In Islamic tradition, there is a point where creation ends — a boundary that marks the limit of what any created being can reach. That boundary is called Sidrat al-Muntahā, often translated as “the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary.”
Air Tea is a new technology. Instead of drinking tea, you inhale herbal vapor through warm air extraction. There is no water and no combustion. The warm air releases essential oils that are often lost in hot water and digestion.
Health emerges from a continuous energy and material flow from water through food to human physiology. Technical energy systems support this cycle through water treatment, agriculture, and infrastructure.
Whether you are a commercial grower, hobbyist beekeeper or retail equipment supplier, this system opens a new income stream with minimal environmental impact.
In an era where smartphones are ubiquitous and health consciousness is at an all-time high, the fitness industry has undergone a radical digital transformation. Fitness applications have moved far beyond simple pedometers, evolving into comprehensive wellness platforms that serve as personal trainers, nutritionists, and community hubs right in our pockets.
In Islamic tradition, there is a point where creation ends — a boundary that marks the limit of what any created being can reach. That boundary is called Sidrat al-Muntahā, often translated as “the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary.”
Air Tea is a new technology. Instead of drinking tea, you inhale herbal vapor through warm air extraction. There is no water and no combustion. The warm air releases essential oils that are often lost in hot water and digestion.
Health emerges from a continuous energy and material flow from water through food to human physiology. Technical energy systems support this cycle through water treatment, agriculture, and infrastructure.
Whether you are a commercial grower, hobbyist beekeeper or retail equipment supplier, this system opens a new income stream with minimal environmental impact.
In an era where smartphones are ubiquitous and health consciousness is at an all-time high, the fitness industry has undergone a radical digital transformation. Fitness applications have moved far beyond simple pedometers, evolving into comprehensive wellness platforms that serve as personal trainers, nutritionists, and community hubs right in our pockets.
In Islamic tradition, there is a point where creation ends — a boundary that marks the limit of what any created being can reach. That boundary is called Sidrat al-Muntahā, often translated as “the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary.”
Air Tea is a new technology. Instead of drinking tea, you inhale herbal vapor through warm air extraction. There is no water and no combustion. The warm air releases essential oils that are often lost in hot water and digestion.
Health emerges from a continuous energy and material flow from water through food to human physiology. Technical energy systems support this cycle through water treatment, agriculture, and infrastructure.
Whether you are a commercial grower, hobbyist beekeeper or retail equipment supplier, this system opens a new income stream with minimal environmental impact.
In an era where smartphones are ubiquitous and health consciousness is at an all-time high, the fitness industry has undergone a radical digital transformation. Fitness applications have moved far beyond simple pedometers, evolving into comprehensive wellness platforms that serve as personal trainers, nutritionists, and community hubs right in our pockets.
In Islamic tradition, there is a point where creation ends — a boundary that marks the limit of what any created being can reach. That boundary is called Sidrat al-Muntahā, often translated as “the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary.”
Air Tea is a new technology. Instead of drinking tea, you inhale herbal vapor through warm air extraction. There is no water and no combustion. The warm air releases essential oils that are often lost in hot water and digestion.
Health emerges from a continuous energy and material flow from water through food to human physiology. Technical energy systems support this cycle through water treatment, agriculture, and infrastructure.
Whether you are a commercial grower, hobbyist beekeeper or retail equipment supplier, this system opens a new income stream with minimal environmental impact.
In an era where smartphones are ubiquitous and health consciousness is at an all-time high, the fitness industry has undergone a radical digital transformation. Fitness applications have moved far beyond simple pedometers, evolving into comprehensive wellness platforms that serve as personal trainers, nutritionists, and community hubs right in our pockets.
In Islamic tradition, there is a point where creation ends — a boundary that marks the limit of what any created being can reach. That boundary is called Sidrat al-Muntahā, often translated as “the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary.”
Air Tea is a new technology. Instead of drinking tea, you inhale herbal vapor through warm air extraction. There is no water and no combustion. The warm air releases essential oils that are often lost in hot water and digestion.
Health emerges from a continuous energy and material flow from water through food to human physiology. Technical energy systems support this cycle through water treatment, agriculture, and infrastructure.
Whether you are a commercial grower, hobbyist beekeeper or retail equipment supplier, this system opens a new income stream with minimal environmental impact.
