TRANSFORMED PARK ON THE SHORES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN

The Jaffa Slope is considered one of the largest recycling projects in Israel’s history. A 50-acre, 50-foot high garbage mountain on the shores of Jaffa was converted into a beautiful park, and the 1.3 million tons of garbage were recycled and reused to build the park’s facilities. The Jaffa Ridge includes bicycle routes, playgrounds, a fishing deck and observation points and was inaugurated in 2009. With its completion, the project re-opens the beautiful shores of the Mediterranean to the residents of Jaffa.

HAIFA UNVEILS NEW RECYCLED-BOTTLE CHRISTMAS TREE

Haifa, Israel’s third largest city, will celebrate this Christmas in an eco-friendly fashion with the unveiling of a new 38-foot Christmas tree made entirely of recycled water bottles and other plastic objects donated by its residents and on display in the city’s center. The tree, comprised of 5,480 recycled bottles and illuminated by LED-certified lights, was created by Israeli designer Hadas Itzcovitch and her father, artist Ernest Itzcovitch, to raise awareness of environmental issues. The “green” tree comes just in time for the 90,000 travelers from around the world expected to arrive in Israel for the holiday.

LIVE FREE AND EAT WELL IN ISRAEL

WWOOF, an exciting (and free) voluntourism program is now available for those looking for an eco-friendly travel experience in Israel. Originating in 1971 as an organization dedicated to helping those who would like to volunteer on organic farms, WWOOF places travelers in kibbutzim and moshavim (small farm-communities) and with local families around Israel who will then arrange for different volunteer activities, including organic gardening, green building, cheese making, wine brewing and animal care five days a week in exchange for free food and accommodations.

For more information, visit www.wwoof.org.il.

ISRAEL TO UNVEIL NEW GREEN TUNNEL IN HAIFA

The Carmel Tunnel, a new traffic route and the longest of its kind in Israel, will open under strict eco-friendly standards next month in Haifa, Israel’s chief port and third-largest city. The 3.5-mile route is built atop a former landfill and connects Haifa’s eastern and western districts, redirecting drivers from downtown to an alternative route to the eastern and central parts of the city and Haifa Bay. The new tunnel prevents the extensive environmental impact that the construction of an overland road would have caused. The tunnel project also includes the replacement of local soil, natural shrubbery and the native white lilies on the slopes surrounding the Rupin interchange, one of the largest thruways in Israel.

HAVE A DATE IN MODI’IN

The Bible mentions the date as one of the original seven species of the Holy Land: “A land of wheat and barley, vines and fig-trees and pomegranates, a land of olive-trees and honey.” (Deuteronomy 8:8) In celebration of the annual fall fruit harvest in Modi’in, Israel, visitors will be able to taste an assortment of dates at this year’s Date Festival around the city’s amphitheater, Thursday, October 28 from 4-7PM.

Travelers and residents alike are invited to sample dates from the largest date palms in the valleys and participate in a wide range of outdoor activities, including collecting herbs for making incense and constructing crafts with recycled materials—all led by a team of guides from the Chava V’Adam ecological farm in Modi’in.

www.modiinfo.com

FLY TO ISRAEL AND SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT

This month El Al Airlines and the Jewish National Fund (JNF) have announced a joint tree-planting program in Israel. Anyone who purchases a round-trip ticket from North America to Israel on www.elal.com will have a tree planted in his or her honor in Israel. The passenger will also receive a certificate in the mail to certify that the tree has been planted. Tens of thousands of passengers from North America purchase their tickets to Israel online—so, this will result in thousands of new trees being planted in Israel.

PARADISE FOR THE VEGETARIAN TRAVELER

At Moshav Amirim, visitors are invited to experience a world built on organic, environmentalist and vegetarian principles. Amirim guests eat fresh fruit grown in the gardens of their own tzimmerim (guest lodges). The wooden tzimmerim lie in the shade of fig and lemon trees. Guests are asked to use the hotel’s shampoo and soup to prevent toxic chemicals from entering the gray water system. A gray water system recycles non-sewage water, like that used in bathing or dishwashing, and reuses it in devices that don’t require purified water such as fountains and irrigation systems. For a luxurious look at organic and sustainable life, visit Amirim. http://amirim.com/village/en

TEL AVIV IS GOING GREEN, ONE BUILDING AT A TIME

Contractors looking to build in Tel Aviv will have to adhere to their new eco-friendly regulations. Under the new rules, building permits will be issued only after they receive the green (pun unintended) light from an environmental expert. Requirements include: low water use, energy efficiency, thermal and acoustic insulation, limited use of raw materials, natural ventilation and prevention of mold, natural lighting and ‘green roofs’. And green architects can only build using advanced energy-saving technologies. Building this way is more expensive; however, studies show that half the investment will be paid back in 10 years.

SUCCAH IN THE DESERT

For those travelers wishing to blend in with nature, there is nothing like Succah in the Desert— a new eco-friendly retreat in Israel offering an escape into desert paradise. Visitors may stay in one of eight dwellings, or succot, which are constructed with natural rock and are covered by roofs of natural materials. Each succah is adorned with decorative carpets covering earthen floors, and feature enormous clay jars for water-storage and solar-powered lamps and heaters to keep warm once the sun has set. Succah in the Desert also provides nonpolluting toilets and solar showers near the main succah for those who do not wish to leave behind the comforts of home. At Succah in the Desert, spiritual renewal and an infinite desert landscape awaits.

http://www.succah.co.il/en/tour.asp

VOLUNTOURISM AT KIBBUTZ LOTAN

An increasingly prevalent trend with travelers, voluntourism offers the opportunity to get away and give back. A popular vacation with voluntourists is a trip to the Kibbutz Lotan in southern Israel’s Arava Valley.

At Lotan, visitors are exposed to the challenges and rewards involved with the design, building and running of sustainable communities. Through hands-on work, tourists learn about organic gardens; alternative/natural building with mud, straw, tires, and junk; creative recycling, creating art and usable objects from junk; the expansions, maintenance and running of the Center for Creative Ecology; the setting up of workshops for educational tour groups; the upkeep of nature trails; and the Lotan migratory bird reserve.

Volunteers live in the EcoCampus, a prototype model for sustainable living that is made of super-insulated straw-bale and mud geodesic domes. The daily lessons learned through living together as a micro-community in this low-impact environment are absolutely unique to Lotan and Israel.

http://www.kibbutzlotan.com