The Nobel Prize for sustainability? That's what Katerva sells itself as: it's a new and important awards organization which scours the globe for people and organizations that can make real, immediate change for our planet. Now Katerva has announced its 10 winners for the Katerva Awards 2012.  In 2011 I wrote...

When a new nanny comes into your home for the first time to watch your six-month-old infant the last thing that you want to hear is that she spent her morning "helping old people smoke up."

Well, that's how Jenny put it on her first day on the job...

Yafa Energy, a new solar energy company from Israel, could be a bridge over which Arab-Israeli technology finds its way to industries in the Arab world seeking renewable energy solutions.

Eureka! Yafa Energy has become the first Arab-Israeli company to win a prestigious European Union EUREKA (Exceptional,...

Israel is the land of milk and honey -- and solar water heaters. Practically every roof in Israel is fitted with a solar thermal collector to warm water for endless hot showers and hot water for the kitchen sink.

Taking the idea of solar thermal hot water heaters...

After growing up in Canada where everyone I know -- except show dog owners -- spays or neuters their cats and dogs, I was surprised that the practice is not widely practiced in Israel where the general notion is that it's unkind to deny an animal the right to reproduce....

Nestled in a seaside grove of coconut trees planted by her husband's father, and a deep commitment to planting roots, Nuan Re-Ki built The Kala, an eco-resort in the tropical paradise of Koh Samui in Thailand. And she built it for keeps.

Unlike other boutique and luxury hotels on the Gulf...

I come from a family of cheap -- I mean frugal -- coupon clippers. We'd shop around half a dozen stores every week, me festooned with a mitt-full of coupons to bust those per-person limits on butter, microwave dinners and bottles of Coke. I was embarrassed to have to do...

A new report more or less confirms what was suspected all along: that the Flame malware attack on Iranian computer systems was masterminded by U.S. and Israeli intelligence agents to slow down the Iranian nuclear program. Flame is a super weapon, a devastating kind of malware that can...

Ancient Jewish prayers still recited today include special mention of dew in the summer and rain in the winter. Survival of Israelites back then, and of the Israelis in modern times, rests largely on how much water is available for agriculture. While Israel has answers to drought such...

If I had bags of money I would eat out at good restaurants every day. But the cost of eating really healthy organic food where I live and roam is next to impossible. There is one really overpriced organic restaurant near my house, and loads of places that...

The center of my family's life has always been the kitchen. It's where our friends meet and greet, where we have family meetings, and of course eat; it's usually the place where we have the best fights. Globally, the kitchen is recognized as the heart of the family and the...

Organic food has become a staple in the diets of many people around the world. I buy organic when I can, and it's so popular, I can find it in the most mainstream grocery stores in bigger cities. People like me choose to spend more money on the costlier organic...

Since the Julia Child food blogging movie Julia & Julia, and substantially well before that, it seemed like everyone and her sister had a food blog. I find food blogs extremely helpful when I have a craving for something I want to make; they are also extremely helpful in finding...

If you fear extreme changes in the environment from global warming, or are living in a sporadic weather zone facing snowstorms, earthquakes, or tornadoes, buying an electric generator is probably on your mind. My parents own a second home in northern Ontario, where the odd forest fire and summer blackout...

The winter months are the perfect time to travel to Thailand, especially with this year's cold snap. Warm tropical temperatures paired with a pineapple strip and a beach anywhere south of Bangkok can cure the winter blues. Instead of lingering in Bangkok, we decided to take a slow boat up...

He came from the dot-com market with a boom and a bust, but in the Arab world. Ziad Tassabehji has always been an entrepreneur at heart. Born in Lebanon and now living in the UK after more than two decades in the United Arab Emirates, Ziad started his first Internet...

People like flashy new cars over used cars despite the environmental implications and huge cost savings for no-car families. I never had the luxury of driving in a new car when I was a kid. My dad insisted on patching jalopies together. My starkest memory was at the age of...

Here are some green book gift giving ideas for Christmas: Whether you are buying for a business executive who needs to make the company more sustainable (hint, hint), a young environmental activist who wants to change the world, or an MBA student eager to be in the loop,...

Natasha Paracha was Miss Pakistan World in 2008. In 2011, she's using her beauty and smarts to build a sustainable renewable energy climate in Pakistan.

Everyone knows that the first thing you ask any beauty queen is about that wish -- what she would do to make the world a...

The American Government wants it. So does its people. Renewable energy -- that which doesn't burn fossil fuels, expected to reach a catastrophic climax of supply, known as Peak Oil, sometime in the near future. When the oil runs out, so does our carbon intensive lifestyle of cheap flights to...