Integrating Faith and Sustainability: The Essence of Eco-Islam

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The climate crisis has become a key issue in recent years. Changing temperatures and weather patterns have raised alarm bells worldwide, impacting every aspect of our lives. The average global temperature is 1⁰C above the global average levels before the Industrial Revolution.

At this rate, scientists estimate that average global temperatures may rise by 2⁰C by 2100. This will spell disaster for the environment at large. Even minute changes in the environment can spell an ecological disaster.

climate change in MENA

Let us investigate how the climate crisis is impacting our lives and what we can do as Muslims to avert the unfolding disaster. It is time to get educated on Eco-Islam for the preservation of our future generations.

The Looming Crisis

As a planet, we are at a crossroads where one path leads to destruction while the other has the potential to turn the tide of time in our favor. Unfettered human activity and excessive exploitation of non-renewable resources have resulted in a crisis that threatens the existence of life on Earth.

With the global temperatures rising, the melting of glaciers and polar ice sheets kicks into action. This is worrying for multiple reasons. Glaciers are a major source of fresh water, feeding many rivers that would otherwise run dry.

It also leads to rising sea levels. This is especially concerning since 40% of the world’s population is located within 100km of various coastlines around the world. Multiple cities are in danger of going underwater if this rise in sea levels continues at the current rate.

Climate change has also been linked to the degradation of soil, a problem further compounded by the rampant cutting down of trees. Deforestation leads to soil erosion, and as the soil loses its fertility, it lowers productivity. This severely undermines food security and leads to shortages.

Overconsumption, disregard for the environment, and unchecked industrialization have put the future of our planet in peril. Climate change has lately become one of the most important policy issues globally. International forums regularly discuss the causes, impacts, and corrective measures relating to climate change.

Furthermore, international agencies have been formed to target specific areas of concern for the environment. The preservation of natural habitats and careful use of natural resources is a top priority. Sustainable living is being encouraged to save the planet.

All of these concerns are pertinent to us as Muslims as well. In Islam, we find countless commandments and examples of sustainability and protecting the environment.

environmental degradation

Islamic Directives on Environmental Preservation and Sustainability

Even though the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) came centuries before the Industrial Revolution Islamic directives concerning the environment seem very modern. It is no coincidence since Allah (S.W.T) perfected the religion to suit any era and epoch.

1. Our Duties as Humans

Islam teaches us to live in harmony with the environment. Allah (S.W.T) has created everything and all that is in it. He is Al-Khaliq, The Creator (S.W.T). All things in the world, living or non-living, are created by Allah (S.W.T).

While He created many things, like trees, animals, and rivers, to benefit us, He did not permit us to destroy or exploit them. Humans are named Ashraf-ul-Makhluqat; it is a basic term in Islam that means ‘noblest of all creatures.’ Still, we are not allowed to misuse the gifts Allah (S.W.T) has granted us. Allah (S.W.T) makes this relationship clear to us in the following verses of the Holy Quran:

“We had offered the Trust (of divine responsibilities) to the heavens, the earth, the mountains, but they refrained from bearing the burden and were frightened of it; but man took it on himself. He is a faithless ignoramus. [33:72]

This implies a sacred trust. Allah (S.W.T) has granted us countless favors and blessings. Our duty, as His humble servants, is to benefit from these favors while safeguarding them to the best of our abilities. We should be forever grateful to Allah (S.W.T) as He has shown us mercy and granted us with so many blessings.

It is little wonder that throughout the entirety of Surah Ar-Rahman, Allah (S.W.T) recounts His blessings upon us and asks:

“How many favors of your Lord will you then deny?” [55:16]

Our role as a vicegerent on earth is not just limited to the environment. It extends to ourselves. Muslims are strictly forbidden from engaging in any kind of body modification that is done primarily for aesthetic purposes.

Additionally, there is a clear and strict ruling against suicide. A harsh punishment awaits those who commit suicide as the act is a sign of defiance. Taking one’s own life is a selfish act, encouraged by arrogance and indicative of an ungrateful attitude, all the qualities that are the very antithesis of a Muslim.

benefits of sustainable wood

2. Environmental Issues in the Light of the Quran and Sunnah

Allah (S.W.T) proclaims in the Holy Quran:

“And remember, when Moses asked for water for his people, We told him to strike the rock with his staff, and behold, twelve springs of gushing water gushed forth so that each of the tribes came to know its place of drinking. Eat and drink, (enjoy) God’s gifts, and spread no discord in the land.” [2:60]

The above verses indicate that while using natural resources is completely fine, it should be done in such a way that is harmonious with nature. The impact of human activity should be limited so that natural processes and habitats can operate and flourish on their own.

Spreading discord in the above verse doesn’t just refer to the infighting and disagreements among the people, which Allah (S.W.T) prevented by providing Bani Israel with twelve springs, one for each tribe, but also safeguarding the natural resources granted to us.

The need for environmental preservation even extends to exceptional circumstances, such as during wars. Muslims are strictly prohibited from harming women, children, the elderly, and the unarmed after a battle is won. They are also not allowed to cut down trees or destroy vegetation in an area they have conquered.

These rules are indicative of the merciful nature with which Muslims must treat people and things that fall under their protection. Suppose Muslims are forbidden from cutting trees and wreaking havoc on the environment of enemy territory. In that case, it is not hard to imagine the level of care they are required to provide to the natural environment that belongs to them.

3. Sirah and a Sustainable Lifestyle

The life of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) is also exemplary of the sustainable lifestyle that Islam preaches. Muslims are always expected to live a moderate life. There must be a balance in all our affairs. This extends to the way we spend money and use resources.

The Holy Prophet (S.A.W) always commanded the believers to live well within their means. He was adamantly against an extravagant lifestyle and this is embodied in the way he lived his life. Even though he was the political, religious, and social leader of Madinah, everything about his life was exceptionally humble. He lived in a simple home, wore simple clothes, and ate simple meals.

Despite the Muslim victories and their rise to power as a formidable force in the Arab peninsula, the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) never chose a luxurious lifestyle. He used to admonish his companions over even the slightest display of extravagance.

The Holy Prophet (S.A.W) forbade wastefulness. Once Hazrat Saad (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) was performing ablution, the Prophet of Allah (S.A.W) instructed him to be mindful of using water. The Holy Prophet (S.A.W) went as far as to say that we should be careful with its use even if we live on the bank of a river.

There are countless such instances from the life of the Holy Prophet (SAW) and his companions. We should follow in their footsteps. A life of extravagance and stinginess are both prohibited in Islam. Moderation in every aspect of life is consistent with the idea of sustainable living.

environment-protection-muslims

Eco-Friendly Measures for Muslims

An eco-friendly life is not difficult, especially for a Muslim. We are already encouraged to practice peace and harmony with our surroundings. Here are some practical steps anyone can undertake to help save the environment and adopt a sustainable lifestyle:

  • Live well within our means.
  • Use resources carefully. Stop wasting resources like water, electricity, gas, etc.
  • Use public transport or walking instead of using personal motor vehicles.
  • Recycle, reuse and thrift instead of buying new things.
  • Plant trees.
  • Help raise awareness so others can also become more environmentally conscious.
  • Demanding those in positions of power to take legislative measures that protect the environment.
  • Use the power of our vote to elect leaders who support an eco-friendly approach.

The Time is Now

Individual actions have collective consequences. The problem we are faced with today is also due to the actions of individuals focused on personal gain and profit. A similar approach but in the opposite direction is needed to combat this crisis. Time is running out, as it is predicted that the problem will become unmanageable if major decisions and actions are not taken immediately.

Muslims are in a unique position that our Islamic values are perfectly in line with the ideas and lifestyle purported by environmentalists. Preserving nature as Allah (S.W.T) has created it is the duty of every believer.

Following the example of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) and his companions, we can make the world a much better place for all. Exploitative production practices, overconsumption, and being wasteful are all contrary to the teachings of Islam.

We must all work towards being better Muslims by being better vicegerents of Allah (SWT) on this earth. It is all ultimately for the preservation of our own species that we must protect the environment.

Are Toxic Chemicals Harming Me At Work?

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Toxins found at work are poisoning us and ending lives on a global scale. A 2018 United Nations report stated that “one worker dies at least every 30 seconds from exposure to toxic industrial chemicals, pesticides, dust, radiation, and other hazardous substances.” In addition, workplace-related diseases, such as lung cancer linked to inhaling carcinogens on the job, “account for around 86% of all premature death.”

Toxins in the workplace can cause “debilitating and fatal lung diseases, neurological disabilities, and reproductive impairments such as infertility and inability to carry a pregnancy to term,” the UN report said. Given the deadly nature of toxic chemicals, minerals and other substances in our workplaces, it is imperative to know the nature of these toxins, how to minimize exposure, and what to do if there is a spill.

Below are common toxins in the workplace and how they could be affecting us.

1. Toxins

A toxin is a substance that can be poisonous or cause harm to our health. Toxic substances come in many forms, such as fumes, liquids, gas, solids, and powders.

