Environmental Day (1/24)

Today's siyur was to Hiriya Mountain (former garbage dump, now a transfer center for trash) and to Better Place, the center for the Electric Car revolution in Israel. I'm always happy to learn about environmental efforts taking place here (or anywhere) and I love it even more when other people, who are not so knowledgeable about the environment, have the opportunity to learn.

We started the day at Hiriya, with our guide who told us about the facility there. The first place we saw was the transfer station. This is where all of the trash from 6 municipalities (from around Tel Aviv) is brought, then it is crushed up into smaller bits, and then it is taken via truck to the desert in the south, where it is buried. Not exactly the best way to eliminate trash but they can no longer put the trash on Mt. Hiriya because it was beyond full a few years ago. The put 2 meters of soil on the top of everything that had been there, and started turning the area into a park, growing green areas including herbs (which smell a lot nicer than the garbage), and using recycled/reusable materials to build a tourist site/museum (not really sure what it is). Lots of pictures below!

This is the trash in the transfer station. If Israelis (and others) knew how to recycle better, the only things that would end up here are truly trash. There is plastic and aluminum mixed in here, as well as compostable materials (such as food scraps). Israel's recycling program does not seem to be as extensive as it is in the US, but no matter how sophisticated the program is, people who produce garbage really need to know what is recyclable, what is compostable, what is trash, etc. So without that comprehensive education, the system fails.

Mirrors in the bathrooms at the "museum" taken from cars and other places, reusable, fabulous! One step in the right direction!

WUJS kiddies sitting on chairs made 100% from recycled materials - crushed soda cans! With wheels on the bottom! This was inside the "museum" building where our tour guide spoke to us.

Sitting in a chair made 100% from recycled materials - rubber filled with plastic grocery bags!

We left Hiriya after our tour and went to Better Place, which is supposedly the center for the revolution of the electric car. I took a field trip here earlier in the semester with Pardes, when we studied the environment through our Social Justice class. I never got my picture driving the actual car, so I was happy to have the opportunity to redeem myself!

It was the last thing we did before heading home for the day. One day, maybe one day, I'll save the world!