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 […]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBWi3NtND68[/youtube] 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 […]
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 […]
The slogan of the new campaign, which consists mostly of models wearing t-shirts with babies' bodies printed on them (thus making the models look like babies), is 'live young'. This Green Prophet wonders if that slogan could backfire, causing environmentalists to claim instead that you should avoid drinking bottled water so that our young may live on a healthy planet.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGGabrorRS8[/youtube] 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 […]
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 […]