Thousands of offices at some of the world's leading corporations supported WWF's Earth Hour 'lights out' initiative this year, joining the call for effective action on climate change. Companies encouraged staff to join the hundreds of millions of other individuals from every continent who turned their lights off for one hour at 8.30 pm on Saturday, 27 March.

Stellenbosch celebrated an inaugural Earth Hour outdoor dinner at tables down the middle of streets closed to traffic in the historical centre of town. Church and Andringa steets turned into an earth party as 8 restaurants participated in feeding concerned folk in sync with the biggest global action ever for Earth.

Corals are vanishing at an alarming rate, and scientists warn that coral reefs are poised to become the first mass ecosystem extinction. Coral loss also spells trouble for the wide array of marine animals and coastal communities that depend on coral reefs.

A leather shoe or rump steak are both rich in protein. A metal nail or spinach, rich in iron. Which is more nutritious? A spectrum of multi-vitamins from the pharmacy or Granny's Sunday roast of chicken, sweet potato, veggies and salad. Both are balanced in minerals and vitamins, but which is more nutritious? In the pet food industry a healthy nutritious meal is determined by its balance.

Every house should have a beehive, it has been said. But how do we get started?

This year the Our School Cares awards programme, sponsored by Peninsula Beverages (PenBev), is being expanded to include the recycling of particularly beverage containers, such as cans and PET bottles. This environmental education based programme now enables more schools to compete for the awards, whilst raising their level of awareness of and participation in recycling at school level. PenBev plans no less than 8 beach and river clean-ups this year.

The sensitive shells of Pteropods in the oceans are dissolving as they absorb high levels of carbon from the atmosphere and become more acidic. These tiny snail-like, delicate creatures with flapping 'wings' are affectionately called 'sea angels' and live in planktonic form in the oceans.

'Whatever we do to the water bodies on this planet, we're doing to ourselves.' Both Earth and our human bodies consist of 70% water and 30% solids. 'On this planet the water cycle and the life cycle is one,' said Helen Lockart of the Two Oceans Aquarium on World Water Day.

In 2006, construction began on Gibe 3, a large new dam in Ethiopia. The problem is it threatens the land and livelihoods of 500,000 tribal people in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya.

The Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon is 41 years old this year. It all started with just 26 runners and is now attracting over 26 000 across the ultra, the half marathon, the trail runs and the fun runs.

This month Waverley Hills organic farm near Wolseley, in association with Cape Nature started a community environmental education programme. The aim was to provide children in the local community with a sense of pride and to create a `greener` environment.

The Australian company Coal of Africa Limited (CoAL) recently announced that it had been awarded 'unconditional new order mining rights' for the Vele Coking Coal Project in Musina, Limpopo, by the South African Department of Mineral Resources.

The South African government has given strong signals that the Country's energy intensity is no longer sustainable and has started to outline its low-carbon-economy vision.

The Ask Afrika Trust Barometer is the preferred local corporate reputation and trust benchmark. It is currently in its fifth year running, and is based on an expert panel of 200 telephonic interviews with CEOs, EXCO and senior managers reporting directly to the EXCO of JSE-listed companies.

British Airways, in partnership with the Solena Group, is to establish Europe's first sustainable jet-fuel plant and plans to use the low-carbon fuel to power part of its fleet from 2014. The new fuel will be derived from waste biomass and manufactured in a state-of-the-art facility that can convert a variety of waste materials, destined for landfill, into aviation fuel.

In just days, the World Bank will vote on a proposed R29 billion loan to Eskom to build the fourth-largest coal plant in the world -- a climate disaster. At the same time, Eskom plans to effectively double electricity rates over the next three years. Big polluters are getting cut-rate electricity while ratepayers would be left to pay back this disastrous loan.

In South Africa there has been only a small demand for solar hot water heating. However, the quality of solar radiation in South Africa is well defined and proves, especially in the Northern Cape, to be equal to the most suitable for energy generation in the world. Areas of the Northern Cape have amongst the highest level of solar radiation in the world, fifth highest to be exact. Eskom is relying on examples of installation on a large scale in other countries. For instance, 50 percent of homes in Greece have solar water heaters. Since water heating is the second largest expense in most homes, solar water heating can be a practical source of renewable energy.

Exploring and exposing environmentally-sound solutions and giving visitors the know-how to go home and make their houses more ecologically friendly is the focus of Grand Designs Live, coming to the Coca-Cola Dome from 21 to 23 May.

Holland America Line demonstrates its commitment to responsible environmental practices through a comprehensive fleetwide program that emphasises waste reduction and recycling, compliance with all international environmental guidelines and a decision to incorporate cleaner-burning propulsion technology into the line's new ships. Holland America Line's ships currently meet or exceed all provisions of the international regulations governing the environmental management of marine operations.

The yearly Freewheeling Festival at the Stanford Valley guest farm saw freethinkers, creative coaches and green gurus from across the country exploring new ways of crafting a future through fun, fantasy and freedom. We were exploring the future we wanted in Peter Willis' talk on the 'World I'd Like to Live in Someday' ' taken from the letters of his surname. We know that visioning and focusing on the realities we want to create, bring powerful manifesting powers. And we were having fun! Instead of focusing on what's wrong with our world ' and what's not working ' we set the intention to dream of and visualise the future we'd like to see in 15 years time: The Somerset Mall had flicked off its roof and had grown into an outdoor market surrounded by narrow streets and lived in green houses. People bustling in and out ... gardens, plants, children.