Paula Leven is an avid spinner, in the archaic use of the term. Etsy, the popular handmade craft shopping site, touts itself as being green for a few reasons: all the items on the site are either handmade or vintage, and there is a feature to help shoppers buy local. And yes, these are green […]
We’ve heard about peak oil. Ilana asks about “peak Jerusalem stone” – and if it will ever be under threat. My earliest memory of arriving in Jerusalem in 1993 is permeated with a sense of bewilderment. Coming from Queens, New York, everything was strange to me as I stared out the window of a car […]
A “beautiful nuisance” infiltrates Jerusalem’s German colony. On a recent walk through the German Colony, I was treated to a stunning sight. Filling a tree with their flapping green wings was a flock of eight parakeets, calling raucously to each other and pecking at fat red berries with gusto. Residents of the German Colony (in […]
If you knew a giant flood was coming, what would you put in your ark? Teva Ivri, a non-profit organization committed to Jewish environmental responsibility, understands that the Biblical Noah saved humanity and animal species from annihilation in a major climatic change with his ark. And they want to give him a break this time […]
This nanoparticle, 10,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair, could star in clean energy applications. Researchers at Hebrew University of Jerusalem have created an artificial nanoparticle that looks like a six-pointed Star of David and offers potential for environmental applications, including use as photocatalysts for separating hydrogen from water to create clean fuel.
Testing Better Place Taxi in Tokyo. Will Taxi drivers go for only 130 km per charge? Jerusalem’s Rusty Mike Radio station is relatively new to the Middle East, but it is already popular with thousands of listeners in worldwide, especially with the station’s Wednesday night Car Talk talk show that is devoted exclusively to cars […]
A member of the Forum for Environmental Justice looks at environmental hazards in the Galilee region. They meet once a month to venture into the field together, discuss environmental problems and devise ways to cooperate to solve them. Most recently, earlier this month, Israeli Jewish and Arab politicians, community leaders, the public and media toured […]
Tel Aviv Carmel Market. Above image via esme Visitors to Israel’s best fruit and vegetable markets already know the country’s two most famous landmarks: The Carmel Market in Tel Aviv, which winds down from trendy Sheinkin Street right down the Mediterranean the Sea. And Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda market, which anthropologically speaking, is most interesting on […]
You can lose your life cycling on the roads in Israel. Almost once a month, a cyclist gets killed by a car by a drunk or negligent driver. Despite the risks, the sport is catching on like wildfire. Bonnie Eshel, president of the Israel Cycling Federation says biking in Israel today is super-dangerous: “We live […]
The Deep, now at The Bloomfield Science Museum in Jerusalem offers a rare glimpse into the biological bounty of the planet’s oceans. Image © Claire Nouvian A visit to The Deep, an exhibition now appearing at Jerusalem’s Bloomfield Science Museum is an educational foray into the planet’s least known repository of biological resources. Instituted in commemoration […]
Can Mr. Potatohead outrun the Energizer Bunny? Researchers in Israel and California develop a potato battery, 50 times cheaper than the Energizer equivalent. Here’s one for potato lovers: the Hebrew University in Jerusalem has developed a solid organic electric battery that uses potatoes for energy. The simple, sustainable device, they say in a press announcement, […]
Archeology is green: The Israel Antiquities Authority and archaeologists celebrate rare find of more than 100 intact vessels While conducting a standard excavation to prepare for Israel National Gas Lines Company’s northern gas line installation, the Israel Antiquities Authority discovered a “bottomless pit” of intact cultic vessels. Layers of vessels that have been preserved for […]
In a world of synthetics and polyesters, fabric merchant Bilal Abu-Khalaf sells hand-woven silks, cotton and gold-threaded cloths from his Jerusalem shop. Some cloths can wait 45 years before being sold. In the hustle and bustle of Jerusalem’s famous Old City bazaar, shopkeepers are busy selling trinkets to tourists, synthetic t-shirts and plastic souvenirs made […]
Eco-Activist Beit Midrash offers an alternative (and ecological) alternative to the traditional yeshiva experience. [image via: shorashimroots] The Eco-Activist Beit Midrash (EABM) based in Jerusalem has been devoted to a Jewish approach to environmentalism for a long time. In their own words, they are trying to “bring Torah down to earth.” And now they are […]
Builder of Jerusalem and Israeli solar energy company Brightsource. Meet Arnold Goldman. Image via NYTimes. Serious philosophers rarely make good businessmen. But solar energy innovator Arnold J. Goldman is no navel-gazer. Goldman heads Jerusalem-based BrightSource Industries and its California-based parent, BrightSource Energy, which is contracted to deliver more than 2,600 megawatts of solar electricity in […]