Israel’s tourism industry has made some serious changes recently. The Ministry of Tourism announced a few months ago that it was going ‘green’ for 2009, stating that it had a plan that included “environment-sensitive planning and development; preservation of the cultural and social heritage; developing tourism and new jobs in agricultural areas and the periphery while improving the quality of life for the residents and educating and raising awareness among residents and tourists about the importance of developing sustainable tourism.”
Smart Shopping
For some there is nothing more rewarding than a new item of clothing. Nothing wrong with that. Right?! You’re thinking: “those greenies won’t let me have any fun!” It’s true, being green can seem oppresive. But it’s really about attitude.
Nothing wrong with a nice shiny new article of clothing, but if it sits forever in your closet and is only worn once. Then you have a problem.
Greening is about being smart, in this case – smart shopping.
Are you buying on impulse? Will this REALLY match your wardrobe? There is nothing more rewarding than a smart buy, when it all fits together. It adds so much to the experience when youget to SHOW OFF your shiny new clothing… Isn’t it?
Waste less, enjoy more! That’s the green motto!
and for sustainable design…
Green Prophet in Focus: Michael Green
This week, our Green Prophet in Focus series gets up close and personal with resident Prophet Michael Green.
Once a music journalist (he stands true to vinyl) and environmental activist in Bristol, UK, Michael has since brought his green wisdom to Israel. In addition to his position here as Prophet-in-residence, Michael is a journalist for various publications and keeps a blog, Swords to Ploughshares.
Read more about Michael’s passion for organic food, his thoughts on vegetarianism, and the UK environmental activism scene after the jump:
Segway Mobile Tourism Information Points Hit Tel Aviv and Jaffa
As part of its overall activities to improve service for tourists visiting the city this summer, the Association for Tourism Tel Aviv-Jaffa has introduced Segway mobile information points onto the city streets.
The unique, colorful Segways can be found on the streets of Tel Aviv seven days a week from 13:00 – 19:00, particularly in areas of concentrated tourist traffic such as the Tel Aviv Port, the boardwalk or tayelet along the seashore, Jaffa, the Neveh Tzedek neighborhood and Rothschild Boulevard. The stewards on the Segways offer tourists general information and details about events and special happenings in the city, and distribute maps, flyers and promotional material that will help the tourist make the most out of his time in the city.
Etty Gargir, Director of the Association for Tourism Tel Aviv-Jaffa: 2007 was a record year for tourism in Tel Aviv, registering an increase of 23% in the numbers of tourists visiting the city over the previous year. During 2007, income from tourist overnights in the city exceeded 2 billion shekel.
Sustainable Reading: Offset Your Books With Eco-Libris
With September rolling around and the back to school shopping in full swing, books are more prominent than ever. It’s officially book season. And whether you’re an elementary schooler, a senior in high school, a university student, a parent, or a loving aunt/uncle/grandparent… books will probably be on your radar in the coming weeks.
So assuming you know that books are going to be on your shopping list in the near future and assuming that you know that making books requires chopping down a lot of trees, how do you resolve this dilemma?
Eco-Libris, a company founded by Israelis, is in the business of greening your books. While other companies help offset carbon emissions, Eco-Libris helps readers offset their literary carbon emissions. For every book that you’d like to offset, the company will get one of their partners in a developing area to plant trees (thus essentially replacing the trees that were chopped down to produce the book you’re reading).
Eco-Mum on Greening Your Back to School Shopping
So it’s the last week of the holidays and everybody is out shopping for the new school year. But do you really know what you are buying for your kids? Cheap and cheerful may be your number one priority but what about green and healthy?
Do you understand the hidden problems with those bright shiny, plastic lunchboxes or those every so plastic back packs, and really have you looked at all your money saving options before rushing out to buy new?
Here’s a green way at looking at those Back to School shopping trips.
Buy Local
For the most part it’s usually better to buy local. This cuts out the emissions created as a result of shipping, getting the product to your door.
This is an important question: Is it better to buy biodegradable garbage bags that are manufactured in China? Or go with the one’s made a block away, that aren’t shipped around the world?
Keep this in mind when buying local; but for the most part, it’s best to cut out as much transportation as possible. Visit a farmer’s market nearby. Ask the vendors where they get their produce from. Another good source for finding locals is your neighborhood health-food store. Often you can find the inside scoop on where to get what.
