Retailers and marketers everywhere can thank the Canadians for this killjoy idea that fights for the environment: instead of buying more than you can afford on Black Friday, an environmentalist from Canada in 1992 started a then radical idea: Buy Nothing Day.
The coronavirus has also had some positive effects. By forcing people to stay in their homes, there is less pollution. It’s been an effective way to let the world heal.
Certain buzzwords are developed to help us grasp a concept. To environmentalists, sustainability refers to eating, building and living in a way that will sustain more than one greedy generation. Vegewarian is another for those who aren’t quite ready to commit to full-fledged vegetarianism or veganism. Sometimes these terms are overused, as Brian pointed out […]
Sorry folks, but nothing on this earth is sustainable, even words. Brian argues the dire need for new words to replace ‘sustainable’ in our eco-English vocabulary. Peak oil came and went in 2008. Everyone knows this– with the possible exception of some US presidential candidates and one wildcat oil prospector in Cairo, Illinois. Most Green […]
Laura offers tips on unloading the stuff that comes between you and a broken heart. Broken relationships may leave us sad, lonely, or even relieved, but they also leave us with a pile of stuff acquired over that love-lifetime. Oh, the twaddle we collect in a romantic stupor. Maybe your lonely-heart loot has amped up value: […]
Open only six weeks each year, Hajj Terminal is rated one of the world’s best and busiest. Dozens of gleaming white tents form a bold roofline covering 120 acres of passenger services; sustainable magnificence created by visionary architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill over thirty years ago. Located in Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport in Saudi […]
Though the practice of establishing Himas to protect nature had previously declined, the Middle East is currently witnessing a resurgence of this ancient tradition. Now that Green Prophet has looked into the tradition of ‘Hima’ or environmental preservation in the Middle East, this post will explore some of the most famous examples of Hima and […]
Treating love with patience and with small, 5% changes is the same approach that will save our planet “Bad things happen fast, good things take time,” writes Wendy Strgar, founder and chairman of GoodCleanLove.com, and the author of the newly published book, Love That Works: A Guide to Enduring Intimacy (Love Words Press, September 2010). […]
On 10-10-10, thousands of people worldwide will roll up their sleeves and put their environmental conviction to work, including the “Green Sheikh.” Given the continued exploitation of fossil fuel for energy, our atmosphere’s carbon content is escalating to a level that will be disastrous for our environment. Which is why Bill McKibben initiated 350.org, an […]
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 […]
With a burgeoning population and no natural resources to provide energy, Palestine has found a hero in MENA Geothermal. In a world where natural gas is diminishing and oil spills spoil our oceans, we would think there is no better means to generate energy. Because if there were, surely we, intelligent beings that we are, […]
There are no clear solutions to the fight between conservation and capitalism [image via flickr] Tempers flared out at sea as environmentalists and fishermen sparred over the endangered Bluefish Tuna in the Mediterranean Sea just around World Ocean Day. In the last few days, Greenpeace activists and Maltese fishermen engaged in one violent and one […]
Birthday parties can be delightful events but they can also be stressful and very unhealthy for your children and the earth. With the stress on many parents these days to invite whole classes of children, to entertain, feed and send them home with a party bag, it is no wonder that we are left with […]
Every week, observant Jewish people read a section of the Torah. This week, our in resident Eco Rabbi looks at Parshat Miketz. Okay, this week’s parashah is a no-brainer. Seriously, how can an Eco-Rabbi NOT talk about Parshat Miketz? The parashah which contains the solution for dealing with famine… Parshat Miketz opens with Pharaoh, King […]
With so much concern over global warming and the future of our planet, the idea of eco tourism is becoming more of an “in thing” to do. Whether it be something really adventurous, like the treks to the north and south poles by David de Rothschild (as well as his planned voyage in a boat […]
(A blueprint for Park Holot, a sand dune park in the Israeli city of Holon) Sustainable designers take note. Next week, April 30, a hip urban planning conference will be taking place at the Israeli Design Center in Holon, a suburb of Tel Aviv. Organizers of the conference say this conference will examine park planning […]
There is only one nation in the world that has a net gain of trees over the past 100 years. While other countries, developing and developed, have been actively harvesting and lobbing trees down in the name of progress, Israel’s national organization the KKL-JNF (Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – Jewish National Fund) has made it a […]
Some green groups are criticizing the city of Tel Aviv for not being sustainable at all; they’re also criticizing the city for this new conference happening April 1-2, on urban sustainability. It is part of dozens of events to celebrate Tel Aviv’s 100 year birthday this year. For your reading pleasure, and interest, Green Prophet […]
This week Jewish people everwhere, and in Israel, celebrate the festival of Purim, which I would call the festival of communal identity. The beginning of the Megillah (what Jewish people read on Purim) opens with King Achashverosh’s party, a seven-day-all-out-eat-your-heart-out party. After spending an entire half-year celebrating throughout the country, the king wanted to impress […]
Masdar’s PRT pod cars. The playground of the rich, Abu Dhabi, is not just a place for playing kick-the-golden-can. Instead of simply finding ways to spend oil-money on futuristic gadgets and grandiose monuments, there is a lot of interest providing proving grounds for sustainable solutions and new urban paradigms. Personal Rapid Transit: Our very own […]
Academics from Arizona State University are hard at work promoting sustainability and regional cooperation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a politically stable and very prosperous Gulf country. A delegation from Arizona traveled to the United Arab Emirates this past January for a series of meetings to follow-up on last summer’s visit to their university […]
If you are looking to sharpen your composting skills, banish flies, kill odors, and speed along the making of rich fertilizer for your garden, while running a greener kitchen, City Tree has the answer. This Thursday at 8 at Bialik 23 in Tel Aviv is the First Israeli Composters’ Forum. Bring a notebook and maybe […]
With so much negativity in the southern part of the country and the Negev right now, it is refreshing to learn about positive things going on in the region, such as the blossoming eco-village Kramim. Founded recently by a group of visionary young Israelis and immigrant families, Kramim hopes to serve as a multicultural model […]
Green Prophet’s stock picks: We were approached by an Israeli startup that follows and predicts stock market trends MarketGuru to execute a joint experiment: how do “green” clean technology stocks perform against the market as a whole? MarketGuru asked Green Prophet to choose a variety of environmental stocks to track their progress of how they are […]
The chemical pesticides used in modern agriculture and in the home are poisoning our planets’ animal life, waterways and ecosystems. They enter our bodies, and can even affect unborn children. Helping humanity break from this nasty cycle of destruction is an Israeli company, BotanoCap. The company envisions a future where organic produce will be the […]