Tag Archives | sustainability

Have your say on the future of the Wild Coast!

There has been heated debate about the future of the Wild Coast recently. The proposed mining of the Xolobeni area and now the extension of the N2, which will supposedly result in socio-economic development in the area but will also have long-lasting, detrimental effects on the environment. Here are various arguments and comments; from Sustaining [...]

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Essential Amathole

“Located in the scenic Amathole region of the Eastern Cape in South Africa, Essential Amathole has been established to produce a range of organic essential oils and medicinal plant extracts for the global market”. Still and nursery in Hogsback As many of you know, I keep returning to Hogsback, and Essential Amathole is one of [...]

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Drip Irrigation. Picture by photofarmer on Flickr.

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 [...]

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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.

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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.

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Using less water in the garden

Some advice from the latest Enviropaedia newsletter: Always water your plants during the early morning hours or in the evening. Between 10:00 and 15:00 you can lose up to 90% of water to evaporation. Focus on indigenous and non–invasive alien plants with low water demands. Roof water can also be profitably stored in tanks for [...]

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Earth Green Recycling

This post is not specifically about gardening but more about the environment and specifically recycling.  There is a great company that has recently started operating in Durban called Earth Green Recycling.  They offer a service where, for only R50.00 per month, they will come and collect all your recyclables, i.e. paper, plastic, cans and bottles. [...]

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How cool is spekboom?

A recent study in the Eastern Cape has highlighted the fact that the humble spekboom (or ‘elephant’s food’ as it is also known) has an amazing ability to soak up CO2, equivalent to that of  sub-tropical forests. Findings suggest that up to four tons of carbon a year would be captured by each hectare. This [...]

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