An Israeli company has discovered that bottling the beta-carotene goodness found in carrots (and other orange vegetables and fruits) is beneficial for skin and hair. “Yes To Carrots” is a two year-old company, based in Israel, that is now hitting the international scene.
Their secret: a combination of beta-carotene, which is said to have anti-aging properties, and minerals from the Dead Sea. And another bit of goodness: the products are free of paraben, a preservative chemical which has been linked to cancer.
Could nature ever obliterate all our traces? How would it undo our monumental cities and public works, and reduce all our myriad plastics and toxic synthetics back to benign, basic elements?
Alan Weisman: ‘The World Without Us’ 2007
Halfway through reading this enthralling book, I realized I was looking at the world in a new way. I was taking time to examine and even chart the progress of weeds bursting through the cracks in the pavement. Weisman’s detailed and wide-ranging research makes his readers that aware and curious about the world around us, that every part of nature, particularly those parts we generally ignore or suppress, becomes absorbing in the context of the book.
Everyone knows how terrible plastic bags are. They take hundreds of years to biodegrade, pollute our landfills and waterways, and most plastic bags cannot be recycled (only 5% of plastic bags are actually recycled). To add insult to injury, it is cheaper to produce new plastic bags than to recycle existing ones.
The Council For A Beautiful Israel has something to say about that. They’ve come out with a campaign that asks us to reduce our consumption of plastic bags as much as possible or, at the very least, to use One Less Bag.
Refrigerators and freezers account for about a sixth of all electricity use in a typical home. Over- or under-crowding makes the fridge work harder to maintain its optimal internal temp around 37 degrees F. This means that you should throw out all that junk that piles out in your fridge, but if it gets empty fill your fridge with bottles of water and freezer with ice trays. This way you can throw a cocktail party and keep your energy usage down.
If you love the moving image as much as us here at Green Prophet, and believe in its power as an agent of change as well as information and entertainment, here’s advance notice of the 5th ‘Eco-Cinema Festival’, which opens tomorrow night at Jerusalem’s Cinemateque on Hebron Road.
Opening with Israeli director Uri Rosenwaks new film, ‘Garbage Country’, previewed in a Green Prophet post here, the festival contains a wonderful variety of films all with an environmental message, ranging from angry polemics to the fun and the frivolous. Short films, longer documentaries and animations, from all over the world, feature across the 5 day festival; some selective highlights we have picked out below.
They say hope floats. Israel’s premiere environmental architecture firm Geotectura has certainly taken this statement to heart. Joseph Cory a designer at Geotectura, has worked with an aerospace engineer, to develop floating solar balloons capable of collecting solar energy in crowded cityscapes and places where large solar panels are not a viable alternative. They hold potential for disaster-stricken areas as well.
Filled with helium and coated with a space-age fabric made from photovoltaic solar cells, this project called SunHope is a promising low-cost system that could collect solar energy with less environmental impact than other traditional solar energy solutions.
Nachalat Binyamin Street in Tel Aviv is famous for its weekly market of local, handmade arts and crafts – a market that is very environmentally friendly.
But it is also home to some of Tel Aviv’s hippest bars and restaurants.
For the sixth time, these restaurants and bars are getting together for the annual Nachalat Binyamin Food Festival which will take place from May 13-22 and offer gourmet dishes and special cocktails at discount prices. Diners will be able to enjoy entrees for 35 NIS, boutique wines for 25 NIS, and refills and tapas galore.
They can also enjoy their guilt free conscience, because this year the festival is going green.
(Image credit: Micah Vaadia, winemaker at Galil Mountain)
After reading and enjoying Green Prophet’s post on biking the Israeli wine scene, Green Prophet was kind enough to invite me to guest blog a short series of posts about the re-emerging Israeli wine phenomenon and about what’s new with organic winemaking in Israel.
Not long ago Eli Cohen, the founder of Ayala Water and Ecology, was invited to New York City to propose solutions for cleaning the city’s sewage using plants in an environmentally friendly way. He’s already got a number of sites working in Israel and hopes to raise money to build a pilot plant in the US.
