{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Eco lodge aims for sustainable lifestyle in Negev desert' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54bb76d8eafeecae1253f2' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54bb76d8eafeecae1253f2' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nEco lodge aims for sustainable lifestyle in Negev desert\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eAP TelevisionNear Tzukim, Arava Valley, Israel - 14 April 20111. Mid of children helping to build mud hut at \"Desert Days\" eco lodge2. Wide of mud hut building 3. Mid of children helping build mud hut4. Various of children preparing...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eAP Television\u003cbr/\u003eNear Tzukim, Arava Valley, Israel - 14 April 2011\u003cbr/\u003e1. Mid of children helping to build mud hut at \"Desert Days\" eco lodge\u003cbr/\u003e2. Wide of mud hut building \u003cbr/\u003e3. Mid of children helping build mud hut\u003cbr/\u003e4. Various of children preparing straw mixture\u003cbr/\u003e5. Wide of eco lodge, straw bales \u003cbr/\u003e6. Wide of solar panels on top of hut\u003cbr/\u003e7. Pan of eco lodge owners Rinat Bashan and Yair Bilensky walking from dining room to pool area\u003cbr/\u003e8. Close of grape vines, pan to volunteer preparing breakfast \u003cbr/\u003e9. Various of breakfast dishes \u003cbr/\u003e10. Wide of kitchen with Bashan and volunteers preparing breakfast\u003cbr/\u003e11. Wide of people seated at table, pan of dining hall and guests \u003cbr/\u003e12. Pan of Bashan taking fruit juice to guest \u003cbr/\u003e13. SOUNDBITE (English) Rinat Bashan, eco lodge owner:\u003cbr/\u003e\"We came here to Tzukim from the centre of Israel. I'm from Haifa originally, Yair is from Tel Aviv. We were just city people and we came here and we started building everything slowly, slowly. We learned everything here, we didn't know anything.\"\u003cbr/\u003e14. Mid of Bashan and children during mud hut building activities\u003cbr/\u003e15. Tilt up from mud basin to English guest Alex Lezim with her daughter\u003cbr/\u003e16. SOUNDBITE (English) Alex Lezim, guest from London:\u003cbr/\u003e\"No television, we've been outdoors, swimming. It's lovely, really, really lovely.\"\u003cbr/\u003e17. Mid of children applying mud to walls\u003cbr/\u003e18. Wide of mud hut, detail of wall in foreground\u003cbr/\u003e19. SOUNDBITE (English) Yair Bilensky, Desert Days eco lodge owner:\u003cbr/\u003e\"What we do, we dig the hut into the mountain. With the material that we take out from the mountain, we put for a net. Now, because we are in the desert, we have a lot of clay, which is our glue, in the material that we took from the mountain and we use it as a plaster. This is the layers on the hut.\"\u003cbr/\u003e20. Mid of mud hut\u003cbr/\u003e21. Mid of volunteer Silvia Binto arranging guest room inside hut\u003cbr/\u003e22. Interior hut, pan to bathroom\u003cbr/\u003e23. Mid of Binto arranging curtains \u003cbr/\u003e24. Close up of soap inside bathroom\u003cbr/\u003e25. Close of composting eco toilet \u003cbr/\u003e26. Pan to Binto placing compost inside toilet\u003cbr/\u003e27. Mid of Binto washing her hands\u003cbr/\u003e28. SOUNDBITE (English) Silvia Binto, Eco lodge volunteer:\u003cbr/\u003e\"When I arrived at night it was it was not zero degrees but maybe around five to ten degrees (Celsius, 41- 50 degrees Fahrenheit), and inside the hut you would not feel that. Inside the hut the temperature is very good. And now again that it's during the day thirty degrees (Celsius, 86 degrees Fahrenheit) inside the hut it's much fresher. So it works.\"\u003cbr/\u003e29. Wide of volunteers preparing breakfast at dining hall kitchen\u003cbr/\u003e30. Wide of dining hall tilt down to orchard\u003cbr/\u003e31. Mid of water tilt up to orchard\u003cbr/\u003e32. SOUNDBITE (English) Rinat Bashan, Eco lodge owner:\u003cbr/\u003e\"We use only ecological, natural soaps in the hut and in the dishes, when we wash dishes. So all the water just goes back to the earth. We put plants whenever the water comes from the huts and from the kitchen and that's it. Very simple.\"\u003cbr/\u003e33. Tilt down from straw thatch roof to guests at breakfast table\u003cbr/\u003e34. Mid pan left of guests having breakfast in dining hall\u003cbr/\u003e35. SOUNDBITE (English) Ziv Netzer, guest from Israel: \u003cbr/\u003e\"We got used to the dirt and the mud very quickly and it's fun. It's fun, it's different.\"\u003cbr/\u003e36. Pan left of children inside dining hall\u003cbr/\u003e37. Wide of child entering pool area\u003cbr/\u003e38. Wide of children by pool \u003cbr/\u003e39. Various of donkeys eating oranges\u003cbr/\u003e40. Various of huts in desert\u003cbr/\u003eAn eco-village in the Negev Desert offers a unique kind of hospitality to ecologically-minded travellers. \u003cbr/\u003eProving that it's possible to 'go green' even in the desert, everything at the lodge is geared towards minimising the impact on the environment.