Rola asks why the Middle East is consuming so much bottled water. Time to fix the tap? In his recently released book, The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water, Charles Fishman explains that while the US has among the safest, most monitored water system in the world, consumers are still choosing […]
Conservative Muslim bloggers and women’s rights activists bring harassers and inadequate legal and cultural protection to task, with women leading the charge. Women’s rights are a key environmental issue, a topic we’ve covered in recent articles about the need for a language revolution and the Arab Spring of women. Women in the MENA region are […]
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 […]
Defiant women, some “worth 100 men” are reshaping the Arab world in grassroots activism. While news of a minority of Muslim women in burkas continues to spread islamophobia in the West, a growing number of Arab women (veiled or otherwise) are shedding their typical conservative image and gaining more visibility in the pro-democracy protests around […]
The success of greening Al Ain’s Liwa International school could have great environmental ramifications for other schools in the region. This could be a function of media coverage, of fossil fuel wealth, or of a high percentage of expatriates living there, but the UAE appears to be leading the Arab world’s environmental revolution. Dubai largesse […]
Will the EU exploit the MENA region’s solar resource for mutual or singular gain? The Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC) was formed in 2003 to find energy and clean water solutions for the Middle East, North Africa (known collectively as MENA), and the European Union (EU). A series of reports demonstrates that it is feasible […]
Grilled and drizzled with multiple Middle-Eastern flavors, this vegetarian eggplant side dish gets raves every time. Eggplant is the poor man’s meat. There must be a hundred Middle-Eastern recipes featuring the purple vegetable, like the surprising eggplant soup and the ever-popular baba ganoush. I first ate eggplant with tahini and labneh in a tiny Jerusalem […]
ResponsibleTravel.com customers on holiday in Egypt. Feluccas and Pharoahs, a popular trip. British ethical tourism pioneers ResponsibleTravel.com has celebrated its tenth birthday by announcing its biggest ten sellers over the last decade – and Middle Eastern destinations top the list. Responsible Travel offers hundreds of holidays across the world and its birthday announcement also included […]
Where there’s a green will, there’s an eco-way, and Anu Agarwal will be leading the fray. Nearly 40% of Ekotribe’s customers hail from the neighboring Emirate, Abu Dhabi, but the store’s recent expansion into the ground floor of Dubai’s Mercato mall reveals a slight shift in the glitzy city’s green leanings. There are only scattered […]
Could First Choice all-inclusive holidays spell the end for small businesses in Middle Eastern resorts? First Choice, one of Britain’s leading package holiday companies, announced this week that all holidays sold as of 2012 under its brand will be all-inclusive. This means that as well as flights and hotels, the price that tourists pay up-front […]
From the rhythm method to condoms, choosing the right eco-conscious contraception choice is trickier than planning how many children to have. Making love can be a low-impact, eco-friendly form of pleasure that generates warmth and joy without taxing our environment, as long as couples are careful to mitigate the impact of unwanted pregnancies. There are […]
Abandoned Fukushima “dead zone” dog: its face says it all! The radiation, sadly, lingers in its fur. With escalating rates of radiation, and an upgrade to 7 in terms of severity, it’s not only humans who have suffered from Japan’s 9 magnitude earthquake, tsunami and radiation leakage in northeastern Japan. Thousands of dogs, cats, and […]
SlutWalk Toronto took just six weeks to organize, and now a dozen protests are planned worldwide. Is the Middle East next on the slut map? Without exception, every major human rights organization, from Amnesty International, the World Health Organization, and World Pulse to the Association for Women’s Rights in Development point to the clear connection […]
Unstable and unsustainable societies threaten our health, and that of the environment. The latest: virginity tests in Egypt. Despite their massive involvement in the protests and overthrow of their government, Egyptian women are being denied a voice in the formation of a new government, World Pulse and other watchdog organizations report. Amnesty International has called […]
Destroyed reactor: Dead Zone for 100 years? Three of Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear reactors may now be in a meltdown situation according to nuclear energy experts studying the ongoing situation and the amount of radiation in reactor core water leaking into the sea. What’s worse, workers at the plant who have been exposed to high […]
These four gentlemen are developing piezoelectric technology that harvests power from noise. While some researchers wrack their brain over how to make solar energy more affordable, or to extract energy from a ruthless ocean, four students from the American University of Sharjah are testing a more benign kind of renewable energy. They have developed a […]
A classical Iranian dish, Fesenjan is chicken cooked in a rich walnut and pomegranate sauce. Scientists from the University of Scranton, Pennsylvania, now proclaim that walnuts aren’t only tasty, they’re also good for you. According to studies cited by an article in the BBC News, the rich-tasting nut is so high in antioxidants that small […]
Middle East flavors can ‘spice’ up your love life, Canadian study finds. History is ripe with stories of foods, herbs and spices thought to enhance the libido, but scientific data to support whether a man’s virility or a woman’s sex drive could really be enhanced by certain supplements is scant. The dearth of proof may […]
As a new political order struggles to assert itself in the autocratic states of the Middle East novel challenges – and possibilities – emerge. In looking toward the future, social Greens throughout the region would do well to coordinate an agenda geared toward a sustainable tomorrow.
“Szzzzz, c’mon, honey; just take a little bitty bite of this delicious fruit” This question has been asked by much of Mankind ever since the dawn of the Creation: was the snake that enticed Eve and Adam to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge really environmentally unfriendly? And is it fair to blame the […]
Istanbul – a major hub for train travel across the Middle East Survey results published this week reveal that the majority of international travelers would prefer to take trains instead of aeroplanes, if they had the opportunity. The poll of 300 consumers, conducted for train technology company Silverrail, showed that 79% would choose trains over […]
Ayala Moriel Parums is a world-renowned boutique purveyor of sensual and inspiring natural perfumes, “crafted with passion and integrity,” that rise above the standard read-to-wear fragrances. The concept of wearing au natural scents is gaining traction among consumers around the world, and locally in the Middle East, a region rich in botanicals and natural essences. […]
Carmel fires at their height – “hell on earth” Rehabilitation of the severely fire damaged Carmel Forest is one of main topics being discussed in the week long World Leadership Conference of Israel’s Jewish National Fund being held in Jerusalem. The annual conference for leaders in one of the country’s most important conservation and forestry […]
If we do not arrest the current rate of overfishing, our oceans could be depleted of fish by 2048. Following Arwa’s recent blog on shark finning in the United Arab Emirates – a cruel and destructive practice that produces the so-called delicacy that is shark fin soup, and another story about the turtle that pooped […]
Hawaii has just invested $2.6 million in stimulus funds in a public private partnership in electric vehicle infrastructure planned since 2008 to help jump start the adoption of electric vehicles. Better Place, with $854,000, and Aerovironment with $820,000 were the leaders among six road-ready electric vehicle innovators to receive a share of the funding.