5 Ways Anera Helps Protect the Environment
by Anera
Posted in: About Anera
Did you know that one of Anera’s priorities is protecting the environment? We incorporate green practices into a variety of projects, from building with recycled materials to irrigating with treated water. Here are five ways, thanks to our community of supporters, we are helping to address pollution, climate change and limited resources in Palestine (Gaza/West Bank) and Lebanon.
1. Recycling and Waste Management
Anera is organizing a collective of youth volunteers to conduct environmental awareness sessions, distribute waste and recycling bins, plant trees and clean up the littered beaches. We also built a new sorting facility in the Masha municipality in Lebanon, which succeeded in promoting the culture of recycling and proper waste collection.
2. Sustainable Agriculture
Anera helps farmers and the Palestine environment by irrigating some 1,700 acres of crops with treated wastewater, teaching composting techniques and developing irrigation techniques that waste less water. In Jenin, our current recycled water project makes use of wastewater that would normally be discarded.
3. Sanitation Networks
From polluted beaches in Gaza to overcrowded refugee camps in Lebanon, a lack of working sewage and sanitation systems poses a dangerous threat to the health of families and the environment. Anera engineers design and implement sewage systems, waste treatment facilities and storm drainage networks to keep hundreds of families healthy and neighborhoods clean.
4. Organic Farming
Farmers like Magdi Dabour have a passion for organic farming, despite the challenges of an on-going blockade that has crippled the economy in Gaza. In 1997, with help from Anera, Magdi traveled to California to partake in a global organic farming training. Today, he and his partner, Abed El Miem (pictured above), are still devoted to their organic farm, and recently worked with Anera to install a large pond to use for drip irrigation.
5. Energy Efficiency
In Gaza and the West Bank, electricity is severely limited and cooking gas is hard to find. To help families feed themselves, Anera distributed locally-built solar cookers to impoverished families. Now Gaza’s regular power cuts don’t prevent them from eating a meal. Anera also distributed biogas stoves (pictured above), benefiting families that aren’t able to afford cooking gas.
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Consider donating a tax-deductible gift of $25 or more so that together we can continue to help the people and communities of Palestine and Lebanon live cleaner, healthier lives. Thank you for your support!