Common hazardous substances in the workplace include:

  • Acids
  • Caustic substances
  • Disinfectants
  • Glues
  • Heavy metals, including mercury, lead, cadmium, and aluminum
  • Paint
  • Pesticides
  • Petroleum products
  • Solvents

Be careful when around these substances. Injuries can occur from contact with skin, breathing fumes, or even swallowing. Sometimes the injuries are noticed right away. However, sometimes the effects of prolonged exposure are not seen for many years.

2. Benzene

Watch out for Benzene. The colorless liquid is found in products manufactured from coal and petroleum. It evaporates quickly. Benzene is harmful to the eyes, skin, airway, nervous system and lungs. Prolonged exposure can cause cancer. Benzene exposure is a major public health concern, according to the World Health Organization.

Workers who may be exposed to Benzene include:

  • Workers at steel or rubber factories
  • People who work in printing or with printing inks.
  • Firefighters or those who come in contact with toxic smoke
  • Workers at gas stations, shoe-making or repair
  • Laboratory workers

The best way to minimize exposure to Benzene is to understand it. Read safety sheets provided by your industry and place of employment. Be familiar with your workplace procedures concerning it. The chemical is so serious that experts recommend first responders to a spill should wear a self-contained breathing apparatus and a protective suit until they know the severity of the spill.

3. Crystalline silica

Crystalline silica “is a basic component of soil, sand, granite, and many other minerals.” The hazard comes when particles break down so small they can be inhaled. Workers who chip, cut, drill or grind objects that house crystalline silica are especially at risk. This includes abrasive blasting, foundry work, stone-cutting, rock drilling, quarry work, and tunneling.

Breathing in the substance can cause cancer and even silicosis. Workers should wear protective equipment when working with crystalline silica to avoid inhalation.

4. Heavy Metals

Heavy metal poisoning occurs when certain heavy metals accumulate in toxic amounts in the soft tissues of the body. The most common associated with poisoning are lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury.

Cadmium

Cadmium (Cd) is a metal found in zinc ores. It’s commonly used for batteries, alloys, coatings (electroplating), solar cells, plastic stabilizers, and pigments. Light-weight electronic devices often use batteries containing cadmium. As the use of solar energy increases, the prevalence of cadmium will also likely increase.

Workers in manufacturing and construction are more likely to be exposed to cadmium. It’s highly toxic. Exposure is proven to cause cancer. Systems most targeted are the respiratory, cardiovascular, renal, gastrointestinal, neurological and reproductive systems.

Lead

Ancient humans made tools from inorganic lead, a malleable, blue-gray, heavy metal. Consequently, lead caused the first recorded occupational disease. Lead is still used today, especially in storage batteries.

Painters, battery plant workers, welders and solders, and lead production workers should take extra care to avoid exposure to lead. Some plumbing fixtures, rechargeable batteries, brass or bronze objects, and radiators have lead.

Chronic exposure can result in impaired kidney function, cardiovascular diseases, nervous system, and neurobehavioral effects, and decreased cognitive function.

Personal protective equipment should be worn when working with lead. Be extra vigilant with hygiene. Keep your work area tidy and dispose of the lead at the end of the day per management’s instructions. Make sure to wash your hands and face as well as scrub your nails before eating, drinking or smoking.

Understand your employer’s training on working with lead. When directed, attend medical appointments required by your employer to check the lead levels in your blood.

What if a toxic chemical spills?

Due to the myriad anatomic components in toxic chemicals, there is no one solution to a chemical spill. Some spills are considered “simple” and can be cleaned up by internally. Others are complex and require outside resources, such as a mercury spill. Evaluate the quantity and toxicity of the spill and the potential harm to persons and the environment before attempting to clean up the spill yourself.

Be sure to prevent the spread of dust and vapors. Where possible, neutralize acids and bases. Control the spread of the liquid and then add an absorbent, such as cat litter to absorb the spill.

For spills of powders or solid materials, experts recommend you add a dust suppressant. Package up the spill waste and dispose of it according to the instructions in the chemical Safety Data Sheet. Then decontaminate the area.

Since each spill is different, seek expert advice.

Chemicals at Workplace

Toxins are not limited to trades like smelting and painting. Even office workers can be exposed to subtly present toxins. For example, the air freshener in the bathroom may contain phthalates – an endocrine disruptor. Companies often don’t disclose the presence of phthalates in their hand soap, dish soap, toilet paper, shampoo, and other products.

Ask management if you can use fragrance-free products and natural cleaning products to limit exposure to toxins found in everyday products.

Toxins are found everywhere. Do your research to protect yourself on the job from hazardous substances.

ﻤﺒﺎدئ اﻻﺴﺘداﻤﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﻤﺎرة اﻟﺘﻘﻠﻴدﻴﺔ اﻹﺴﻼﻤية

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تشتمل تعاليم الدين الإسلامي على الكثير من مبادئ الاستدامة التي تداخلت مع التنظيم الإجتماعي والسلوك الإنساني للمجتمع والتي انعكست على النتاج العمراني، والعلم الحديث قادرعلى تطوير قدرات الانسان من أجل استغلال المصادر الطبيعية بشكل يفوق ما حققته العمارة التقليدية، بيد أن ذلك يتطلب تطبيقا منهجيا للعلم ومقارنة شاملة بين الإنشاءات الحديثة والتقليدية، وإحياء المبادئ التي اعتمدت عليها الحلول التقليدية. بغير هذه الطريقة لا يمكن للعمارة الحديثة أن تتفوق بإنجازاتها الإنسانية والبيئية على ما قد أنجزته العمارة التقليدية، حيث أن الوسائل والأفكار المعمارية التقليدية قد تفقد أهميتها مقابل الراحة والسهولة اللتين توفرهما الحلول الميكانيكية، لكنها تسببت بالإستعمال غير المحدود للآلة والذي ساهم في المشكلات الحالية للطاقة والبيئة. ومن أجل ذلك كان العمل الجاد للعودة الى مصادر الطاقة الطبيعية، وفي هذا المجال يمكن أن تكون الحلول التقليدية التي طورتها أجيال من المجتمعات في عمارتها التقليدية، بالإعتماد فقط على مصادر الطاقة الطبيعية، ذات فائدة عظيمة لفتح آفاق جديدة من البحث والتطبيق .

مبادئ الاستدامه في المسكن التقليدي

توافق المسكن التقليدي مع البيئة بكل إيجابيتها وسلبياتها، حيث تم تحقيق الحماية بالحد من تأثير ظروف البيئة الطبيعية القاسية كالمناخ الحار والرطوبة النسبية وشدة الإشعاع الشمسي، أما التكيف فكان بإستغلال الإمكانيات الكامنه لمصادر الطاقة الطبيعية كالشمس والرياح.

هناك العديد من المبادئ الأساسية التي استندت عليها عمارة المسكن التقليدي، والتي يمكن مع بعض التعديل والتطويرأن تكون مؤشرات دالة لتصميم المسكن المستدام المعاصر:

1-البناء بالطين او الآجر

إن المواد المحيطة بساكني المبنى مهمة جدا لتوفير الوقاية من الظروف الخارجية، ويجب بذل عناية كبيرة في إختيارها، بحيث يتناسب ذلك مع خواصها الفيزيائية بالنسبة للتوصيل الحراري، والمقاومة الحرارية، والانفاذ الحراري، وعاكسية الضوء. كما أنها المسؤولة في تحديد المدة الزمنية لإنتقال الحرارة من وإلى المبنى.

يعتبر الطين أو الطوب اللبن أفضل مادة بناء طبيعية، حيث يمكنه توفير العزل الحراري للمبنى، كما يساعد على الحد من إستنزاف الموارد الطبيعية الحيوية، وإنبعاثات الكربون. واستعمل الطين على نطاق واسع في العديد من المبانى الإسلامية على مر العصور، أما الآجر فمن أهم مواد البناء التي استخدمت في العمارة الإسلامية، وخاصة في مصر والعراق وبلاد المغرب العربي حيث يندر وجود الخشب والحجر، ويعرف في العراق باسم الطابوق وفي مصر باسم الطوب الاحمر، وهو يستخدم في بناء الحوائط الحاملة أو كأكتاف أو في بناء القباب والاقبية، وفي حالة بنائه بسمك كبير فإنه يساعد على توفير عزل حراري جيد للفراغات الداخلية بالمبنى.

2– الراحة الحرارية

استند الفكر التصميمي للمسكن التقليدي على استخدام الفناء الوسطي كنقطة مركزية لتحقيق مبدأ التوجه نحو الداخل، وكان بمثابة الرئة والمتنفس الرئيسي للمسكن، حيث يعمل كمنظم حراري مستفيدا من التذبذب الكبير بين درجات الحرارة ما بين الليل والنهار، وتكوين أماكن ضغط متباينه ما بين الشوارع الضيقة المظللة والفناء الوسطي المفتوح.

وبصفة عامه غالبا ما كان تتتوسط الفناء الداخلى نافورة او بركة ماء او السلسبيل، وكان يزود بالأشجار المثمرة. حيث كانت تعمل هذه العناصر مجتمعه على ترطيب الهواء الجاف وتخفيض درجة حرارته.

