January was not for chickens in the Cape – extreme drought and fires saw the gardens shrivel up and die. So sad to witness and feel the distress all round. Once our veggie plants got stressed the diseases followed. Watching your water consumption with Stage 3 water restrictions and growing food without the farmer’s concessions calls for innovation. How to capture each … [Read more...]
Keeping your greywater clean and useful
My wife and I were chatting recently about using more greywater in the garden. She told me about a conversation she overheard, where a woman was asking what ‘greywater’ actually was and it got me thinking. Firstly, how often does my wife eaves drop on other people’s conversations… and secondly; perhaps a vast majority of people are not only unaware of the benefits of using … [Read more...]
How to create a greener bathroom
How to select between the vast collection of water saving taps and other sanitary ware on the market today? As they say, the proof is in the pudding. In this case in the green business story of the 111 years old Hansgrohe company. And if you want to make the most earth-friendly choices as a consumer nowadays you simply have to check out how serious the manufacturer is in taking … [Read more...]
Building in harmony with nature
“Going green is about respect and about eco systems living in harmony without invasion. Modular architecture – creating a building with what you need when you need it - allows for this”. Ecomo home is the brain child of Pietro Russo (pictured), an Italian born architect who grew up in Luxembourg and studied in Brussells, Belgium. During his studies, he took part in the … [Read more...]
Save water in your home and garden
With the rainstorms and snowfalls that have accompanied the winter of 2011, it might be hard to imagine that South Africa could be facing a water crisis - but experts say that unless we start taking water saving measures seriously, we could see demand exceeding supply as soon as 2020. With another scorching summer just around the corner, South Africans will need to be … [Read more...]
BabyDams: saving water for Africa
Slowly transforming your life and work to one that considers the earth's carrying capacity and future generations in everything you do is a life-long journey of innovation, care and creativity. Every small idea and implementation is valuable and important to share so others can follow. An exciting one I found this week speaks to my concern about our water crisis. Here in the … [Read more...]
Beware the water guzzlers this summer
February is the worst month for water consumption in the Cape. One resident shares her water consumption calculations and saving devices and plans with us. The City of Cape Town gives all its residents 6kl of free water a month. Last February my family used up this allocation in 3 days. For some households, 6kl is enough water to last them the whole month. We live in the … [Read more...]
Understanding solar geysers: Tasol Solar
Understanding solar geysers is one of the new life skills we all need to acquire in our society's leap from fossil to solar energy. As a next installment in our series on solar geyser systems, here is what Tasol Solar has on offer. Tasol specialises in Solar water heating systems such as solar geysers, retrofit geysers, heat pumps and hybrid systems. They strive to encourage … [Read more...]
