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.
“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...]
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...]
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...]
No less than 280 000 ton of plastic was recycled and diverted from landfill last year. That is 20 % of all plastics manufactured in South Africa. Results were released during Clean-Up and Recycle SA week. This equates to a 4.1 % increase on the previous year’s figures. Of all the recycled plastic, 220 400 tons were derived from packaging, resulting in a year on year increase … [Read more...]
Nothing inspires me more than the idea of turning my garden into a sustainable food forest, which could potentially feed my family long after my departure to greener fields. Some years ago we shared a video of such a 300 year old family forest in Indonesia and that was just the spark I needed. “Forest gardening is a low-maintenance sustainable plant-based food production and … [Read more...]
Food forests or Forest gardening have been around for a long time with many of the native cultures practicing this form of sustainable agriculture. It is a form of low-maintenance plant-based food production which replicates natural ecosystems, incorporating fruit and nut trees, shrubs, herbs, running vines and perennial vegetables. Beneficial plants and companion planting is a … [Read more...]
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, in Cape Town is a great place, not just for tourists, but also for the locals, as a place where generational memories are shared. The mountain, the streams have been a perennial witness to centuries of change that took place on the slopes of the great Table Mountain. From the days of the San people to where we are now the mountain has … [Read more...]
“Smaller is baller,” “Min it to win it,” “Think shrink.” Those are the puns Google is using to promote its new competition: $1 million to whomever can invent a working power inverter for solar and other forms of renewable energy that’s roughly as small as a laptop. The company has teamed up with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to launch the … [Read more...]
Environmentalist film production and media agency Green Renaissance has recently closed shop in Cape Town and moved to a tiny off-grid home in the Overberg, along the Cape's South Coast. They continue to produce the most creative short films on topics related to sustainable living, which we will be sharing with your regularly. Here are two from their new series of … [Read more...]
After 20 years of democracy, and celebrating the spirit of Madiba, the reality of the Lwandle evictions, as reported in Court last week, triggered memories of the old style police treatment in the sad history of this country. As part of a Ministerial Inquiry into the evictions Sheena St. Clair Jonker (main photo) made submissions on behalf of the community. She is the … [Read more...]
When you think of knitting, what comes to mind? A grey-haired dear? Think again! Knitting is now hip and is being done, en masse, for a good cause. 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day started as a challenge but has quickly grown into what some are calling a movement. It’s captured the attention of the Minister of Arts & Culture, Paul Mashatile, Hugh Masekela, Angela … [Read more...]