In an era where smartphones are ubiquitous and health consciousness is at an all-time high, the fitness industry has undergone a radical digital transformation. Fitness applications have moved far beyond simple pedometers, evolving into comprehensive wellness platforms that serve as personal trainers, nutritionists, and community hubs right in our pockets.
In Islamic tradition, there is a point where creation ends — a boundary that marks the limit of what any created being can reach. That boundary is called Sidrat al-Muntahā, often translated as “the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary.”
Air Tea is a new technology. Instead of drinking tea, you inhale herbal vapor through warm air extraction. There is no water and no combustion. The warm air releases essential oils that are often lost in hot water and digestion.
Health emerges from a continuous energy and material flow from water through food to human physiology. Technical energy systems support this cycle through water treatment, agriculture, and infrastructure.
Whether you are a commercial grower, hobbyist beekeeper or retail equipment supplier, this system opens a new income stream with minimal environmental impact.
In an era where smartphones are ubiquitous and health consciousness is at an all-time high, the fitness industry has undergone a radical digital transformation. Fitness applications have moved far beyond simple pedometers, evolving into comprehensive wellness platforms that serve as personal trainers, nutritionists, and community hubs right in our pockets.
In Islamic tradition, there is a point where creation ends — a boundary that marks the limit of what any created being can reach. That boundary is called Sidrat al-Muntahā, often translated as “the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary.”
Air Tea is a new technology. Instead of drinking tea, you inhale herbal vapor through warm air extraction. There is no water and no combustion. The warm air releases essential oils that are often lost in hot water and digestion.
Health emerges from a continuous energy and material flow from water through food to human physiology. Technical energy systems support this cycle through water treatment, agriculture, and infrastructure.
Whether you are a commercial grower, hobbyist beekeeper or retail equipment supplier, this system opens a new income stream with minimal environmental impact.
In an era where smartphones are ubiquitous and health consciousness is at an all-time high, the fitness industry has undergone a radical digital transformation. Fitness applications have moved far beyond simple pedometers, evolving into comprehensive wellness platforms that serve as personal trainers, nutritionists, and community hubs right in our pockets.
In Islamic tradition, there is a point where creation ends — a boundary that marks the limit of what any created being can reach. That boundary is called Sidrat al-Muntahā, often translated as “the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary.”
Air Tea is a new technology. Instead of drinking tea, you inhale herbal vapor through warm air extraction. There is no water and no combustion. The warm air releases essential oils that are often lost in hot water and digestion.
Health emerges from a continuous energy and material flow from water through food to human physiology. Technical energy systems support this cycle through water treatment, agriculture, and infrastructure.
Whether you are a commercial grower, hobbyist beekeeper or retail equipment supplier, this system opens a new income stream with minimal environmental impact.
In an era where smartphones are ubiquitous and health consciousness is at an all-time high, the fitness industry has undergone a radical digital transformation. Fitness applications have moved far beyond simple pedometers, evolving into comprehensive wellness platforms that serve as personal trainers, nutritionists, and community hubs right in our pockets.
Controversial Danish Eco-Skeptic Bjorn Lomborg is currently in Israel.
Today he is due to present a lecture at the Knesset arguing that funds set aside for environmental protection would be better spent on research and development for the “possible” negative effects of global warming.Professor Lomborg, author of the book, ‘The Skeptical Environmentalist’, which ruffled many green feathers some years back for his dismissal of some scientists opinions upon the speed and rate of global warming, has recently set up the Copenhagen Consensus Centre to study human existence.
Sustainable cooking starts with an ecological kitchen
This kicks off the first in a series of tips to make you and your life, a little more green. Home is where the green heart is, and the kitchen is a great place to start making your home more environmentally friendly.
As children, who can’t remember the kitchen being the center of activity in the house? Kitchens are generally one of the most important rooms at home, for it’s here that we cook and eat and it is an important meeting point for families and friends.
In this heavily trafficked area, doesn’t it seem strange that most of us would store some of the nastiest chemicals for scouring and scraping dirt in the kitchen?
Today, many of us store our household cleaners under the sink. And the attractive, sparkling labels always give a double message, revealed on the back in smaller print: Poison! Caution! Warning!It is no longer a secret, that the use of harsh solvents and soaps in our homes cause respiratory problems, affect the nervous system of growing children and lead to other health problems.
