Message from the President

Hello, this is Khayra, the creator and biggest fan of Faseelah (فسيلة).

I couldn't help it with the title, it was fitting. I'll keep this short.
Faseelah was an initiative meant for Effat University, and the start was spectacular. We had great events (which you can check out in the archives) and I've met so many inspiring environmentalists and made amazing friends along the way.
However, it's my final year, and I don't have time for my baby, even though I love it so.

I declare Faseelah a public name. That means whatever you do in Effat to do with the environment, give me a call and use the logo, slogan, email templates, etc. for your eco-friendly passion. An event? A project? A newsletter? Why not?

I also leave it for anyone, male or female, to truly feel the message of Islamic Environmentalism and take it over.
Preferably someone in Effat for Effat, but I won't be picky as I think it was a great idea.

All I ask for is the following:

Scientific backing

Just because it says it's green, doesn't mean it is.

Research with reliable sources

People still don't believe in environmentalism, you'll need a strong backed honest argument to push this forward.

Standards

One thing I worked hard at was keeping events, posters, flyers, emails, blogs, and tweets as professional as I knew how.
Care was taken in forming a logo and brand identity because environmentalism, and more so Islamic Environmentalism hasn't been formally introduced. That need for a first impression counts, because you'll be representing the both of them.
Proper English and/or Arabic published content. Emails, tweets, posts, etc. need love! Honest respectable love. Spell check and I are your friends.

I'm here for anything you need, be it with interest in Faseelah or just me.

You can still follow my doings at my personal blog, "Mreow," She Roared, or Twitter, or Tumblr or Instagram under @khayraB.

Much Love,
Khayra Bundakji

Earth Day 2011 Events in Jeddah

Earth Day has been around for over 40 years. Each year they have a different theme that reflects what needs the most awareness.

Click here to see the events from SENS and Al-Nabta.

Earth Day 2011: A Billion Acts of Green®

Courtesy of the Earth Day Network website. Click to contribute.

Technically, the idea this year revolves around registering one billion acts of green in pledges for the Earth Summit in Rio in 2012.
The campaign includes

• Athletes for the Earth: Bringing the voices of Olympic and professional athletes to the environmental movement
• The Canopy Project: Supporting global reforestation
• Green Schools: Greening America’s Schools within a Generation
• Women and Green Economy (WAGE)™: Engaging women leaders in the creation and development of a global green economy
• Creating Climate Wealth: Convening 200 of the world’s entrepreneurs to solve climate change and create a new green economy
• Arts for the Earth: Celebrating the work of environmental artists in all media, and partnering with the American Association of Museums to bring sustainability to museums nationwide

Spring 2011

Welcome to another semester where we will be implementing the plans made in the fall semester.
If you're interested in taking part, please apply. Effat students apply here, and non-students apply here.

MEMBERS
I'm calling for a meeting on Sunday, February 27 at 12:30 to go over this semester and plans formed last semester.
Please find the Blackboard calendar event here
WE HAVE GET STARTED before everyone gets too busy. There is a new value point system.
Please go to the discussion board on Blackboard so we can have more material to work with.

If you know of someone who wants to join, have them fill in the application before coming to the meeting:
Click for Effat student application
Click here for non-student application


See you Sunday,
Khayra

Littering Fine Campaign

You've noticed these, right?

Image courtesy of Destination Jeddah, check out the article here.

It's by SENS (Saudi Environmental Society) and some other sponsors spreading awareness about this new law that makes you pay if you throw garbage anywhere other than the garbage. Do you think it's working?

Al-Nabta

Al-Nabta is a legit children's educational program working with the Ministry of Education spread awareness about the environment. Click here to visit their very cute site.

Keep reading for their description found on their Facebook group. You can also follow them on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Big Meeting This Sunday: December 26, 2010

With a new set of enthusiastic ideas, we're having another meeting for interested people to join Faseelah, or just give us ideas and see what we're about!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

1:30 - 2:30

ENG 107

We'll be discussing:

1. An official club plan for next semester
2. Discussed volunteering opportunities with affiliates
3. What's been happening lately

Bring anyone interested and with ideas!

Welcome Back Faculty, Employees, and Students

Salams All,

Effat's environmental organization, Faseelah(فَسِيلَةُ) is recruiting new members from the Effat community (including faculty and employees).

Learn more about our Islamically driven aspirations, and apply by clicking here if you're a student. If you're not a student and don't have the effat.edu.sa email, click here.


Goals and How You Can Help

Affiliates
Anyone who has taken part in an environmental group knows how hard it is to find other groups. One goal of ours is to keep connecting them to make a real difference in Jeddah. We have officially made deals with some to stay in touch and use each other's resources.
We need members to keep track of them.