ولقد أدخلت بعض التعديلات على مفهوم الفناء لضمان تدفق الهواء ومنها جاء كل من:

– الإيوانات: وهي حيزات تسبقها شرفات تحيط بفناء مركزي مكشوف، خطط بحيث يحتوي قدرا من الظل طوال اليوم، ويفتح الإيوان على الفناء بكامله، وتضم المنازل ايوانان أحدهما صيفي يواجه الشمال، والآخر شتوى يواجه الجنوب.

– التختبوش: وهو حجرة مفتوحة بالكامل على الصحن، ترتفع رضيته عن الفناء وكان خاصا لاستقبال الضيوف في فصل الصيف وتتجه واجهته المطلة على الفناء الى الشمال ويساعد التختبوش على تدفق الهواء حيث يقام بين الفناء والحديقة.

– المقعد ويوجد غالبا أعلى التختبوش وتكون واجهته محمولة على أعمدة ويطل على الفناء وبهذا التكوين فإن التختبوش والمقعد يتعرضان لأقل عدد من ساعات التعرض للشمس مع أقل كمية ممكنة من الطاقة الشمسية عن الواجهات الأخرى.

3 -التهوية الطبيعية

يعتبر توفير التهوية الطبيعية من أهم مبادئ التصميم المستدام في المسكن التقليدي، حيث تقوم التهوية الطبيعية بتبريد جسم الانسان، لانه بازدياد سرعه الهواء يرتفع معدل انتقال الحرارة من جسم الى البيئة المحيطة، كذلك تساعد على التخلص من الرطوبة وتبريد المبنى.

إن ملاقف الهواء هي الوسيله الأهم لإصطياد الرياح وإدخالها إلى فضاءات المسكن، حيث تعتبر أحد أهم العناصر الممميزة في المباني الاسلامية، تقوم الملاقف بتكوين مناطق ضغط متباينة، فتدخل الهواء بعد تنقيته وترطيبه ومن ثم تخرجه عبر فتحات اخرى، و تكون العملية عكسية في ساعات الليل، كما يفيد الملقف في التقليل من الغبار والرمال الذين تحملهما رياح الاقاليم الحارة والجافة حيث تتراكم في النهاية في قعر المهوى.

يعتبر الطين أو الطوب اللبن أفضل مادة بناء طبيعية

وتنقسم ملاقف الهواء الى عدة أنواع: أهمها ملقف السطح والملقف ذو البئر وهما ملاقف ذات اتجاه واحد يتبع اتجاه الرياح السائدة، أما الكاشتيل أوأبراج الرياح فهي متعددة الاتجاهات، وهناك الملاقف البسيطة الشكل مثل الحائط المزدوج والكوات الحائطية والبدقش.وأخيرا البادجير وهو ملقف من نوع خاص تم تطويره في دول الخليج وللبادجير مهوى مفتوح من اعلاه على اربع جهات اواثنتين فقط وبداخله قاطعان متعامدان يشكل موروب على ارتفاع المهوى بكامله وذلك لاقتناص الهواء من اي اتجاه.

4– البناء تحت الارض

إن استغلال إمكانيات التربة أحد المبادئ التي يعتمد عليها التصميم المستدام للاستفادة من الموارد الطبيعية. تعتمد فكرة البناء تحت الأرض على تقليل أو تحديد تأثير الظروف المناخية الخارجية على الفضاءات الداخلية، وذلك بالإستفادة من إمكانيات الخزن الحراري لكتله التربة الذي يسمى التكييف بتأثير الكتله.

تتجسد الإستفادة من خصائص باطن الارض للوصول إلى الراحة الحرارية في فضاء السرداب أو البدروم وهو عبارة عن طابق كامل أو أكثر تحت الارض. كما يمكن أن يكون السرداب بأكثر من مستوى تبعا للظروف المناخية والأدائية الوظيفية، ونجد له مثالا في المسكن التقليدي في العراق بإحتواءه على ما يسمى تيم سرداب وهو عبارة عن نصف سرداب يقع على عمق 1-1.2م مزود بفتحات تطل على الفناء الوسطي .

وقد انتشر استخدام السراديب التقليدية في المناطق المرتفعه عن متوسط المنسوب العام للمنطقة مثل العراق ومصر السعودية، كما توجد أمثلة على المساكن المشيدة تحت الارض بشكل كامل كما في مطماطة في تونس وغريان في ليبيا، أما في المناطق التي يكون منسوب المياه مرتفعا في التربة فيقل استعمال السراديب مثل المناطق الجنوبية من العراق، أو يكاد ينعدم كما في منطقة الخليج العربي.

اتضحت كفاءة الأداء الحراري للسرداب خاصة في ساعات بعد الظهيرة، حيث تصل درجات حرارة الهواء الخارجي إلى حدودها القصوى، أما الفضاءات الأخرى فتقل كفاءة أدائها الحراري كلما ارتفعنا، حيث الطابق الأرضي أفضل في أدائه الحراري على الطابق الأول من السقف المعرض لأشعه الشمس المباشرة طوال النهار، ففي الصباح يستعمل الطابق الأرضي وأحيانا السرداب، وفي المساء تستعمل الطوابق العلوية.

5-الإضاءة الطبيعية

تمثل الإضاءة الطبيعيه أهم إستراتجيات المسكن المستدام لتقليل العبء الحراري، وبالتالي توفير بيئة مريحة للساكنين حيث وجد أن الاضاءة الطبيعية من النوافذ أفضل بثلاث مرات في تحسين الرؤية من الإضاءة الصناعية المعادلة لها.

تكمن المعضلة بأن النوافذ تعتبر مصدرا رئيسيا لنفاذ الحرارة لداخل المبنى، مما جعل العمارة التقليدية تطور أساليب مبتكرة للحصول على الإضاءة الطبيعية وطرد اشعة الشمس المباشرة، ومن أهمها المشربيات أوالشناشيل أوالروشن وهي معالجات معمارية تسمح بدخول الرياح الملطفة، ولا تسمح بدخول أشعه الشمس، وعادة ما تغطي السطح الخارجي للشبابيك والبلكونات أو الشكمة التي تستعمل للجلوس في الداخل. تعمل المشربية على ضبط مرور الضوء و تدفق الهواء، وأخيرا تحقيق الخصوصية بفضل خرطها الضيق الذي يصنع من قطع خشبيه مخروطة ومتداخلة. وقد إنتقلت المشربية من مصر إلى بعض الدول العربية وكانت تصنع أحيانا من خامات غير الخشب كالرخام أو الجص أو المعدن.

مما لاشك فيه أخيرا أن المسكن الإسلامي من أحد أهم النماذج نجاحا في تحقيق مفاهيم العمارة الخضراء، حيث نجح في تحقيق التوازن بين الجمال والوظيفة، فقد وجدت عناصر التراث المعماري الإسلامي لتعمل وتكمل بعضها البعض، مع التوليف بين الظروف المناخية والبيئية والاجتماعية المختلفة. أما العمارة المعاصرة فهي تواجه تحديات كثيرة لتثبت أنها قادرة على استيعاب متطلبات التنمية المستدامة والحفاظ على البيئة، لذا فعليها إعادة استكشاف مبادئ العمارة التقليدية وإختيار ما هم ملائم منها للبيئة المحلية والمؤثرات البيئية، لتطوير ومزج هذه المبادئ مع التقنيات الحديثة، واستخدامها في عمارتنا المعاصرة ومساكننا في الوقت الحاضر والمستقبل، حيث يمكن للتقنيات الحديثة أن تجعل استخدام مبادئ العمارة التقليدية أكثر يسرا وكفاءة لتحقيق مبادئ العمارة المستدامه.

How to Reduce Your Plastic Footprint: 5 Easy Tips

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With recent reports on the staggering amount of plastic waste floating in our oceans, rivers and lakes, it is high time we start doing something about this problem. Recycling is good, but for many reasons, it is not the answer to the global plastic pollution. We must all learn how to reduce the amount of plastic waste we are producing in the first place. Here are my five favorite ways to reduce your personal plastic footprint.

1. Bring Your Own Bag

Billions of plastic shopping bags are used worldwide every year. Shops give them out for free to their customers, but they have a huge environmental cost. Few are ever recycled and many of them end up in our seas, where they are mistaken for jellyfish and ingested by turtles and other marine animals. Help cut down on the number of plastic bags used by bringing your own reusable bags to the supermarkets and refusing the disposable ones.

plastic bag alternative

You don’t have to buy new bags; use the bags you already have – backpacks, rucksacks, purses, the baskets on your bicycles. You can also reuse the plastic bags you already have. Give them a rinse if needed between uses. If you need to buy new bags, buy ones made from cotton. Avoid the polypropylene bags that look like fabric; they are actually made from plastic. They are not washable and they fall apart quickly.

Once you’ve got some bags, the next step is making it a habit to bring them with you on your shopping trips. Put some reusable bags in places that help you remember them. Keep some next to your wallet or keys. Stuff some in your purse. Tie some to your bike handles. Put a few in your glove compartment. With practice, it will become second nature to grab your reusable bags!