\u003cbr/\u003eFor tourists, it's also a chance to spend time learning principles of sustainable living in one of the least hospitable places on earth. \u003cbr/\u003eEverybody mucking in to build a mud hut at this eco-lodge in the Negev Desert in Israel.\u003cbr/\u003eAdults and children alike get their hands dirty as they take part in one of many activities on offer here at  the \"Desert Days\" lodge.\u003cbr/\u003eLocated just a few hours from the luxury resorts of the Red Sea, the eco lodge is the Arava Valley's answer to a five-star hotels but here there are no jacuzzis, no room service or television.\u003cbr/\u003eAfter the state of Israel was established in 1948, the authorities designated most of the Negev desert as state land, ending centuries of nomadic Bedouin occupation,.\u003cbr/\u003eNow, the dramatic desert backdrop provides the setting for a hands-on environmentally friendly holiday.\u003cbr/\u003eThe eco lodge is made up of mud huts for guests, a separate hut which serves as a dining area and another hut for housing volunteers.\u003cbr/\u003eThe lodge was started six years ago when Israeli couple Rinat Bashan and Yair Bilensky left their city jobs in Tel Aviv in search of an alternative way of life. \u003cbr/\u003eBashan says they built everything themselves and learnt on the job.\u003cbr/\u003e\"We came here to Tzukim from the centre of Israel. I'm from Haifa originally, Yair is from Tel Aviv. We were just city people and we came here and we started building everything slowly slowly. We learned everything here, we didn't know anything,\" she says.\u003cbr/\u003eBashan, a former graphic designer, says the couple were looking for a place where their two children could grow up with plenty of space and no cars.\u003cbr/\u003eIt might have seemed the most unlikely choice at first, but the couple established their new home in Tzukim, a village of about 200 people in southern Israel's Arava Valley. \u003cbr/\u003eA few kilometres (miles) from there, Bashan and Bilensky started to built their eco lodge with the natural materials the desert had to offer - mud and clay.\u003cbr/\u003eOne guest at the lodge is Alex Lezim from London. She says she and her daughter are having a great time.\u003cbr/\u003e\"No television, we've been outdoors, swimming. It's lovely, really really lovely.\"\u003cbr/\u003eAll the building materials for the huts come from the area - straw, home-made mud bricks and clay, as owner Yair Bilensky explains:\u003cbr/\u003e\"What we do, we dig the hut into the mountain. With the material that we take out from the mountain, we put for a net. Now, because we are in the desert, we have a lot of clay, which is our glue, in the material that we took from the mountain and we use it as a plaster. This is the layers on the hut.\"\u003cbr/\u003eThick walls provide insulation against cold in the winter and the intolerable heat of desert summer days. \u003cbr/\u003eSilvia Binto from Portugal has been volunteering at the lodge since January 2011. \u003cbr/\u003eShe says the walls keep the huts warm in winter and cool in summer.\u003cbr/\u003e\"When I arrived at night it was it was not zero degrees but maybe around five to ten degrees (Celsius, 41- 50 degrees Fahrenheit), and inside the hut would feel that,\" she says. \"Inside the hut the temperature is very good. And now again that it's during the day thirty degrees (Celsius, 86 degrees Fahrenheit) inside the hut it's much fresher. So it works.\"\u003cbr/\u003eThe eco-lodge accepts volunteers who are recruited to help with mud-hut building and hospitality.  The volunteer programme is run in partnership with Tel Aviv-based organisation 'Go-Eco'. \u003cbr/\u003eThe huts can sleep up to six people and have hot water warmed by solar panels on the roof of the huts. \u003cbr/\u003eEach hut is equipped with composting toilets which recycle human waste. \u003cbr/\u003eAfter a year-long composting process the waste is safe enough to use as plant fertiliser. The toilets also help conserve water - vital in the desert.\u003cbr/\u003eThey also have other simple solutions in place to ensure their green credentials such as only using all-natural soaps in the bathrooms and kitchen, as Rinat explains:\u003cbr/\u003e\"We use only ecological, natural soaps in the hut and in the dishes, when we wash dishes. So all the water just goes back to the earth. We put plants whenever the water comes from the huts and from the kitchen and that's it. Very simple.\"\u003cbr/\u003eFats and oils are filtered out of the the water coming from the sinks and showers, making it ready for gardening and plant irrigation.\u003cbr/\u003eFor this reason, trees and flowers have been planted right outside the dining hall kitchen. \u003cbr/\u003eHowever, not everything is 'green' and Bashan acknowledges that in some cases it is still practical to resort to less ecological methods.\u003cbr/\u003eThe roof of the huts are made of concrete, they use refrigerators to keep food cool and in the winter months gas is used to heat water for showers.\u003cbr/\u003eMost of the lodge's guests are families from Israel but people come from abroad too, keen to sample desert life.