Making Effat Eco-friendly
"Green" universities are becoming mandatory! The educated community is realizing more and more how important it is to conserve Earth, including Harvard and Yale, among so many others. It's even becoming something people look for while applying to universities.

And it's so easy to make Effat more eco-friendly than it is! Here are some objectives we're aiming for (it's a lot harder than it sounds). We want to get:

• Awareness movies to be played regularly


• Effat to use paper cups at the coolers instead of plastic


• A recycling system implemented permanently


• The Effat community to stop littering


• The lights and projectors off when they're not used


• Computers and lights to be turned off automatically at the end of the day (they sometimes stay on overnight for no reason)


• The restaurant to pack up food in a more eco-friendly way (no plastic!)


• Energy efficient lighting all around campus

Spreading Awareness
It's so important and easy to respect what Allah has given us, but most of us just don't know. We want to spread the word on:

• How destructive littering is


• The importance of using reusable and reused products, like bottles and bags


• How the majors available can help the planet when our students graduate


• What environmental organizations there already are


• What people are already doing in Jeddah


• What the world is doing to become sustainable


• The perks of vegetarianism


• How the Saudi government is encouraging renewable power, water conservation, and sustainability

Celebrating International Events
This year we hope to bring awareness to international efforts concerning the environment.

• International Mountain Day (December)


• World Water Day (March)


• Earth Day (April)


• International Day for Biological Diversity (May)


• World Environment Day (June)

Green Your Searches II: Ecosia

Much earlier, we posted search engines that were made to be eco-friendly. A search engine is a website that helps you search for anything on the Internet, like Google.

We mentioned how Blackle by Heap Media saves energy by having a black background because it takes less energy to show the color black. Unfortunately, the energy-saving power of Blackle only applies to CRT screens (those older monitors with the really big box in the back). Now that current monitors are LED displays, it doesn't do much to use the site.

The post also had Ripple, a great search engine that has all its profit from your search go to the charity of your choice, including Grameen Foundation Australia and WaterAid. The last site was Green Maven which is basically an amazing eco-friendly online directory.

This update is about Ecosia. This site really makes a difference to the environment because at least 80% of its profits go towards saving rainforest. Each search saves 2.4 yd² (2.2 m²) of rainforest and they've already saved 181,690,869 yd² (166,138,131 m²) to date. They're backed by Bing, Yahoo, and WWF (the World Wide Fund for Nature), and I'll let their video tell you the rest.

Ecosia: The eco-friendly search engine from in60seconds on Vimeo.

You can check out their statistics of what's happening, browse their FAQs, and install Ecosia in your browser if you have Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, or Opera.

They're still working on the Safari add-on because of Apple's settings, but you can install a program called Glims that can personalize your search settings. On a side note, Glims also allows you to add Facebook, Wikipedia, Google Images, etc. to Safari, which is pretty cool.

What Glims can do on Safari

If you need any help with installation after installing Glims, you can email us. Happy browsing.

What Happened to All of Faseelah's Plans?

They're there! We just need to get through exams.

We have tons of updates for you guys and a great new look for the site :)

UPDATE: A spectacular Faseelah member linked me to a site, and the first thing I see is:

Sounds familiar, huh?

InspiredByMuhammad.com is everything I wanted Faseelah to work towards. Guys, this movement is getting bigger and stronger. This is the time that people want to put the humanity back into humanity.

It made my day.

See you after finals! Good luck!

Saudi Environmental Society (SENS)

Here's some basic information on the Saudi Environmental Society. You may recognize them from the billboards about the littering fine campaign. If you know of any other widespread initiatives they've taken, please let us know.

Mission

To support the governmental effort by providing advisory, research and educational services, in partnership with public and the private sectors in addition to the civil society organizations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and to strengthen cooperation and coordination among them in the field of environmental protection to achieve environmentally sustainable development in accordance with international standards.

Vision

SENS to be by the end of 1433 a leading non-for-profit organization, and a distinctive environmental center which has an effective contribution in the field of environmental protection to achieve environmentally sustainable development through genuine partnership with all stakeholders in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia community, in accordance our religion besides international environmental standards.

Earth Hour Jeddah 2010

Earth Hour was a success! Granted, compared to other countries, it didn't seem as much, but many hearts and lights were affected by the event in Jeddah.

 

The Facebook event, Earth Hour '10 JEDDAH, is thought to be a huge contributor to what set the the eco-friendly wheels in motion. Started by an average woman living in Jeddah, it spread awareness to the extent that the Saudi Wildlife is believed to have made their own Earth Hour site because of it.

 

To commemorate the hour, the promoters of the event have a must-see blog. It keeps track of all that happened during the hour, and was a great way of keeping people up to date with the awareness campaigns.

