No better place to do a reality check on our environmental vision than Cairo’s Manshiet Nasr neighborhood. Its local inhabitants, the Zabaleen (Arabic for garbage pickers and recyclers) started closing our material cycles thirty years ago, something we even now barely find necessary. They know that what is without value for most, isn’t useless per sé. […]
Jerusalem’s light rail may have been up and running for months already, but some residents believe that cycling is still the best way to get around. In the fall of 2011, Jerusalem finally got its much anticipated light rail (after years of construction). The light rail was intended to offer a comfortable and eco-friendly means […]
Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant has been under suspicion for decades, rightly or wrongly. So as not to arouse alarm, the United Arab Emirates’ civil nuclear plan has been taking the opposite approach of complete transparency. The UAE has forgone any plans to enrich or reprocess uranium itself, so as to allay any cause for suspicion or concerns about […]
Are you up for a bit of quiet activism? Take our plastic bag challenge This is a call to arms, and to hands: my challenge to you when you shop this week, this month or this year. Tell the clerk you’ll pass on that bag, instead tuck your purchases into your pockets or purse. Bring your own sack and […]
The 15th day of the Jewish month of Shavat signals the launching of new Jewish eco-education programs. A potent mystical, ecological, legal and historical mix runs through Tu B’Shvat, a date known as the New Year For The Trees. For more on the meaning of Tu B’Shvat, read this post. According to Jewish tradition, it’s […]
Lebanon goes green with seed bank, but can this memory keeper for nature fight GMOs? Lebanon harbors over 2600 plant species of which 119 are counted to be endemic. The unique climatic and landscape diversity in Lebanon has shaped 22 bio-climatic zones which fosters one of the most precious ecological services: genetic diversity. Unfortunately, the […]
Simply put: “best friends are not meant to abused”. The fashion industry is not known for being friendly towards animals (particularly those of the furry variety), but Fashion Beirut contradicted expectations last month when it created a photo campaign together with Animals Lebanon. The photo campaign shows a fashionable young woman accompanied by a dog […]
In an attempt to maintain Israel’s forests and prevent forest fires in the future, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael and the Jewish National Fund enlist tourists to become “Foresters for a Day.” About a year ago, the Carmel forest in northern Israel suffered the worst fire in the nation’s modern history and 5,000 hectares of forest land […]
At a time when banks could hardly be more unpopular, one of America’s most despised has just saved the biggest solar rooftop project in US history. It is not just the Occupy Wall St protesters who are angry at the behavior of banks. At the Durban Climate Talks this week, NGOs attending the Durban Climate […]
During this month’s ‘Critical Mass’ in Jerusalem, cyclists will check out the city’s new bike paths. Maybe it’s because Israel is becoming a nation of pedalers, or because biking is a hot form of eco-tourism, but for whatever reason a group of Jerusalem cyclists has been getting together for a monthly Critical Mass. (And no, […]
Instead of occupying Wall Street, solar power activists occupied rooftops yesterday. The Occupy Wall Street protest may be dwindling down, but it has inspired other movements around the United States and the world. One such offshoot, which took place yesterday, is Occupy Rooftops. Led by Solar Mosaic, an organization that tries to promote the spread […]
Israeli designer Adital Ela Asks for help with her WindyLight sustainable lighting project on Kickstarter. Kickstarting a new sustainable lighting project that employs wind in generating energy to create light is sustainable Israeli designer Adital Ela. Her project, WindyLight, is a “family of self-sufficient outdoor lights that perform on free, clean energy and create a […]
Greenpeace Israel calls on Jerusalem and other municipalities to stop recycling their promises and start recycling trash. Recycling has improved over the past decade in Israel. Hiria, a large garbage dump in Tel Aviv, has transformed into a recycling center, metals are starting to be recycled, and some urban recycling bins have become targets for […]
Israeli volunteers joined others worldwide on November 1st, in an international movement to “clean up” our environmental act. The 11th annual International Cleanup Day activities in Israel, which took place on November 1st, were attended by 204 regional Israeli councils, 260,000 volunteers, environmental VIPs, and one solar powered taxi (driven by Swiss inventor Louis Palmer […]
Kuwait’s animal rights society is hosting a jungle-themed ball and art auction to raise awareness of the plight of animals in the country The Middle East doesn’t exactly have a great reputation when it comes to animal rights and, in some way, you can understand why. Here at Green Prophet we have covered stories including […]