Not to mention that the formulation of these cleansers release an unspeakable amount of pollutants into the environment during production and after their use.So when it comes to clean, what are the options of going green?
Sustainable cleaning products
If you are a clean-freak, buy environmentally-certified plant-based cleaning products. One widely available brand is Ecover, a company which sells everything from floor cleaner to dishwasher tablets. We recommend it, and it can be found in Israeli health stores, such as Anise.
The dishwashing soap of Ecover, doesn’t cut grease as well as traditional soap, and it is more expensive. But by using a plant alternative you go easier on the environment and your health, as even with a good rinse, a significant amount of dishwashing soap is left on the plate and consumed with your food.
If you are a little more adventurous and don’t mind the smell of pickles, a whole range of cleaning products can be made from the base of white vinegar.
Six cups water, two cups vinegar and a drop of your favourite essential oil makes a good floor cleaner. One cup of vinegar, three cups of water and a drop of tea tree oil makes a good cleaner and disinfectant for counters and walls.We tend to just use water, and a little traditional cleaner if necessary….
A third approach to going green in the kitchen is to simply clean less. Your grandma wouldn’t like to hear that.
Wash down sinks and floors with hot water, and get used to a little more grime on the floor.If there is one thing we can’t stand in Israel, it’s when people pour heavily fragranced water from their floors off their balconies.
If you do this folks (it’s great for watering the plants), please use a biodegradable cleaner and one that is not heavily perfumed. Floors naturally look cleaner if they are tiled with wood, terracotta tiles or cork, a sustainable alternative.
Avoid using white tiles on the floors in your home if you don’t have a flare for cleaning.
According to Blue Butterfly, a new US-based campaign for educating families on health in the home, prior to WWII, most household cleaning was done using relatively safe ingredients like baking soda and vinegar to disinfect and deodorize.
In the kitchen, adds Blue Butterfly, beyond modern cleaning products, one should avoid pesticides and insecticides. In order to keep files of ants from marching over your fresh cheesecake, or cockroaches from nesting under your pipes, keep surfaces clean and dry and keep food stores (and that cheesecake) away from the hungry mouths of little beasties.
Sustainable bug protection
Nettings, covers, sealed containers and the plugging of holes is not a conducive atmosphere for insects.
If these basic steps fail, green insecticides such as Battle for ants and roaches can be purchased online or at alternative health stores. We haven’t checked in to see if you can find this in Israel, though.Being green in the kitchen, or anywhere in the home always means being friendly to ourselves.
Try and avoid plastic containers in the kitchen. In the last 10 years, researchers have found that certain plastic dishes and containers even those used for storing dry food, emit hormone mimics, which disrupt our endocrine system, leading to diseases and cancer.
Plastics versus glass
While there are certain classes of plastics considered safe for use, who wants to take that risk? Consider buying cooking pots, storing containers and dishes made from inert materials such as glass, stainless steel and ceramic. Ceramics go well in the oven and a variety of clay can be used on the stovetop.
Now it’s time to cook and set the table. Table covers and napkins should be made from a reusable material such as cloth and not necessarily from a virgin source. Old sheets can be dyed and serve as a tablecloth and napkins.
When they get too worn, convert them to dish rags or floor rags.After your meal, veggie scraps, teabags and eggshells go into your compost pail for the garden (see James’ soulful post on starting your own), or an urban composter can be bought for use in the city home where green space is limited.
Tell the plastic film it is time for a wrap and invest in food-grade silicone food covers, which can go in the freezer. For a final touch, cover your florescent light with some pink rice paper and bask in the glory – your kitchen is on its way to being perfectly green!
Here is a video recap of Israel’s recent WATEC (water technologies), conference. We were there this past November, and collected tons of notes and brochures on clean technology and innovation you’ll be hearing about in the near future.See also the story on Israel21c.::WATEC
“There are four heads of the year… on the fifteenth of Shvat for the trees…” Mishna, Tractate Rosh Hashana, 1:1
As our home revolves around the Sun, the Jewish calendar is circular as well. How does one year have four beginnings? A circle does not have any beginning, nor does it have an end. Wherever you decide to begin counting cycles of a revolving wheel, that is the point you look for when looking to count the next cycle.
