South African entrepreneurs are taking climate change seriously: Water filters made from macadamia nut shells, a mobile solar-powered kiosk for charging phones in off-grid areas, vegetable growing systems using recycled plastic bags, and a machine that turns any type of waste into energy (gas) or diesel. At the SEED South Africa Symposium held in Pretoria recently, … [Read more...]
Bringing food security to low income housing in Joburg
Green Acre Living has identified 700 low income households and works to enable these homes to achieve sustainable food security. Methods taught through training sessions, weekly workshops and a mentoring process are based on agroecology principles. Urban food security is an ongoing challenge against the backdrop of high unemployment rates of 25%, a faltering economy, ongoing … [Read more...]
Future path towards sustainable cooking in the global south
The role of renewable electricity for the cooking sector in the Global South has been widely underestimated. As the costs of Renewable Energy technologies continue to decline, cleaner and more modern technologies represent an entirely new pathway towards sustainable cooking in developing countries. These are the findings of the new report ‘Beyond Fire’ launched by the … [Read more...]
Rekindling our sacred connection with the soil
We are at the cusp of empires falling and worlds colliding. While this may be a bold statement. In the seeming chaos of collapsing economies, unprecedented and endless wars, unpredictable weather patterns and huge animal die-offs, our most appropriate response appears to be some sort of foundational re-structuring. We find ourselves at the foundations of a new reality, a New … [Read more...]
Finding smart insulation for a hot house
Another summer almost over … hope to goodness the worst heat is over. How clueless was the building industry about energy efficiency when most of our houses were built! Who does not want to save energy now – and it is indeed all our duty to relieve the pressure on the national energy supply. Our double storey really cooks upstairs, where we work. Ancient traces of insulation … [Read more...]
Employing aliens to capture carbon
Imagine turning thirsty alien invasive trees into biochar. Biochar is charcoal created by pyrolysis of biomass. This differs from charcoal only in the sense that its primary use is not for fuel, but for biosequestration or atmospheric carbon capture. If created under specific conditions it can also be suitable as a soil amendment. In a forest near Pietermaritzburg there is … [Read more...]
Being the change we want to see
A small group of environmental activists and food growers have started the Mpophomeni Conservation Group (MCG) under the auspices of Midlands Conservancies Forum. They host walks and talks, screen environmental movies and facilitate the Mpop Kidz Club which meets after school a couple of times a week, with support from N3 Toll Concession. MCG plan to inspire others in their … [Read more...]
Let the sun do your braai!
The Sun: it rises each day unpaid and taken for granted. Few places in the world are as blessed with such richness of Sunlight as Southern Africa, and to say that South Africans like to Braai is a colossal understatement. We are obsessed with braaing – something about being outside in our beautiful climate with friends and family, hatching adventure plans or discussing recent … [Read more...]
Innovative solar cooker bikes to help Sowetans
An innovative “solar cooker bike,” launched by Nedbank in partnership with the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) and Sunfire Solutions, aims to introduce a sustainable way of clean energy cooking to communities in Soweto. The energy efficiency project; which is a pilot exercise that could lead to a much bigger future rollout; combines the cooking … [Read more...]
New guide to teach SA government about renewable energy
A new book was launched recently to assist local government officials, city managers and politicians to adopt renewable energy systems. A South African Renewable Energy Guide for Local Government aims to help government to cut greenhouse gas emissions while increasing energy supply from renewable sources. According to the book’s editor Lisa Thompson, Western Cape Premier Helen … [Read more...]
One ethical meal at a time
"Life, by its very presence, is apparently creating, and maintaining, the special conditions necessary for its own survival". World Environment Day was conceived in Stockholm by the United Nations General Assembly, in 1972. It was celebrated for the very first time on the 5th of June 1973. And every year millions of people around the world celebrate this day, in many … [Read more...]
Free energy from your own waste – biodigesters make sense
In the pursuit of a greener, healthier lifestyle we are constantly on the lookout for new ways to turn our wasteful lives into a more logical nature-simulating exercise, as Nature is always our best teacher. In nature there is no waste – everything is re-used to benefit some other organism, often as food. Of all the eco devices that we can now implement to lead lives that … [Read more...]
Prisoner poo powers Rwanda’s jails
Officials at Rwanda’s prisons were looking for a way to reduce energy costs, save money and cut down on their conventional energy source: burning firewood harvested from local forests. Their sustainable solution? Recycling the inmates’ own waste to generate energy. The country’s 14 jails have all installed biogas burners, which are 75 percent powered by prisoner poo, the BBC … [Read more...]
