Climate change is the most widespread & complex problem humanity has ever faced! There is no time to waste and we need to turn green talk into profound green action. This is the intention of the GREEN TIMES.
Far be it from me to climb onto a bandwagon – as greenies we set rather than follow trends. I do believe in always keeping an open mind, though, and not judging anything until I have first-hand experience. So when I heard about banting earlier this year and the tremendous health benefits reported, I had to find out more. Of course reading the book was not enough for me, I … [Read more...]
More than 9 million tonnes of food is wasted in our country every year, whilst 12 million South Africans are food insecure, says the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Food wastage happens all the way along the value chain – from production and transport to storage and retail. Food is one of the 3 core building blocks of sustainability, hence this wastage … [Read more...]
“Leaders, visionaries, activists and people are led by intuition and fed by imagination as they redraw the maps and rewrite the rules.” (Adapted from the Petco 10 year Anniversary Review.) Ten years have passed since Petco was founded to look after the recycling of PET plastic in South Africa. Petco is also the Green Times’ most longstanding and loyal partner, who grasped … [Read more...]
After two weeks of negotiations, the world community has yet again failed to take any meaningful actions to prevent landmark global warming and instead has produced a "roadmap to global burning," leading climate campaigners lamented upon the close of the United Nations COP20 climate talks in Lima, Peru on Sunday. In the wee hours of the morning, two days past the intended … [Read more...]
Experts warn that Eskom’s power cuts could have a disastrous affect on agriculture which could result in food shortages and a spike in food prices. According to the Sunday Times, CEO of Potato South Africa Andre Jooste said workers in pack houses could not work during load shedding. This, he said, creates backlogs, which in turn creates problems as produce has a limited … [Read more...]
This festive season is likely to be another 'big spender' for South African consumers – how you spend that money can make a positive impact on the country and its people. You can walk into any shop at the moment and get the message: this is the season when we spend it. In fact, South Africans spend almost twice as much money in December than during any other month of the … [Read more...]
A combination of overfishing and the use of illegal fishing gear has seen fish stocks in Lake Malawi dwindle to the point that local people's livelihoods and food security are now under threat. Not so long ago, scores of women and girls carrying baskets full of fish flocked to commuter buses at bus stops and police checkpoints along the lakeshore roads trying to coax … [Read more...]
So many people wonder how they can get out of the ratrace and start doing the things they love. As a believer in doing the work that you love for a living, I find this sad in itself. Obviously it often requires huge financial compromise, and utter resourcefulness. Here is a creative look at retirement and reducing your environmental footprint by David Lipschitz: How to … [Read more...]
Invasive Alien Plants (IAPs) are widely considered as a major threat to biodiversity, human livehoods and economic development. IAPs cost South Africa tens of billions of rand annually in lost agricultural productivity and resources spent on management. On 1 August 2014, the Minister of Environmental Affairs published the Alien and Invasive Species Regulations (“the … [Read more...]
Ecoli in the Sir Lowrys Pass river and hence the ocean at Gordons Bay is an issue that activists from the Helderberg are now fed-up with. Squatter camps in the village are suffering from a shortage of proper sanitation and sufficient waste disposal, so the river is used to dump unwanted things into. Take a look. The City of Cape Town responded with the folllowing … [Read more...]
Governments must shift subsidies and research funding from agro-industrial monoculture to small farmers using ‘agroecological’ methods, according to the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. And as Nafeez Ahmed notes, her call coincides with a new agroecology initiative within the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation. Modern industrial agricultural methods can no … [Read more...]
Healthy, well-functioning natural systems play a vital role in supporting the country’s food and water security, whilst also maintaining healthy communities and sustained livelihoods. This was highlighted during a two-day field trip through the Umgeni catchment in the KwaZulu Natal Midlands, co-hosted by WWF South Africa and Nedbank. “Food and water security are deeply … [Read more...]
Plasters and mortars are by far the process that I get asked about the most, and for good reason as plasters are what protect the building from the elements and give them their beautiful finish. Understanding how the material is going to behave right the way through the process, plasters and mortars should be planned for from the beginning. Plasters that are not planned are … [Read more...]
