Israel’s search for solutions to solid waste management has been no secret. Last year, for instance, the Knesset passed new taxes for dumping in landfills, and a law requiring businesses to recycle tires.
Luckily, it’s not only the policymakers who are working on the problem, and it’s not only the Jewish sector either! Ras al-Ayn, an Arab-Israeli village in the Galilee is currently operating a compost project that could serve as a model for organic waste recycling throughout the entire country
In a press conference held last week the Jordanian Minister of Environment, His Excellency Khaled Irani, announced the launch of a Jordanian initiative called “Eco-Cities of the Mediterranean Forum 2008” to be held at the Ministry’s premises this coming October.
When explaining the reasons for initiating the regional conference, Irani said:
Our region’s energy, water, air and environment are all facing significant and complicated challenges that are affecting the quality of our lives today and will continue to affect the quality of future generations if they are not addressed… During this three day event, we aim to create a momentum towards addressing environmental challenges and opportunities in cities across the Mediterranean region and to promote the adoption of environmentally friendly practices by suggesting policies, strategies and programs bringing together the relevant public and private sectors.
With everyone going back to school over the next few days, now is a good time to connect with parents from your children’s school. Find out who has children in grades above your child and see if you can get their old books. There are also many book stores which will buy and resell used school books. Unless requested specifically there is no reason to buy the newer books. Growing up I used to enjoy discovering comments left for me from the previous owner. Turn it into a game for your child!
Within the realm of cosmetics, Ahava certainly holds a certain respect. Founded in 1988, the Israeli company exports its skin-enriching products, infused with minerals from the Dead Sea, to over 30 countries around the world.
On its website under the Environmental Responsibility tab, Ahava writes that “the Company’s activities are undertaken with a view towards preserving the pristine environment and delicate balance of the natural forces in the Dead Sea region.”
Is this true?
A bus stop that grows its own foliage as shade? A children’s playground, made entirely from trees? A shelter made from living tree roots that could provide natural protection against earthquakes in California?
“Eco-architecture” may sound like a Buck Rogers vision of an ecologically-sustainable future, but that future is now thanks to the guidance of Tel Aviv University Professors Yoav Waisel and Amram Eshel. The concept of shaping living trees into useful objects known as tree shaping, arborsculpture, living art or pooktre isn’t new. But scientists are now ready to use this concept as the foundation of a new company that will roll out these structures worldwide.
Israelis are world-leaders in inventing solar energy solutions. To find the business partner you need, or the company you’ve been dreaming about investing in, follow some of Green Prophet’s recommended links.
Amcor Solar Energies Ltd.
Amcor Solar Energies – a subsidiary of the Ashtrom Group – is a leading producer of Solar and Electrical heating systems for the Israeli and international markets.
The main countries of Export are Jamaica, Spain, Greece, Denmark and parts of the former USSR. With over 30 years experience in designing, developing and manufacturing, the company has put together a comprehensive line of high quality Solar Collectors, Solar and Electrical Tanks all approved by the Israeli Institute of Standards (I.I.S). The focus of the company is mainly on heating solutions for domestic and industrial usage.
::Amcor Website
Arava Power Company
The Arava Power Company (APC) produces renewable energy in the Arava region and sells it to the residents of the Arava and the Israel Electric Company. The creation of Arava Power is part of the regional initiative to make the Arava the Silicon Valley of renewable energy.
::Arava Website
Chromagen
The company dominates the Israeli market in which 85% of the households rely on thermal solar systems for hot water. With three distribution centers, and more than 150 independent authorized local dealers, the company provides a nationwide network for sales, installation and customer service.
::Chromagen Website
Ecoppia
One of the biggest challenges in solar energy is keeping the solar panels clean. Solar parks in the desert face two major challenges: a lot of dust on the photovoltaic panels and not enough water to clean them. Dust can cause up to a 40% decrease in efficiency of the panels. So there is huge interest to avert this problem. Normally teams of humans come in with squeegees to clean the panels by hand. Ecoppia does the cleaning with a Roomba-like robotics cleaning machine when we are all asleep. More on Ecoppia
BrightSource Energy
Brightsource Energy generates electrical power by using solar energy to convert water to superheated steam. Solar fields reflect sunlight onto a receiver located on the top of a Power Tower. Each Power Tower module is linked by pipelines to a central location where superheated steam and electricity are produced.
Millennium Electric T.O.U Ltd.
Designs, develops, installs and provides Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy systems and a wide variety of solar energy related services in Israel and throughout the world. Products include Multi Solar Systems that both generate electricity and produce hot water.
Plastic Magen
We all know the benefits in using the free reliable energy coming from the sun. Heating water by sun radiation can eliminate high, on-going monthly fuel costs, using a safe and clean energy source. Since 1977, PLASTIC MAGEN develops and produces an all plastic solar collector, used mainly as a swimming pool water heater and as pre-heating systems for industrial and domestic hot water supply.
Solar collectors made by PLASTIC MAGEN are sold, all over the world, for more than 25 years under the brand names HELIOCOL and SUNSTAR.
::Plastic Magen Website
Pythagoras Solar
Pythagoras Solar is focused on dramatically changing the economics of photovoltaic technology through innovation that changes some of the basic technical principles behind the discipline. To accomplish its goals, the company is working to combine software models, optic design, semiconductor processes, materials science, and mass manufacturing techniques to build highly durable, cost effective solar energy products.
Pythagoras Solar Website
SolarEdge
SolarEdge develops a unique power harvesting solution providing unsurpassed performance in real-life scenarios. It will lower the average cost per watt in any typical photovoltaic installation via increased wattage and lower costs, provide for easier and cheaper installation, and help make Photovoltaic (PV) installations relevant in more sites.
