As we’ve been saying, Green Prophet hosted a Green Blogger’s Conference in Jordan earlier this week. We’ve recapped what we’ve learned from the Jordanian activists. Now Hiba Hamzeh from Volunteering for Peace living in the West Bank, Palestinian Authority, blogs about her desire to initiate a “green” change among people and youths in the PA:

Talking about the environmental issue in the Palestinian community is something we would rarely hear or read about. So far the activities related to environmental awareness and preservation are rare. On the other hand it is of great importance to start from somewhere to lead this human community to emphasize how essential working on this issue could be on different levels.

The Palestinian community is not of the richest communities in the world, so thinking “green” could add some financial benefits, as people will start to use their waste and leftovers for other purposes. This line of thinking will improve the environmental atmosphere in Palestine which will guide Palestinians to a better and healthier standard of life, which eventually will lead to more environmental awareness.

As an educated Palestinian woman, I feel that I have a responsibility to be a part of a campaign aimed to spread the environmental awareness in my community since I was introduced to it and know how important it is for humanity.

The way to start this in Palestine could begin from the very simplest ways so they would be observed easier, and would be easy for the people to implement in their lives. The examples to do this through environmental awareness could be unlimited, and they can be used to make the environment a part of the peoples’ lifestyles and in small daily activities that they do.

One of the few examples for a simple way that could be implemented in the Palestinian community easily is garbage compressing for organic leftovers. Another example could be introducing people to use some solid leftovers such as glass bottles for other purposes like preserving food, or for keeping other stuff in them, even sell them to glass factories so they will be re-manufactured again into other forms.

In order for us to introduce people to such practices we can start from working in the Palestinian cities and villages and guide the local community through these model activities to show them how they can do this in their homes and lives, and how this would save them much in both finance and health.

The possibilities out there in this community are huge: on one hand it is a young society where the youth form a large percentage of the population. Their energies could be hired in many activities in the streets, schools, and at home. Also many people in the villages are farmers and could use the compressed organic compost leftovers as fertilizer on their land.

-Hiba Hamzeh

Read more on our green workshop:
Multifaith Writers and Activists Unite in Jordan
Green Bloggers Page (with all updates)
Meet the green bloggers and activists from Jordan
Part I: Learn About Jordan