Poetry lovers take note: from January 8-9, Tel Aviv University will be hosting a conference on literature and the environment, entitled “Poetic Natures: The Environment, Literature and the Arts. ” Guests include US Poet Laureate Robert Hass, a National Book Award Winner and Una Chaudhuri, Professor of English, Drama and Performance Studies at New York […]
Tel Aviv is the first Israeli city, and the only city in the Middle East to join Earth Hour, a new worldwide campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Lights out for Tel Aviv will happen on March 29, 2008 at 8 pm, so get your solar-powered flashlights handy. Tel Aviv joins cities in Denmark, Australia, […]
You can find your own Tina Turner or Kenny Rogers records and upcycle them into a business card holder.
One of the big issues when the topic of eating healthy comes up is the problem of food coloring. Many of these colorings are actually poisons. The FDA has approved them because they are used in such small quantities that there is no apparent effect on our bodies. But color dyes are not all bad; […]
Israelis love playing matkot. It’s like table tennis without a table. And a hard small black ball like a squash ball. It makes an annoying sound at the beach but you can get used to it along with Israelis playing in their underwear which they think you won’t notice. It’s like a national sport. Updating […]
We stumbled onto Designist Dream last week “where art and design and the Holy Land meet,” after the missus in the house gave Green Prophet such a warm welcome to the blogosphere. We’re already excited about some of the eco-relevant finds Designist Dream has dug up, and will be sure to report on some of […]
A long time ago, when we were more idealistic, we spent an afternoon at Salon Mazal. Feeling like an anthropologist, we studied the people who were hanging out there: self-named anarchists, squatters, Arab rappers, earth-lovers…you-name-it. (You can read the story here). Anyway, it turns out that Tel Avivian anarchists are not so scary after all. […]
We saw all the signs: the ararchist gatherings at Salon Mazal and the little old ladies picking through the Friday-afternoon veggies at the Carmel Market. Social activists in Israel have joined the international movement in protest of our consumer culture. They are dumpster-divers, and living off of just about everything and anything that you might […]
Memos, agreements, bills, pacts, hand-shaking…we’ve heard a lot of talk about Israel and its intent to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The latest episode is yesterday’s announcement that MK Ofer Paz-Pines (Labor party) has submitted a bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Israel. According to INN, the bill will call for a 25 percent reduction […]
We’ve just learned that a national conference on business and the environment will take place in Kfar Maccabiah in Ramat Gan on January 21 – 22, 2008. Organized by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the conference is described as “a meeting ground between business and the environment and creating mutual integration and growth, both economically […]
Munching on a Druze pita with Labneh, olive oil, and some zaatar spice. The Irish call it “the troubles”; over in Israel, they euphemistically call political problems “the situation”. As sad and complicated as the situation may be for every human being involved, a few individuals have risen above the crowd, like oil on water, […]
Unlike Americans and Canadians, Israelis are none too quick to start building with strawbale and adobe. I did meet a couple pioneers over the last 5 years who have built adobe homes: Lila, a German immigrant who lived near Arad in the Negev and Shai Gonorov, an eccentric Israeli living off the grid in Shaharut, […]
Hipsters from the Comme Il Faut fashion house in Israel have opened their own mini-mall, an “anti-mall” they say, in Tel Aviv’s port. It is one which encourages creativity over mass-consumption. Tel Aviv is a fast and furious place. Days after Gaultier and Gucci release new collections, knock-offs are already on the streets being peddled […]
Ever try hugging a cactus? That’s why treehugger types are having a harder time in the Middle East. It’s a bit sad that environmental awareness in the Middle East is years behind that of Europe and the US. But then again, have you ever tried hugging an olive tree or cactus? Although it may be […]
While the Christians are busy unwrapping their presents around the world for Christmas, the LA-based clothing company American Apparel, decided to launch a sale just for the Jews who complain that the only thing they get to do on Christmas day is eat Chinese food and go to the movies. Lucky for the Jews, there […]