Black cloud squeal hotline

October 15, 2008 - 3:42 PM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Environment, General, Life, Travel 

The Ayalon highway: emissions are abundantTel Aviv gridlock is a major problem. And while the bureaucrats duke it out over the best way to fix things, the smog continues to billow.

Our official emission standards are competitive with the world’s most strict governments, but when it comes to enforcement, well, the Police sometimes seem more interested in taking photos of people speeding.

Now the government is handing matters over to the community of drivers, according to a YNet report. Who better to rat out that truck with the rusted-out exhaust line, hopefully taking it off the road and adding years of lung life to everyone who would be in its wake, than the dude two lanes over in the Prius? According to the Environmental Protection ministry, the answer is a resounding “Nobody.”

The Environmental Protection and the Transport ministries have embarked on a joint initiative recently, forming the polluting vehicles hotline, meant to allow drivers to report any cars they think might be exceeding the legal vehicular emission limits.

According to the plan, introduced by Environment Minister Gideon Ezra, people who call the hotline would be able to do so anonymously, but they would have to give a complete description of the polluting car, such as make and model, color and license plate.

….MK Dov Khenin (Hadash), who heads the Knesset’s environmental lobby, welcomed the initiative, despite its innate difficulties: “We’re bound to see some false reports, but the overall effect of the system would be a positive one,” he said.

“The mere existence of such a hotline would prompt car owners to take better care of their vehicle, in order to avoid citations.”

So from now on, if you’re driving along the highway and you see a black cloud emanating from a fellow driver’s vehicle, you’ll only have yourself and the dude two lanes over in the Prius to blame.

Image courtesy EagleXDV from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

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First rains

September 28, 2008 - 1:39 PM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General, Life 

It was the first rain yesterday. In Israel we take our rain seriously. My children were out there quick as a flash, dancing around the garden as if…, well as if they hadn’t seen rain for six months.

Their education in water conservation was immediately apparent. Every container they could find was pressed into use catching raindrops and run off water from the roof. When the rain stopped they began diligently watering all the pots.

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It may have been short, and it was definitely filthy (the first rain always leaves you wiping down your windows, car, garden furniture, and the floor, if you unluckily left your window open), but yesterday’s rain was a welcome sight for everyone.

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Last year’s dry, warm winter compounded three previous years of drought, leaving Israel facing its worst water crisis in years.
With the red line of the Galilee – Israel’s main reservoir of natural water – already breached, pumping looks as if its set to reach the black line, beyond which point many believe the damage to the lake is irreversible.

With the government seemingly doing little to reverse the crisis – even water rates haven’t gone up in price – we desperately need rain this year, and many will be hoping that Saturday’s early shower will be an indication of a rainy winter to come. Around Jerusalem at least, up to half an inch fell yesterday, while in Tel Aviv and other areas of the country, the rain was fairly light and drizzly, allowing the parched earth to absorb some of the run off.

No forecasters are willing to give any predictions of rainfall this winter, but the rain did set in motion one important yearly tradition, known and dreaded by parents – mostly mothers – everywhere: the autumn switch to winter clothes, an exhausting job that involves trailing through the dark recesses of children’s wardrobes, and boxes stashed under the bed.

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Ban the plastic

July 9, 2008 - 4:19 PM by · 4 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, Business, Environment, General 

It could actually happen…the Knesset may actually prohibit stores from offering plastic bags for free, if an amended bill becomes law. The original bill would have completely banned the distribution of the always-present plastic bag; the current bill would allow stores to offer non-disposable bags for sale with NIS 27,000 fines for businesses that ignore the ban.

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It’s difficult to imagine an Israel without the ubiquitous plastic bag; after all, they only just installed the automatic plastic bag dispensers in certain grocery stores within the last year. But despite the convenience of the plastic bag and its technologically savvy dispenser, I, for one, will cheer, as I’ve already mentioned in a previous entry about the not-so-environmental polyester green bags that are being sold at certain grocery stores.

So if you’re looking for a bag with a little more panache, or made of eco-cotton, try one of my favorite gift stores in Jerusalem, Nisha, at 31 Bethlehem Road or 4U Gifts, at 41 Hebron Road. They’re both selling a variety of laminated-lined cloth bags by Jerusalem designer Ruti Ribak, including smaller ones that can be folded into their own little zippered pocket and thrown into your bag. Best of all, they’ve go their own tagline: ‘Tikniyot,’ a Hebrish compound slang for shopping bag.

Ribak began making the bags about a year ago, when she saw that Israelis were starting to catch on to the idea of using cloth bags for their errands. Unfortunately, the ones that say Tikniyot are a little on the small side, just large enough for a carton of milk and a loaf of bread, but you’ll look hip and environmentally aware using it. As for Ribak, she isn’t planning on building an empire out of the line, just some ‘kesef kis,’ a.k.a., pocket money.

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