5000 plastic bottle hand wash units were rolled out recently across Cape Town’s informal settlements by the National Business Initiative (NBI) and Business for South Africa (B4SA) COVID-19 Water Working Group, in partnership with local NGOs and the City of Cape Town. COVID-19 has brought into sharp focus the importance of hand washing for improved hygiene, public health and … [Read more...]
Environmental advocate encourages green living
Environmental advocate Trever Sanele Colvelle, from Elandskop near Pietermaritzburg developed a keen interest for environmental conservation during his tertiary studies. Immensely inspired by one of his university professors, M.J. Savage, whose laboratory is completely solar powered, Colvelle decided to pursue ways to encourage people to reduce their carbon footprint and … [Read more...]
Portable solar powered buildings coming to a township near you
Made by South African company Structure Now PTY Ltd, the first completed unit to roll off the production line was acquired by Investec and was donated to the Westbury Secondary School in Gauteng. The facility will serve as a teacher training development centre. The enquiries have not stopped since the official opening ceremony organized by The Investec Power and Infrastructure … [Read more...]
Partnerships for change in Cape Town’s oldest township
“PETCO is all about Partnerships, Responsibility and Environmental Integrity” says PETCO CEO, Cheri Scholtz. A ground-breaking partnership has been formed with Sappi ReFibre, Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, PETCO and other local companies to launch a buy back centre in Cape Town’s oldest township. The project was launched on Thursday, 15 August at the … [Read more...]
Energy tariff increases declare war on the poor
"Eskom's application to NERSA needs to be put on hold until a review of the Integrated Resource Plan," states Tristen Taylor, Project Coordinator of Earthlife Africa Johannesburg. "Only then we all will have more current information to base decisions on." This formed part of the comments by Earthlife Africa Johannesburg to Eskom's MYPD3, who said the hearings application has … [Read more...]
Bad call for African Internet
The current talks at the World Congress on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12), in Dubai, could harm Africa’s poor, as proposals would push up the cost of accessing content on the Internet. The 12-day International Telecommunications Union (ITU) conference is being held to renegotiate the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs), a binding global treaty that … [Read more...]
Innovative solar cooker bikes to help Sowetans
Nedbank launched an innovative “solar cooker bike” in partnership with the Wildlife & Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) and Sunfire Solutions; which 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...]
Waste becomes food in Jeffreys Bay
Looking after the earth and vulnerable people at the same time always creates a beautifully holistic project, which simply makes total sense. Hence many townships now have initiatives where folk can bring recyclable waste to a central place and receive much needed items, food or money in exchange. This week we found out about such a project in Jeffreys Bay, which was … [Read more...]
