalists with the best of intentions might struggle with always remembering to bring their reusable coffee cup from home.  You know how it is – you leave home in a hurry in the morning, really need that cup of coffee from your favorite local spot to jolt you out of your morning stupor, and just as you’re about to order that double espresso americano (or whatever it is that gets you through the day) you remember that your reusable coffee cup is sitting on the kitchen counter.  And then you have to make that decision: do I save my energy level for the day, or do I save the planet by using one less disposable coffee cup?

The Betacup competition hopes to generate sustainable coffee cup ideas so that you never have to make that decision ever again.

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RECIPE: Apricot Chutney

Miriam Kresh
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RECIPE: Apricot Chutney


Golden-pink apricots are in season now in the Middle East. Preserve some as chutney for year-round enjoyment.

Do you like chutney? Cooking your own seasonal (and preferably organic) fruit, you can enjoy locavore preserves that you won’t find in any supermarket. And you choose the sweetness and chili heat of your chutney according to your own taste. We’re enjoying the short apricot season now. Try this mild chutney, flavored with sweet spices rather than lots of fiery chilis and assertive onions.

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Wind Turbines and 10 Israel-related Cleantech Headlines, Week of May 2, 2010

Lisa Damast
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Wind Turbines and 10 Israel-related Cleantech Headlines, Week of May 2, 2010

Aora-Tulip-Solar-FarmIsrael’s wind plan, SolarEdge’s Italian partnership, drip irrigation and more headlines related to Israeli cleantech this past week.

During the week of May 2, 2010, SolarEdge announced that it’s expanding its operations to Italy in partnership with Albatech. Discussion of the impact Israeli drip technology can have in ending Africa’s hunger cycles continued and Israel is planning to install wind turbines to power street lighting.  For these stories and more, check out this week’s 10 Israel-related cleantech headlines below.

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Toads Could Predict Deadly Mideast Earthquakes Months in Advance

Maurice Picow
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91
Toads Could Predict Deadly Mideast Earthquakes Months in Advance

mating toads predict earthquakes photoHoney, was that you moving, or should we take that as a sign for an earthquake? Image via Ryedo

Grrrrrrrrrebit! This may seem a bit far fetched, but a scientific study carried out in the Journal of Zoology regarding the behavior of animals prior to the occurrence of a serious earthquake has found that some animal species, especially toads, may be able to predict the occurrence of an earthquake in enough time for people to prepare for one. For years, scientists have been studying the behavior of various animals prior to earthquake occurrences; and the fact that much of the unusual behavior seen in animals before earthquakes is also seen in other situations, and also confuses the over all picture. But if true, this news might benefit the earthquake prone Middle East. 

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CSR in the Middle East

Karen Chernick
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CSR in the Middle East

Help Sustainability Advisory Group hear the real deal about corporate responsibility and sustainability in the Middle East. [image via: Ben]

Environmental organizations are, of course, very important.  But often big change comes from the big companies who have big power.  Which is why it’s important not only to support green non-profits, but companies that are making environmentally-friendly strides as well.  In preparation for the 7th Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Summit taking place in Dubai from May 30th – June 3rd 2010, Sustainability Advisory Group is conducting its second annual survey on executive views on corporate responsibility and sustainability in the Middle East.

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Meat Prices Going Up? Tips for Switching to a Vegetable-Based Diet

Hannah Katsman
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Meat Prices Going Up? Tips for Switching to a Vegetable-Based Diet

vegetarian-diet-tipsCombat High Meat Prices with Tips for Going Vegetarian

Argentina has halted export of a main dietary staple, beef, to keep local prices down. This has led to a beef shortage worldwide, along with an increase in price.   How will that affect us here in the Middle East? And what can we do about it?

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C.E.S. Thinks Inside the Box to Save Energy

Karin Kloosterman
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C.E.S. Thinks Inside the Box to Save Energy

Israel’s C.E.S. box greens your home power use, telling you where faulty appliances are sucking juice from the grid.

Like GreenRoads to save fuel (invested in by Virgin’s Branson, and Gore’s clean tech fund), investors know the money is not just on innovative futuristic technologies, but companies that work today to save fuel, and money.

Consider this: your electric bill has gone sky high. You suspect the air conditioner, which has been emitting a rattling noise since you fired it up in the spring. Only that’s not the culprit – how are you to know that it’s your fridge that’s not working properly and using so much power that running it constitutes 40 percent of your energy bill? Now imagine having a device that can tell you where and how your home electricity is being consumed, and that can program parts of the house – like your teenager’s room or the den – to shut down in order to save money, energy and wear and tear on your appliances when no one’s home.

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United Nations Call for a Nuclear Free Middle East to Stop Iran

Maurice Picow
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United Nations Call for a Nuclear Free Middle East to Stop Iran

nuclear reactor middle east illustrationThe UN’s Security Council pushes for a nuclear-free Middle East, a good idea for people and the environment. Image via davidsommerfeld.

What Happens to the Environment in a Nuclear Middle East as well as on the dangers of building nuclear reactors in countries like Jordan and Egypt are articles we’ve delved into in the past. Even one was written dealing with the ramifications of  a possible vaccine against the effects of nuclear radiation.

