Founded in 2006 by Tami Zori, CityTree is an ecological apartment located in Bialik Circle, in the heart of downtown Tel Aviv, Israel. Utilizing both online and real world tools, CityTree empowers city dwellers to adopt more environmentally conscious lifestyles. CityTree has three main branches of activity: a model eco-apartment, a website with a wealth of materials and interactive tools, and an emerging local ecological business network. People from all walks of life, and from many different countries, visit the eco-apartment of CityTree to learn how to engage in sustainable practices such as composting, water conservation, gardening, and healthy nutrition, through workshops, courses, and volunteering. CityTree is run by Tami and supported entirely by volunteers and the surrounding community. There is a staff of approximately 20 constant volunteers and organizers, with additional help from students on gap year and summer programs and various other volunteers. Our mission is to encourage a more ecological lifestyle though simple changes in daily routine, and to create an outlet for an active community of urban environmentalists who live health-full lives, share ideas, and connect with the land.

CityTree’s current projects include working with the Tel Aviv municipality to create The Green Map of Tel Aviv, and the building of a network of Composta’im (a term coined by CityTree now officially used in municipal vernacular when referring to city-dwellers who compost their own food-waste). CityTree’s accomplishments include a fully functional and inviting ecological apartment, an extensive Hebrew website full of sustainable living information and tips, a 2,800-person mailing list, an eco-business hub for local and environmental entrepreneurs, a shop stocked with items such as local compost and locally-made natural cosmetics, a flagship urban-permaculture course, as well as seminars taught by experts in fields such as urban ecology and traditional Arab and Jewish nutrition. A community of over 200 “Friends” of CityTree attend regular courses and workshops on urban-ecology and urban-permaculture, as well as volunteer and share information.

It's a pretty great picture, no?