Washing Dishes
When washing dishes by hand, don’t let the water run while rinsing. Turn the water on for each dish individually. If you are considering a dishwasher look for energy and water conservation ratings when making your decision.
Greening Local Politics
Municipal elections will be held across Israel in November, and here in Jerusalem the current incumbent, Uri Lupolianski, will be challenged by Nir Barkat and Arcadi Gaydamek. While Jerusalem is always hotly contested for many reasons, this year a coalition of green groups has launched an initiative to get the environmental agenda high on each […]
Review of ‘The Lost & Left Behind’ by Terry Glavin
“We are not gaining knowledge with every generation. We are losing it. A dark and gathering sameness is upon the world.” – Terry Glavin – ‘The Lost & Left Behind: stories from the age of extinction’ 2007 This is one of those very few books that sit right in the hand – a few pages […]
Israeli Scientists to “Freeze” Global Warming
“At a time when steadily increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations, coupled with the acidification of the ocean’s waters, precipitate the ongoing process of global warming, the importance of following long-term changes and trends in aquatic photosynthesis increases dramatically,” say Dr. Ilana Berman-Frank and Prof. Zvy Dubinsky, of Bar-Ilan University. This is important since about 50% of […]
Go Green Quickly to Avert Energy Crises, Say US-Israeli Economists
Analysts from Tel Aviv University and San Francisco offer sound solutions for looming energy crises: With electricity rates soaring as much as 150% since 2001, and predictions of severe and regular blackouts in states such as Washington and Virginia, there’s a clear need for new thinking about electricity. A recipe for preventing a dark future […]
Israeli Green Funds Turn Red
It may pay to invest green, but Israeli green funds are momentarily in the red, reports the Israeli business newspaper, The Marker. Israeli green mutual funds trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) invest primarily in foreign companies. The growth of the shekel, the nosedive of the dollar, plus a decline in the cost […]
Israel’s Water at the Mercy of Heaven?
It seems that we’ve been too spend-thrifty with our water and it’s all running out. By the end of this year, if we do not do something drastic the water levels will become so low that our natural water sources will become polluted. What is our government doing towards a solution? “By the end of […]
Tread Lightly: An Update
Back in January I wrote about the ‘Tread Lightly’ environmental project run by the Guardian Newspaper in the UK, (you can read the previous post here) and promised an update, so 3 months later, I’ve reviewed my pledges and progress, and that of the entire community who signed up – to date, 4209 folk around […]
Hey planet, how will spaceship earth remember you?
The Earth has a memory. It has records of African flowers blooming in the summer; it remembers cold, desolate Arctic winters since winters began, and the spawning of coral in the Great Barrier Reef one night, every spring. I remember my first lesson as a child, on how the Earth remembers. The teacher had brought […]
Eco-Mum Says Toss Those Nappies With Elimination Communication (EC)
Well we have looked at the cloth nappy issue: now for the ultimate in eco-friendly baby practices – let’s go nappy free. No rubbish and no washing! You can’t get greener than that. So how does it work? Well it’s as simple as it sounds, your baby is nappy free. Elimination Communication (EC) is the […]
Eco Purim
With the holiday of Purim drawing near it’s a great opportunity to rethink bad holiday habits. Here’s a few things to mull over: Think reusable with the Mishloach Manot. Baskets look nice, but they usually go straight to the garbage. Save those bottles, some places even give you money for them… (usually supermarkets) Do you […]
Make Bugs, Not Pesticides
Most people know that organic produce is good and that pesticides are bad. Not only do pesticides have negative effects on human health, having been linked to neurological problems, various cancers, Parkinson’s disease, kidney damage, and reproductive disorders, to name a few, but pesticides have negative effects on the environment as well. The toxic pesticides […]
Making Light of Trash
We all know the saying: one's mans trash is another man's treasure. Embarrassing as it was in my younger years, my father was a collector and seller of other people's trash and today makes a living from it. He calls it curbside shopping.
The Green Vote
When looking for the next candidate for whatever office we look at whether the candidate is good for us. What are his/her ideal? Is s/he a good manager? Does s/he understand micro and macro finances? … oh yeah, and is s/he good for the environment? Environmental organizations launched a campaign yesterday to evaluate candidates according […]
Can This Be Fixed?
The other day I was out with a friend and she told me that she had to stop by the shoe store to get knew shoes. I asked her why, and she responded that the backs of her shoes had been squashed and it was uncomfortable. I was able to convince her to check out […]