On the roads out of Be’er Sheva, I found myself scanning the immense desert. The Negev, the largest desert in Israel, provides little hospitality. As I neared the Egyptian border, in the middle of this vast wilderness of endless sand dunes, stood a green hill illuminated by the setting sun.
I was on my way to Nitzana, a youth village built near the ancient ruins of the town with the same name, at the center of ancient trading routes. For one week in August, I participated in a Jewish Agency for Israel program called Sderot Summer Camp.
Established in 1987 by the Jewish Agency, the youth village is home to first-year immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union countries as they study Hebrew and the Jewish religion.
I, however, was volunteering with people in their early teens who were attending a desert seminar. For the week, they studied the principles of sustainable living and the importance of reducing their ecological footprint.
As Jews, we are commanded to treat the earth gently. For Israelis, sustainable living is a necessity, primarily because of the country’s extremely limited resources.
Fresh water is in decreasing supply, as the Jordan River is increasingly diverted to agriculture in Israel and to other countries. Oil and coal supplies are miniscule. Politically it is impossible to formally introduce nuclear power (even for environmental purposes).
There is, however, one source of energy that Israelis have plenty of: the sun. Israel is far above the world average when it comes to sunlight hours per day and, within Israel, the Negev receives the most sun of all. One of the first things anybody who visits the country notices is the solar panels and hot-water tanks on the roofs of every home, apartment, and building.
Israel is currently building the first truly national and sustainable electric driving grid. Gas stations are being phased out in favor of charge-up stations that will be solar powered. Gas-guzzling cars will be replaced by electric cars.
As a small country, it will be possible to cross the country from Metulla to Eilat on one charge. While not currently possible across the entire United States, such a model does seem feasible in certain urban areas, especially in the sunlit, driving-heavy metropolises of Phoenix and Los Angeles.
In Nitzana, it is impossible to miss the state-of-the-art educational solar park. The park consists of many exhibits explaining technologies that use the sun in environmentally-friendly ways.
The largest exhibit in the educational facility is the evaporative cooling tower. The tower funnels in the hot desert air and mixes it with tiny water droplets. The droplets then absorb the heat, and the result is that the room at the base of the tower is 20 degrees cooler than the air outside.
Another exhibit highlights dew and fog collectors, which take advantage of cool desert nights by collecting the water runoff from dew. That water can be treated and used by the village.
Other exhibits include a heat exchanger, solar still, solar concentrator and a display explaining potential uses of the absorption and reflection of light.
In addition to the solar park, the Nitzana Youth Village is home to a recycling center that teaches visitors the multiple uses of recyclable bottles, papers, cans, and more.
While connected to the Israeli power grid, some homes at Nitzana actually produce more energy than they use, selling excess power to the grid. All buildings are surrounded by plants and trees to keep cool. The plants are watered by an underground saltwater aquifer that is purified, explaining what is, at first glance, an impossible hotbed of life and activity surrounded by a harsh desert.
At the end of my week in Nitzana, I found myself to be significantly more educated, environmentally conscious and proud of our Israeli friends. It is their spirit that moves me to change my habits and should change yours too.
As gas prices drop, it is easy to forget the harmful effects of our inefficient use of energy. We must, however, continue to be vigilant and support sustainable living.
Brandon Perlow will graduate next month from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor of Science degree in political science, history and European Studies.
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