We interview urban designer Wassim Melki who envisions a sustainable future for Beirut’s skyline. Beirut is almost completely bereft of public green spaces. Satellite images show expanses of grey apartment and office blocks and a depressing lack of trees or any other kind of greenery. But architect and urban designer Wassim Melki has a plan […]
Cars, pollution, and the uniqueness of Lebanon can’t be forgotten, according to ironic statements by designers, business people, actors and writers in this documentary that intends to open the eyes of the Lebanese youth to the real problems in their society. See sewage flowing into the sea, the garbage mountain at sea, the pillage of […]
Could a bike sharing system work in Beirut? Bicycle sharing has become all the rage in certain cities in the past few years, ever since the Parisians got the trend going with the Vélib’ shared bike rental system approximately three years ago. In the Middle East, Nicosia implemented a bike sharing system a few weeks […]
An eco caravan is bringing green education directly to the people of Lebanon this month. A solar powered taxi is traveling the globe at the moment, and now an eco-education caravan has taken to the roads of Lebanon (which, unfortunately, have seen a 538% increase in car use over the past 24 years). The caravan […]
Eco-tourism holidays in Lebanon offer picturesque fishing villages and ancient remains British walking holidays specialist Ramblers Worldwide has added Lebanon to its list of destinations, according to a recent announcement. Ramblers Worldwide have long included Jordan, Morocco, Oman and other Middle East and North African destinations on their itineraries, although some scheduled trips to Egypt […]
We speak to the Lebanese eco-campaigner Wael Hmaidan about corporate funding of green organisations in the Middle East and finding solutions In a previous post, I posed some questions about green groups in the Middle East receiving funding from not-so-green corporations. Is it a good thing if they are working together to protect nature? Or […]
200 Beirut residents reminded others that cities can (and should) be green. Fed up with the absence of greenery in Beirut, 200 residents of the city gathered this past Saturday in a decidedly concrete Sassine Square to collectively say that they wanted to “Green the Grey”. Beirut has definitely been taking steps towards being “green” […]
Foster & Partners broke ground on their first project in Lebanon. This new tower will also be the first in Beirut to have green roofs. The 3Beirut tower in Lebanon will be the first Foster & Partners development in that country. As fans of something a little more earthy, like the mud brick building entrusted […]
Batroun is an outpost of beauty in Lebanon. The next generation of environmental activists want to make sure it stays that way. Georges “Junior” Daou belongs to the next generation of Lebanese. A long time nature-lover, he has devoted himself full time to rejecting toxic waste in Beirut, consistent oil spills that degrade the Mediterranean […]
Who says the Middle East can’t be sustainable? Project Lebanon has it all: minced biofuels, wind turbines, outdoor solar lights and more. All kinds of cool cleantech innovations geared specifically towards the Middle East and Egypt will be on display at Project Lebanon 2011. Today is the opening day of the International Construction and Environmental […]
Contemporary architects in the Middle East revert to ancient techniques to cool and light new buildings. The earliest known Mashrabiya dates to 12th century Baghdad, Iraq. A special architectural feature that provides passive cooling both in and outside of the building, it was particularly popular in Iraq during the 1920s and 1930s. Unfortunately, the Al Rasheed […]
Environmental and human rights go hand in hand in Lebanon. Winning recognition from the Guinness Book of Records last October for the world’s largest hand painted cloth, 12,000 Lebanese joined hands for environmental and social peace. Spearheaded by Lebanon’s Red Cross and Timol Paints, 7,000 volunteers and 5,000 concerned citizens pledged to observe tolerance and […]
Chafic Abi Abdallah used to work in the hospitality industry, but grew weary of sitting in front of the computer for twelve hours a day. So he set out on a trip to Southeast Asia to clear his mind and dream up more hands-on and community-oriented job prospects. During his journey throughout India, Cambodia and […]
Smoking has become the norm in downtown Beirut. Last month, a group of women activists posing as pregnant women with faces covered with masks, staged a protest in Downtown Beirut against the delay by a parliamentary committee to finalize a long awaited law to ban smoking in closed public spaces and end unregulated cigarette advertisements, […]
Abandoned dogs near Fukushima forced to roam in packs to find food Despite the sad tragedy of what are now being called the “Fukushima Dead Zone Pets” all is not completely lost for these poor animals: a number of concerned Japanese citizens are willing to risk radiation exposure to themselves in order to save and […]