Israel's factories and commercial enterprises are not only minimizing pollution, they are also creating a more aesthetically pleasing environment.
By Simon Griver
Like many other industrialised nations, Israel has become much more environmentally aware over the past decade. The process has been helped by a unique competition organized by the Council for a Beautiful Israel, which awards annual prizes to exemplary economic enterprises.
"There has been nothing short of an industrial revolution in Israel over the past 20 years," asserts Mira Lapin, the Council's Director of National Competitions. "When we first started the competition in 1980, industry was grey, ugly and polluting. Today there are many attractive-looking factories and industrial zones."
The concept of aesthetically pleasing factories and industrial parks was pioneered by local entrepreneur Stef Wertheimer. He established the Tefen Industrial Park some 20 years ago on a remote mountain summit in western Galilee. The park's carefully designed buildings complement the landscape and offer employees breathtaking views, while the public areas include meticulously maintained lawns and gardens, as well as tasteful sculptures.
While Tefen's success was universally acclaimed, many local industrialists questioned the economic wisdom of such an initiative. However, demand for space in the Tefen industrial zone was so high that Wertheimer has since completed three more such parks: at Tel Hai in upper Galilee, Karmiel in western Galilee and Omer in the Negev. In addition, dozens of other industrial parks for both high-tech and traditional industries have since been built based on the Tefen model.
"Many industries are so self-motivated to do the attractive and environmentally right thing," observes Lapin, "that we sometimes wonder whether our competition is really necessary. But even the most advanced industries insist that there is so much more to be done and a competition format is the best focus for improvement." Lapin says she is surprised that, as far as she knows, there are no similar competitions in other countries.
Founded in 1970 and headed by Aura Herzog, wife of Israel's late President Chaim Herzog, the Council for a Beautiful Israel was one of the country's first "green" movements. The competition for beauty in industry takes into account a comprehensive range of factors, ranging from the external and internal appearance of a factory to maintenance, safety, security, hygiene and cleanliness, lighting, garden areas and environmental topics such as recycling and reducing pollution.
In addition, the competition takes into account a firm's contribution to the community. The Israel Electric Corporation (IEC), for example, is engaged in activities ranging from helping to clean up the Hadera River, which flows next to its largest power station, to saving the Negev lappet-faced vulture from extinction. The IEC has also constructed a series of brightly colored sculptures, made of electricity pylons, around the country. Other "artistic" initiatives include colorful lighting on the Nesher Cement factory in Ramla, which is seen clearly from the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway, and several hundred human-size penguins, each of them painted by one of the country's leading artists, commissioned by Creo-Scitex, a world leader in digital printing.
"People spend at least a third of their day at work," says Lapin. "It is important that they enjoy the working environment."