It reminds us a bit of the canary in a coal mine story – throw a living creature into a dangerous situation, and if it lives, forge ahead.If it dies, oh well. Rethink strategy.An Israeli company Checklight has put this concept into practice, using the luminscent bacteria found in the sea, like on the beaches of Costa Rica, to ensure that drinking water stays safe.We’ve yet to hear about animal rights activists lobbying over the rights of bacteria, so it’s probably pretty safe to say, that Checklight’s technology is a novel solution (although it’s being done already in the sewage treatment business, they say.)What they’ve done is culled a variety of “glowing” bacteria from the sea, and when placed in a special substrate with a sample of drinking water, they glow strongly if the water is polluted.
This earthship home in Phoenix is built from trash
Micheal Reynolds is a true visionary of a sustainable way forward for humanity, housed in buildings that use throwaway materials and don’t need external power or sewage systems. ‘Food, Energy, and Sewage’ is his mantra, and getting them or getting rid of them without reliance on the National Grid system is his pre-occupation.
Michael Reynolds has been building earthships, homes from trash for decades
Thankfully, Reynolds, the ‘Garbage Warrior’ has been brought to the screen in an illuminating film of this title by Oliver Hodge. I’m just back from it, and fired up. I urge everyone to see this film, whether you are motivated to build a home in Israel’s Negev Desert out of plastic bottles and/or old tires (a classic Earthship), or just want to see someone act on their gut feeling and fly out to the Andaman Islands in the wake of the Tsunami, with his crew of 7 equally passionate builders, and built houses for the devastated Islanders.
In response to Hurricane Katrina, which flattened New Orleans and much of the land around it, Reynolds and crew leapt into action and built houses out of raw materials for victims there too. Reynolds is a true hero who talks the talk and delivers the goods.
The film has lots of humour: Reynolds is a self-confessed hippy, who, according to his wife, attracts “crackpots” (who seem to be a fiercely loyal and talented bunch). His long gray hair and lolloping gait, warm and open face and ‘Easy Rider’ attitude, endear him to the viewer quickly, and his passion for the earth and humanity shine through from the opening credits.
Watch the Garbage Warrior Trailer here:
His own reference to Noah, shunned for building a boat in a dry desert, seem to have many resonances to his own life – experimenting with solar gain and thermal mass in many hit or miss houses and communities scattered through thousands of acres of land deep in the New Mexico desert.
There is a low trough in the film, which Reynolds plunges right into, in his attempt to get a law passed in the New Mexico/Taos State legislature, allowing such experimental and sustainable buildings to be made. Endless shots of him roaming through the State Council Building looking for support from the Council members (many of whom are shown to be either filibusters or just plain sleeping on the job), just is a waste of this hero’s time, and shows the sad, slow passage of the body politic.
Director Hodge cleverly navigates through this, his camera glued to Reynolds, yet discreetly supporting him all the way.
An earthship in Normandy, France
Let’s use the vision and raw talent of this man to be inspired and carve out a real, sustainable future, turning our trash into walls and roofs to house us all. With effort, we can. Some diagrams below for getting started.
I recently had the opportunity to interview poet laureate and known environmental activist Robert Hass (full interview is here).Hass was in Israel for the “Poetic Natures” conference in Tel Aviv last week, and while he was here he explored some of Israel’s unique environmental features.Among many topics, Hass spoke about the environmental parallels between Israel and California, as well as Israel’s unique responsibility as a flyaway for nearly a billion birds a year. (Hass expressed an interest in seeing the Hula Valley, home to diverse species of birds.)
“I worry that the environmental movement is always in a defensive position. It’s always arguing against development, or a dam, or economic development someplace, and so then the developers say ‘We’ll be reasonable and take half.’ Ten years later, they take another half.”
In Judaism it is traditional to make blessings. In fact sometimes it can feel, for the initiated, that one makes blessings for everything! It can be inconvenient, however, I believe that what lies behind, is the true nature of what it means to be green.
From the same gal that brought us the inflatable kayak skirt (the Evacuation Skirt), which is great for flash floods when global warming sets in, comes the 2-in-1 slipper rocker chair.
This is our first season in Jerusalem and can we tell you – it is freeezing here.
We think if we had one of these rockers we’d be able to turn our little space heater down (save energy), warm our toes, and get some much-needed exercise at the same time.
