Engage your employees!

A common problem for almost all workplaces is the lack of employees’ engagement. We may blame it on the employee, but when the majority of employees suffer from it, workplaces know they are also part of the problem, or perhaps their management techniques.

However, employees are not hard to satisfy, and they can be happy in a workplace even if they are not paid very large sums. In fact, in a study, 90% of employees said that a more fun work environment increases their engagement and 72% of the engaged employees confirmed that their opinion was taken into consideration by their company. One may consider stress as a normal factor in work, but constant stress is bad. And although a manager has more experience that the employees he manages, but it does not mean employees do not have great ideas.

So treat your employees like you would treat your date to make them happy: talk to them about their interests, care for their opinion and point of view, and offer them activities that interest them, not just activities that interest your company. Their engagement will return with plenty of benefits to the company!

This content was originally posted on https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6538329110396174336

hashtag#businesshashtag#employeeshashtag#HRhashtag#engagementhashtag#workhashtag#lifehashtag#Lebanonhashtag#tipshashtag#trickshashtag#datehashtag#interesthashtag#opinionhashtag#managementhashtag#MENA

#business #employees #HR #engagement #work #life #Lebanon #tips #tricks #date #interest #opinion #management #MENA

FabricAid: reusing clothes for an amazing cause

We do not realize how lucky we are, to have the ability to enter a shop, check items, and buy the item, without overthinking of the cost. So many people have to choose between a loaf of bread and a shirt to put on their back. Although you may think that making free donations can help them, they easily hurt these people’s dignity and may not even be useful for them at all, since many NGOs cannot tailor clothes per group and end up sending the same package to all the people it’s taking care of.

Luckily, a team of Lebanese students in 2016 decided to change things. They created FabricAid, an initiative that gives second hand clothes a new life, and allows underprivileged individuals to enjoy a shopping experience without worrying about the costs.

Omar Itani, a founder at FabricAid and the man behind the idea

The team created a network of donation bins, and made a collaboration with businesses and NGOs to collect clothes. They check the items, select what’s in good condition to be reused, clean it up, iron it, tag it, and put it in their shops. They have pop-up markets called Souk El Khlanj and several permanent markets. Souk el Khlanj means the shop of like-new items.
The shops are located in areas where there is a high level of poverty, they are just like any other shop, with well organized merchandise and fitting rooms. The prices range between 0.3$ and 2$, so that people who have low income can shop and pay without having to worry about the bill being out of their purchasing power.

One of Home of Hope Lebanon NGO’s children choosing clothes at a shop that was set up by FabricAid as a collaboration

The items that are not fit for resale are sold in bulk to existing second-hand stores for much lower prices, or they can be used to create new items for RemAid, FabricAid’s own upcycled fashion brand. In 2018, a partnership between RemAid and ESMOD (one of the best fashion design school in Lebanon) was made, and 100 items were created by students and sold in a special event, where prices of unique clothing items made from the used fabric were between 50$ and 150$. The event was made to support FabricAid’s cause. The items were redesigned by ESMOD fashion students and sewed by Sawa for Development and Aid’s women refugee tailors.

2018’s event to exhibit the clothes made by ESMOD’s students for RemAid

This team has also been able to win multiple competitions, and is one of the few to reach over 200 000$ in funds through competitions. Their work has contributed to alleviating two major problems: clothes waste and poverty aid.

Through their amazing initiative, so far, FabricAid has been profitable, created jobs, and made great numbers:
– 55,000 Kgs of clothes collected
– 37 markets set up
– 7,000 beneficiaries
– 17 staff members
– 32,685 items sold
– 19 clothing collection bins distributed

One of the collection bins

The clothes donors are also benefiting, as every once in a while, a new partnership between FabricAid and businesses that support the cause is seeing the light. For example, Jaleesa, a babysitting business, offers discounts to its clients. All these collaborations can be found on their Facebook page, and they’re updated every once in a while.