IQWind Gears Up For Energy Efficiency
Wind power is a good energy alternative to free America from its oil dependence, but it could be made a lot more efficient. The wind as we know, can blow in gusts and spurts, it can tickle your ears or rip out trees – but the massive blades of today’s wind turbines can’t match the wind’s temperament: the rotors are fixed to spin at an even speed, maintaining a constant RPM (rounds per minute).
The result is that a large amount of wasted energy just dissipates with the wind. A new Israeli company IQWind, exemplifying the spirit of the strong Israeli clean technology movement, proposes a new solution. The company founded in 2007, and recently voted a Top 100 Tech Startup by Red Herring business magazine, has designed a new gearbox that promises to squeeze the most energy from both new and existing wind turbines.
“IQWind has solved a painful problem in wind turbines, and allows them to work in an efficient way while significantly reducing the costs. Because when you add our gears in, other components become redundant, and can reduce the price of building a wind turbine by 25 percent,” IQwind founder and CEO Gideon Ziegelman, tells ISRAEL21c.
Astorre Modena, a general partner at Jerusalem-based Terra Venture Partners, a major investor in IQWind, adds that the technology is “an elegant, smooth and solid gearbox that allows you to change gears without disconnecting the transmission,” he says, noting that “there is much more meat,” to the technology’s innovation that he can’t disclose.
It might not take long to get a sneak peak of IQWind’s gears in action: Modena says that the company expects to have a beta test site in Israel – possibly outdoors, or in a lab – within the next six months. It will take another two years before the gearbox goes into production.
Putting wind in the market’s sails
The $30 billion dollar wind turbine market is growing, putting IQWind and other wind power enabling technology in a lucrative position. There is currently a 12 to 24 month waiting list to buy a wind turbine and have it installed, and as the windiest spots of land are developed, Europeans and Americans will need to make existing operations more efficient.
Modena sees a future where wind energy technology will become more differentiated, especially in Europe where installing new turbine projects is limited: “There will be more play in efficiency and that’s where the value is gong to come in,” he says, citing IQWind’s and Israel’s special position.
Israeli clean tech on the horizon
Israel has strong expertise in solar thermal and water technology, owing its success in clean technology to the massive influx of Russian immigrants, says Modena who remarks that in general, clean technology is a difficult field, requiring cooperation between multiple disciplines: “Israelis are good that,” he says, noting that Terra has plans to invest in a new clean technology company every quarter.
The company doesn’t have to be Israeli, says Modena, but it should be willing to establish an R&D center in Israel, if there is no other connection. Terra is looking to invest in energy efficiency solutions, like IQWind, as well as solar energy technology.
IQWind, founded by Gideon Ziegelman, a graduate from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, is based outside of Raanana, Israel, where it employs about 10 people.
(This article was first published on ISRAEL21c www.israel21c.org)
Trio Energy Invents a Greener, More Energy Efficient Greenhouse
(Image credit: Corbis)
It’s bad for the environment, but you know you want it. You want those strawberries in the dead of winter. You know you should be eating local produce year round to avoid all of the carbon emissions associated with flying in food from distant places or using energy guzzling greenhouses to grow produce that is out of season… but we’re spoiled modern folk and sometimes you just want those strawberries in January.
Thanks to 2 year old Israeli company, Trio Energy Systems, we may be able to satisfy those cravings with a little less guilt. Having taken into account that the reason most greenhouses waste energy is because a lot of energy is required in order to keep them warm during colder weather and much of the heat dissipates, they’ve come up with a solution that minimizes energy consumption in the greenhouse.
Artist Community Hayarkon 70 Looking to Green Itself, Sort Of
There is a yearning for ecologically and environmentally responsible choices that I’ve been observing in Tel Aviv, especially among a select group of young, influential artists. There are continual hurdles for them, though, showing how sometimes thinking green and acting green don’t always go hand in hand.
Hayarkon 70 is a disparate group of artists in Tel Aviv that meets a few times a week in an old run-down apartment. The group also runs and operates an artist gallery that also houses studios and offices for a number of young artists. They host many parties and gallery openings and rooftop concerts and add a unique culture to Tel Aviv. I see this community as representative of the general desire many Israelis have to improve their ways, reflecting the demand there is for green technology and services that are practical, easy and affordable.
