Notice anything strange about this scene?
Said Leemor Chandally, who sent us these photos, “I was passing by Rabin Square, when I noticed this situation and had to laugh. A bunch of people were waiting for a bus, but nobody was waiting inside the bus stop, which was obviously brand new. Instead, everyone was crouching behind it, trying to stay in the shade.”
I was so anxious on Monday as I awaited word of delivery of my very first Israeli community supported agriculture (CSA) delivery to its drop spot in Tel Aviv. I was nervous, not because I thought the vegetables wouldn’t be good or because I was unsure if I was getting a good deal (the veggies are great and it’s very cost-effective), but because I was relying on this week’s box of straight-from-the-farm vegetables to convince my Israeli flatmates that CSAs are a worthwhile investment.
I picked up the box right near the corner of Dizengoff and Gordon in Tel Aviv. I walked home with vegetables in hand for ten minutes, smelling the basil and thinking about making pesto, which I probably won’t have time to make this week.
As I approached my apartment I saw that nobody was home. Damn. I wanted my flatmates to see me walk in with it and “ooh” and “ahh” at the produce. I left the box prominently displayed in the kitchen and gently rearranged the chard and arugula to look a bit more presentable. Within twenty minutes one flatmate returned home. She was visibly excited about our new abundance so we started unpacking the box together when we noticed that one of the tomatoes was squished.
She looked disappointed and I panicked. “We’ll use it for sauce,” I think I muttered in Hebrew, trying a bit too hard to stay positive. “Lo Nora,” she said, it’s not a big deal.
According to that old expression, beggars can’t be choosers. But Israeli designer Amit Brilliant proves that saying wrong with her line of recycled wallets, bags, notebook covers, and hats – Beggars.
She chooses not to dump what would normally end up in the trash and turn it into something useful and aesthetic instead.
In other words, she begs to differ.
Brilliant’s brilliant creations are made out of old maps, paper shopping bags, Bamba bags, laundry detergent wrappers, and whatever else she can get her hands on. She usually uses the wrappers of classic Israeli products, so these make a great souvenir or gift from Israel. (Pair these up with some of Yoav Kotik‘s Israeli beer cap earrings and you’ve got quite the environmental and patriotic gift.)
In transforming packaging – something that was supposed to be disposable – into something that can be used over and over again, Brilliant makes an optimistic statement about how we can transform and hopefully change the negative effects of mass consumerism.
You can find these great wallets in the Nachalat Binyamin crafts market (open every Tuesday and Friday afternoon in Tel Aviv).
More sustainable products: Bag It Up: Inbal Limor Recycles Plastic Bags Into High Art and More Mileage out of Your Purse
Being green is about being clean. In order to remove dust effectively from furniture use a slightly damp cloth – dusters only move the dust around. For a green polish try beeswax, it’s great for unpolished wood; or use a drop of olive oil, then buff with a dry cloth. This way you can cut down the circulation of nasty chemicals normally used when cleaning around the house.
“We face the most almighty hangover, as the toxins unleashed by our century-long binge work their way through the earth’s system. We have to detoxify. We have to sober up. We have to come to grips….”
from ‘Confessions of an Eco-Sinner’ by Fred Pearce.
Pearce has written a book for the ecologically and socially minded. He has travelled some 180,000 km to over 20 countries to research it; investigating the origins of products, and crucially the human conditions surrounding them – actually walking the walk and finding the answers to his own curiosity about things.
He describes the research, which took him a full year, and the resulting book, as “an odyssey to track his personal footprint”.
(image credit: giggul371)
Shavuot is best known as the holiday which commemorates the bestowal of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. It is also the celebration of the harvest of the Bikkurim, the first fruits of the year. Pomegranates and figs may come most easily to mind, but wheat is another of the Shiv’at Haminim, the seven species, and probably the one that we eat most often. And so at the end of Shavuot this year I found myself inspired, and decided to try my hand at celebrating the harvest with a bit of baking.
Now, bread-making can be a rather scary prospect, even for the experienced baker. I’ve knocked out meringues and madeleines fearlessly, brûléed crème without breaking a sweat and rolled tart crusts galore. On one memorable occasion I even made a wedding cake. But yeast? Yeast has always sent me running for the proverbial hills. However, several recent spikes in the cost of bread, a growing desire to understand exactly what goes into producing the food I often take for granted, and the aforementioned harvest festival proved to be an irresistible combination – a baker of bread I would become.
First, a bit of research seemed in order. The literature on the craft of baking bread is extensive, almost overwhelmingly so. I decided to start with the basics… Flour.
Between all of the eco guesthouses popping up and the Israeli Tourism Ministry trying to go green by 2009, there’s no absence of environmentally friendly vacation options in Israel (hint hint, to all those out-of-towners planning their summer vacations in Israel).