If you are interested by their initiative, wish to make a contribution, get in contact with the team, or just wish to learn more, you can always check their website and their Facebook account. If you don’t live in Lebanon, make sure to search for similar initiatives or maybe to share the news about FabricAid to encourage others to make similar initiatives in their own communities!

Also, please don’t forget to follow my startup news on Facebook, Instagram and the Website.

Easter eggs decoration with natural ingredients

I hate complicated methods to color eggs, I always used the coloring kits available in stores. But I realized that I may be harming myself by choosing the easy packed way, especially that in Lebanon, I did not find a natural ingredients dye kit yet. This is why I decided to find the best natural methods to color them.

Although it takes more time than just popping a colors pill or using food coloring, the results are great, the ingredients are majorly cheap, and you have room to get creative and experiment

The coloring ingredients

There are hundreds of ideas out there, my favorite are onions and beetroots for the amazing colors they give. Both ingredients are also very widely used in Lebanon, and were used by families for decades. I retrieved a list of many easy to find color ingredients via Practicallyfunctional.com, shown below. They also included their recommended quantities, but you can add more or less depending on the color intensity you desire. Don’t forget that the original color of your eggs will affect the final result.

You can use many more ingredients, like:
– well brewed camomille tea for light yellow
– strongly brewed hibiscus tea for dark green
– blueberries for a marbled blue
– Hibiscus flowers for reddish blue to lavender
– sunflower petals for pale yellow
– curry powder for pale orange
– paprika for darker orange
– chili powder for red to brown
– cranberry juice for pink to red
– undiluted pomegranate juice for pink
– frozen cherries or raspberries for pink
– simmered orange peels for light yellow
– chopped carrots for red-orange
– Frozen blueberries for grey-blue
– Spinach or parsley for green

You can also mix between different colors and experiment to have more shades and colors.

The coloring methods

You also have either the cold dye method, which is suitable for the lighter colors and to have eggs that last longer, and you can use the hot dye method for richer deeper colors, but with over boiled eggs that last only until Easter is over.

Hot dye method:

Add water, your dye ingredient and white vinegar to a pot and let them boil. The quantity of vinegar recommended is 2 tbsp of vinegar per liter (or quarter in US) of water. In addition add some salt to the mixture to help retain the color. You can also have different color shades if you use baking soda in small quantities, as it affects the acidity of certain ingredients, like cabbage, which affects the resulting color.

Then add eggs, allow them to boil for a few minutes, then reduce the heat to allow the pot’s content to simmer for around 15 minutes. Avoid overcooking the eggs, don’t keep them on heat for more than 30 minutes as they will be overcooked, making them edible for a shorter period.
Remove the pot away from the stove, cover it and and let it rest for an additional 15 minutes or more, depending on the depth of the color you desire.
Remove the eggs, rinse them carefully in lukewarm water, and let them air dry.

Cold dye method:

Add water, your dye ingredient and white vinegar to a pot and let them boil. The quantity of vinegar recommended is 2 tbsp of vinegar per liter (or quarter in US) of water. In addition add some salt to the mixture to help retain the color. You can also have different color shades if you use baking soda in small quantities, as it affects the acidity of certain ingredients, like cabbage, which affects the resulting color.
Simmer the mixture, covered, until the water is well colored. It takes anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours.

Strain the colored water from the remains of your ingredient, let it cool.
Add you hard-boiled eggs to the colored mixture, and let it soak for as long as you see it necessary to reach your desired color. You can even keep them in the fridge overnight.

Decoration ideas

An Easter egg needs some decoration, and by using natural coloring, it is a little tricky. But if you decorate BEFORE coloring, you can end up with really cool eggs.

For patterns, use stickers all over the egg to create patterns, let the egg color, then peel off the stickers, You can also use ropes and tape.

For natural decoration, ciaoflorentina.com recommends that you add a plant on the egg by using some water.

Then firmly enclose the egg in stockings and proceed with the coloring method of your choice.

  
Once you are done, you will have beautifully decorated eggs.

