Protect the environment: make your garden greener

Sustainable gardening is largely about choosing to grow indigenous water-wise species and using natural fertilizers. But it is also important to consider how you water your garden as some methods are more efficient than others.

This has never been more essential than it is now as parts of our country are still struggling to recover from drought and water shortage. You can reduce your water usage by 75 percent or more, depending on the type of irrigation you use.

Sprinkler systems are used most commonly in South African gardens. While these are easy to install and operate they result in substantial loss of water as they irrigate onto the surface of a garden, resulting in evaporation.

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Michael Pollan at Bioneers: How Much Oil Are We Eating?

The 20th Bioneers, a three day conference celebrating breakthrough sustainability solutions, was held last week. The agenda was chock full of speakers on a wide range of topics, from the arts, indigenous knowledge and restoring our ecosystems to youth and women’s leadership, including Michael Pollan on the food system.

Launch of Lawn Reform Coalition

We need something like this in South Africa, such a great initiative:

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 14, 2009 — United by their common goal of reducing the impact of lawns on the environment and human and animal health, nine of the leading horticultural communicators in the United States announced the formation of the Lawn Reform Coalition, a media campaign that will provide up-to-date information for home and business owners across the country.

“With lawns covering as much as 50 million acres of our nation, requiring copious amounts of water, fertilizer, pesticides and fossil fuels to maintain, they have become a drain on precious resources that we can no longer afford to waste,” said filmmaker and author Paul Tukey from Maine. “At their worst, lawns are toxic blankets that aren’t even safe for our children and pets.”

Using the website LawnReform.org, social networking groups and downloadable materials, the members will focus their message on regionally appropriate lawn species, eco-friendly care for all lawns, and ways to reduce or replace lawns, including by growing food.

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Durban International Film Festival

The Durban Film Festival starts on Thursday and this year they have a few environmental films worth checking out.

The global climate crisis informs five documentaries in this year’s festival. The Foster Brothers’ epistemologically revolutionary The Nature Of Life addresses climate change from a unique African perspective and showcases innovative local solutions. H20IL examines the massive oil sands extraction project in Canada and the destructive effect it has on water resources. Water,or the lack of it, also informs The Lake That Was, which traces Iran’s Lake Urmia from its heyday as a tourist destination to it’s present demise. Poison Fire is an indictment of almost fifty years of oil exploitation and environmental destruction in the Niger Delta. The other Foster Brothers’ film in the festival, Ice Man,  documents the extraordinary physiological and psychological journey of Lewis Pugh’s record-breaking long distance swims in the freezing waters of both the south and  north poles, the epicentres of the destructive effects of climate change. Its Up 2 U is a critical look at the profiteering Western agrarian industry. A must see is the multiple-award winning Saving Luna, about a baby killer whale who, separated from his family, seeks human social interaction  – much to the Canadian government’s disapproval. An insightful and moving look at the ethical dilemmas of bridging the gap between species.

Programme at www.cca.ukzn.ac.za.

Durban International Film Festival

Vertical Gardens

I’m a big fan of home made things and crafty re-use, so I had to share this garden related note from Craft Magazine (via Facebook) – something for people with a small balcony and aspirations for a herb garden.