Searching around the globe high and low, Cohen seeks out water plants that have the natural ability to digest sewage. The plants he finds also clean air and soil in a natural way.
Cycling with the jacaranda trees in Tek Aviv by Lidor Goldbary
According to research by the Department of Energy shade trees can reduce the need for air conditioning by 7% to 40%. If you have a garden, plant a tree. It can decrease the energy you need to cool your space but also provide a place to hang a tire swing, not to mention the offsets.
If you don’t have a garden plant vines in a window box. They grow nicely over security bars. This way you can disguise the ugliness and give yourself beautiful flowers as well!
While plastic awnings offer a basic shade solution, they lack the natural benefits that trees provide in terms of air circulation and ventilation.
One of the key advantages of trees is their ability to facilitate airflow through their branches and leaves. Unlike plastic awnings, which block airflow and can create stagnant pockets of hot air underneath, trees allow breezes to pass through, creating a cooling effect. The movement of air through a tree’s canopy helps to dissipate heat and humidity, making the shaded area feel more comfortable even on the hottest days.
Additionally, trees can act as natural air purifiers, filtering out pollutants and allergens from the air. As air moves through the leaves and branches, particles such as dust, pollen, and pollutants are trapped, improving air quality in the surrounding area. This is especially beneficial for individuals with respiratory issues or allergies, as it can help to reduce symptoms and improve overall well-being.
Moreover, trees play a crucial role in regulating microclimates within their vicinity. By providing shade and cooling the surrounding air, trees help to create a more stable and pleasant outdoor environment. This is particularly important in urban areas, where the urban heat island effect can lead to higher temperatures and increased discomfort. Trees can help to mitigate this effect by shading pavement and buildings, reducing the absorption of heat and lowering ambient temperatures.
In terms of functionality, trees offer several advantages over plastic awnings when it comes to airflow. The natural shape and structure of a tree’s canopy are optimized to maximize airflow and ventilation. The leaves and branches are arranged in such a way as to allow air to move freely through the canopy, creating a gentle breeze underneath. This natural ventilation system helps to keep the shaded area feeling fresh and comfortable, even on still days when there is little wind.
Furthermore, trees provide shade not only for people but also for buildings and other structures. By shading rooftops and walls, trees help to reduce solar heat gain and lower indoor temperatures. This can significantly reduce the need for air conditioning and ventilation, leading to energy savings and lower utility bills. In contrast, plastic awnings only provide shade to the areas directly beneath them, without offering any additional benefits to surrounding structures.
Chemical burdens in our homes is an issue coming more and more to the forefront of news every day, yet more information comes to light about the threats posed by so many chemicals in our everyday products, from baby bottles to nursery furniture.
A while back I wrote about Nursery Madness and the huge amounts of money we put out on new furniture. As eco-minded parents and financially thoughtful, best to go with second hand furniture or even co-sleeping options.
This Green Prophet is a little skeptical about Shai Agassi’s electric car and bold claims, but she is impressed by the range of companies in the portfolio of Israel Cleantech Ventures (ICV).
Consider companies such as Aqwise for cleaning municipal sewage using bacteria, plastic beads and a special aeration system; or Metrolight, a company that has created a new breed of electronic ballasts that is saving money (and energy around the globe), including IKEA in Israel. There is Emefcy, an Aqwise founders’ spinoff, CellEra which is creating new fuel cells, and Citrine Renewable Energy in the area of landfill biogas treatment. Taking a breath ICV also funds solar company Pythagoras.
The batteries that you throw out today end up in landfills and incinerators. From here they eventually leak into the environment and can end up poisoning you tomorrow.
Find out where the closest place for you to recycle batteries is. And if you use rechargeable batteries you will not only reduce the circulation of dangerous chemicals but you can potentially save lots of money as well.
The time is nearly here! The long awaited electric car will soon reach the masses: Project Better Place has presented its prototype electric car today. The smog may start clearing soon, we will see how quickly it catches on.
Project Better Place commissioned a survey, which claimed that one in every six Israelis said that they would buy an electric car.
Nachalat Binyamin Street in Tel Aviv is famous for its weekly market of local, handmade arts and crafts – a market that is very environmentally friendly.
