120 volunteers from Japan visited Swartkop Valley Primary School to help improve their food garden.

Skin and coat problems are often the first indicators of poor health and care, as the skin is the largest eliminatory organ in your animal's body. Yet, almost every pet suffers from some sort of skin condition.

This scene of barbarism greeted the police and conservationists on Sunday morning on the road between Riversdale and Vermaaklikheid, Western Cape, South Africa.

According to a new protocol baboons can be shot for minor misdemeanours in suburbs around the Peninsula. Jenni Trethowan of Baboon Matters lost the contract to manage the Baboon Monitor Project started 11 years ago to protect the last remaining Chacma baboons of the Cape Peninsula.

Children from various schools around the Cape Peninsula demonstrated their global commitment to sustainable packaging, water stewardship and ocean conservation when they gathered to pick up litter at Strandfontein Beach on Saturday, 12 September 2009. It was part of the 24th annual International Coastal Clean Up (ICC) which takes place globally on 19 September.

'Growing flowers was not going to cut the biscuit ' whereas growing food would be a skill for life.' Tim Ramsden teaches vegetable gardening to special-needs children at the Khanyisa School for upportive Education in Cape Town.

The Earthchild Project in Cape Town was conceived while Janna was living in an eco-village in Brazil and reading the spiritual classic 'Autobiography of a Yogi'. 'The book describes the educational ideals of the ancient Indian rishis, namely that most instruction be given outdoors in nature, and that alongside academic subjects there be equal emphasis on teaching meditation and universal spiritual principles so as to develop the consciousness and not just the intellect of the child,' Janna explained.

Acid mine drainage is the single biggest threat to the environment in South Africa, and potable water sources in the Witwatersrand basin are being contaminated. When underground mining extends below the water table, water must be pumped out.

Approximately 2000 plastic chemical drums & not flax? are sold weekly in the eThekwini district to an unsuspecting public, who then use them for collecting and storing drinking water or brewing traditional beer ' leading to a potentially lethal concoction.

An urban micro-farming project with 3000 home and community gardens on the Cape Flats offers a food security model for the country.

Businesses that want to be competitive and remain in business will need to start adapting their business models for the carbonconstrained world sooner rather than later, experts agree.

Companies should take note of a new trend, dubbed 'pre-cycling' as it highlights a fundamental shift in consumer values.

'Sustainable development is the biggest opportunity in the history of business.' So said Jonathon Hanks of Incite Sustainability at the Eco-Centric Journey, an insurance industry focused conference held at the Sanlam head office.

Being energy smart requires that no decisions are taken in isolation. We need to look at the nature of our daily life (private and/or business), how we use technology, which habits need to change, how much change is needed, and how easy/complicated these might be. Firstly consider existing business strategies and operations. They need to be supported by the energy efficiency interventions.

Energy can never be destroyed ' it can only be changed from one form to another. Why then do we believe that waste is the end of the line? 'How people have disposed of their excrement over the ages makes a fascinating story. Today what characterises a first-world culture is flush toilets. They remove germs, and with that much of the burden of disease and poverty.' So says Marisa Naude of Agama Biogas. Bio-digesters have everything to do with waste. They are an ancient technology, originating in China but occurring worldwide. Today they are being revived to solve problems with waste disposal & energy security.

'Eskom raises its tariff by 34%' scream recent headlines, 'and intend charging more over the next few years.' Regardless of Eskom's perceived and actual mismanagement, some say this is a positive move as we are now seeing the real costs of electricity and can take resolute action to fit a Solar powered system.

Backsberg Wine Estate and Starke Ayres Garden Centre came up with a novel way to encourage tree planting last month.

With the purchase of a case of wine from the Backsberg Tasting Room during September, people had the option of taking home either a Halleria lucida tree or a voucher for Starke Ayres in Cape Town. The latter, in turn, gave away a bottle of Backsberg Chenin Blanc 2009 with every tree purchased.

Are there still people out there who think the green consumer is odd? Actually, we are no longer standing on the edges of society, nor are we regarded as the new-age fringe. Today demanding green and ethical products is the strongest driver in consumerism. To establish the impact of your shopping on your body, the earth and her creatures, a couple of questions beg answering, such as'
What's inside this product? Read the labels and avoid chemicals ' codes, numbers and abbreviations like MSG as well as preservatives and colourants. Also avoid petrochemical byproducts ' see the complete list of unwanted ingredients elsewhere on this page.
How was it produced ' is it organic or were pesticides involved in the growing process?
How were staff treated in the production process? Now we're looking at the fair trade principle, as well as organic, as staff are protected from working with harmful substances.

The Gospel of Thomas reflects the consciousness underlying an earth-based way of life: `If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.` The realisation that there`s more to life than slaving away our precious moments, serving the intellect, is the first step towards releasing ourselves from the prison warder's mindset that has dominated for centuries.

'The maximum potential from the world's oceans ... has probably been reached.' So reads the FAO World Fisheries Report for 2008. 76% of the world's ocean fish stocks, including South African line fish, are exploited at or above sustainable levels.