\u003cbr/\u003e Ziv Netzer is a lodge guest from Israel:\u003cbr/\u003e\"We got used to the dirt and the mud very quickly and it's fun. It's fun, it's different.\"\u003cbr/\u003eThe Bedouin's nomadic lifestyle sustained them in this inhospitable desert land for at least a thousand years.\u003cbr/\u003eNow the Bedouin are gone, but the eco-lodge is an attempt at sustainable living, modern style.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='action-container flex justify-between'\u003e\n\u003cbutton aria-expanded='false' aria-label='Read more description' class='rp-full-description' type='button'\u003e\n\u003ci class='fai fa-solid fa-align-left'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cspan id='read_more'\u003eRead More\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/button\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-report'\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-labelledby='resource-details-heading' class='rp-info-section'\u003e\n\u003ch2 class='title' id='resource-details-heading'\u003eResource Details\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-resource-details clearfix'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='detail'\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eCurator Rating\u003c/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e\u003cspan class=\"star-rating\" aria-label=\"3.5 out of 5 stars\" role=\"img\"\u003e\u003ci class=\"fa-solid fa-star text-action\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003ci class=\"fa-solid fa-star text-action\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003ci class=\"fa-solid fa-star text-action\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003ci class=\"fa-solid fa-star-half-stroke text-action\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003ci class=\"fa-regular fa-star text-action\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/dd\u003e\n\u003c/dl\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='detail'\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt class=\"educator-rating-title\"\u003eEducator Rating\u003c/dt\u003e\u003cdd\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"educator-rating-details\" data-path=\"/educator_ratings/rrp_data?resourceable_id=883066\u0026amp;resourceable_type=Boclips%3A%3AVideoMetadata\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"not-yet-rated\"\u003eNot yet Rated\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/dd\u003e\n\u003c/dl\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='detail'\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eGrade\u003c/dt\u003e\u003cdd title=\"Grade\"\u003eHigher Ed\u003c/dd\u003e\n\u003c/dl\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='detail'\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eSubjects\u003c/dt\u003e\u003cdd\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003ca href=\"/search?grade_ids%5B%5D=259\u0026amp;search_tab_id=1\u0026amp;subject_ids%5B%5D=1216220\"\u003eAll Subjects\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/dd\u003e\n\u003c/dl\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='detail'\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eMedia Type\u003c/dt\u003e\u003cdd\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003ca href=\"/search?grade_ids%5B%5D=259\u0026amp;search_tab_id=2\u0026amp;type_ids%5B%5D=4543650\"\u003eNews Clips\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/dd\u003e\n\u003c/dl\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='detail'\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eSource:\u003c/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e\u003c/dd\u003e\n\u003c/dl\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='detail'\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eDate\u003c/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e2011\u003c/dd\u003e\n\u003c/dl\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='detail'\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-solid fa-language'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\n\u003c/dl\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='detail'\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eAudiences\u003c/dt\u003e\u003cdd\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003ca href=\"/search?audience_ids%5B%5D=371079\u0026amp;grade_ids%5B%5D=259\u0026amp;search_tab_id=1\"\u003eFor Teacher Use\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/dd\u003e\u003cdd class=\"text-muted\"\u003e\u003ci class=\"fa-solid fa-lock mr5\"\u003e\u003c/i\u003e2 more...