Spring has sprung in Israel, marked by almond blossoms and Tu Bishvat The Jewish holiday of Tu Bishvat begins as the sun sets on the 7th of February 2012. This holiday has its origins in some ecologically-focused passages in the Talmud. Deuteronomy 14:22-29 requires that one tenth of all that a field produces in a […]
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 […]
The arid Middle Eastern desert climate offers little in the way of natural resources. But it does boast of brilliant and fierce sunlight. In a continuing effort to reach the goal of 10% renewable power by 2020, Israel has recently been issuing a slew of new solar licences, including a 120 MW thermal solar plant […]
Jason deCaires Taylor uses eco art to conserve a fragile ecosystem See a starfish caress a schoolgirl’s cheek as she holds hands with the boy with the algae beard. Watch a baby shark swirl‘round that Beetle parked curbside to coral and lobsters. Underwater, everything’s magnified. Changing currents and depths cause kaleidoscopic effects. Dive in next […]
A green shopping mall is not green if its AC sounds like a jet liner taking off When previous articles of making shopping malls more sustainable and green, such as Amman Jordan’s new Mega Mall, were posted, it appeared that these large enclosed shopping centers are on the right track to becoming more environmentally friendly. […]
If you are of the 41 percent that lives in drylands, your future depends on supporting plant biodiversity. An international team of researchers including Dr. Bertrand Boeken of the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev suggest in a new study that plant biodiversity preservation is crucial to buffer negative […]
Oxygen aerators at Israel’s IDF Nevatim Air Force Base are purifying sewage water for irrigation use. Photo: Trlabarge/Wikipedia Many modern armies are now practicing clean technology by using equipment run on solar energy. This also holds true for the Israeli Defense Forces known as the IDF which aims to be greener. One of the prime issues […]
After being on the air for just a few weeks, “The Green Man” TV show has been temporarily shut down due to allegations of bribery and greenwashing. It is funded by an Israeli chemical company. A new environmental television show called “The Green Man” debuted just a few weeks ago, hosted by well known Israeli […]
Better Place Renault Fluence electric cars hit the road on way to customers After more than four years in the making, media reports and hype, visits to the Better Place Education and Test Drive Center and final delivery prices, Better Place Renault Fluence ZE electric cars are finally on their way to purchasers in Israel. […]
Greensoil, an investment firm from Canada will fund Israeli agritech companies with a reported $12 million. Cash from Canada will be funding clean technology companies in Israel. A new Canadian fund called Greensoil looks to build Israeli agritech companies with the launch of a $12 million CAN fund. Greensoil investors say they will invest in […]
From Linz to Tel Aviv: the lifeguard loveshack, a future Pixel Hotel in Tel Avi rendering. Tafline reported last week on the unusual and super neat project of Pixel Hotels. The idea started in Linz, Austria where unconventional and unused urban properties like garages or spaces within galleries – like a trailer in a gallery […]
An anonymous Green Prophet reader took this photo today at a shopping mall in Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Center. Go Green ceramic frying pans and pots are slashed to 50 percent off. This follows the picture that Maurice took last week of the fire sale of ceramic cookware in another shopping market. Clearly Israeli shopping centers […]
With a 35 meter high sun-ray collection tower and about 50 mirrors positioned to direct the sun, Israel’s AORA is about to flip the switch on its latest solar power plant in Spain. The company created a huge buzz in Israel in 2009 when it was the first solar energy company to connect to the […]
New drilling results from the Dead Sea provides clues that the Dead Sea almost dried up because of climate change — 125,000 years ago! The rapidly dropping water level of the Dead Sea, a cause of much concern today, occurred as well in the distant past, resulting in the severe drying up of the lake, […]
Israel Chemicals, which is a cause of major environmental hazards in Israel, is funding a School of Sustainability in Herzliya With shale oil funding green education in Jordan and major polluting Israeli companies paying to set up sustainability schools, green education is looking more like ‘greenwash’ every day. It recently emerged that Israel Chemicals and […]
The fast lane requires a toll fee but this beats an hour’s drive time Based on algorithms – a pay scale depending on home many drivers are using the road – Tel Aviv’s “Fast Lane” which was opened for use in early 2011 and designed to reduce traffic flow from super congested Highway 1 is […]
Maurice goes to the store in Israel and sees a “fire sale” of ceramic cookware in Israel – 70% off. Public awareness of product defects and dangers can work wonders. This appears to be the case with the recent Israel consumer awareness program Kolbotek that pointed out the dangers of cooking with some brands of […]
Low tech water filters loaded with a nitrate-munching bacterium help clean up fertilizers and feces in water waste. Rainstorms wash away what nature can’t clean up, but this often comes at a severe environmental price. Water runoff from agricultural fertilizers, animal waste and human sewage are poisoning wells and aquifers with nitrates. These compounds cause […]
Increased levels of male breast cancer and early onset puberty are consequence of water pollution in Israel. The 52nd Conference of the Israel Geographical Association conducted the last week of December at Tel Aviv University dealt with developments affecting Israel, the Middle East and the planet as a whole. Geography, a discipline that is multi-varied […]
Lead and other pollutants are seeping into Israeli drinking water at alarming levels. Lutra numbers decimated; human health at risk. Water pollution in Israeli lakes, streams and groundwater aquifers is reaching alarming levels. Although the country has regulations in place to prevent discharges, including a comprehensive Water Law, contamination is commonplace. And now scientists are […]
Can Sivan Askayo’s photographs convince us hang dry our laundry? What if art had the power to change our habits for the (environmentally) better? Could a photograph change governmental policy, or at the very least, some of our daily behaviors? Artistic photographers have tried, and acclaimed photographer Spencer Tunick’s naked Dead Sea shoot this year […]
Israel’s Eco Wave’s clappers get energy from the sea. Developers first looked to the ocean for offshore wind power, a conveniently windy and out-of-the way site for giant turbines. But increasingly, energy companies are realizing that sea water itself can be harnessed to generate electricity. Israel’s Eco Wave Power announced on Tuesday that its initial […]
Could the ocean make pumped hydro power? In the Middle East, it could. A brilliant proposal has been made to build a massive 2,400 MW sea water hydro project using the Mediterranean Sea, and the Dead Sea, which is below sea level. The Dead Sea Power Project would use the ocean to make hydro power, […]
Desalinated water is costly for Israel, and practically no one is talking about the hidden costs. Making drinking water from sea water has been touted as a solution for water shortage in the Middle-East and elsewhere. In southern Israel, near Ashkelon, a small pilot project has been pumping out 24 million cubic meters of fresh […]
To the great shock and horror of a local journalist, recycled Israeli pencils are discovered for sale on the shelves of a popular store in Saudi Arabia. A journalist from the Saudi paper Jazan was shocked to discover pencils brandishing an Israeli logo on the shelves of his local Abu Rialin store. Made from recycled […]