National Arbor Week is an opportune time to call on all South Africans to plant indigenous trees as a practical and symbolic gesture of sustainable environmental management. From 1 to 7 September every year, schools, businesses and organizations are encouraged to participate in community "greening" events to improve the health and beauty of the local environment and propose … [Read more...]
Making every day an Earth Day
Famed South Africa horticulturalists, Ludwig’s Roses unveiled the Miss Earth South Africa Rose at their Pretoria farm. The rose is a specially developed hybrid, designed by the team at Lugwig’s Roses to honour the environmental organisation, now in its 11th year of greening communities, empowering young women and educating the children of South Africa. Ludwig describes the rose … [Read more...]
Greening SA’s schools with Miss Earth
Miss Earth South Africa, in association with CONSOL, recently visited two schools in the Langa Township to facilitate the planting of 30 trees in celebration of World Environment Week from 4 - 7 June. The schools visited were Isimela High School and Zimasa Community School. The tree planting session was lead by Cape Town finalist Nayha Gautam and her sponsor from … [Read more...]
Waste management becomes a way of life
Now that we know that it is possible for a car rental company to be super serious about their water and carbon footprints, what are they doing about their waste? Avis has invested significantly in the implementation of a comprehensive waste management programme throughout the business. The programme encourages Avis employees to bring their waste to work to help educate and … [Read more...]
New future demands new approach
Biomass production in Mozambique. Smart chips for solar hot water panels. New ways of turning sewage into electricity. All interesting new inventions we enjoyed at the Viridis Africa conference, which was definitely worthwhile to attend and meet great minds helping us shape solutions to the impending climate crisis. The aim of the conference was to match-make investors with … [Read more...]
Business greening partnerships accelerate sustainability
The pressure on today's business world is not solely economic. Increasingly environmental issues are playing a role on the global stage. South Africa's legislation reflects this pressure to structure our lives around sustainability. The triple bottom line (people, planet and profit) has replaced the profit driven approach. In fact these pillars of sustainability - social, … [Read more...]
Eco coffins and furniture a great discovery
Greening up my own life, daily on the how-to-green search, I find amazing stuff. Greener cooking, lighting, toilet paper, cosmetics, body products, cleaning stuff, nappies, even sanitaryware, clothes, shoes, you name it. I read a myriad of great green blogs and newsletters and trace international green news daily. So my tank is continually full of green petrol, luring me … [Read more...]
What can the energy boys do for your company?
South Africa has a very unique and complicated energy market. Traditionally, energy was very cheap in SA, leading people and companies to be wasteful. The cheaper energy is, the cheaper an energy efficiency intervention needs to be to make financial sense to a business. So, when South Africa started experiencing its first rolling blackouts and the rise in energy prices, many … [Read more...]
Eco paper a reality at last
As concerns about the economic impact of climate change grows, more and more businesses and individuals are getting the environmental message at last! Every action in our lives can stand scrutiny from an environmental perspective. Every aspect of our 'communications' industry can contribute to reversing the trend. A sustainable business practice means using raw materials, … [Read more...]
SA companies to be penalised for eco non-compliance
'Any company or government department that doesn't comply with the environmental laws could face bills amounting to billions of rands and might even be compelled to shut down.' This statement was made by Advocate Douglas Shaw, one of South Africa's most influential environmental law specialists, at the inaugural LexisNexis Environmental Law Seminar in Johannesburg this … [Read more...]
Addressing climate change one phone at a time
Have you ever wondered how factories would operate if they had environmental responsibility fully integrated into their functioning? Today we take a leaf from the world's greenest cellular telephone company, Nokia, and find out how they address climate change through working greener. Nokia has 10 factories globally. In order to operate responsibly, environmental issues are … [Read more...]
How carbon neutrality becomes reality
It seems an impossible dream for a car rental company to even consider becoming carbon neutral, when one thinks of the emissions for which its products are responsible on a daily basis. This however, calls for proactive engagement with its vehicle suppliers and company action on its own emissions, something that Avis Rent a Car set out to achieve. 'We were only too aware … [Read more...]
Steps toward sustainable business practices
"People from across the different sectors of the meetings and events (and hospitality) industry have been following separate, if similar, steps on the journey toward sustainable business practices. This has led to different practices and results, all of which encourage continued action and innovation, but may not be the most effective approach in terms of moving the industry to … [Read more...]
