Guide to Going Green: Sustainability Practices for Small Businesses
Your business is small but you want to make it sustainable in every single way. Here are some starter tips.
local
Beirut’s Pascale Habis cooks up a new local Lebanese cookbook
In this day and age, with the superpower of Google, you can locate any recipe, and find infinite recipe ideas, online. So what’s the point of owning a cookbook? Aren’t cookbooks a little outdated? The answer, in my opinion, is no. An analogy could be made comparing “real books” to “E-books,” such as those purchased […]
Bezalel, Israel’s Art Academy, Shops Imported for Local Architecture
A starchitect from Japan? As Israel’s oldest and leading arts academy, shouldn’t Bezalel be a locavore when it comes to hiring architects? The Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, established in Jerusalem in 1906 as an institution that would help form a new visual language for the Jewish people, is now synonymous with Israeli art. […]
Michael Tsinovsky Puts Arabic Into Israel’s Melting Pot
Industrial designer Michael Tsinovsky brought together Israel’s many local styles in his ‘asli’ furniture design. When it comes to consumerism, local is almost always better for the environment and for the local economy. Local is better when you’re buying produce at the farmer’s market, when you’re supporting local artisans and craftsmen, and when you’re purchasing […]
Local Israeli Authorities Take More Control Over Environmental Protection
Who’s responsible for this Tel Aviv tree? The local Tel Aviv environmental committee. Some of the red tape preventing local environmental issues from being resolved has to do with the fact that national government has too much on its plate. Even in a small country like Israel, local issues can often be seemingly ignored by […]
Rehabilitate and Detox Your Lifestyle in Time for the New Year
Detoxing your lifestyle of non-green habits doesn’t have to be as dramatic as drug rehab. It can be simple and is a great way to start the new year. Rosh Hashana, or the Jewish New Year, is only a few days away and as a time of reflection many of us may be thinking of ways […]
5 Green Dating Ideas for the Middle Eastern Romantic
Impress your date and reduce your negative impact on the environment with a green-ified date. Dating can be rough. Firstly, it can be hard to find that special someone (which is facilitated, in our modern times, by some form of online dating site or one of those popular US dating sites), and secondly, it can […]
Zolaykha Sherzad Resurrects Traditional Afghan Crafts Via Modern Fashion Design
Zolaykha Sherzad revives Afghan artistic culture and trains women with her Zarif Design company in Kabul. Fashion can be environmentally friendly in a few ways. Green-ifying your outfit can be as simple as obtaining it from your local second-hand store, or using eco-friendly detergents and cold water to wash it. Alternatively, it can mean that […]
Omani Handicrafts Facing Extinction Versus Machine Made Imitations
At stake for Oman is the extinction of traditional handicrafts in the face of cheaper, machine made imitations. Man making khanjars (traditional Omani daggers). [image via: v.williams46] Omani handicrafts – such as silver items, woven cloths, and pottery – may have been passed down from generation to generation and faced difficulties such as material shortages […]
How Green Is Your Garlic?
Imported garlic looks beautiful, but locally grown is healthier. Contaminated garlic from China was a scandal in the late 1990s and up till 2009. Fueled by anger over tainted pet food, toothpaste, and medicines from China, health-conscious consumers were outraged at the huge quantities of cheap Chinese garlic that were being “dumped” – sold for […]