2. Don’t Buy Bottled Water

Plastic water bottles are one of the most common items of trash found in our waterways. Unfortunately, accessing clean drinking water that’s not in a bottle can sometimes be a challenge in the Middle East. The water in our homes may not always be drinkable straight from the tap. Invest in a water filter and have it installed for your whole house or just your kitchen tap. There are many filters available on the market. Research them and decide which is best for you.

Next, invest in a reusable water bottle that you can fill before you leave the house. Stainless steel is best if you can find it. Buy one for each member of your family. If you must purchase bottled water, look for a company that provides the large returnable and refillable bottles.

3. Say No to Straws

Yes, those little plastic straws we get in our drinks add up to a huge problem. When placing an order for a cold drink, tell the waiter that you do not need a straw. If you really can’t drink without one, check out options for reusable straws. You can purchase stainless steel, glass, and paper straws from various online shops.

4. Bring Your Own Containers

Ordering food for takeaway? Bring your own reusable containers and ask the restaurant to put your food in those instead of the plastic or polystyrene ones. If you order a lot of takeaway, consider investing in a set of reusable utensils so that you can also refuse the plastic disposable ones. Wooden or bamboo forks, knives, and spoons would be easy to carry in your purse or clear backpack.

Ordering a coffee to-go? Bring your own mug or thermos. The disposable cups the coffee shops use may look like paper, but they are often lined with plastic and come with plastic lids. Avoid all of the plastic by bringing your own mug!

coffee waste recycling

5. Buy in Bulk Whenever Possible

For many people, most of our plastic waste comes from the kitchen. And a lot of it is plastic packaging for food. You can avoid much of this plastic by shopping from the bulk bins. Bulk bins (or bags as they often are in the Middle East) are a way of selling goods by weight. The product is stored in the bags and customers can measure out any amount they would like.

Typically, customers are given plastic bags to fill. Refuse those and bring your bag or container to fill. Since most shops now have digital scales, it is easy to put your empty bag on the scale, hit the tare button, fill your bag, and then return it to the scale and get the weight of the goods only.

Often products sold in bulk are less expensive than those already packaged in plastic. Reuse glass jars and fill up on rice, nuts, flour, beans, and more! Find a shop near you that sells what you want in bulk and then speak with the clerk to ensure that you can bring your own bags. You’ll most likely have better luck with this if you shop from smaller supermarkets and avoid the large chains.

Why We Need to Stop Using Fossil Fuels? Understanding the True Impact

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Fossil fuels have a wide range of applications including generation of electricity, transport fuels, making products like plastics, cosmetics, and even certain medicines. But why scientists and environmentalist are fighting to end the use of fossil fuels and promoting solar and wind energy instead? The damage that fossil fuel cause to the environment is affecting the entire ecosystem. The impact is disastrous and haunting for the health of our planet. These damages are in some cases easy to see and evaluate such as pollution and land degradation. However, the damage can take various forms and be hidden and difficult to measure such as asthma and cancer or even the impact on sea level rise.

gas flaring

Environmental impact of fossil fuels

In order to better understand the environmental impact of fossil fuels, it is essential to be aware of the production and transmission systems of this industry. In fact, fossil fuels are limited natural resources and the human being will eventually be forced to find another source of energy. The fossil fuels include crude oil, coal, natural gas or heavy oils, which are made up of partially or completely decomposed plants and animals. These plants and animals died millions of years ago and, over long periods of time, they became a part of the earth’s crust and were exposed to heat and pressure which, through carbon chemistry, turned them into fossil fuels and sources of energy for people.

Fossil fuels, when burnt, release gases and particles, which can cause pollution if not managed correctly. Carbon dioxide, one of the gases released from burning fossil fuels is one of the major contributors to global warming.

Rapidly changing Earth

The environmental impact of the production, transmission and consumption of fossil fuel energy can be clearly noticed in the recent statistical reports on climate change. Our planet is rapidly changing. February 2016 was the warmest February since record keeping began in 1880, and was the warmest month in recorded history (in terms of its deviation from average). May 2016, the warmest May on record, was the 13th consecutive record-breaking month.

The impact of fossil fuel industry can be visualized during its whole supply chain network (85% of the CO2 emissions come from fossil fuel combustion). According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the extraction processes can generate air and water pollution, and harm local communities, transportation fuels from the mine or oil well can cause air pollution and lead to serious accidents and spills.

ghg-emissions-mena

The burning process of fuels emits toxins and global warming emissions. The whole procedure of fossil fuel produces a hazardous waste that harms public health and the environment we live in.

Consequences on sustainable development

The fossil fuel industry including coal, natural gas, oil and nuclear fuels has a negative impact the biodiversity of the planet and a big factor in the climate change. Fossil fuels generates, in general, consequences on the economic, environmental and social level. In fact, according to a research study conducted by Olson and Lenzmann from the Netherlands, the impact of fossil fuels cannot be limited to the amount of CO2 emissions as it is advertised to the public.

Fossil fuels have consequences on the three pillars of sustainable development. In their paper entitled the social and economic consequences of the fossil fuel supply chain: “Fuels are resources that can be used to fill the needs of society. So it would intuitively follow that an abundance of these resources would lead to improved economies and more stable nations. But this is in fact clearly not the case for oil & gas resources. Of the 34 countries who are able to derive more than 5% of their GDP from oil exports, only 9 are ranked as stable nations”

Catastrophic risk for economy

Currently 80 percent of the global primary energy demand is based on fossil fuels and the energy system is considered the source of two thirds of global CO2 emissions in average. Unfortunately, if the current production and consumption of energy is going on the same rates, the demand will double by the year 2050 and emissions will greatly surpass the amount of carbon that can be emitted if the global average temperature rise is to be limited to 2C (according to a study by unchronicled). This level of CO2 emissions would be frightful and have disastrous climate consequences on the planet earth.

The Paris Agreement signed in December 2015 has solidified agreement that the world must address climate change and has resounded the warning that inaction on climate change carries potentially catastrophic risk for the global economy.

Conclusion

Although most governments are increasingly embracing renewable energy, fossil fuels are still the world’s dominant energy source due to their high energy density. Therefore understanding the danger of fossil fuels is important to truly measure the impact of this industry on our lives and the life of our planet. It is now essential to make a change and start elaborating a new future of energy production and transmission.

References

  1. Carol Olson and Frank Lenzmann. The social and economic consequences of the fossil fuel supply chain. MRS Energy & Sustainability: A Review Journal page 1 of 32 © Materials Research Society, 2016 doi:10.1557/mre.2016.7
  2. Environmental Impacts of Natural Gas. Union of Concerned Scientists.
  3. Andrew J.Chapman, Kenshi Itaoka Energy transition to a future low-carbon energy society in Japan’s liberalizing electricity market: Precedents, policies and factors of successful transition. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 81, Part 2, January 2018, Pages 2019-2027
  4. The Hidden Costs of Fossil Fuels. The true costs of coal, natural gas, and other fossil fuels aren’t always obvious but their impacts can be disastrous. Union of Concerned Scientists.

The Environmental Impact Of Web3

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Assessing the environmental impact of a broad ecosystem is not simple. When trying to measure the carbon footprint of the internet, one has to consider all the layers that are part of this system. Web3, like the traditional web, has layers, so the only way to analyze its sustainability is by segments.

The motivation for the evaluation of web3 is obvious: if web3 represents an evolution of web2, it must also be more sustainable.

In this article we will first define what web3.0 is and what its layers are. Then we will assess what its environmental impact is and if there is any prospect of it being carbon neutral in the future.

Environmental Impact Of Web3

What is web3?

To understand what web3 is, we need to understand that in recent years the internet has been classified into 3 stages of development: web1, web2 and web3. Web1 occurred in the 1990s, when there were no smartphones and websites were basically static, with only text and a few images. Web2 dominated the 2000s with responsive websites, portable devices (smartphones, tablets, smartwatches), allowed users not only to consume content but also to create. The web2 also represented the complete integration of life in society on computers: from finance to personal life.

So, when we use the word “internet” today, we are referring to web2.0. But the 2020s are being marked by the rise of a new internet, web3.0, which represents the decentralization of everything.

Decentralization is not having a central agent responsible for major decisions. Bitcoin was the first project to succeed in this sector. The way Bitcoin manages to be decentralized is through a distributed architecture in which each segment has many agents interacting with each other in search of consensus.

For example, for a transaction between Bob and Alice to take place on the bitcoin network, it needs to be verified, validated, and recorded. The people responsible for validating the transactions are the miners, who compete among themselves to be elected for this service. Whenever a miner does his job, he receives a reward in bitcoins.

After a miner has created a new block in the network containing valid transactions, the other miners will check that everything is indeed correct. If there are any inconsistencies in the information, that block of transactions is rejected and another miner will be selected to redo the job.

Besides miners, there are full nodes, which are the agents that have a complete copy of the entire blockchain, that is, a faithful history of all transactions that have ever occurred on the network. Full nodes also check whether new transactions that are added are legitimate and transmit the new state to their neighboring full nodes, so that quickly the whole network is updated with the latest status.

