February Eco-Tidbits from Turkey
The Aegean town of Akyaka (left) wants to become an eco-friendly “slow city” while the Munzur Valley (right) in eastern Turkey is threatened by plans to build a dam in the area. Photos via Friends of Akyaka (L) and Arser (R) via Wikimedia Commons.
On the global Environmental Performance Index recently released by the U.S. universities Columbia and Yale, Turkey</a…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Sidewalks = Social Justice in Amman, Jordan
Istanbul sidewalks aren’t the sole province of pedestrians. Photo by Jennifer Hattam.
Sidewalks in Istanbul, when they do exist, are often narrow, uneven, rutted, and frequently torn up entirely, forcing pedestrians into the street to dodge fast, erratically moving cars. So it doesn’t seem all that hyperbolic to me when New York Times writer Michael Slackman describes Amman’s “new, flat sidewalks that do not end suddenly, for no apparent reaso…Read the full story on TreeHugger
!F Film Festival: Black Sea Eccentric Fights for Coasts
A still from An Argonaut in Ordu. Image via the !f International Independent Film Festival.
The Turkish Black Sea coast, though ravaged in many places by over-development, is seen as one of the country’s last green, rugged areas. And if the town of Ordu retains any of its original character and natural beauty, it’s due in large part to the efforts of eccentric windmill-tilter Enis Ayar, the “tavern keeper without a tavern” profiled in the new …Read the full story on TreeHugger
‘Opinionated Palettes’ Recruit Istanbul Food Sleuths
A Turkish Slow Food group’s tool for reading food labels. Photo by Jennifer Hattam.
If Istanbul shopkeepers notice a strange jump this week in the number of people moving slowly through their stores, peering closely at the cans and boxes and bottles on their shelves, it’s thanks to the work of the “Label Detectives” of a local Slow Food convivium, who spent the day handing out mini-magnifying glasses before and after this week’s packed screening of Food, Inc. at the !f International Ind…Read the full story on TreeHugger
EU Organic Shoppers to Look for the ‘Euro-Leaf’
The new EU organic logo. Image via the European Commission.
Shoppers in the European Union will no longer have to squint at food labels wondering what биологично, ökológiai, mahepõllumajandus, or luomuviljely means — they all mean “organic” and will soon be labeled with the same wordless logo in all 27 member states….Read the full story on TreeHugger
Potentially Amazing Technology: Is Spray-On Liquid Glass About to Make Everything Greener?
“The fissure was induced in order present an image which shows the characteristics of the coating. The image shows the SiO2 coating on a filament of a microfibre.” Image: Nanopool
If it Works and is Safe, It Could Change the World
A special coating technically known as “SiO2 ultra-thin layering”, but more memorably called “spray-on liquid glass”, has been invented in Turkey at the Saarbrücken Institute for New Materials (the patent is owned by Nanopool). It is non-toxic promises to “protect virtually any surface against almost any damage from hazards such as water, UV radiation, dirt, hea…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Naturally Temperature-Conditioned Traditional Courtyard Homes: Ready for a Renaissance?
The Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı House in Diyarbakır, Turkey, is an example of a traditional courtyard-style home. Photo via Diyarbakır Association.
Recycled denim insulation and programmable thermostats are all well and good (really good), but people 4,500 years ago managed to keep their homes appropriately warm and cool without h…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Oil Spill in Istanbul as Cargo Ship Runs Aground
Cleaning up an oil spill in the Kilyos area of Istanbul. Photo via Hürriyet.
From my window, I can inevitably see — at least when it’s not snowing out — a flotilla of cargo ships waiting their turn to pass through the Bosphorus Strait as they make their way from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. This week, one of the approximately 10,000 such vessels that traverse the famous continent-splitting waterway each year ran aground in bad w…Read the full story on TreeHugger
A LEED of One’s Own: New Green Building Certification in the Works for Turkey
The LEED Gold-certified Siemens building in Gebze, Turkey. Photo via ÇEDBİK.
While American readers are used to seeing the LEED label attached to eco-friendly buildings, such structures are identified in other countries by an alphabet soup of certifications — from BEES and BREEAM to LCAid and SBtool. Next up may be a similar certificate a la Turca</e…Read the full story on TreeHugger
‘Green Star’ for Eco-Friendly Istanbul Hotel
Istanbul’s first “green” hotel. Photo via Best Western The President Hotel.
It was two years and $5 million in the making, but one of Best Western’s Istanbul hotels has received a “Green Star” from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism for its environmentally friendly practices, the first such designation awarded in the city….Read the full story on TreeHugger