My first interaction with this community came as members were discussing whether or not to make a full switch to Ecover dish soap at a weekly meeting, and for a brief while there was Ecover in the kitchen because someone met a supplier and got a good deal. After the Ecover meeting most people are aware that Ecover is better than regular dish soap (or maybe not?) but in the shared kitchen of artist studios, when dish soap runs out, some artist who needed to clean dishes and either missed the meeting or didn’t want to spend the extra money goes and buys the green fairy junk and then everybody is stuck finishing off the conventional soap.
AES Takes Steam Energy Out Of GNRY's Waste Wood Chips
(image credit: NYTimes blogs)
Man, alternative energy solutions can’t come fast enough. The world is teetering on the verge of runaway climate change (some predictors say there’s less than 100 months), and gas prices are killing us not only at the gas station, but are affecting everything we buy from food to clothes to you name it. Racing to get an edge in the market is America’s AES, who’s obviously got a serious interest and investment in Israeli clean technology.
Green Prophet reported a massive wind energy deal AES was in with Mey Golan (estimated $500 million), and now we read, the company is keen on investing in Israeli biofuel through GNRY. According to Globes (who we are not going to link to because they archive after 1 week), AES Corporation is in negotiations to invest in the Israeli alternative energy company GNRY Ltd to the tune of a deal worth NIS 25-27 million ($8 million).
Run the City Introduces a New Type of Israeli Eco Tourism
As the Green Prophet archives will tell you, Israel is no stranger to environmentally friendly tourism. Not only is there a variety of ecologically minded guesthouses all of the country (including a vegetarian paradise in the Galilee), but the Israeli Ministry of Tourism has announced that it is going green. Part of this initiative has included stepping away from motorized (and gas-guzzling) transportation and encouraging human-powered transportation, such as cycling tourism (it already planned a wonderful wine tour cycling route this past Passover).
But now there’s another way to tour Israel without getting into a car, a train, a bus, or a plane. Run the City sightjogging.
The first sightjogging company in Israel (which promotes sightseeing as you jog), Run the City currently offers various running tours of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Their team of experienced recreational runners will pick you up from your hotel and run you around town, pointing out sights of historical and cultural interest based on the tour you selected. (And if you can’t remember the last time you put on those running shoes, don’t worry – they promise you’ll still be smiling throughout the run.)
Rabbi Julian Sinclair on 'Breakthrough' by Nordhaus and Shellenberger
In this week’s green book review, guest reviewer Rabbi Julian Sinclair unpicks the recent ‘Breakthrough’ by US writers Ted Nordhaus & Michael Shellenberger.
Last month Al Gore gave a rousing speech on climate change, throwing down an audacious challenge to the American people. By 2020, Gore declared, let American by powered 100% by renewable sources of energy.
Gore appealed to the Apollo Project as the model for an enterprise of such grandeur. In 1961 President Kennedy announced his goal that America put a man on the moon within a decade. Kennedy’s challenge captured America’s imagination and galvanized the American computer, aeronautics and space industries. As wildly ambitious as the aim at first appeared, the United States reached it with 15 months to spare. In his speech, Gore announced that we need a new Apollo Mission for energy today.
Painting a vision of this magnitude represented something of a departure for Al Gore in his thinking about how to move people on climate change. He has done more than anyone to raise awareness of the issue, but at first he appeared to think that simply laying out the inconvenient truth about global warming would be sufficient to mobilize action. When it didn’t, he started musing about the inconvenient evolution of the human fear gland that was designed to respond to immediate, emotional stimuli rather than cognitive and scientific input.
Cook in bulk
If you cook in bulk you will be making efficient use of your oven’s energy. Cook meals in large quantities, and set aside extra portions for another day. Professional chefs will tell you that for them cooking a meal for 6 and 60 takes almost the same prep-work.
When you’re done portion and freeze it. Reheating uses less energy than preparing a new meal and will save you time too. This will also help keep your freezer running more efficiently.
Israel's Ministry of Environmental Protection to Clean Up the Kinneret
It’s a drawback to being popular: Litter has become a big problem on the coast of the freshwater Kinneret lake (the Sea of Galilee).
To take charge of the problem, Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Israel Police force and the Kinneret Authority inaugurated a new environmental policing unit to clean up the coast.