So, in summary we can say that the Bitcoin architecture is composed of mining machines, storage machines (full nodes), and devices that make transaction requests (this is the highest layer, which Bob and Alice participate in).

The web3 players

Before we assess the environmental impact of the Bitcoin network, it is critical to point out that Bitcoin does not represent web3 alone. Web3 is made up of many independent projects that also operate in the decentralization sector, not just financially, but in any aspect.

Ethereum, for example, allows not only financial transactions, but also the execution of smart contracts, which is giving rise to a whole new world (the most modern concepts of NFT, DeFi, decentralized social networks, etc. are possible to exist in blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) thanks to programming languages, and the first project that managed to accomplish the feat of allowing programming on the blockchain was Ethereum.

Note: blockchain technology is not the only technology that allows decentralization, so the term DLT ends up being broader.

After Ethereum, many other projects have emerged with the same purpose. And there are still other DLT projects focused on more specific sectors such as the internet of things, cloud file storage, infrastructure, and the list goes on.

What all web3 projects have in common

Despite differences in architecture and functionality for users, there are some basic principles that all web3 protocols have:

  • Data storage layer
  • Consensus layer
  • End-Use Layer
  • Data Traffic Layer

1. Data Storage Layer

In the case of Bitcoin, the data storage layer represents full nodes. In the case of Ethereum, this layer also represents full nodes, the difference is in the content that each node stores (there is more information in the case of Ethereum).

In the case of file-focused protocols like Filecoin and Arweave, this layer represents the storage of images, videos, and various files that users send.

2. Consensus Layer

This is the main layer that ensures the security and validation of everything that occurs on the network. In the case of Bitcoin it is represented by the miners through the Proof of Work (PoW) protocol. Ethereum also uses a PoW protocol today, but it is migrating to the Proof of Stake (PoS) protocol, we will talk about this later.

Each project has its own consensus protocol, but the vast majority use some variation inspired by PoW or PoS.

3. End-use layer

The end-use layer are the devices where users will manipulate their personal wallets and make the requests that will later be transmitted to the network.

For this transmission to occur, the data traffic layer is required.

4. Data Traffic Layer

This layer can be understood as the traditional internet, which uses 3G/4G/5G connections. Most web3 projects depend on the basic internet infrastructure for data transport, although there are also projects working specifically on this sector to offer alternatives, but this is still a very incipient sector.

Evaluating the carbon footprint of each layer

The data traffic layer is already in operation. Its environmental impact can be measured by the amount of submarine cables, antennas, and data centers. There is the impact of manufacturing these components, the impact of installation, and the impact of electricity use.

Regarding electricity use, adding up the data transmission consumption worldwide of the entire Internet, this amounts to something between 260-340 TWh (about 1.4% of global electricity use).

Web3 today represents less than 1% of the data transmission of the traditional internet.

As for the end-use layer, corresponding to the devices (smartphone, notebook etc. ) that make the transaction requests, it is also used for the most different purposes, not only for web3. It is even possible to state that if web3 did not exist, there would be little impact on the production of these devices, since devices geared exclusively or mostly for blockchain applications are still very few on the market.

We can come to a similar conclusion about the storage layer, which uses traditional computers and servers. In fact, there are few datacenters dedicated to the web3 in terms of data storage, since the full node concept consists basically of one computer per node, and it does not make much sense to create a large facility for this purpose, except in the case of renting virtual machines, where different users hire space in cloud services. But these exist for the main purpose of serving web2.

Where is the web3 environmental problem

The real point of criticism of web3 is in the consensus layer. When you read news that the bitcoin network consumes more energy than some countries, this is because of the Proof of Work protocol.

PoW mining consists of computers performing many calculations. These calculations are attempts to “guess” a correct number, like a lottery. The first one to get it right wins the right to mine a block.

Every 10 minutes a new block is mined in the network and the work begins again. The more computing power a miner has, the more chances he has to mine a block.

This is why Bitcoin has such a large energy consumption today. As the network grows in usage and popularity, the financial value of Bitcoin increases by the growth in demand, which encourages more miners to participate.

The image below shows the evolution of hash rate in recent years. Hash rate is a measure of computational power in Bitcoin’s PoW:

evolution of hash rates

Currently, the energy cost of Bitcoin’s PoW today is about 200 TWh, which is comparable to the total consumption of Thailand. Bitcoin’s carbon footprint is approximately 114 Mt CO2 per year.

The trend is that this energy consumption will only increase over time.

However, Bitcoin advocates argue that there has been increasing use of clean energy. According to the Bitcoin mining council, almost 60% of the energy cost of Bitcoin mining today is from sustainable energy.

Another widely used argument is the reuse of wasted energy, a common event in hydroelectric power plants.

Green alternatives to the Proof of Work

The Proof of Stake (PoS) protocol works differently from PoW. Instead of computers trying to hit a number, PoS draws the miner from the amount of tokens he owns. The more tokens an agent has, the more likely he is to be chosen.

This explanation is quite simplistic and does not take into account several security and decentralization aspects present in PoS protocols, but the basic concept is based on this.

Since there is no need to look for random numbers, there is no actual mining. The “miners” in a PoS protocol are just called “validators” because of this. PoS protocols are considered sustainable. The energy cost of a machine participating in PoS is similar to that of a laptop.

In the case of PoW, specific computers have been created to do the job, the so-called ASICs. A modern ASIC consumes up to 3000 W/h, and a mining farm contains dozens of these machines.

This is another important detail of the PoS protocol. There is no “mining farm” concept, because to increase the probability of being chosen to validate a block, a pool just needs more delegated tokens, not more computers.

So, in addition to the energy operation advantage, there is also an infrastructure advantage.

So why doesn’t Bitcoin change its protocol to PoS? There is a very large theoretical and cultural clash in the Bitcoin community, and this transition is unlikely to ever happen.

However, Ethereum has decided to migrate to PoS, and the vast majority of Web3 projects have also adopted some version of PoS.

Will Web3 be carbon neutral?

With the popularity of the PoS protocol, the trend is for web3 to become more and more sustainable. It is difficult to get to the point of being carbon neutral, but there is no doubt that the real concerns and criticisms of web3 today are due to the use of PoW protocols.

In this respect, it is likely that PoW will be less and less represented on web3. The reason is simple: utility applications require smart contracts, and this is not the focus of Bitcoin.

Thus, the projects that will perform most of the transactions and operations on the web3 will be protocols that use PoS, because smart contracs platforms in general have incorporated this consensus protocol.

Conclusion

Although web3 represents an evolution in relation to web2 in several aspects, when it comes to energy, web3 will probably not be more eco-friendly than web2. Decentralized networks require a complex infrastructure and the implementation of consensus protocols, which in some cases have high energy consumption.

However, much of the concern about the high energy consumption of web3 does not take into account that PoW protocols are losing popularity, especially in more utilitarian projects, and that Bitcoin, in turn, contains an energy matrix that has been continuously using more renewable energy, or even energy that would be wasted in generators.

Paris Agreement: Role of Effective Climate Governance Framework

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While many consider that history was made as industrialized and developing countries jointly agreed on the same climate policy framework for the first time ever; others alert that the Paris Agreement is only as good as its implementation plans and review mechanisms. Nevertheless, the Paris Agreement and the process around it demonstrate an exemplary model for global climate governance and climate policy advocacy.

The question now is whether such international governance breakthrough could trickle down to the national and local levels across the globe. Countries and regions are challenged to move forward with the implementation leveraging the high momentum and mobilizing the diverse resources available in the market.

climate governance and Paris Agreement

Paris Climate Deal: A Bottom-up Approach

The Paris Agreement encourages a bottom-up pledge and review approach through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). National climate action targets are recognized by the agreement but are not legally binding. Countries have a legally binding obligation to put together domestic targets and prepare policies to achieve these; but the targets themselves are in a “public registry” separate from the Agreement.

NDCs represent a tremendous opportunity to link climate change and development with a view to pursuing sustainable climate-resilient and low-carbon development pathways. The Post-Paris process is not about reinventing the wheel, but about reinforcing existing efforts, mainstreaming the NDC process and about incentivizing additional action.

The NDCs build on already existing climate change policies and measures and one of the main challenges is the integration and anchoring of the NDCs into sectoral programmes (policy coherence) and future strategies (i.e. Green Growth Strategies). Until February 2016, a total of 161 INDCs representing 188 countries were submitted to the UNFCCC covering around 98.7 % of global emissions.

Review Mechanism

The Paris Agreement established a periodic process for the submission of information on all Parties’ efforts to tackle climate change, according to guidance to be adopted by the COP serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement. The review of Parties’ action will take place at the individual level and at the aggregate level. Implementation of the Agreement will be assisted by an expert-based, facilitative compliance mechanism.

Therefore, not only does the Paris Agreement provide an obligation for all to make efforts to reduce their emissions, it also sets the basis for a common process to review action, and enhance it when needed. The details of these review and compliance processes, however, remain to be determined by the body entrusted to prepare for the entry into force of the Paris Agreement.

