This week scientists made a landmark discovery when ragweed – a highly allergenic weed native to North America – was detected in South African pollen spore traps for the very first time. The discovery was made by Dr Dilys Berman, an aerobiologist at UCT and Prof Jonny Peter, who heads up the UCT Lung Institute’s Allergy Unit. Palynologist, Dr Frank Neumann, based at Wits … [Read more...]
No more eviction for crucial Joburg recycling NPO
A group of 110 waste collectors will not be thrown out of their waste-sorting depot at Pirates Sports Club in Greenside. WastePreneurs, an initiative that helps to uplift Joburg’s informal waste collectors, has won its first interdict against the City of Johannesburg Property Company (JPC), repealing its eviction from Pirates. In what has been hailed as a “small but … [Read more...]
Bloemfontein battling high levels of pollen this spring
Bloemfontein residents are in the grip of the hay fever season as tree and grass pollen levels surged to a whopping 115 grains per cubic metre (grains/m³) this spring. “It’s the first time that pollen levels are being monitored in the city of roses, which is an important milestone”, says Prof Jonny Peter, Head of the UCT Lung Institute’s Allergy Unit. “Bloemfontein … [Read more...]
Entrepreneurship initiative fights poverty with e-waste
South Africa’s unemployment rate is one of the highest in the world with our crippling economy being unable to provide adequate formal employment opportunities. In partnership with leading household appliance companies and retailers, one initiative is making a real difference by providing income-generating opportunities for the unemployed. By donating their customer returned … [Read more...]
Rhino awards recognises the people who protect wildlife
“It’s not whether animals will survive, it’s whether man has the will to save them.”- Anthony Douglas Williams. Africa’s wildlife is a vital part of the continent’s heritage. They are in many ways not a part of Africa, they are Africa. The increasing threats to Africa’s wildlife suggest that Africa could be in danger of losing a part of its identity. But there is hope. There … [Read more...]
Plastic bags have now been banned at these shops
A popular retailer has announced that it will stop offering plastic bags at three more stores: its stores in Maroun Square in Johannesburg, Moreleta Village in Pretoria and Delcairn Centre in Durban. In November last year, Woolworths banned plastic bags at the Steenberg Village Woolies in Tokai. At the same time, it also launched R5 reusable fabric black bags, made from … [Read more...]
Ring-fence the plastic bag levy to fight plastic pollution
Nobody is more disgusted at plastic pollution than those of us who work in the plastics industry. It is distressing to see our products washed up on beaches and littering the landscape. But the call to ban plastic products is a simplistic response to a complex problem. What’s required is a rational solution to the genuine crisis of plastic pollution, not an emotional … [Read more...]
Activists scale statues to protest deaths caused by air pollution
Activists from Greenpeace Africa scaled several iconic statues across Johannesburg and Pretoria this morning to demand action on air pollution. The activists fitted the statues with emergency gas masks to pressure the National Air Quality Officer to protect citizens’ right to clean air. Famous statues of the Mother with Child at Bree Taxi Rank, Brenda Fassie in Newtown, the … [Read more...]
Annual fest seeks to educate on wetlands and water birds
The main purpose of the Flufftail Festival, held in Joburg earlier this month, is to teach people of all ages about the importance of conserving water, wetlands and waterbirds. On 8 and 9 February 2019 BirdLife South Africa, in partnership with Rand Water (Water Wise), Toyota, the Rare Finch Conservation Group and Joburg City Parks and Zoo, hosted the annual Flufftail … [Read more...]
Dealing with invasive beetles in Cape Town
The City of Cape Town is ready to deal with an invasive beetle that poses a serious threat to trees in the metropole and surrounding areas. The City’s Recreation and Parks Department, together with the Invasive Species Unit, have put operational plans in place to deal with the polyphagous shot hole borer (PSHB) which has invaded and damaged thousands of trees in other parts of … [Read more...]
Coalition calls on AfDB to commit to 100% renewable future
In a bid to have Africa commit to 100% renewable energy and to increase transparency in the continent’s energy sector, Zero – a coalition campaign between climate change volunteers and Non-Profit Organisations (NGOs) around the continent – was launched yesterday on the side-lines of the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg, South … [Read more...]
Sugarbush Ridge Ecosystem threatened by rapid urbanisation
The Black Eagles of Roodekrans are a world famous breeding pair of urban Eagles that live on the red cliffs (Roodekrans) in the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens next to the Witpoortjie waterfall. Several generations of these Eagles have lived here for about 80 years and are followed the world over. Should the urban pressure become too much to bear and the birds can no … [Read more...]
Be part of SA’s national food drive this #MandelaDay
The goal: Collect 250 tonnes of food over three days to provide over a million meals. This is the task ahead for the second consecutive Mandela Day Food Drive, and South Africans encouraged to unite together to reach this goal. “The reality in our country today is that millions continue to go to bed hungry every day,” says Suzanne Ackerman-Berman, director of transformation … [Read more...]