These are few ideas, there are so many more. If you have tried other methods and they worked, please share them with me as well. I hope you have a great Easter and you enjoy decorating your eggs without worrying about toxic components.

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#color #egg #decorate #decoration #eggs #easter #natural #coloring #vegetable #plant
#fruit #dye #idea #tip #linventif #lebanon #green #notoxins #clean #red #colour #colours #yellow #blue #brown #pink #orange

Food deliveries plastic-free?? Yes please!

Although I am usually a homemade food or restaurant-goer type of person, many times I cannot take my own food nor do I have time to visit a restaurant, which means I have to request a food delivery or takeaway. Both options mean that I am stuck with large quantities of single-use plastics and loads of non-recyclable cardboard due to food contamination. And this makes me feel extremely bad and guilty.

Luckily, a new company for packaging has launched in Lebanon: Convertec Packaging! Although they are mainly in the corrugated packaging, but these awesome people have found a way to separate the food from the cardboard in order to keep it recyclable, WITHOUT using plastic! In fact, they can offer you a pulp container that can biodegrade within 60 days in a landfill. And we all know that landfills are the most probable destination of our trash in Lebanon. But for once, this is not a bad thing! I was also very pleased to learn that they can also provide paper straws, which is amazing since so many businesses still rely on plastic straws due to the lack of Lebanese companies offering affordable and easily attained solutions.

Convertec Packaging can also offer you cool designs for your packaging, whether it is for catering, beverages, industrial, or protective needs, and they can print on them whatever you want.

If you are a business owner, not only will transitioning to a cleaner packaging help the environment, but it will also enhance your brand image and made it easier for you to reach the niche market of eco-aware individuals.

You can contact the company via their website or by directly contacting Wissam Bacha (T: +961 5 433 142 – +961 5 433 765 ; M: +961 3 904 813 ; info@bachaconvertec.com) or Mira Bacha (T: +961 5 433 142 – +961 5 433 765 ; M: +961 70 087 058; sales@bachaconvertec.com)

Dear reader, if you are not Lebanese, it still concerns you. You can find a similar business just around the corner if you are really willing to become friendlier to the environment, and that is becoming a necessity.Also, since the company is relatively new and needs to have more exposure so that more companies, especially food-related, can learn about it and consider more seriously to become eco-friendly with their packages, you can support it by sharing the news, liking their Facebook page and following their Instagram account.

Don’t forget to follow my own early stage startup news on Facebook, Instagram and the Website. Kindly consider helping me grow by liking my Facebook page, so I can reach more people!

#lebanon #green #alternative #saynotoplastic #clean #greenlife #idea #lebanese #industry #packaging #plasticalternative #company #linventif #food #biodegradable #paper #noplasticstraws 

Super easy DIY to get rid of bad smells in a room

Looking for an easy and natural way to make a room smell better?
Fill a small ceramic bowl with coffee beans, and add a small tea candle on top. Once you light up the candle, the metallic container will heat up and the smell of coffee will fill the room. What is better is that it’s safe and you can reuse the coffee beans as long as they are giving out a smell. You just need to store the beans in a dry place.

What is even better is that coffee smell disturbs flies, so you can use it outdoors and on hot days during meals to keep those pesters away.

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#idea #tip #house #home #natural #smell #organic #easy #bean #coffee#linventif
#lebanon #fresh #aroma

Agonist coffee shop: giving work opportunities to people with special needs

If you feel like a fresh croissant with a hot beverage or a quick bite, and you want a really sweet and kind staff to serve you, then Agonist Coffee Shop is the place you need to visit.

Their employees are mainly people with special needs who were trained to become servers and cashiers in the cafe. They know the menus, prepare the orders, suggest additional items and make your experience full of sweetness. The owner of the cafe Dr Wassim el Hajj is also available most of the time there as to ensure that everything is going as it should.

The food there is really good. I got to eat breakfast there and I can honestly say that their croissant was cheesier and one of the most delicious ones I ever tasted. I would go there again in a heartbeat!