Accountability and Transparency

For governments, accountability on NDCs would be established through the UNFCCC and associated mechanisms. For businesses, accountability is rather scattered, yet no less powerful. Companies should expect to be held accountable not only to the government authorities in their host countries, but by civil society organizations; and increasingly aware customers, employees and investors. The Agreement also subjects the implementation of developed Parties’ obligations concerning the provision of finance to a review process for the first time.

One of the most important conceptual changes made in the Paris Agreement is the shift from blaming one another for failure to comply with a legal obligation, to trying to outdo one another in addressing a shared challenge. The transparency mechanism supports this shift by allowing journalists, activists, scientists, concerned citizens, and eco-businesses to: engage in debates, publicize successes and failures, solicit help and advice, and offer support to other countries.

Climate Finance

Finance lies at the heart of the new agreement, with its own objective, and commitments to provide scaled up financial resources and capacity building to support country-driven strategies.  Paris is already being heralded by private investors as a game-changer in terms of mobilizing low-carbon investment. Their role and that of carbon pricing will be vital in funding national projects and programmes.  The Agreement established two forms of carbon trading; the detailed rules for these will have to be spelled out over the next five years.

green finance

It is worth mentioning the global climate finance has increased by 18% in 2014 mounting up to $391 billion. Of that, $9 billion was invested in the MENA region with around 44% ($2 billion) utilized by the private sector. While renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable transport consumed the majority of mitigation finance, water and wastewater management took over the bulk of adaptation finance.

Examples of climate financing funds include: The Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, Clean Technology Fund, GEF, NAMA facility as well as several bilateral funds. It is, moreover, anticipated that most of the climate investment would come from the private sector. National fund in Jordan include the Jordan Renewable Energy and Energy efficiency Fund under the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources as well as a number of green financing instruments implemented by commercial banks and MFIs.

Role of Non-State Actors

Non-state actors include mainly Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), cities and regions, as well as companies. The Paris Agreement is seen as a major turning point when it comes to the emphasizing the role and leadership of non-state actors, especially the private sector, side by side with governments. It calls upon ‘non-Party’ stakeholders to scale up their efforts and to demonstrate them via the UNFCCC website, and it also recognizes that tools such as domestic policies and carbon trading are important. Already 11,000 commitments from 4,000 companies and local authorities have been registered on the UNFCCC website, and that number is expected to grow in the coming years. http://climateaction.unfccc.int/

The Agreement contains clear messages to business community to join the climate action and implement short and long term projects to reduce their emissions. Climate leadership has a cascaded impact throughout the value chain: as emissions are reduced, money is saved, stakeholders are engaged and business reputation is enhanced.

Disclaimer: Some of the information contained in this article has been based on content developed by the writer during an assignment with GIZ Jordan on the comparative analysis of Jordan’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) that was conducted in February 2016 in partnership with the Ministry of Environment

9 Ways to Make an Eco-Friendly Company Culture

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It’s a key time for a lot of businesses right now to capitalize on being more eco-friendly and sustainable in how they do things. People are increasingly concerned about the effects of climate change, and working toward increased sustainability attracts not only customers but also potential talent as well.

Advantages of an eco-friendlier approach to business include reducing your costs, building your reputation for corporate responsibility, and perhaps even qualifying for government subsidies.

Building an eco-friendly company culture should be your starting point because it’s your corporate culture that sets the tone for everything else you do. The following are nine things you can do relatively easily to make your culture more sustainable and environmentally friendly:

How to Make an Eco-Friendly Company Culture

1. Use Eco-Friendly Corporate Gifts

Giving gifts to your clients and employees is a good way to strengthen relationships, build loyalty and show appreciation. If you’re going to give gifts, why not further their value by making them eco-friendly?

This is one of the easiest things you can do that takes virtually no effort to put in place, and it simultaneously makes your culture greener but also improves it overall since you are showing your employees you care.

You can find gifts made from recyclable or renewable materials or go for options that reduce the need for disposable products, like tumblers or steel bottles. For instance, you can also collaborate with suppliers to buy Starbucks gift cards in bulk as an eco-friendly corporate gift. This way, you are providing a thoughtful gift for your clients and employees and supporting a brand that values sustainability.

If you are planning a conference, don’t forget to check our ideas for sustainable conference giveaways.

2. Be Willing to Learn and Educate

There’s a lot to learn when it comes to being more eco-friendly, so set the example and show that your dedication to adding this element to your culture starts at the top. Once you begin to learn, you should also start to educate your employees on what they should know about green initiatives in the workplace.

You’re not lecturing your employees, so keep it light. You want things to be enjoyable and fun for them.

One way to make learning more casual and less of a chore is to host a lunch where someone comes to speak on environmental issues. You could also make it a recurring series, where each speaker talks about something different.

3. Have a Green Team

You want to be strategic in how you implement more eco-friendly practices into your business, and you want to set organizational goals as part of that. In order to set and track goals, you’ll likely need a team in place.

Put together a green team that will help guide your initiatives and also drive your culture on a more sustainable path.

If you can have someone from higher management on the team, that’s a good idea because it’ll show that you’re really dedicated to what you’re saying.

When you achieve a milestone that’s set by the team or the company, make sure you recognize them for their efforts and hard work.

4. Let Employees Choose What Matters to Them

There are going to be certain elements of being more eco-friendly that resonate more than others with employees. The goal isn’t perfection, nor is it for everyone to have the same goals and priorities, so let your employees have some freedom with how they get into this component of your culture.

how to setup a sustainable office

One way to do this is to allow employees time once a month or quarter to work on outside volunteer projects that are important to them. While you might suggest they have a green focus, let employees decide on what that’s going to mean for them.

5. Ask for Suggestions and Feedback

Along with letting employees make some of their own decisions as far as where they put their time and attention, you can also regularly ask for suggestions. Ask your employees once they’re empowered with education where they’d like to see your business go in terms of green initiatives.

You want your employees to feel as if they’re included in your company culture, and they need to be able to contribute and influence it in order to make it their own.

Also Read: How to Organize a Great Company Retreat

6. Build Momentum with Easy Steps

We’ve touched on this a bit in our tips above, but you want to choose those easy or “low-hanging fruit” initiatives first when you’re pushing for cultural change. Find those projects and things that are going to be the lowest effort to focus on when this is a new goal in your company because then, when goals are met, it’s going to build momentum for your employees to keep it up.

It’s also important to track your goals and everyone’s achievements, especially in a publicly visible way.

Some companies find gamification or friendly competition works well to help not only meet environmental goals but also to strengthen the culture in general.

7. Include Your Commitments in Your Handbook and Onboarding Materials

When you write down values and goals, they’re more likely to actually come to fruition in your culture.

Include your dedication to being greener in all of your employee materials, like your handbook and training materials. You can include it as part of your mission statement and make sure that when you bring new employees on board, they’re met with your philosophy of sustainability from the start.

When you emphasize that you are an eco-friendly company in your onboarding, training, and other employee documents, it shows you’re serious, and it also helps with consistency.

8. Make A Sustainable Office Environment

If your employees are working in the office some or all of the time, make sure it reflects sustainability and green practices. For example, maybe you complete your digital transformation to become an entirely paperless and sustainable office.

You might also encourage your employees to recycle at work, and if you need any work done, such as commercial cleaning or construction, you can find companies that are green certified.

9. Don’t Be Afraid to Make Changes to Your Policies

Finally, if you begin your green initiatives and find that along the way, you need to make changes based on your progress, or the preferences of your employees, don’t be afraid to do so. Building a corporate culture is never complete. It’s something you’re always working on, which tends to be true of developing a more sustainable organization as well.

Sustainability Principles in Traditional Islamic Architecture

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Islam came with many sustainability and environmental conservation principles, which appeared in all aspects of the Islamic society. This green vision of Islam is also reflected in the city planning and traditional architecture. Infact, Islamic cities were shaped by Islamic beliefs on environmental conservation and sustainability.

The traditional house adopted in Islamic architecture respects the environment in more ways than one: first by minimizing the impact of harsh natural environment conditions such as hot climate, relative humidity and solar radiation intensity, second by maximizing the potential possibilities of these conditions to achieve the thermal comfort of inhabitants and utilizing the benefits of natural energy sources such as sun and wind.

Traditional Islamic architecture relied on basic sustainability principles, which, with some modification and development, can be useful indicators for the contemporary sustainable house design.

Building with Clay or Brick

The materials are very important to protect the building from external conditions, for that selection materials are very sensitive stage due to physical properties concerns: optical reflectivity, thermal conductivity resistivity and transmissions. Also, because it is responsible of heat transfer into and out of the building.

Clay is the best natural building material, since it can provide heat isolation. It also helps to reduce the depletion of vital natural resources and carbon emissions. Clay has been widely used in Islamic world throughout the ages.

As for Brick it is one of the most important building materials used in Islamic architecture, especially in Egypt, Iraq and Morocco (where wood and stone are rare). Brick was used to build bearing walls, beams and domes. Due to providing good thermal isolation for interior spaces, if it was built in a large thickness.

Thermal Comfort

The main concept of designing the traditional Islamic house was the Courtyard, using courtyard as a central point to achieve the principle of introvert, which was the lung of the house.

