Think Again is a new series that provides fun ideas for how to reuse items in your home that you would normally throw out or recycle. Reusing is higher on the “green” food chain than recycling, because getting another use out of an object is always more effective than spending the energy to recycle it. […]
There are some very beautiful wine bottles around and it seems a terrible shame to just throw them away. Here are a few ideas of how to harness that beauty and make your house classier as well. Some fancy restaurants use empty wine bottles to serve water. It certainly looks more elegant than a plastic […]
Because one cannot own any leavened bread over Passover, for the month before Passover, religious Jews comb through their house for any remnants of leavened bread, which is a good opportunity for regular spring cleaning. I think it's a good chance to think about reducing, reusing and recycling...
Two of the most basic terms in the ecological and sustainable design and architecture fields are Cradle to Grave and Cradle to Cradle. They relate to the product life cycle from the raw materials (Cradle) to disposal (Grave). If you are in design school or architecture college or are thinking about an MBA in a […]
Inspired by the Green Kindergarten initiative made by the Israeli government, I dug up this story I’d written earlier in the year on a unique environmental education center called The Greenhouse: Magical kingdoms and secret gardens don’t necessarily have to stay in the realm of fairy tales any more, proves an Israeli initiative – The […]
In a special ceremony, held in Bar-Ilan University earlier this month, some 48 green kindergartens located in the Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, central and southern districts of Israel were certified “green.” An additional 34 kindergartens were certified earlier in the month, on December 3 in Haifa, 8 of which came from the Arab sector, reports the […]
Collecting everything but the kitchen sink, and well, maybe even that, Israel gets its first municipal center for “recycling and rational resource use,” announces the Ministry of Environmental Protection last week on Christmas Day. (Do they mean “national” or “rational?” We’re a little confused. Maybe lost in translation?) Moving on –– Located in Haifa, the center […]
Israelis are notorious for their love of gadgets. Well, at least Israeli men are. And Israeli kids. It’s a pretty true stereotype that Israeli elementary schoolers had their own cell phones way before cellphones were widespread in the US. Hand an Israeli kid pretty much any electronic gadget and they’ll figure it out in less […]
If you don’t, perhaps you know someone who does? Save your old t-shirts. If cut & sewn into long strips connecting them into one big ball of “yarn” they can be crocheted or knitted into heavy afghans, blankets, bedspreads, lap covers, rugs, or clothing, such as hats, scarves, or shawls and ponchos. Guaranteed, that you’ll […]
There are so many wonderful things that you can do with odd household throw-aways. Be creative and think outside the box, or INSIDE the box in some cases… Cereal boxes can make stylish and colorful bookmarks. Use empty tissue boxes to store extra plastic bags. Ever find that your chips get crushed? Pop them into […]
With everyone going back to school over the next few days, now is a good time to connect with parents from your children’s school. Find out who has children in grades above your child and see if you can get their old books. There are also many book stores which will buy and resell used […]
One of the best ways to reduce your waste is to reuse it. If you want to get rid of something, perhaps there is someone else out there that would treasure your rejects. When reading the news keep your eyes open for community events which give such opportunities. None in your neighborhood? Organize one! It […]
Junktion: Tel Aviv design studio founded in 2008. Lovers and joiners of what the city dwellers classify as junk. Junktion, one of Tel Aviv’s newest and most fabulous reuse design studios, tries “to create a meeting point with what the city has already classified as junk.” In taking everyday objects out of context (such as […]
We’ve heard of environmentally conscious Israeli designers doing some pretty crazy stuff with paper. Green Lullaby makes EcoCradles out of cardboard paper, Amit Brilliant turns used paper wrappers into wallets, and Erez Mulai transforms wasted paper into wastepaper baskets. While we think these designers are great and love their work, none of them has reinvented […]
Clever design, whether environmentally friendly or not, is something that everyone can appreciate. Who doesn’t love a passport case made out of map shower curtains, or a pencil sharpener that looks like an alligator? But we think that environmentally friendly design is almost always clever by default, because it reuses existing materials in creative and […]