Sulha, meaning reconciliation in Arabic, is an annual grassroots event held in Israel, bringing people from all religions, faiths and none, to be together for 3 days, in an atmosphere of respect and mutual understanding.
Started by Gabriel Meyer and Elias Jabbour 8 years ago, the site of the annual Sulha gathering has changed over the years, but last year and currently (it ends tonight) it takes over the beautiful olive groves of Latrun monastery halfway between Jerusalem & Tel Aviv.
In keeping with the peaceful and constructive aims of the organisation and the process of coming together in reconciliation and respect, the Sulha is an environmentally-friendly event, and I was very impressed to be asked to bring my own plate and cutlery as a sign of this.
Other green ways of supporting the event included car-sharing and facebook invitations. Experiential lectures and workshops on making and using bio-fuel, and input from the good people at the NGO Bustan on bedouin and ecology complemented the programme, with many sharing & listening circles, voice & dance sessions, etc. Late night performances from Berry Sakhorov, Yair Dalal, and chilling out around a bonfire to the sounds of the friars chanting in the monastery ‘up the track’ rounded out the event.
Once you buy clothing if you have chosen well you are going to want to keep them for a while. Nothing wrong with wearing a shirt more than once… Even if your job depends of fashion.
Take care of your clothing and it will mean less waste, and more money in your pockets. Green living is about awareness. Don’t change a tire in your good attire (keep an apron in your car under the spare). After a dinner party, change before you wash the dinner dishes. A little bit of awareness goes a long way!
Looking for new clothing?
Have a tip to share?
Among other things, I’m a usability expert. Usability is the level of friendliness and ease of use of products and interfaces. Products should be easy to use, designed clearly, and fit the user’s needs.
Often companies design products without considering usability, and the product ends up sitting on the shelf or having users utilize only 5% of the features available to them. For example, think of a person who isn’t tech savvy trying to use an AppleTV remote control.
I’m usually very excited to come across a new product or interface that offers enhanced usability. But ever since I became more of an environmentalist I pay more attention to products that are not environment friendly.
There are green products that for the sake of being environmentally friendly lose out on some of their usability. On the other hand, there are products that are very user friendly but then lose out on the environmental aspects.
How many of you remember the old pull-tab that beverage cans used to have? You needed to pull and detach it completely out of the can in order to drink from it. The small tab was very harmful to the environment for the simple reason that the person drinking from the can had to find a way to get rid of the tab after pulling it out, so it usually ended up being thrown aside somewhere.
A later patent introduced the push-tab that we are familiar with today, keeping the tab attached to the inner side of the can and allowing the user to drink while also keeping the environment clean.
This example has the product work effectively both in favor of the user and in favor of the environment.
Another example of a product that is useful but not very green is the auto-flush toilet.
I must confess that I didn’t know these existed until the first mall in Modi’in, Israel (a city close to Jerusalem) was built. The auto-flush toilets there have special sensors so that when you’re finished and you rise from the seat it automatically flushes the toilet.
The first time I saw this I thought “Wow, What a clever solution!” This frees the user from needing to figure out how to flush the toilet (you would think that’s an easy job but I have horror stories to share about different hostile toilets around the country). It also makes sure the toilets are clean since you don’t “forget” to flush them. Not to mention the great hygiene advantage of not needing to touch any mechanism to cause an action.
But the next time I happened to use this mechanism I thought what a waste of water – just like the water that comes out of your air conditioning unit.
It surprised me that a new mall in this green day and age would install such a mechanism, not allowing flushing only half the amount when possible. Not to mention the wasted energy of keeping the electric sensor always on. It happens that you engage the sensor incorrectly and it flushes at the wrong time as well.
Foot pedals for half flush and a full flush would make more sense.
This product is a perfect example of where people’s needs conflict with the environment, but then again it’s the balance that’s important. Sometimes it’s okay to not go all the way to meet people’s needs and put more thought into meeting some of the needs of the environment instead.
Come to think of it, that just might be what’s wrong with my last statement. Many times we don’t consider the environment’s needs to be equal to people’s needs, and we give the environment’s needs a low priority or don’t even consider them while designing a product.
Lea Aharonovitch works with UPA Israel (Usability Professionals Association) as Management Member and Director of Events. Lea writes about green products and businesses and also about green usability.
(Illustration of how the drill would look: SPNI)
You’d think with all the oil in the Middle East region, Israel would have at least a few million barrels of its own. An Evangelical Christian John Brown following clues in the Old Testament has been hunting for it for years. Taking John McCain’s lead: now YNet reports, Israel’s Nature and National Parks Protection Authority approved last Tuesday that experimental oil drilling in a nature reserve located in the Judean Desert could begin. Two drilling companies Ginko and Delek Energy Systems have been granted six months to try and strike it rich. Those involved stipulated terms and restrictions to counter possible environmental damage.
And if oil is discovered at the site, it will be pumped diagonally to minimize the damage done to the plants and wildlife. Well, as you can imagine, this doesn’t sit well with Israel’s environmentalists.
“The drilling and extraction of oil could harm whole populations of rare species,” the specialists wrote in their objecting statement. “We believe that the foreseen production does not justify the permit to severely and permanently harm plants and wildlife, as well as the landscape and tourists in an official nature reserve.”
Meanwhile the drilling companies (lo and behold!) believe that there is plenty of oil to be found at the site, and with the rising cost of oil say the enterprise could be extremely profitable. Still dependent on oil from other countries (such as Russia), they claimed drilling for oil was a strategic move.
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.”
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…
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:
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.
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).
Have news to share? Renewable energy news, architectural, artificial intelligence, biotech, sustainable design ideas, eco-architecture, green travel?
Email us: [email protected]
Get important news delivered directly to your inbox and stay connected!
© 2007 to 2026 Green Prophet, All Rights Reserved