\u003c/dd\u003e\n\u003c/dl\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='detail'\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\n\u003c/dl\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-labelledby='concepts-heading' class='rp-info-section'\u003e\n\u003ch2 class='title' id='concepts-heading'\u003eConcepts\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='clearfix'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='details-list concepts' data-identifier='Boclips::VideoDecorator' data-type='concepts'\u003eisrael, deserts, mountains, water, degrees, composting, waste management, love\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='concepts-toggle-buttons' data-identifier='Boclips::VideoDecorator'\u003e\n\u003cbutton aria-expanded='false' class='more btn-link' type='button'\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eShow More\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fa-solid fa-caret-down ml5'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003c/button\u003e\n\u003cbutton aria-expanded='true' class='less btn-link' style='display: none;' type='button'\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eShow Less\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fa-solid fa-caret-up ml5'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003c/button\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-labelledby='additional-tags-heading' class='rp-info-section'\u003e\n\u003ch2 class='title' id='additional-tags-heading'\u003eAdditional Tags\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='clearfix'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='details-list keyterms' data-identifier='Boclips::VideoDecorator' data-type='keyterms'\u003ehotels and resorts, accommodations, environment and nature, middle east, volunteerism, heart, lifestyle, slowly, eco-friendly practices, travel, alternative and sustainable energy, mountain, inside, energy and the environment, environment, dishes, lovely, social affairs, tel aviv, solar power, material\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='keyterms-toggle-buttons' data-identifier='Boclips::VideoDecorator'\u003e\n\u003cbutton aria-expanded='false' class='more btn-link' type='button'\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eShow More\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fa-solid fa-caret-down ml5'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003c/button\u003e\n\u003cbutton aria-expanded='true' class='less btn-link' style='display: none;' type='button'\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eShow Less\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fa-solid fa-caret-up ml5'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003c/button\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-labelledby='educator-ratings-heading' class='rp-info-section'\u003e\n\u003ch2 class='title sr-only' id='educator-ratings-heading'\u003eEducator Ratings\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"educator-ratings-root\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"all-educator-ratings-root\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"educator-rating-form-root\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-resource'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Show resource details' class='rp-show-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\n\u003ci class='fai fa-solid fa-align-left'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nShow resource details\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Video player' class='player' id='player-wrapper' role='region'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='relative container mx-auto' id='lp-boclips-visitor-thumbnail'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"block\" data-html=\"true\" data-placement=\"bottom\" data-trigger=\"click\" data-content=\"\u003cdiv class=\u0026quot;text-center py-2\u0026quot;\u003e\u003ca class=\u0026quot;bold\u0026quot; href=\u0026quot;/auth/users/sign_in\u0026quot;\u003eSign in\u003c/a\u003e or \u003ca class=\u0026quot;bold text-danger\u0026quot; data-posthog-event=\u0026quot;Signup: LP Signup Activity\u0026quot; data-posthog-location=\u0026quot;body_link_boclips\u0026quot; data-remote=\u0026quot;true\u0026quot; href=\u0026quot;/subscription/new\u0026quot;\u003eJoin Now\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\" data-title=\"Get Full Access\" data-container=\"body\" rel=\"popover\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"Play video: Eco lodge aims for sustainable lifestyle in Negev desert\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"resource-img img-thumbnail img-responsive z-10 lp-boclips-thumbnail w-full h-full lozad\" alt=\"Eco lodge aims for sustainable lifestyle in Negev desert\" title=\"Eco lodge aims for sustainable lifestyle in Negev desert\" onError=\"handleImageNotLoadedError(this)\" data-default-image=\"https://static.lp.lexp.cloud/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/missing.png\" data-src=\"https://static.lp.lexp.cloud/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/missing.png\" width=\"315\" height=\"220\" src=\"data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAD/ACwAAAAAAQABAAACADs\" /\u003e\n\u003cspan aria-hidden='true' class='flex justify-center items-center bg-white rounded-full w-16 h-16 absolute top-1/2 left-1/2 -mt-8 -ml-8 cursor-pointer z-0 border-2 border-primary drop-shadow-md lp-boclips-thumbnail-playBtn'\u003e\n\u003ci class='fa-solid fa-play text-primary text-3xl ml-1 drop-shadow-xl'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n"}