Imagine being able to place an entire farm, complete with crops and livestock, in the same space as is required for one of today’s modern urban skyscrapers. A Columbia University professor, Dickson Despommier, has been involved in such a project that could turn a 30 story glass faced building into a vertical agricultural enterprise capable […]
Two things were clear from attending the International Renewable Energy Conference that took place in Eilat this week. The first is that Israel is now a world leader in clean energy. The second is that there is a small but growing group of players in the field who see this not just as a huge […]
Most of us (I hope) recycle all the plastic bottles we use. But do you also recycle the many other small plastic containers you use daily, or do you just throw them away? Cheese and other dairy containers, small salads, yogurts and the occasional hummus container used to make up a large part of my […]
Driving 22 East from Somerville I saw an industrial zone I had never seen before. I made a right, which took me past the county sewage plant to the Somerset County Recycling Center. Massive trucks that I only used to see on Tuesdays in my hometown were lined up to dump their day’s collections. I […]
As you sit in front of your computer now, reading the latest from Green Prophet, we challenge you to hark back to all of your former computers, printers, phones, batteries… you name it. Could you say where they are right now? Unless you’re a pack rat, you probably got rid of them when they stopped […]
Marlene Ferrer and Johanan Herson are “trying to be artists in the middle of Tel Aviv,” without relinquishing their environmental consciousness. Creating eco-art in an urban setting, Ferrer joined with Herson to found Gebo Gallery Studios as a working, teaching gallery that explores artistic choices in the context of social and ecological awareness. The installation […]
These yellow metal recycling cages can be seen along major arteries like Ben Yehuda and Dizengoff streets here in Tel Aviv. Some are strategically placed in front of supermarkets which make them user friendly and in turn gives more of an incentive to recycle. When I first saw these cages the logistics of putting the […]
The Christmas season in Europe is often silly season for the world’s media outlets, when they outdo each other to find the strangest, weirdest and oddball news story to give people an extra sparkle to their celebrations. Strange shaped vegetables, or bagels that bleed are the sort of stories that crop up. Despite the crisis […]
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 […]
The leader of the Atid Yarok (“green future”) environmental group in the Merkaz Hamagshimim community center in Jerusalem is leaving. Now Atid Yarok must have a new leader, or the group will fade away. The initiatives of Atid Yarok have included the Jerusalem of Green project, which James reported on last February; and perhaps the […]
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 […]
Compost plays an important role in this Green Prophet’s life as has been written about in previous posts, and over the years I’ve become somewhat of an advocate. I must have spoken with hundreds of people on the topic and have convinced a good many to at least try composting in their backyards, both in […]
This prophet just made the flight from Tel Aviv to his childhood home of New Jersey. After a year of observing Israel and it’s eco-consciousness (and at times lack thereof), I was eager to see how the Garden State measured up to its nick name. I couldn’t help but compare my observations in New Jersey […]