Asbestos poisoning, exposure to chemicals or dangerous situations at work which put you at risk, or worse in the hospital and out of work. In the United States laws are pretty defined on how people can approach the law and their rights. In the Middle East our basic rights to be protected from environmental […]
Taking a cue from its neighbor city Tel Aviv Lebanon’s regional “landmark”, Sidon’s notorious garbage mountain, will now become a city park. Sidon’s stench was once so bad that locals used to say that “you smell it before you can see it.” This hideous site, the result of garbage trucks dumping straight into the sea […]
Bahrain, in the Middle East is one of the most wasteful nations on earth, according to the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) 2014 Living Planet Report (download the PDF here), published recently. Bahrain as the ninth worst offender in terms of the environmental impact it has on the planet, per head of population. But Bahrain is not lonely among […]
We’ve killed it! Once the fourth largest lake in the world, the Aral Sea between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan is about 10% of its former size.
Some news that Trekkies will love, and which could be applied to clean up our seas: tractor beams to the rescue!
How green are Israeli cities, really? This question might be asked by many; especially in light of its largest city, Tel Aviv (see photo), becoming so polluted that a tiny electric vehicle rental program is being tried out in an effort to reduce air pollution. Ground water in Tel Aviv and other parts of the […]
Rubber tires are pure nastiness, especially when they’re no longer useful for cars. They languish in landfills, provide habitat for mosquitoes and rats, and often cause horrendous fires – like this one in Kuwait that was visible from space. Hit the jump to find out how Hala Smadi is putting them to good (re)use in Jordan.
Iran is most known in global news for its nuclear ambitions. But the country has resources for wind energy, the international renewable energy organization IRENA has announced. The NGO which is headquartered in Abu Dhabi has just released wind maps which show where Iranian winds blow.
Africa’s largest silver mine has been operating in the Atlas mountains since 1969, but the Berber people living in the surrounding villages remain among the most poverty-stricken people in Morocco. Now Movement on the Road ’96 are living in an “occupation” camp to protest a silver mine’s water use and pollution.
My hometown of Amman, Jordan has just been slammed as one of the least attractive cities on the planet. Online travel adviser U.CityGuide posted their 10 Ugliest Cities of the World, with Amman nabbing third place.
It’s hard to monitor vessels that pollute out at sea, so five aircrafts from Algeria, France, Italy, Morocco and Spain got together to keep an eye on the Mediterranean Sea in a recent coordinated aerial surveillance program organized by the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Center for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC).
Middle Easterners blessed with oil wealth love to flaunt their gold. Don’t be surprised to find gold bars sold at dispensing machine in Dubai or driving around Abu Dhabi as white gold Mercedes. But there are ways to green your gold. Read on for more.
In Egypt, people often have to line up for hours to fill their cars and trucks with diesel fuel – particularly during summer months when it comes at a premium. Concerned to ease these shortages, as well as pollution and climate change, Egyptian agricultural engineer Wadad Khaireddine is pushing to grow a desert full of […]
The Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Lebanon has seen better days. Elders might recall a time when the water was clear and teeming with color and life, but for the few last years, the waters have been practically devoid of life, and scuba diving more apocalyptic than fun. Until Dr. Michel Chalhoub, a Beirut-based engineer, […]
The barbershop tradition in Turkey is far more vibrant than the Hair Cutteries of America. In Turkey, men gather for their weekly shave and catch up on the politics du jour while drinking strong muddy coffee often laced with cardamom. The barber is naturally a key figure in this street culture, so when he takes […]
About half of Abu Dhabi’s trash will ‘burn’ into green electricity in new $850 million power plant. Maybe you saw the wonderful movie, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. Or maybe you’d read stories on Green Prophet about Masdar, or Shams, the world’s largest CSP plant in Abu Dhabi. Arab nations and their economies are certainly […]
While the rest of the world is beguiled by Walmarts and Targets, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has given a $39 million handicraft complex in Fez his royal seal of approval. Recognizing the value of authentic handmade crafts sought after by tourists in particular, not to mention the job opportunities that accompany such a vibrant cottage […]
Corruption is black, brown, grey, devoid of color. And in Egypt, it can be seen in streets piled high with trash and polluted canals, in maddening traffic resulting from outdated infrastructure, and chronic power outages. Corruption is everywhere, yet this silent killer of hopes and dreams is hard to pin down. Not anymore. A band […]
We haven’t heard from our favorite eco-warrior, David de Rothschild in some time, but that doesn’t mean the youngest heir to the Rothschild banking fortune has fizzled into obscurity. Instead, since he responded to our call to save Israel’s Adullam Valley from his (extended) family’s oil shale ambitions and published his crew’s riveting account of the […]
Two thousand years ago, Lake Bafa was a bay in the Aegean Sea, known as the Gulf of Latmus. The remains of ancient Byzantine monasteries can still be found on its islets and nearby mountains. Today, the lake in Turkey’s Muğla Province is home to remarkable biodiversity: 261 bird species, 25 plant species, 22 reptile […]
Is red tide a man-made pollutant or a natural phenomenon? Is it a plant, animal or chemical? The answer is all of the above. The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Environment and Water indicates that red tide may be present in the waters of the Gulf of Oman. As a precautionary measure, Sharjah Electricity and […]
Cairo’s traffic is the stuff of legends. It’s easy to spend hours in total gridlock while trying to get from one side of the city to the other, with people honking and shouting. Then there is the smog that spews from aging vehicles. But what to do about this economic, personal and social hazard? […]
Cut your meat consumption by half to combat global warming, urges UN Environment Program. All over the US, Europe and even in the Tel Aviv University, people are adopting Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono’s Meat-Free Mondays. But one meatless day a week isn’t enough to undo the environmental damage that industrial farming methods cause. The […]
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 […]
Joseph’s lungs didn’t like the return to polluted Cairo. It caused a dangerous bout of asthma. Returning to the city I have lived for more than a decade this January, Cairo, I was definitely not expecting to end up at the doctor’s office with days of near constant asthma problems. After 10 years, one would think […]