But now, a lot of hype is being given in regards to trying the make the Middle East a nuclear free zone, as reported in the Jerusalem Post last week. And these new proposals, backed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: China, Great Britain, France, Russia, and the USA, appear to be expressing concern over the ongoing nuclear program of Iran. We think the results of such a ban could be good for the over all health of the Middle East. 

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Multimatrix Invests Millions In Israel's Small Wind Market

Maurice Picow
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Multimatrix Invests Millions In Israel's Small Wind Market

wind turbines israel golan heightsMultimatrix and AES invest in Israel water company to catch the wind.

Harnessing wind energy has never been a priority endeavor in Israel, compared to projects dealing with solar energy. In fact, the only large size wind energy project there has been the Mei Golan wind farm, composed of ten large wind turbines on a hill near the cease-fire border with Syria on the Golan Heights.

The Golan, a windy plateau that was captured from Syria by Israel in the June 1967 Six Day War, is one of the few places in Israel that has enough constant wind velocity to warrant the use of wind power over other forms of renewable energy. past Green Prophet article in which new Golan Heights solar energy projects appeared to be upstaging the Mei Golan wind farm which uses already outdated technology to run a the wind turbines on Tel Asiniya, which generate about 6 megawatts of electricity.

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Join The Wide World of WED on June 5th

Tafline Laylin
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Join The Wide World of WED on June 5th

gorilla-WED2010For This Year’s World Environment Day, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Asks the World’s Citizens to Mobilize for Climate Action. [image via flickr]

In the first few months of each year, we report on several special days and hours:  there’s World Water Day on March 22nd, Earth Hour on the last Saturday of March, and Earth Day on April 22nd.  The next earth-themed day – World Environment Day (WED) – will be celebrated on June 5th.  We  think of these as living memorials to our planet.  Just as we set aside time to honor saints and leaders, environment days similarly create punctuations in our routines.  However, rather than meditate on the sacrifice and wisdom of our leaders, we reflect instead on our collective responsibility to protect everybody’s earth.

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Drip Irrigation Gives Hope to Drought Plagued Farmers in Syria

Green Prophet
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Drip Irrigation Gives Hope to Drought Plagued Farmers in Syria

colorful damascus farm vegetables syria photoMicrofinance loans help Syrian farmers meet their water needs to grow crops like this tasty spread at a market in Damascus.

While severe drought in eastern and northeastern Syria is seriously affecting lives and livelihoods, farmers may draw some hope and comfort from an irrigation success story in the central district of Salamieh. An experimental drip irrigation project run by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (RSP) in the village of Fraytan (17 farmers) in 2003, has spread to 52 villages today.

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Rebranding Yemen With $1 Billion Tourism Campaign. Will It Be Eco?

adam gonn - the media line
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Rebranding Yemen With $1 Billion Tourism Campaign. Will It Be Eco?

yemen men traditional smokingDiversifying away from oil Yemen plans to build six beach resorts over the next five years to draw tourists. How much will be sustainable?

The Yemen Tourism and Promotion Board announced the plan on Thursday to boost the country’s tourism industry. Each of the planned six facilities along the Yemeni coast is valued at $150 – $250 million. In addition, 44 small-to-medium-sized projects across the country’s mountainous interior will be built, ranging from three-star hotels to mud and stone huts.“I’m inviting potential investors to invest in the Yemen tourism sector as we have six major projects in the pipeline approved by the government,” said Omar Babelgheith, Yemen’s deputy minister of tourism development.

The projects “will change the image of Yemen tourism,” he said. The total amount of all the projects is estimated at $1bn said Babelgheith, “which will contribute to support Yemen as one of the main destinations of the world.”

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Baptizing In Jordan's Holy Sewage, The Tour and the Report

Karin Kloosterman
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1
Baptizing In Jordan's Holy Sewage, The Tour and the Report

kaser el yehud jesus baptism siteThe Jordan River’s source is a sewage pipe, and it ends in a whimper. Predicted to run dry by 2011, Karin goes on a media tour with FoEME to see firsthand the damage done. Here a Russian tourist dips into Kaser El Yehud, believed to be Jesus’ baptismal site on the Jordan.

The bus full of foreign journalists (including Green Prophet’s Maurice) wobbles down a barely graded side-road flanked by an untamed overgrowth of weeds and reeds. “I am going to show you something they don’t want you to see,” says Gidon Bromberg, water activist and director of the Israeli chapter of Friends of the Earth Middle East.

Bromberg has made it his life mission to protect Israel’s precious and limited water supply, the same waters shared by his neighbors and partners in Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority. There is a water crisis in the region; some like Bromberg cite mismanagement as one of the major reasons. Noses are held on approach as the bus reaches the site that some in Israel’s government would rather hide — not for religious or political reasons, but environmental ones.

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Zentera drops “ethical wool” claim after peta exposé into zq-certified farms

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The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.

Fresh Fava Bean Soup, A Vegan Springtime Recipe

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Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.

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