The decoration of the place is simple and cute, they also offer salads and sandwiches, plus some delicious specialties. Around Christmas, they were offering gingerbread houses and cookies for example. They also have small gadgets like inspirational quotes on wood planks that you can hang.

Bear in mind that the service may be a little slower than in conventional coffee shops. The kind staff working in the cafe may do a small mistake or forget a detail from time to time, but the way the team helps the customers, makes the location feel like home. They will make you forget your stress and help you enjoy your time. So just have a little patience and allow yourself to forget time restrictions and enjoy a calm simple meal in a really friendly mood.

Allowing people who face more challenges everyday than others to get a job is one of the noblest things anyone can do, and anyone with any type of handicap should be accepted and given a chance. If there is a lack of laws to give people their rights, you should not lack humanity to offer them a job just because they experience the world and approach life in a way that is different than yours.

For anyone looking for the place, it is actually facing the parkings of Rim company in Jal el Dib, next to La Durée catering, 15-20 meters from the Jal el Dib highway, direction Dora to Jounieh. You can also call them on 76 769 444 or check the map on their Facebook page Agonist Coffee Shop.

This is a beautiful initiative to allow us to see how anyone has the potential just when they are offered the opportunity. Other similar initiatives can be found in Lebanon, like in Sunbola Bakery where workers are mainly with Down Syndrom. Also internationally there are multiple places hiring, like in Farmers’ Market in the USA. If you know any and want to bring attention to it, share with us! 

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#food #lebanon #cafe #restaurant #jaleldib #specialneeds #croissant #breakfast #lunch

#dinner #philantropist #social #entrepreneur #entrepreneurship #humanrights #coffeeshop #coffee #shop

Green houses innovated à la Libanaise

Sustainable buildings that do not look like caravanes nor space ships? Yes please!

If you are looking to build a house, feel interested in the various construction options available in Lebanon, or just want to know what people are capable of creating to conserve the environment, you have to learn about the Lifehaus project.

The Lifehaus project was created by Nizar Haddad, a Lebanese architect and founder of NH Architectes, whose designs aim on reducing the pollution in construction by using Eco-friendly construction methods, sustainable materials and a lot of passion and creativity. he result? Houses that not only have a reduced carbon footprint, but also use energy very efficiently and are integrated in their surrounding environment.

The houses can withstand the harsh conditions of mountains, and they use renewable energy. They can be the Lebanese solution for a life off-grid without having to sacrifice the use of electric households (a big plus for me, I love my microwave). In addition, their costs are not exorbitant, which means they can be accessible to more people, and they do not cost much on maintenance, especially when we take into consideration the savings in utilities by going off-grid partially or totally.

You may think that creating an environment-friendly house would result in a miniature and strange design, just like the many concepts created nowadays. Surprisingly, Nizar Haddad was able to make the houses beautiful and easy on the eye. The exterior of the houses are beautiful, and their design has a little of a futuristic shape but seems to be inspired by the traditional Lebanese buildings.

It is very important to note that the currently used construction methods, especially the use of concrete, contribute largely in the pollution of the air, water and soil. Therefore the innovation in this essential yet dirty business is a very urgent necessity to save our planet.

In addition to architecture, Nizar Haddad takes the time to create workshops and participate in talks on sustainable solutions, all open for the public. His latest workshop was on how to build an Eco-friendly mass heater.

If you want to learn more about this awesome Lebanese architect and his passion for green buildings, you can check his Facebook page, his professional profile and his past, present and future projects

#greenlife #green #construction #lebanon #ecofriendly #clean #house #architecture

#innovation #passion #lebanese #creator #architect #solution #support

#housing #building #greensolution #linventif #offgrid #nature #environment #clean

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A super yummy bakery in Lebanon

Want an #authentic #mankoushe experience in Lebanon?

You can always rely on ma’alin Ghassan to offer you one of the best manakish you can taste! His bakery, Furn Ghassan, is in the heart of Bourj Hammoud, Arax street. During lent, you would find his pastries to be perfect for the restricted diets.

