Description
The project will create a frame for activity for two groups of Palestinian women, in Israel (Arab localities in central Israel) and in Palestine.
The organic waste is not treated in large part of Arab localities, therefore the local citizens burn the waste, as routine procedures, lead to wide air pollution, and deterioration of the environment.
The project will target four main issues:
1) Low level of awareness for the economic and ecological importance of natural resources (as the open space), and to health risks as an outcome of pirate burning waste and the connection to climate change;
2) A high rate of untreated organic waste (about 50% of total domestic waste);
3) Lack of municipal services for waste collecting and recycling;
4) Total lack of use of renewable energy solutions.
The program will include two main phases in the communities:
1) Awareness Training at local community centers for raising awareness and provide tools to the local population, especially local women on the environment and climate change and our responsibility;
2) “Waste to Energy Justice” campaign: introduction and training of implementable economic solutions for waste, organic and packages as biogas, for the production of domestic cooking gas.
Objectives and beneficiaries
The Arab localities in Israel and in Palestine are heavily populated, suffers from lack of services of collecting and management of solid waste, leading to the prevailing phenomena of waste burning, illegal landfills, and the accumulation of tons of uncollected domestic waste in streets and the nearby open space.
All the chosen municipalities are rated at the low bottom of socioeconomic clustering. In addition, the unemployment among the women is very high. The project will connect with those socio-economic and environmental situations and build a platform for economic development by creating the incentive for “Waste to Energy Justice" model.
The program will provide practical solutions for treating waste, producing clean new energy embedded in the community project for education and awareness about climate change.
Strong points of the solution
1) Increase awareness of environmental pollution, climate change and our ability to create impact.
2) Provide simple solutions, such as biogas production for domestic use, that reduce dramatically the organic waste and reduce the household's costs for cooking gas. The program includes training of local technicians to maintain the domestic biogas device.
3) Increase awareness for regional cooperation between communities to advance together environmental solutions and economic development.
4) Spark interest among the communities on innovative “Waste to Energy” possibilities to reduce the organic waste and to produce free gas for domestic/commercial cooking.
5) Create a new platform for Israel-Palestine cooperation, based in energy justice.
6) Train the local women to be climate agents for the long term.
Expected results and benefits for climate change adaptation and mitigation
1) Reduce the pirate burning of untreated waste.
2) Establish a network of local groups of women from Israel and Palestine to share ideas, initiatives and activities on environment and economy, with special emphasis on local women interest: food, recycling, gardening, ecological-economic opportunities (all framed under the Climate change for ME region).
3) Expand the number of individuals and communities in Israel and in Palestine that adopt green energy domestic solution.
4) Establish a platform for local women groups to present (not online) their initiatives as annual gathering.
5) Engage other different stakeholders in cross-border initiatives, such as local business, government officials, etc all under “Climate of Hope".
Scalability potential of the solution
We evaluate the scalability as huge. Three basic issues make the project particularly likely to be expanded and succeed:
1) In traditional societies, it is common to prepare fresh food at home. Therefore the amount of organic waste to produce cooking gas leads to a decrease in household expenses.
2) The project brings an innovative way of dealing with waste at the domestic level by introducing biogas production and will support the model of “Waste to Energy”.
3) The connection between women in Israel and Palestine is built from a basic common grounds such as the kitchen. The example will be followed by many other people (men and women) who would be interested in creating energy based on waste.
[Editor's Note: All information published as submitted by the author(s). Minor edits may have been made for length and clarity.]
