This year, EMIS Project Week was focused on borders of Israel. After three days spent across the country, the Green Team went to the Arava to explore topic of sustainability in some of the most innovative kibbutzim in the country. First of them is kibbutz Lotan, which hosts the Eco-Campus and the Eco-Kef, and promotes permaculture.
The Eco-Kef is made mostly of organic buildings made of sand, mud and straw. Our group had the possibility to take part in a workshop, teaching us techniques on how to build bricks for similar buildings. The impact that the kibbutz is trying to have is not limited to just these particular homes, as the invention of compost toilets saves the kibbutz from a large waste of water and in addition, after a year, makes a great compost that is used for the vegetable garden – where any kind of plant is grown despite location in the middle of the desert thanks to use of innovative drip irrigation system.
In the Eco-Campus, students of the Green Apprenticeship programme implemented small, but great ideas on how to save energy, like a “blender bicycle”, to exercise while you’re preparing a healthy smoothie. The same technique is used with a “laundry machine bicycle” that transforms the energy from your body into energy to wash your clothes. Saving energy is also applied to cooking, with a really advanced solar kitchen, that allows to cook a meal in a couple of hours without wasting electric energy.
The original and authentic ideas of the people living in the Kibbutz are inspiration to develop community and how we approach sustainability in EMIS.
Green Team 