Not only he offers very delicious manakish, he also has a range of dried pastries, such as kaak asrouniye, and brioches with various fillings. You can get them all fresh and made with love. A few years ago, No Garlic No Onion featured a post on his very delicious tahina kaake, a must-try for anyone looking for a new sweet tooth challenge. This is how he got his NGNO recommended sticker.

When you enter the bakery, it is your same old type of Lebanese bakeries, with the amazing aromas of baked goods tickling your nose and making your mouth water. Nothing fancy, nothing extravagant, prices affordable for the poorest of people. The family-owned bakery has a little history that ma’alim Ghassan would be delighted to tell you about. His wife and himself open the bakery every morning, they work together, no extra staff, and he makes sure everything is clean and tasty. You can strike a conversation with this baker, he will tell you all about Arax and Bourj Hammoud, how today is compared to the past, and about how his family was brought up in this crowded city.

When you leave, you will feel like you had, even for a few minutes, relived the good old days of Beirut, in a humble little bakery that represents the soul of our beloved city.

His bakery is available on Zomato: https://www.zomato.com/beirut/furn-ghassan-bourj-hammoud-metn

More pics are available on my personal Instagram account:  @clumsypops91

#foodpics #instayummy#foodlife #lebanesefood #lebanesecuisine #lebanon #lebanese_food
#lebaneserestaurant#lebanesedesserts #manakish #manakeesh #pastry #foodie #foodporn
#foodgasm #nom#nomnom #nomnomnom #lent #baking #bakery #eatingfortheinsta #eat
#eating #march#bourjhammoud #instagram 

Check out how this artistic company can make events colorful and unforgettable!

You have an event and you want to make it unforgettable? Think of including handmade origami to decorate instead of the same old flower arrangements or overused printed frames.

Passigami offers you beautiful creations from paper, colorful, happy, customized, and the best part is that you can keep that bridal bouquet over the years, and it will remain in mint condition! And it doesn’t just stop at flowers, they can make butterflies and many other shapes to suit any type of happy celebration.

Initially launched in Lebanon, the success of Passigami led it to open in Dubai as well.

Encourage fellow Lebanese creators, make your events extra special and keep a token from your special days with Passigami.

You can check their amazing creations on their page on facebook Passigami – Paper Art and you can call them on +961 76 355 801 if you reside in Lebanon or on +971 521463440 if you reside in Dubai. From the numerous positive reviews of their customers, satisfaction is guaranteed!

Don’t forget to follow my own early stage startup news on Facebook, Instagram and the Website

#passigami #paper #art #lebanon #dubai #origami #event #decoration #wedding
#baptism #birth #birthday #engagement #artistic #linventif #lebanese #artist

(The photos are credited to Passigami solely)

Eat your food… and its plate

What if you could use a plate and cutlery and then eat them? You can reduce your waste and have less cleaning to do.

This is what Charbella Hosry decided to bring to Lebanon. Her company Eataplatelb offers you platters and cutlery made of wheat bran. You can use them just like any normal tableware, even heat food in the plates up to 180 degrees celsius, all without having to worry about cleaning or adding to your trash. One you are done, you can either eat the plate or just add it to your compost. It only needs 30 days to compost.

Not only is it a green alternative to plastic plates for restaurants and individuals, and a solution for super busy individuals, it is also a better option for your overall health. Wheat bran is natural, while plastic is an industrial product, and if you heat up plastic you will contaminate your food, while wheat will not. Just make sure that you do not have an allergy to wheat before using it.

If you are interested in purchasing these awesome green product, you can contact Eat a Plate Lb on
03 551 025, and follow their news on their facebook page Eataplatelb.

If you are an international reader, you can find similar products, some made of wheat and some made of corn, or bioplastic. If you really want to make a difference, so many green solution creators need your support for their products!

Don’t forget to follow my own early stage startup news on Facebook, Instagram and the Website

#lebanon #green #startup #business #food #bio #biodegradable #clean#wheat #edible #linventif #compost #healthy #bran #eataplate #lb #buy#environment #friendly #ecology #natural