But what’s a green tourist in the Middle East to do outside of Israel? Well, he or she she doesn’t have to look much further than right next door (so to speak). In Jordan.
There are lots of great eco-tourism options available in Jordan – ranging from tour companies that specialize in green adventures to environmentally friendly housing options.
Here are some of our favorites:
Who wants an inefficient refrigerator? Wipe off the coils regularly, dusty coils can reduce the efficiency by 30%. Also let your dishes cool properly before you put dinner away. A healthy fridge will last longer, save energy and work better… What more could you want?
We’ve covered the environmentally conscious window display in Tel Aviv designed by Shulayim Studio, but the store that the window belonged to – Cotton – is news worthy as well.
Cotton started making a limited line of clothes in 1992 with the goal of creating pieces that are unique, comfortable, woman-friendly, environmentally-friendly, and entirely designed and produced in Israel. These days they’re not so limited (they have stores in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Ashkelon, Be’er Sheva, Ra’anana, Rosh Pina and lots of other Israeli cities) but their goals are the same.
Cotton’s motto is Individuality, Comfort, and Care for the Environment and it shows in everything that they do.
(Prof. Avi Kribus)
Center will explore clean energy production through transformational technologies and unique multidisciplinary approach
Natural resources everywhere are rapidly being depleted. Traditional energy sources, like oil, have become hostages to a weakening world economy. The future, it seems, may depend on renewable energy ― new technology that bridges scientific disciplines and commercial opportunities. Tel Aviv University has just taken a big step toward making renewable energy a daily reality.
At Israel’s international conference on renewable energy last month, Tel Aviv University announced it will create a new “Supercenter” to develop renewable energies. The Supercenter will conduct pioneering research in groundbreaking solar energy applications, wind energy, biofuels and energy storage, taking advantage of the transformational and incremental technologies already being explored by Tel Aviv University researchers.
Opening the conference, “Renewable Energy and Beyond,” hosted at Tel Aviv University, keynote speaker Al Gore discussed the soaring price of oil and the continuing threat of greenhouse gases, warming the planet to what Gore said could be the “point of no return.” Gore came to Tel Aviv University in May to accept a $1 million Dan David Prize for his work on “social responsibility with particular emphasis on the environment.”
The Supercenter is Tel Aviv University’s profound response to the serious environmental issues facing the world.
First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the organic baby in the baby carriage. Today we would like to welcome, the guest post of Avi Yacove who has just helped give life to Baby Organic, a new online baby’s clothing store based in Israel.
Writes Avi: Baby Organic came to mind as an idea of mine at the beginning of 2007. During that time, my father, who was ill for a for over two years, entered what seemed to be the final stage of his life. At the same time, one of my sisters was pregnant with her first child – who is also my parent’s first grandchild.
During my father’s long period of being sick, I researched and read more articles and text than I ever have before, in Hebrew and in English. As I was looking everywhere for a way to help my dad, at first to stay alive, and later on to maintain a quality of life and suffer as little as possible.
During that period I learned about the differences between organic to conventional farming, of the countless dangers we all face everyday on this earth and the huge gap between what we think we know and the meaning of the things that are actually happening around us. All of this new information that I became aware of, changed who I was, and I started to “reconstruct” myself. I changed my diet, my interests, my beliefs and my goals.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrvOH7VmZRE[/youtube]
China is interested in Israeli clean technology. Here’s a video capturing some of the more interesting companies at Israel’s latest cleantech expo: on water, recycling and green building. Most of the companies showcased were all about valves and pipes, but the video points out a few hot innovators.
Are you tired of seeing all the waste at work? The unnecessary printing, photocopying, computers left on all night, styrofoam cups, wasted electricity? Oh, the horrors! Ready to work in a greener environment?
Well, if you’re based in Tel Aviv or Istanbul, Greenpeace is hiring. And they want you.
Greenpeace is looking for a Regional New Media Coordinator to help change the world by managing their website and online campaigns.
It’s one thing when designers take brand new ready-made materials and transform them into something else. It’s another thing entirely when designers take old ready-mades and reincarnate them in order to avoid waste.
Reincarnation is what Israeli designer Doron Sar-Shalom is all about.
His designs, which consist mainly of lamps, are constructed out of unlikely materials such as strainers, spatulas, cheese graters, water pitchers, and plastic jerry cans. One of the main guidelines that Sar-Shalom follows when working is to avoid wasting materials and use whatever is available.
Photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert sunlight into food and oxygen, represents some of the most advanced technology engineered by Mother Nature. And now Tel Aviv University researcher Professor Hanoch Carmeli has discovered a way to harness the process of photosynthesis to create electricity.
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