The great difference between the temperatures between day and night made it acts as a thermal regulator, by creating different pressure areas between the narrow-shaded streets and the courtyard in operation called night flushing.

In general, the courtyard was often centered by a fountain or salsabil in addition to fruit trees. These elements worked together to moisten the dry air and reduce its temperature. Some modifications were done to the courtyard to ensure keeping the flow of air which led adding more architecture element such as: Iwan, takhtabush, maqaad and many others.

Natural Ventilation

Natural ventilation is one of the most important principles of sustainably in a traditional Islamic house, as the air speed increase the rate of heat transfer from the body to environment, it also helps to get rid of moisture, and cool the building.

The malqaf is the most important appliance to catch and enter the wind into a house. It is also considered one of the most important elements of the Islamic buildings. The malqaf defined as: an architecture element that used to ventilate the building.

The malqaf on the other hand creates different pressure zones between inside and outside. The air enters after purifying and moisturized, then been pushed out openings. At night this process is reversed. The malqaf also reduce dust and sand, which been carried by hot dry wind, where it eventually rests at the bottom of the malqaf.

There are several types of malqaf: the most important are the roof malqaf and the well- malqaf which are one-way, following the general winds direction. Then kashtil or wind towers which are multi-directional. Also, there are other simple types of malqaf such as the double wall, and badqash. Finally, there is a special type of malqaf called Badgir, which was developed in the Arabian Gulf, it is a shaft opened from above from the four sides (sometimes on only two), it has two diagonal stripes inside that catch the wind from any direction.

Building Underground

Utilization the soil potential is one of the principles which sustainable design depends on to benefit from natural resources. The idea of building underground depends on minimizing or determining the effect of external climatic conditions on the interior space, by taking advantage of the thermal storage potential of the mass of soils.

Traditional architecture benefit from soil to reach thermal comfort by including basement in house design, which used to be one or more underground floors. This basement could be belt multi-leveled depending on climatic conditions and functional performance. Basement could be found in the traditional houses in Iraq, which is half basement located at a depth of 1-1.2 m with openings at the central courtyard.

Traditional basements were more common in highlands, such as Iraq and Saudi Arabia, there are also examples of fully built underground houses such as in Mattmatta in Tunisia, and in south areas of Libya. Areas with High water levels in the soil did not use this method such as South of Iraq and the Gulf region.

Mudhif – A traditional reed house made by the Madan people in the swamps of southern Iraq

The effective thermal performance of the basement appeared especially in the afternoons, when the external air temperatures reach its maximum limits. Traditional inhabitants used ground floor and basement in the mornings, and upper floors at evenings.

Natural Lighting

Natural lighting is the most important strategy of sustainable housing, in order to reduce the thermal load and thus providing a comfortable environment, since natural lighting is three times better in improving vision than the industrial lighting equivalent.

The problem is that windows are a major source of heat inside the building, which made traditional Islamic architecture to develop solutions to inter natural light and block direct sunlight. The most important of these are the mashrabiya, which is an architectural element that allows wind to enter and prevents the sun, these usually cover the outside of windows and balconies. Mashrabiya control light, air flow and outside expose. That made mashrabiya a strong privacy element for its narrow cartel, which used to be made of wood cones and sometimes of non-wood materials, such as marble plaster and metal. Mashrabiya first appeared in Egypt then transfer to the other Arab countries.

Conclusion

The traditional Islamic architecture is one of the most successful models in achieving the concepts of green design. It created beautiful harmony and fine balance between form and function. The elements of the Islamic architecture were founded to work side by side, boosting each other’s and complementing different climates as well environmental and socio-economic conditions.

The modern architecture needs to re-explore the principles of Islamic architecture, choose the convenient methods to local environment, absorb the requirements of sustainable development and mix these principles with modern technologies. To conclude, modern technologies can make use of traditional architecture in creating a more sustainable world.

How COVID-19 Has Prompted an Overhaul of Building Cleanliness

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The impact of COVID-19 is being felt in nearly every industry and country around the world. With people experiencing new anxieties about being in public spaces for short or extended periods, businesses have had to adapt to ensure workers, customers, and clients are comfortable.

Below is an assessment of how the pandemic resulted in businesses in all sectors hiring contract cleaning professionals and making other changes to the way they prioritized building cleanliness.

How COVID-19 Improved Building Cleanliness

Thorough Surface Cleaning

The spread of COVID-19 can occur through surfaces, as the virus can survive on surfaces for an extended period. When the pandemic first emerged, globally, in March 2020, the growing wisdom centered around the virus spreading through contact with contaminated surfaces.

Experts told people to wash their hands, use hand sanitizer, avoid touching their mouth or nose after touching a possibly dirty surface or object, and to avoid touching shared surfaces as much as possible.

Such advice stuck with business owners, who wanted to ensure that workers and customers were comfortable being in a shared environment. That meant a great deal of surface cleaning using hydrogen peroxide, disinfectant cleaners, or soap and water mixtures.

Every company took on this challenge in different ways, with some businesses asking their employees to take on a greater load. People who were working on the floor or interacting with customers had to continuously wipe down any surface that another person could frequently touch. Such a process may seem arduous, but the goal was to keep everyone safe.

Larger companies and smaller businesses with greater budgets chose to hire professionals. One of the advantages of hiring a cleaning professional is that a business can delegate such work to the professionals.

Having a single cleaning staff member on site is often enough to ensure periodic cleaning, while a business can also choose to hire one or two cleaners to perform a deep clean once a day.

Hygiene is More Relevant Than Ever

Businesses are not only making an effort to ensure that common spaces receive thorough deep cleaning and periodic spot treatment, but they are also encouraging their employees to take care of their own hygiene.

In the past, a small business such as a local grocery store or a family restaurant may not have put too much thought into employee cleanliness. If an employee did not have the best hygiene, they may not have been told by management to clean up their act.

building cleanliness and covid-19

Now that customers are focusing on any instance where an employee may be doing something to compromise the safety of everyone at the establishment, such as not wearing a mask or sneezing in the vicinity of others, employees must be more vigilant about their actions.

Companies encourage their employees to wear clean clothes, keep their workspaces neat, tidy, and wiped down, and ask that they always wash their hands after they use the bathroom or interact with a customer.

More Client Communication

Businesses hiring cleaning crews to ensure their spaces are tidy and hygienic is not new. Major companies have always hired cleaners to ensure that the office spaces and common areas are clean, while stores, restaurants, and other such establishments also go through routine cleaning.

A significant shift since 2020 is that clients are now more eager to understand how much cleaning the professionals are doing. Clients ask about the cleaning products a cleaning professional is using, along with their technique for wiping down surfaces, vacuuming or mopping floors, and cleaning bathrooms. There is also a greater appreciation for the work that cleaners perform.

Many cleaning contractors have found that they are receiving requests from clients more regularly than before the pandemic. Increased communication also means that cleaners have a chance to discuss any of their concerns with clients, which includes appropriate compensation for their work.

The Emergence of Green Cleaning

The pandemic is not the only change that came about in 2020, with much of the Western world taking a greater assessment of humanity’s impact on the climate. With the climate change conversation more relevant than in the past, green cleaning is emerging as a significant trend.

Businesses are aware that customers care about both cleanliness and preserving the environment, which is why showcasing a company as an “environmentally friendly” business is so appealing.

Cleaners now receive requests from clients who want them to use environmentally-friendly products whenever possible. That means cleaning services must now adapt by learning about sanitizing methods that use organic and natural cleaning supplies.

Building Ventilation Upgrades

A great deal of focus on building cleanliness revolves around sanitizing surfaces, wiping down countertops, and regular vacuuming or mopping of floors. The coronavirus, however, spreads most often through the air. That is why companies are also focusing on the improvement of their building ventilation.

In some instances, creating a cleaner environment for customers involves opening windows to allow air to come in and out. Many restaurants, grocery stores, and other such locations can open up their doors and windows, ensuring a steady breeze of air throughout the day.

Such a change not only improves the way customers may view that business but has a marked impact on the chances of someone contracting COVID-19 when they spend time at that establishment.

Another way that companies are looking to improve their commercial spaces is through improved air conditioning ventilation. Offices and many commercial buildings do not have windows that are operable, which means that ventilation must be done through the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems.

natural ventilation

Many companies are investing their money in improved HVAC systems or newer air filters, which both allow for better filtering of the harmful particles that can cause the spread of coronavirus among people who are working or visiting that establishment.

Will the New Trends Remain?

The question that many cleaning contractors and business owners will be asking is whether the present trends in building cleanliness will continue. As the pandemic eases and people return to normal life, will customers still care about cleanliness in the same way?

Some experts believe the new changes are here to stay, as people have become a lot more aware of how germs can spread in public spaces. Businesses may learn that investing more money in building cleanliness is a trend that will continue for the foreseeable future.

The Vallerani System for Agroforestry on Degraded Lands

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Experience around the world has made it clear that soil pitting is often the most cost effective treatment to facilitate recovery of abandoned, barren land. Pits capture water and provide safe sites for seeds, collect litter, and help to protect and water seedlings.

