January Eco-Tidbits from Turkey
There's both green and grime in the environmental news from Turkey this month.
In a country in environmental transition, there isn't always a lot of sexy or earth-shattering news--not a lot of sleek new technological innovations from the business sector or ambitious green plans by government.
But that doesn't mean that Turkey isn't taking steps forward--and, sometimes, back. Here's a look at some of the developments from January, in a new monthly wrap-up of news prompting reactions of both "süper" (yep, just like in English, but with an umlaut) and "maalesef" (unfortunately):Süper!
- An Istanbul hotel association launched a "green hotels" project to encourage energy- and water-saving measures
- The mayor of Konya, a city in central Turkey, announced plans for the country's first bike-sharing program
- A campaign against plastic bags got underway in Denizli, in southwest Turkey
- Turkey was among the founding members of the newly formed International Renewable Energy Agency
- Forests in the Ayazağa area of Istanbul are being cleared to allow mining companies to move in
- A recent survey showed that 76 percent of Turkish homes are uninsulated and few households recycle
- Turkey continues on the road to building its first nuclear power plant amid calls to boost nuclear production to meet increasing energy needs (and despite anti-nuke protests)