Israel offers such an incredible potpourri of cultures. They all seem to melt together through Rachel Oren’s Ethnicware.There you can find one-of-a-kind cushions handcrafted by Bukarians, Ethiopian embroidery, a Bedouin bag… so many treasures and delights.We love the driftwood bowl, but imagine that it’s been imported from India.No matter, Green Prophet thinks it’s a good thing to support local craftswomen, wherever they live.On the site Tchotskes, where we first saw this link, they say buying locally is a mitzva. Can’t argue with that.Here are some words and rationale for Ethnicware, from Ms. Oren herself: Ethnicware Limited was created with a view to offering and selling to overseas markets a wide range of home furnishings, hand-crafted in Israel by the diverse ethnic groups and religious factions living together in this country.
The beginning of this year opened up a new hunting season, hunting smokers! According to Haaretz smokers beware! They’re out to get you! “It seems that no law has ever been enforced in Israel with such speed and efficiency. An army of municipal inspectors invaded cafes and bars, as did dozens of activists and volunteers acting independently, filing suits in court against smokers.”
Barely two weeks after advertisers were forced to cover up billboards along Tel Aviv’s Ayalon highway, as a prelude to taking them down altogether, the powers that be have decided to allow the billboards after all. After the signs were ruled illegal by no less than the High Court of Justice, Israel’s wise lawmakers, led by Labor MK Yoram Marciano, have formulated a bill to legalize advertising billboards along Tel Aviv’s major traffic artery.
Why the sudden alacrity of the part of the Knesset? After all, the Ayalon billboards are opposed by the Ministries of Justice, Interior and Environment and the Traffic Police, and have proven offensive to numerous segments of Israeli society, as well as distracting to already stressed-out drivers.
By now, many people have heard of the electric car grid project that Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi is launching with $200 million capital. Agassi plans to build a grid of charging stations in all parts of the country that would provide a free power charge to electric car batteries. The idea is to provide an incentive for people to buy eco-friendly cars.
The only thing standing in Agassi’s way has been lack of funds for the project…but now the project might be full speed ahead, as car manufacturers Renault Nissan are expected to invest in the enterprise.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qkZCLg9TbM&rel=1[/youtube]Well it’s not that scary, and a bit naive, but it does beg the question: what’s really happening in Haifa? Israeli guys that we know say that the best looking girls in Israel are from Haifa.Could it be an interesting mutation from all the pollution?Nature’s little joke?
I love composting. It is pure satisfaction for anyone remotely interested in growing things, and watching how things can grow, sprout, shoot up, and also decay, die and rot.
When you turn the soil, and see the half-eaten tomato, or ear of corn, or artichoke leaves from a recent dinner, and know that they are slowly decomposing and will be used to aid new plant growth, well … to this gardener, that’s an earthly heaven.
In later posts, I will go into the science of composting a bit more, and discuss the necessity of nitrogen and stuff (I had better go away and do my research first), but here, gentle green reader, allow me to wax lyrical some more about the benefit of worms, tiny mitochondria, bacteria of all types, the humble woodlouse, and the glory of recycling urea.
I haven’t yet had the fortune to become a parent, but if all that nurturing and feeding is half as much fun as tending a warm, burbling and hungry heap, then maybe I’m half qualified.
Today, I started digging out the pile of maturated compost and distributing it to borders and flowerbeds and potted trees and plants, that need and appreciate this healthy winter adrenaline shot.
While doing this, I hoped to discover and report here that the bio-degradable drinks bottle, made by Belu, bought in London last August and cut up into little pieces and scattered into this very heap the same month; by now was no more, and that its bio-ness had worked.
But alas, the pieces remain, and will be reburied in the next heap which I’m starting tomorrow. Also, I’m going to be advocating community composting through these posts, here in Jerusalem, and in Tel Aviv, Be’er Sheva, Haifa, Holon and Pisgat Ze’ev.
Lets get all our lettuces, cabbages (who else gets sometimes 2 a week in their vegetable box? See our story: Eating Organic at Reasonable Prices), peelings and all manner of stuff all mulchin’ down together.
And if that isn’t happening, let’s ride those personal wormeries!
If you live in an apartment, consider making an indoor compost:
Controversial Danish Eco-Skeptic Bjorn Lomborg is currently in Israel.
