Mark Boyle, otherwise known as the “moneyless man,” says that the Middle East’s emphasis on caring and sharing should make adopting a “freeconomic” lifestyle easier than in the West. Frustrated and worried about the state of our environment, we chomp at the bits and engage in frothy conversations about irresponsible citizens and politicians, but few […]
The glassy new plans for the Museum of Tolerance reflect badly on the nearby environment. During the festival of Sukkot, Jews worldwide are camping out in their organic Sukkahs, touching the earth, reconnecting. Karin wrote about sustainable booths all over Jerusalem, while another, snazzier Sukkah is currently being displayed on Manhattan’s Union Square. Contrasted with […]
Treating love with patience and with small, 5% changes is the same approach that will save our planet “Bad things happen fast, good things take time,” writes Wendy Strgar, founder and chairman of GoodCleanLove.com, and the author of the newly published book, Love That Works: A Guide to Enduring Intimacy (Love Words Press, September 2010). […]
Hima, practised for over 14,000 years in the Arabian Peninsula, is believed to be the most widespread system of traditional conservation in the Middle East, and perhaps the entire earth. In these modern times, it’s easy to think of environmental protection as a new concept which has emerged in response to modern problems linked to […]
Zonzoo and Enviroserve recycle cell phones, earning donors a bit of good, “green” cash. When old cell phone batteries peter out and new models are just too hard to resist, many people chuck leave their old phones languishing in a drawer or chuck them in the trash bin. From there they are transported and dumped […]
Activists are pulling out all the stops ahead of a development summit at UN headquarters on 20-22 September. Pro-aid and anti-poverty lobbyists are trying everything from giant letters to banging pans to raise awareness of the high-level event. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) suffer from a lack of widespread public recognition, not least in the […]
Lebanon faces a number of environmental threats, including air and water pollution, risks associated with climate change, and the impact of the 2006 war with Israel. IRIN, the United Nations environment news source, takes a look at the top five.
On the heels of Turkey’s smart-grid connection to Europe, the country announces that it will host a new wind-turbine factory in the Western province. News moves quickly in the blogosphere. Roughly two weeks ago we reported Turkey’s new “smart-grid” connection to Europe, which is expected to not only improve the country’s own renewable energy sector, […]
Every day, 35 people are killed in the Gulf as a result of poor driving. Mohd Shahnawaz has launched a new campaign to change the attitude behind the Gulf’s reckless drivers. This is the second in a two-part series about the Suraya Foundation. In the first (which you can read here) we described how Mr. […]
This environmental group is bringing all kinds of eco-goodness to the people of Syria. Syria doesn’t always get it right, but we have to give them kudos for trying. On the one hand, certain citizens are making an effort to spread their environmental message even though, during one eco-event, they sent balloons into the atmosphere. […]
Dozens of colorful fresh spices enliven traditional dishes of the Arab world. Spices and herbs are treasured as culinary ingredients, and as medicine, in every Middle Eastern country. While modern supermarkets and small grocery stores carry many of the popular ones, people in the know still search out traditional spice and herb shops, where they […]
Will the Nile River diesel spill bolster lower nations’ claims to the river? Who has rights to the Nile’s sometimes polluted water is under dispute, catering as it does to numerous nations up and down its long and winding length. Egypt has kept control, but other African nations are beginning to stand up to claim […]
Dubai’s designers protest a planned development project with this musical power plant If we continue to usurp every inch of undeveloped land in order to protect consumption, we will likewise destroy the very biodiversity upon which all life depends. Everything matters: that blade of grass? It’s someone’s food. Those bobble-eyed frogs? They get eaten too. […]
You’ll eat well and save money by changing the way you look at holiday leftovers. This time of year is a time of intense food activity. For Jews, the High Holidays are taking off with symbolic foods called Simanim, and for Arabs, Ramadan just came to a close (have a look at the lively, vegan […]
Despite being a very conservative district, Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates has invested in recycling, revolutionizing how the emirate treats its trash In some parts of the United Arab Emirates, attitudes towards the environment are moldy and overgrown with ignorance. The daily feasts during Ramadan produced extraordinary food waste, and artificial islands continue to […]