Istanbul – a major hub for train travel across the Middle East Survey results published this week reveal that the majority of international travelers would prefer to take trains instead of aeroplanes, if they had the opportunity. The poll of 300 consumers, conducted for train technology company Silverrail, showed that 79% would choose trains over […]
Bolster your New Year’s food resolutions with seven recycled titles: largely published before 2011 but still relevant. Eating sustainably can make a huge impact on our planet. Dig in. 1. Eating Animals (Penguin, 2011) Part memoir, part science: novelist Jonathan Safran Foer’s takes a philosophical look at how we justify what we eat . Prepare […]
Will it smell? Can I save money? And will it create fertilizer? Flushing our waste down the toilet is not the ideal way of utilising our precious and very limited water sources here in the Middle East. Moreover, the pollution that we are causing to our rivers and seas is becoming an increasing concern. Like […]
The park which was opened by the country's Vice-President Dr Najah Al-Attar, is located in Dummar, a suburb of Damascus and is planted with various drought-resistant flora. It is hoped that the park will be used as model for public and private parks and help rationalize the consumption of water and energy.
Corruption, poor management, and climate change have driven away nearly half a million Eastern Syrians and impoverished thousands more. Nearly half a million people have abandoned an area in Eastern Syria near the Euphrates River that has shrivelled under a five year drought. Fierce temperatures and dwindling rainfall, as well as corruption and mismanagement of […]
Use the heel-toe express to wander through Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine. The Middle East is a pretty amazing place (just ask any of the locals), and there is a lot to see. A LOT to see. So it would be a shame to miss anything by sticking to conventional modern (and polluting) forms of […]
A new “crop” of 70 turbines is slated to be planted in the contested Golan Heights. Earlier this year, we reported here about a partnership between the Israeli company Multimatrix and the U.S. energy company AES to build a wind farm on the Golan Heights. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave the state’s blessing to […]
Syrian celebrities took to the streets of Damascus to promote green living. Releasing balloons, were they drawing attention to the environment or to themselves?
God “Thoth” or the northern bald bis negotiates its way back from extinction in the Middle East Syria is toiling to improve its environmental record. An internet service provider there is educating the public, and they have created a Master Plan for Renewable Energy. However, conservationists are unable to resuscitate the critically endangered Northern Bald Ibis […]
Moshe continues his weekly look at the Middle East eco-blogging community, in Arabic. This week he flies to Syria and looks at how an Internet Service Provider is educating the public. Last week, we looked at Mazen Abboud’s environmental blog from Lebanon. This week, we are flying to Lebanon’s next-door neighbor, Syria, and to a […]
Wind farms, like this one in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, may soon be common in Syria. About 90 percent of Syria’s electric power comes from thermal power plants fueled by heavy fuel oil and natural gas; and the country is now looking into using forms of renewable energy to provide its increasing need for energy. […]
Social housing can be eco-friendly too, in Syria, Lebanon, and Tunisia [image courtesy of seir+seir] Syria says no to plastic bags, Lebanon is pushing for more sustainable transportation, and Tunisia makes good shakshuka. But what do these three countries have in common? They are all participating in the So’Eco program under the auspices of the […]
Add a dash of cumin and you’ll get some “green cake” falafel? This wonder food, from algae is being grown by the UN to solve hunger crisis. It could work in the Middle East. We know that kids in Gaza and Cairo aren’t getting enough high quality nutrients. And many other oil-less nations, like Syria, […]
Estimates of 15 million bags per day consumed in Damascus alone! Moshe uncovers news in Arabic – that Syrians are launching a campaign to “say no to plastic bags.” Where bags litter highways, byways and in a region where camels choke on plastic bags, Syria is joining other countries in the Middle East, such as Lebanon, […]
Agriculture accounts for almost 90 percent of the country’s water consumption, according to the government and private sector, so the policies governing it are critical to the preservation of the land and efficient use of water.