Once just a small company with a negligible following, SodaStream has caused a resounding splash with its recent Super Bowl advertising debut. Following up on its earlier strategy of comparing its brand to soda giants like Coca Cola and Pepsi, which waste billions of plastic bottles every month, the Israeli company made a bold move […]
In a well-meaning effort to rid Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other emirates from plastic bags, the United Arab Emirates government has banned the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags. Instead, it will be mandatory for business across all seven emirates to offer their clients the biodegradable variety starting 1 January, 2013. But critics worry that these […]
This Green Prophet tours Turkey and sees a mosaic of eco-sensibility. Little Eid, a Muslim holiday, is a great time for a getaway. So I reeled in my family from disparate zip codes for a week spent touring someplace new. Years back, plump thighs on my enormous babies tagged the kids as “turkey legs”. It feels […]
Make sugary sweet fizzy Kool-Aid drinks at home with Israel’s Sodastream? Company sends mixed environmental message with new deal. The home carbonating company Sodastream has entered into a deal with Kool-Aid to provide Kool-Aid flavors to Sodastream’s carbonated water. Sodastream from Israel is currently in a small war with Coke, and this latest move with […]
This Marine Drone could clean up our dirty work. Can a wealthy Saudi fund this prototype to clean our seas? Fourteen billion pounds of garbage, 90 percent of which is plastic, is dumped into the ocean every year and there is no sign of plastic waste reducing – in fact plastic waste has been increasing […]
No more bottled water, no more Brita? Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson and Strauss Group’s Ofra Strauss pose with Virgin Pure, a new dispenser now in the UK There is no shortage of ideas on how to filter drinking water, from filters in plastic beverage bottles, or by creating water from air conditioning units. Some water filtration devices […]
In occasion of World Oceans Day, Green Prophet provides you with some tools for some (much needed) marine activism. What does sea water mean for you? What memories do you have of swimming in the sea? If you were in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea or the Persian Gulf 15 to 20 […]
Determined to make a positive environmental contribution, the UK-based clothing manufacturer DGrade perfected a method that converts recycled plastic into yarn. They use 20% less water, 50% less energy, and produce 55% less carbon emissions than the cotton manufacturing process requires, and they have recently opened a branch in the Dubai mall. Their cost-competitive brand Dirtball […]
Plastic is pervasive and so are the carcinogenic chemicals that leach from them. The rapid growth and urbanization of the United Arab Emirates is associated with increased uses of plastic in every aspect of modern life. In 2008, the World Health Organization voiced concerns that rapid urbanization may be negatively impacting people’s lives. Rapid growth […]
Dubai-based Jonathan Eric Defante plastic “eco-brick” pitch won him a UN Citizen Ambassadorship. Jonathan Eric Defante submitted his “One Bottle, One Life” YouTube pitch to the United Nations as a potential solution for poor recycling performance around the world. The Filipino man living in Dubai suggested that people can build their own homes made out […]
Half of the wild camels near Abu Dhabi are choking on plastic and dying When the grownups give up on protecting the earth and its numerous creatures, the youth are left to pick up the baton. Cameron Oliver was just 11 years old when he first learned about the plight of camels living in the […]
What’s an Aqaba trip over Eid Ul Adha without some snorkeling at the coral beds off Tala Bay of the Red Sea? It’s your chance to star in your own National Geographic special. Get knocked out by the natural beauty, then repulsed by the manmade trash.
2,000 miles away from the nearest continent, thousands of baby albatrosses are dying. The cause? Plastic. Over the years, we have watched plastic take a terrible toll on our fauna and flora. We’ve seen it kill our camels, pollute our waterways, and fill the belly of a very sick turtle. The plastic issue is so […]
This idea is so simple, yet so brilliant. Maybe it could help light up the Middle East? Filipinos living in simple corrugated metal homes have had problems lighting their homes for generations. Even since the invention of electricity, electric lighting has been used sparingly by certain communities due to its cost. It is frustrating that […]
We know plastic is almost inescapable, but here are 6 excellent reasons to just say no! It’s no secret. We hate plastic. We wish plastic had never been born, though we don’t really blame Alexander Parkes for inventing the stuff. How could he have known that a series of polymers bonded together would produce one […]
PET bottles hark back to their glass bottle predecessors using traditional glass blowing techniques. Plastic bottles have pretty nasty reputations for being bad for human health and the environment. Very few people are arguing that plastic bottles (and especially bottled water) are a good thing in the long run. Some companies, such as Israeli fashion […]
Zam Zam holy water in Mecca is contaminated with arsenic, but researchers in the US have discovered a ridiculously simple technology that can render contaminated water safe to drink. Millions of people in the developing world are frequently hapless victims of arsenic poisoning. This is not because they have angry spouses, but because arsenic is […]
Camels are prized by their owners. Did the Qatari breeder kill 15 of his own through negligence, or is the vet to blame? More than two dozen racing camels in Qatar died after their breeder administered a toxic pesticide to their skin. Misfer Safran Al Merri purchased Diazinon from the Al Shahainya veterinary center and then […]
This may well be one of the most revolutionary machines to hit the market, although, in a way, it couldn’t be simpler. Plastic chokes everything. Our water ways, including the Mediterranean. Camels and other animals. And given that it is made from petroleum products, it is a drain on our energy sources. A Japanese man […]
In the absence of all the trees burnt during the recent Carmel fire in Israel, a Christmas tree made from 5,480 plastic bottles stands tall in Haifa. The city of Haifa, in northern Israel, has Jewish, Christian, Baha’i and Muslim residents, and so many religious holidays are celebrated there. In honor of the upcoming Christmas […]
In the running to become National Geographic’s 2010 Adventurer of the Year, David de Rothschild continues to spread awareness of the world’s oceans. Towards the end of July this year, David de Rothschild and his crew finished an 8,500 mile journey in a boat made out of 12,500 plastic bottles, the Plastiki. This epic adventure […]
Plastic bags, however you use them, is one reason for an increase in petroleum production in Middle Eastern countries. How greasy is that outfit you’re wearing? People don’t always realize that today’s modern fabrics may contain petroleum. And petroleum is used in a surprising number of consumer items. Petroleum production and consumption increases greenhouse gases […]