Pitting is relatively easy to do with hand labor and is less noticeable in a restoration project because the pattern can be varied easily, Hand pitting is best done as a communal activity so progress is clearly visible. But it is slow. mechanical pitters are critical to cover large areas.

A wide variety of pitting plows have been developed and used successfully. Australia’s Kimseed Camel Pitter has been available for several decades. It can be pulled by a truck, jeep or camel. The current model of Camel Pitter includes seed metering devices. On our research projects we used a custom built larger disk pitter that had to be pulled by a tractor or large truck. These pits helped speed recovery but for degraded lands even larger pits are desirable.

vallerani plow system

The answer for larger deeper pits is the Delfino plow and the Vallerani system. Significant progress came with the development of the mechanized system of harvesting surface runoff with the “Vallerani System” (named after its Italian inventor). The first experiments in the development of this approach were carried out in 1988 as part of the Integrated Programme for Rehabilitation of the Damergou (FAI-Niger). Since then work has been carried out in many countries.

The Vallerani system makes it possible to bring hard, compacted soil that had been abandoned because it was impossible to work manually back into production. The Delfino plow has a ripper in front of the plowshare to open and loosen the soil down to 60–70 cm. The ripper also helps protect the plowshare. The rip lines create an underground furrow that can help share the water between adjoining micro basins. Ripping the compacted soil enables deep infiltration of rainwater and more extensive root growth. The rainwater, top soil, seeds, and organic materials transported by the wind and run-off accumulate in the micro basins and along the rip line, facilitating recovery. The reversible plowshare allows for efficient tractor operation. The tractor mounted plow can typically treat 1.5-3 hectares per hour.

These soil pits make a difference. Experiments have found 2 to 4 times more water available for crops, pastures, and plants with improved survival and growth and recovery of biodiversity. In areas with excessive bare soil with no seed sources it is desirable to add seeds to the basins. These can be nitrogen fixing multipurpose tree or shrub species like ratam and olives (in the Mideast), honey mesquite (in SW North America), and neem (in Mali). Planting appropriate seedlings in the pits can create more rapidly established islands of fertility. The VS allows for direct seeding whose germination and growth is possible thanks to the water collected in the micro-basins and the improvement in soil physical characteristics. Images of the recovery possible with the VS are striking.

vallerani system recovery

The larger tractors and Delfino plows will require maintenance and technical support. Each tractor (200 hp) might cost US$50-200,000 and the Delfino plow from Nardi might cost another $40,000. Hommes et Terre offers the Vallerani treatment as a service rather than selling the plow/system in Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Gambia and Benin. Overall treatment costs might be on the order of US$100 hectare plus the cost of seeds and/or seedlings. Adding organic material, compost, or mulch can also be helpful but adds to the cost. This made a difference in our studies of soil pitting.

Hommes et Terre is a Belgian-African company with a social mission to restore degraded land, ensuring that communities have sustainable access to productive land. Their economic model is to develop profitable and sustainable agroforestry systems in an equitable collaboration with local communities. Hommes et Terre develops their own projects through the Project Forests Villages (PFV) program. This innovative program is based on intensive, equitable and sustainable collaboration with villages. Hommes et Terre enters into 25 year relationships with village partners.

Further reading

Ali, A., T. Oweis, A. Abdul Aal, M. Mudabbar, K. Zubaidi, and A. Bruggeman. 2006. The Vallerani Water Harvesting System. ICARDA Caravan No. 23, December. pp 13-15.

Bainbridge, D. A. 2024. Initiating recovery of degraded dry lands with soil pitting. SW Chapter Conference, Tucson. September. 6 pages. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctsR7GeKy-w

Bainbridge, D. A. 1993. Soil pitting: a technique to improve arid land revegetation. Soil Ecology and Restoration Group, San Diego State University. Bulletin #1. San Diego, CA 7 p. https://www.academia.edu/3796575/1993_Soil_pitting_for_land_restoration

Conedera, M., N. Bomio-Pacciorini, P. Bomio-Pacciorini, L. Sciacca, S. Grandi, A. Boureima, and A. M. Vettraino. 2010. Reconstitution des écosystèmes dégradés sahéliens. XX: Bois et Forêts des Tropiques. 304(2): 61-71. http://bft.cirad.fr/cd/BFT_304_61-71.pdf

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2015. Global guidelines for the restoration of degraded forests and landscapes in drylands: building resilience and benefiting livelihoods. Forestry Paper No. 175. Rome: FAO. https://www.fao.org/3/a-i5036e.pdf

Gammoh, I. A. and T. Y. Oweis. 2011. Performance and adaptation of the Vallerani Mechanized Water Harvesting System in degraded Badia rangelands. Journal of Environmental Science Computer Science and Engineering & Technology. October. 5:1370-1380.

Gammoh, I. A. and T. Y. Oweis. 2011. Contour laser guiding for the mechanized “Vallerani” Micro-catchment Water Harvesting Systems. Journal of Environmental Science and Engineering. 5 (2011) 1309-1316.

ICARDA. nd. Recovering the Degraded Soils of the Badia in Jordan. https://www.icarda.org/research/innovations/recovering-degraded-soils-badia-jordan.

Tamura, M., T. Y. Oweis, V. Nangia and S. Strohmeier. 2021. Managing scarce water resources in the drylands of West Asia and North Africa: Review of Joint Research between ICARDA and Japanese Researchers. Japan Agricultural Research Quarterly JARQ 55 (SI), 511-519.  https://www.jircas.go.jp

Whitesides, A. and K. Clingen .2023. Vallerani Micro Water Harvesting Department of Landscape Architecture Course. Climate by Design, Fall. (https://www.gsd.harvard.edu/course/climate-by-design-fall-2023/)

How to Conserve Water in Your Garden

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Water scarcity is not just a nationwide problem. It can be a very real threat on the domestic scene as well. Our home is our kingdom, our domain where many persons spend much time and energy working in the garden and caring for the lawns to produce beautiful blooms, fragrant scents, herbal delights and a bountiful supply of vegetables. But water shortages are becoming a real threat at the domestic scene,  as well as nationally and regionally across the globe.

tips to save water in your backyard

After having invested in plants, fruit trees, fragrant bushes and numerous bulbs, we want the delight of a full bloom, productive vegetable patch and luscious fruit. But to achieve all this, we need water. Summer time is more than fun in the sun. It is a time of water restrictions and now increasing water use charges right when we need the water the most. One solution that is easily adopted is to harvest the rainwater. Simply collect rainwater runoff. Even just placing all your buckets and empty plant pots out in the open will collect rainwater.

Some plants need more water while others are much more tolerant of dry conditions. But the bottom line is that all plants need water. When the plant is deprived of essential water, the plant cells will suffer stress and start to structurally collapse. There will be slower plant growth and even non-reversable root damage. Even after a period of stress due to water shortage, the plant may  experience less vigorous growth and could be more susceptible to pests and disease.

Tips to Save Water in the Garden

Therefore, a good gardener needs many different ways to save water in the garden. Here are just some ways you can manage to save water and nurture your garden at the same time.

First and foremost, keep an eye out for leaky taps and hose fixtures. This may mean you need to replace aging hoses and fixtures. Next important move is to cover the ground. When the sun is high in the sky and the soil is bare, moisture is readily drawn out of the soil. On a really hot day, a square meter of bare soil can lose two litres of water to the air. So action is required to prevent this significant water loss. Select ground covering plants that will also help restrict weed access is one approach. Or cover the soil  with organic mulch to help retain the moisture level in the ground.

Another obvious solution is to erect windbreaks. Wind can really dry out soil so you need to minimise the wind effect. Trees and shrubs do this naturally but it takes time for these plants to mature in size and strength to be effective. Be weary of solid wall structures as they block the wind yes, but redirect the wind also. Solid wall structures may create more turbulent air passage ways.  As trees and shrubs mature, their root structure strengthens and penetrates deep down underground. Trees especially, will extract deeper water.

Selecting ideal plants for the area is most important. If you are in hotter, more arid zones, select more drought tolerant plants. Likewise, if you are in a wetter, moister zone, chose plants that appreciate these conditions. This means know the needs of your plants. Plant similar water demanding plants together will also make it easier for you to water the garden on demand.

introduction to greenhouse gardening

The soil may need organic compost to be added so as to increase the soil water holding capacity. One can either buy compost or make your own compost. At the same time, one needs to aim for a good soaking or wetting of the soil rather than a daily sprinkling which is rather ineffective. Also, it is best to water early in the morning before the sun comes up and evaporates all one’s efforts. Evenings is also fine as long as it is not too humid and encourages mould.

Perhaps you are keen to invest in an irrigation system. This is good if well designed with trickle irrigation hosing laid on the ground close to the plant root areas rather than an aerial sprinkler system. Finally, use the water to care for your plants and use a broom to sweep the walkways and patios. Water is too precious to be hosing down these areas.

efficient irrigation methods

Spray irrigation has higher efficiency than traditional methods.

There really are lots of options and things to consider before watering your garden. But a keen gardener knows their plants and the plants’ water needs. And with some careful planning you can conserve water while using it effectively to water all at the same time.