In the last few weeks, my work has taken an interesting turn. Here’s a rundown of my last two weeks:
Charcoal Project: In a new research assignment, I am helping examine the feasibility of cleaner and “greener” technologies for charcoal producers in the West Bank. Burning wood to produce charcoal has been the traditional industry of farmers in Jenin, which is in the northern part of the West Bank, for the last five hundred years. Charcoal producers use a simple method: workers stack pieces of wood in a pyramid-like structure, cover the wood with straw and soil, and burn this structure for 15 days. Israeli kibbutzim supply the wood pieces for free, as these are leftover wood pieces from avocado and citrus trees that they would otherwise have to pay for disposal. Israelis also consume the final charcoal product, typically for BBQs.
Sounds like a win-win enterprise. Here’s the problem: Charcoal production creates a lot of air pollution. Previous studies have found carbon monoxide levels reached 100ppm near the charcoal kilns, far above the Israeli outdoor carbon monoxide limit of 10ppm. High levels of air pollution create a public health concern both for the citizens in the northern West Bank and Israelis on the other side of the Green Line. In 2012, Israel’s High Court of Justice shut down charcoal kilns in Area C under Israel’s Clean Air Law.
Under the umbrella of Track II at the Arava Institute, Israeli and Palestinian researchers are working together to evaluate the feasibility of cleaner technologies in the West Bank. Other technologies create little to no pollution and burn charcoal more efficiently. These solutions may appease the Israeli government, reduce air pollution, and maintain the charcoal producer’s way-of-life.
I volunteered to help with a cost-benefit analysis to determine the savings of greener charcoal technologies to the charcoal producer and to the general public. So far, this has been a difficult task. Through a literature review, I found profitability, air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions data for the business-as-usual case (in which normal/previous production levels continue). However, I am missing much of the greener technology data. A lot of the profit data would be guess-work based on the efficiency levels of the greener technology. I also cannot predict the exact air pollution levels under the greener technology; the only available data comes from case studies. I hope this study can be meaningful despite imprecise data.
Corporate Social Responsibility: This weekend I attended the Maala Con(fair)ence, an Israeli corporate social responsibility (CSR) conference. The conference was an opportunity for me to learn about in CSR in Israel, as corporate sustainability is one of my professional interests, and for me to catch up with former colleagues at ecoOS, an Israeli startup focused on sustainability benchmarking (see picture at the bottom of the post).
Virginie Helias, global head of sustainability at Proctor and Gamble (P&G), spoke about P&G’s sustainability efforts. P&G has developed some impressive projects in the last few years. They led a cold-water wash marketing campaign to spread the environmental benefits of washing clothes on cold. They are launching a Head & Shoulders shampoo that is sold in a bottle made from plastic collected on the beach. And in some countries, they collect old Febreeze containers from customers to convert into bicycle reflectors. These are innovative initiatives; however, I feel like they are isolated initiatives. I would like to see greener and better packaging throughout their entire product line.
Thanksgiving: I helped cook Thanksgiving dinner with a few American participants. Spencer and I were responsible for the turkey. Neither of us had cooked turkey before, let alone a Thanksgiving turkey meant for a special feast. (He did not tell me this fact until a week after Thanksgiving. If I had known at the time, I would have been very stressed out.) We soaked the turkey in a juice of olive oil, lemon, onions, margarine, rosemary, and sage. It was delicious!
