Eco-Choice Africa, a locally developed ecolabel for consumer products has become the first of its kind on the Continent to receive international recognition as an associate member of the Global Ecolabel Network, the international controlling body for ecolabelling. The Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN) is a non-profit association of leading Type 1 ecolabelling organisations … [Read more...]
Celebrating the end of Mad March
What a month March has been! First we had a burglary and my son was assaulted in the house in the middle of the day. My life changed in an instant. Nothing can be as intense for a mother as having your child’s life threatened. How are people so brazen to commit crimes in broad daylight? Why did my big and uber defensive German shepherd not protect him? Was she drugged? How I … [Read more...]
Moratorium on the rollout of 5G essential
Radiation exposure has long been a concern for the public, policy makers and health researchers. Beginning with radar during World War II, human exposure to radio-frequency radiation (RFR) and associated technologies has grown more than 100,000-fold. In 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) reviewed the published literature and categorized RFR as a … [Read more...]
Let’s turn the corner on food wastage
If you take a moment to digest the statistics around the amount of food we waste today, it can be pretty overwhelming. It is thought that around one third of the food produced around the globe is lost or wasted. Richer countries waste something like 222 million tonnes per year, in Europe and North America that equates to 95-115kg of food per person, per year. The numbers are … [Read more...]
Features to look for in an eco-friendly home
Being eco-friendly is no longer just a fad or trend; it’s a lifestyle choice and it’s here to stay. With the Western Cape’s current severe drought situation, and thousands of tonnes of waste poured into our landfills every year, there’s no time like the present to think more seriously about adopting the ‘green’ lifestyle. If you’re browsing for houses for sale, and want to … [Read more...]
How to ditch Day Zero
The ways to respond to our looming Day Zero are as vast as the diversity in this country. But there seems to be two poles in conflict with each other: Those who have decided to do what they can to avoid it – as we still can. This means you’ve made your calculations. Minimum 3 million folk for 200 water points? I think best the City delivers the water in trailers behind the … [Read more...]
Turn your home into a green zone, one room at a time
Often the thought of recycling or being more energy efficient makes one think of expensive contraptions, modern interiors or fittings, and a lot of extra work to make the home more eco-friendly. While the results may not be physically visible all the time, doing your bit in the home on a daily basis is not as difficult or expensive as you may think, and can even save you money … [Read more...]
Drought adaptation DIY style: steps to save water
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...]
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...]
Realizing the full potential of your Garden
It’s not so long ago that our gardens were productive as well as aesthetically pleasing, containing a veggie garden, a small orchard, and herbs and medicines too. How wonderful, but perhaps too much hard work? Or so thought some, as gardens moved away in disdain from anything productive or working class, to the opposite extreme of being purely decorative. Some modern gardens … [Read more...]
Get more lighting bang for your buck
Conversion Lighting represents Hyundai energy-saving lighting products in South Africa as well as Verde LED from Ireland. Their mission is to optimise lighting energy consumption with maximum savings and durability as well as supplying a greener product to the South African consumer. They sell quality Hyundai fluorescent fittings at competitive prices which save between … [Read more...]
SESSA Members help old school cut power bill in half
One of Johannesburg oldest institutions, King Edward VII School (KES), has cut its electricity bill in half thanks to Solarsave, the trading arm of Industrial Plumbers. A member of the Sustainable Energy Society of Southern Africa (SESSA) and accredited on Eskom’s rebate scheme, Solarsave installed energy efficient lights in all the school buildings and hostels, and replaced … [Read more...]
The Green Lease – a positive step for green building
In an exciting development, the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) announced that the Green Lease Toolkit, which they co-developed with the South African Property Owners’ Association (SAPOA), was officially launched at the 44th SAPOA International Convention & Property Exhibition, in Durban on the 30th of May 2012. Unpacking the shared benefits of going … [Read more...]