 

Unfortunately, the Saudi Wildlife appears to have its limits. Near to no roundabouts had their lights off. The Supporters' Map didn't have many supporters in Jeddah, but that's because a lot of people put in the zipcode wrong, so they showed up in different places.

 

So we didn't get it 100%, but it was lovely seeing many businesses participate, like Al Baik, Rosewood Corniche, Ikea, SABB, NCB, Il Villagio, Berlitz, Saudi Gazette, What's Up Jeddah, and so many more.

Earth Hour 2010

I know you've seen the email, so just remember that candles can be bought in the restaurant and the following:

Earth Hour

This is to brief you about "Earth Hour", an upcoming international event (this Saturday) that we'll be working on over the weekend.

Saturday

March 27, 2010

From 8:30pm to 9:30pm, the "Earth Hour"

Jeddah

We're really proud to have Saudi Arabia working towards participating in this movement. Be sure to join in on the Facebook event, read the Earth Hour Jeddah blog, and REGISTER!!!! (In "Post Code", write your district as it is on Google Maps, you can also zoom in and find it, like Ash Shati')

Earth Hour

Log In To Earth Hour

Earth Hour Lanterns

World Water Day '10

"Algae and You" by Abdulhakeem Jomah
Sunday, March 21st 2010



To help raise awareness of World Water Day, the Effat Environmental Club organized two presentations dealing with water-related issues. The first one, about algae and water-borne diseases, was presented by Abdulhakeem Jomah. And truth be told, I was not expecting to be completely captivated by the lecture. Although I, much to my surprise, was. I think a lot of that can be attributed to the style of the lecture, which was almost diametrically opposed to the usual lectures, what with their dry, monotonous presentation. This lecture, on the other hand, revolved around a Power-point presentation that was enhanced with cute animations that were quite refreshing from the played out diagrams and tables filled with meaningless statistics. It was also peppered with strange (but interesting) facts and entertaining anecdotes. Mr. Jomah was a confident presenter and he across more like a gregarious host than someone who talks down to other people. It was invigorating to hear from someone who studies here, and who is also in the same age bracket. I am reasonably confident that the 60 girls who attended left entertained and having gained an understanding of just how significant water is in our day to day existence; I certainly did, along with the added insight of the apparent uselessness of hand sanitizers. And, it goes to show that if one is interested in the environment, we can all make a difference, no matter how limited the resources and where we are. 

Written by Iram Rizvi

"Experiences in Niger" by Ziad Jarrar
Monday, March 22nd 2010



Mr. Ziad Jarrar discusses his experiences in Niger, a country in Western Africa bordering Nigeria, Algeria and Libya. He traveled with 11 other young Saudi's and participated in activities to help out children at the orphanage and build a well. His lecture created a huge impact on the audience.

Purchase your own Special Water for 6 riyals. All funds will be put towards Faseelah's World Water Day 2011 project (still being finalized).

Earth Hour

Keep your eyes peeled for Earth Hour, which is on Saturday, 27th of March!

Earth Hour

Official Introduction to Spring '10

Here's a brief introduction to what we have planned. The club has a new identity to help promote our objective:

"To encourage, educate, and set an example for the Effat community by promoting an environmentally-friendly and sustainable way of life, through the principles of Islam."

فَسِيلَة

(pronounced "Fa-see-lah") is the new name for the club. It is known as "the part of a palm tree that is planted so another can grow from it" and was inspired by this ḥadīth (ṣaḥīḥ Al-Bukhārī Muslim):

"If the Hour came and in one's hand was a faseelah, and if he could stay until it was planted; then he should plant it"



How the club works:

1. We don't have just one person making all the decisions. Everyone in the club is encouraged to give in their input.

2. There are 5 different groups of members in Faseelah:

Core members
They do the most for the club like plan events, design the calendar, communicate with outside organizations and other clubs, and manage all the other members.

Second-in-command members
They help the core members by implementing the confirmed plans and acting as backup incase a core member needs help. Click here to see a list of the second-in-commands.

Event & campaign members
They help with every event and campaign. Mostly the week before and during the event, they help the core members and second-in-commands contact sponsors and affiliates, set up the venue, advertise, etc. Click here to see a list of the event & campaign members.

Event & campaign volunteers
They volunteer and work alongside the event & campaign members for some of the events. Click here to see a list of the event & campaign volunteers.

Extras
They help us when they can because their schedules are too hectic. We're very grateful to them :) Click here to see a list of all the extras.

Non-members also play a big part in Faseelah. They can make suggestions, volunteer as extras, help us collaborate with other organizations, and much more.



What we have planned:

Our goals for the semester is to:
• Stop littering on campus
• Implement policies in Effat to make the campus "Greener"
• Work with clubs, different majors, and outside organizations to help educate the Effat community and spread news about Faseelah's efforts.
• Have awareness campaigns for international environmental events like World Water Day, Earth Hour, and Earth day.


