Ramadan Mubarak

Ramadan Mubarak to everyone.
May this month bring you closer to Allah (swt). May Allah (swt) accept your fasts, prayers and duaa's.
Remember this month is the month of fasting, not feasting, so make this a start to improve your eating habits.

Sunny Prospects in Egypt

According to The Egyptian Gazette Wed 24th of March, that Egypt is investing in Solar power. In the middle of the Egyptian dessert, over 100,000 mirrors are tracking the sun to capture its energy. Egypt's first solar plant is being built about 100 km outside of Cairo on the road to Beni Seouf. It's an EU funded project, with MED-EMIP and MEDREG, helping to integrate Euro-Mediterranean energy policies, primarily with a view to move towards sustainable energy.
With Solar power starting up and wind power fast developing, Egypt's well on the road to becoming less dependent on gas and oil and becoming increasingly competitive in the energy market.
With Egypt also observing Earth hour this saturday, (major cities will switch off their lights as well as electricity being switched off in historical sites and landmarks) I have high hopes for this country. I just hope the rest of the Arabic world who have not yet put climate change on their agenda to follow suit

Earth Hour 27th March 2010 8:30pm -9:30pm

A new way of looking at the Environment

Mokhtar Maghroui's spritual way of looking at the environment is different and enlightening. There are 7 parts, here's the first. Here's the link if the player I embeded doesn't work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTa1M7YcQ5I

Sanctifying Holy Places

Egypt seems to have a major litter problem. Two weeks ago we went on a tour to the Citadal of Saladin and to some churches in Old Cairo. Cairo is a mixed city with Muslims and Christians living together as well as a small number of Jews. We visited the Church of the Hanging Mary and Ben Ezra Synagogue. I was appaled to see so much litter outside the Synagogue and a couple of crisp packets flying around the church courtyard.
Cleanliness is a major part of Islam, as mentioned in the hadith 'cleanliness is half of faith' and the following ayah:

Truly, God loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves (2:222).

This extends to more than just your body, because if you keep your body clean than you should keep the area around you and wherever you go clean. You wouldn't after making wudu', go and pray in an area that was unclean.

As the Prophet (SAW) " The whole earth has been made a mosque for me". So everywhere you go must be kept clean. Just like we expect when Muslims and Non-muslims visit a Mosque that they respect us, take off their shoes upon entering the prayer area and not to litter, then we too should sanctify thier places of worship. We have a long way to go in areas of pollution and waste. At the very least, we should be teaching our children to respect the earth that we live on and to not litter.

Energy-efficient lightbulbs

It seems the hotel is in the process of switching to energy-efficient lightbulbs. My bedside lamp is energy-saving, but my other two lamps are not. Here's the lighbulb! For some reason I feel a little bit proud! Maybe because a Muslim, Arab country is starting to make changes and taking action to combat Climate change.

I remember watching not long ago, a programme on the BBC (struggling to remember it's name), where they do lots of scientific experiments, and one was about how you could cook a chicken in a home made oven with the heat source being a traditional lightbulb. Was pretty intresting. Makes me wonder, whether at night when my husbands workin on his laptop, that the extra heat in the room's coming from the lamps?! They also use 80% less electricity and last longer than traditional bulbs, with an added bonus of being more funky looking! So go on, what are you waiting for? Go change that lightbulb and switch off the lights that are left on unnecessarily.

Egypt and the Environment

I'm here in Egypt for three months as my husband has an 8 month contract here. As I'm in a hotel, there's a lot of things I cannot do. But I guess I can do the basics, as well as doing some research about what Egyptians are doing for the environment. But I do know that they're into their organic fruit and veg as there's a wide variety of organic food at the supermarket.
I've been switching off lights and turning appliances off at the socket. Trying not to go overboard with toilet paper and trying to be resourceful. Trying to use the towel more than once without putting it in the wash. It's a struggle with kids, especially if they've got a constant runny nose at the moment, and are naturally messy creatures! They're also a curious lot, and are always taking the oppurtunity to explore, especially if they find the toilet door open. Then everythings on the floor and the clean and dirty towels get mixed up and you don't know which is which.
Over here, they all drink bottled and 'sealed' water because apparently the waters not safe to drink. I wonder if they recycle the plastic bottles, I really have to ask.
They do include articles sometimes in the newspaper about their carbon offsets, or eco-friendly exhibitions, but as the newspaper is in English, I don't think many Egyptians read it, I also don't know if there are any articles in the Arabic newspapers. So, I don't really have a very good picture on Egypt and the Environment.

Follow up on reusable vs disposable nappies

It's been a while, and as I have two kids, writing a blog isn't going to be a regular thing. But I thought I'd write a follow up on the disposable vs reusable nappies blog. This time with some pro and cons on both, so you can make up your own mind.

Disposable

• More convenient, especially when your out and about.
• Overall more expensive. Based on a baby who's in nappies for two and half years, £703 for the cheapest brand and £1104 for the more expensive brands. But wait a minute, not only for you, but for the council tax payer as well who pays 10p to dispose of every £1 worth of disposable nappies. This amounts to £40,000,000 each year nationally.
• The always full and smelly bin!
• A child in disposables for two and a half years will use approximately 6000 nappies based on the recommended (6-7 changes per day).
• 3 billion thrown out every year in the UK, the vast majority (around 90%) end up in landfills. If it's incinerated than harmful gases including CO2 are emitted into the atmosphere.
• Are not biodegradable and can take upto several hundred of years to decompose.
• Are often made from man-made material including plastic and adhesives and contain chemicals for absorbancy. Which isn't very good for baby or the environment.
• In a study by Dr W G Sippell, using disposable nappies increased the temperature of the scrotal area in male babies. This can lead to infertility.
• Use 90 times the amount of renewable resources (e.g. wood pulp) and 8 times the non-regenerable resources (e.g. 1 cup of crude oil to make 1 disposable nappy).
• And for those 'tree-huggers', four and a half trees are needed to make nappies for one baby.

Reusable

• Made from natural fabrics, no chemicals. Better for your baby's bottom and for the environment.
• Less waste, as it doesn't get thrown away but rather get's washed over and over agin, so less nappies being sent to the landfill.
• Cheaper! It can save you around £500 according to WEN (Women's Environmental Network). If you pay around £50 worth of material nappies, thats 7 weeks worth of disposable nappies.
• No more terry nappies and pins, there are new funky, more versatile nappies, that are shaped like disposables for convenience. With velcro straps or poppers so you don't poke yourself or the baby with the pin.
• Solids can be thrown straight into the toilet, no mess!
• More time will be taken up washing and drying the nappies, line dry them in the warmer months, and radiators in the colder months.

I tried to find some balanced sources, but I'm definetly biased and those who write up pro's and con's on disposbale vs reusable seem to be biased too.

There are more options now than before, such as biodegradable disposable nappies or compostable nappies. But they have been critisised too. I just ask of you to do your research and to think of your duty as a Muslim or as a citizen of this Earth.

"There is not an animal in the earth, nor a creature flying on two wings, but they are nations like you." (6:38)

Information taken from:

http://www.babykind.co.uk/whychoosereusables.htm

http://www.energysavingsecrets.co.uk/ReusableNappiesVsDisposable.html

http://adc.bmj.com/content/83/4/364.abstract

For further reading:

http://nickisdiapers.com/pages/HealthConcerns.php

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/buyingforbaby/nappies/ecofriendly/