Ezri Tarazi’s recycled design also draws important attention to how much conflict informs the Israeli identity. Any visitor to Jerusalem can attest to a palpable tension, an energy, if you will, that scrunches together hundreds of years of political and religious positioning. That same aura rises above almost every Israeli and Palestinian home. And it […]
Recycling glass is good for the sea and the eye. Avoid the evil eye too when you buy recycled glass.
Exhibition in Israel brings together sustainable “contemporary cavemen” (and designers). Post Fossil, a current exhibition at the Design Museum in Holon, Israel, asks the question: how to create in a post-fossil-fueled world? As the exhibition description states, “Time has come for extreme change. Society is ready to break away from last century for good. To […]
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 […]
Giving Eid cards is trendy in Muslim culture. Eco-designer Zaufishan demonstrates how she "upcycles" old spangles and scraps, into jazzy new handmade Eid cards for the Hajj season.
Salon Mazal’s eco-activists may be a little extreme, but they can still teach you some cool recycled crafts. Salon Mazal, an information center in Tel Aviv that spreads information about a whole range of issues including social change, human rights, animal rights, consumerism, feminism, and gender issues, is known for bringing together a collective of […]
Before you start building your sukkah, think about the materials and values that you want to use. Sukkot, the Jewish Festival of Booths, will begin next week and many Jews all over the world are starting to think about building their sukkah. While intended to imitate a natural makeshift shelter and honor certain forms of […]
A Clearance sale and the approaching High Holidays provide good excuses to check out Junktion Studio’s upcycled, recycled, unique designs. The Jewish High Holidays are coming up in just a couple of weeks, and for some of us this is a traditional time to exchange gifts. In Israel these gifts often come in the form […]
Check out Merav Feiglin’s Trashlights, mosaics, and other recycled material artwork between August 25th-27th. When Tel Aviv does something, sooner or later everyone else wants to do it too. For years Tel Aviv has devoted one weekend a year to celebrating its architecture, putting on a “Houses from Within” festival. (In recent years the festival […]
At a workshop in Cairo, Spanish fashion artist Ana Seco teaches students how to incorporate “garbage” into their designs. Reluctant at first, they soon eclipsed their teacher by introducing materials she had never even thought of. Ana Seco’s resume reaches far and wide. Her Bachelor of Fine Arts is buttressed with numerous diplomas and courses […]
Yael Uriely’s Dvarim Tovim (or “Good Things”) fabric jewelry line is made of vintage and upcycled materials. Good things don’t always come in shiny, new, plastic packages. Sometimes, according to Yael Uriely, they come in upcycled, vintage packages that bring us back to previous eras revisited. Yael’s line of fabric jewelry, Dvarim Tovim (Good Things) […]
Islamic wall art and greeting cards, with religious intonations in line with green values in Islam. Sakina Design‘s logo is green not only because the company creates Islamic design and green is an important color for Islam. Their logo is green because they are an environmentally conscious business… for partially religious reasons. The husband and […]
We’ve heard about H&M’s imported influx of sustainable fashion, and now onto to local eco-friendly clothing design: PopLove Designs. A design label that produces men’s and women’s clothing, shoes, accessories and housewares, PopLove describes its mission as “creating fabulous products with minimal harm to the surrounding world.” Its founders, Andrea Hughes and Shai Wallach, both […]
Used ice-cream taster spoons turn into delightful eco-inspired lamp. It happened to me just the other night, when I was standing at the counter of the ice cream shop, trying to decide between espresso cardamum and dark chocolate (or both). I felt guilty about my deliberation, and the consequent waste of those small plastic spoons […]
The thousands of Israelis crowding Azrieli Mall in Tel Aviv last week, anxiously waiting as early as 6am for a grand H&M opening that didn’t take place until 11am, probably didn’t know that they were about to shop for (affordable) sustainable fashion. H&M and sustainable fashion might not sound like they go together. H&M, the […]