Here's hoping for a productive semester

Recycle Your City

(NOTE: More info to come about Mawakeb Al-Ajr)

According to Dia Diwan:


Finally, a decent recycling initiative in a city that desperately needs an eco-friendly clean-up.
Yes, we all care about fashion, art and where to buy the latest delicious cupcakes – but there is an area of utmost importance that doesn't seem to mobilize us as much, and that’s making our cities cleaner and greener places to live in.

Now, a group of environmental activists operating with the support of Jeddah’s Chamber of Commerce and Municipality has launched a citywide recycling campaign.
Under the name Recycle Your City, the group aims to establish recycling in offices, schools, public buildings and eventually of course, in homes across the city. Did you know that 62% of all waste in an average office is paper that can be recycled?

The idea for the this long awaited recycling campaign originated with Noura Alturki, a young Saudi employee at Jeddah’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who connected with an online group of environmental activists led by Nour Fityani. Together, they organized a recycling program at Jeddah’s Chamber of Commerce under the umbrella of the Environment Committee (hooray for them!). The campaign is now comprised of seven founding members who work for different companies and also represent two environmental organizations: Mawakeb Al-Ajr and Annabta Association.
Their Goals:

* Solve urban solid waste problems by promoting recycling as one of the alternatives to dumping, burning and burying practices.
* Support organizations and individuals who want to recycle.
* Create awareness amongst people on how they can protect the environment and promote a healthier, greener and more sustainable lifestyle.

H&M in Jeddah

Okay, so it's been open for a while, but I doubt that anyone knows just how awesome H&M is. Not just for your closet, but the planet.



H&M has been green for a while now. They've been supporting UNICEF in Uzbekistan to help children and prevent child labor in the cotton industry since July. They also use organic (no pesticides) cotton in a lot of their products (the labels on each product indicates if it's made of organic cotton). As if that wasn't enough, every year they publish a report with information on how they're being responsible. Check it out here.

Ferragamo Goes Green

According to FashionWeekDaily and FabSugar:

Ferragamo has gone green. In an effort to preserve the Earth, the luxury brand has created a line of eco-friendly handbags named Eco Ferragamo. What makes this collection special is that the bags are made from a nontoxic tanning technique, are lined in handwoven hemp, and use dyes from natural elements such as tree bark. The results, seen below, are luxurious, biodegradable, and water-resistant bags. The Eco Ferragamo collection ranges from small totes to maxi hobos made in hues of tobacco brown, lemon yellow, and grapefruit pink. The bags retail from $1,190 to $1,890 and will be available come February.

Masdar City

Masdar is a definite thing to know about for anyone in the Middle East hoping for big-scale change in the region.

Masdar is a government-funded initiative to bring future clean energy to the region. The city they're building is one that finally caters to all those saying "we're in a desert, why aren't we using solar energy?!". Not only is it apparently going to be the world's first carbon-neutral, zero-waste, car-free city in the world, they're also planning on building the Middle East's largest solar power plant (I wonder where the others are, if any?). Planned to be producing power by the end of 2009, they're currently testing out solar energy options from U.S., Italian, Chinese, Japanese, and German companies to see which products will work best in the desert climate.
The city will be able to house residents! I'm SO buying a place there. By September of this year, 100 students and professors of the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (developed in cooperation with MIT) will be moving into the residences.
The frosting on the cake is that Abu Dhabi hosted the second annual World Future Energy Summit where this was all announced.

Masdar itself is BUSY!
They've already signed a contract with the TDIC to develop a sustainable system for a nature reserve and resort. TDIC are the ones developing Saadiyat Islands which will have a number of iconic museums including a Louvre.
They also invest in a lot of foreign projects, including offshore wind parks to be built in the UK.

The Green Family of Macs

It was just a matter of time until I mentioned it. Check out the greenest family of notebooks.

The longer video.

Green Your Searches

Every nook and cranny can be made more planet-friendly, that's just a fact. Here are a few websites that have taken that fact seriously and are helping all Internet users make the world a better place.

Blackle
Google is awesome, in my opinion. When I found out about Blackle, it became even cooler in my eyes. Blackle is the search engine that allows the monitor to save energy by having a black background instead of the usual white we see everywhere. Read more about how it saves energy, and go here to use it.

Ripple
It probably isn't what you need when you're researching for academic projects, but you should definitely click around when you have free time and are searching for random things. Get this, it's a non-profit website that gives all its revenues to charities. It's also very educational for those who want to know more about how people are changing the world.

Green Maven
This. Is. WOW.
A search engine of EVERYTHING green, sustainable, and awesome. The environmentally-friendly world is at your fingertips and definitely worth a look.