One of a you can view of Earthlife Africa's recent nuke protest outside the Japanese Consul in Pier Place, Cape Town on Monday.

Film: Gasland: this week at UCT. Don't miss the chance to see this documentary.

Dates: Tuesday 12th and Wednesday 13th April
Time: 5pm
Venue: Studio 5, EGS (Environmental and Geographical Science) building, UCT upper campus

Demonstration: Unplug Nuclear! No Nukes in Africa

Date: Monday 18 April 2011
Time: 12am – 2pm
Venue: Pier Place, Heerengracht Street, Cape Town

Join Earthlife Africa. 25 years since Chernobyl. Action near the Japanese Embasssy in Cape Town. In support of the 'Fukushima 50' – 4 teams of 50 workers who are almost certain to die from their work in helping stem the ongoing radiation. We also aim to express our condolences regarding the impact on people in Japan by the tsunami and the ongoing nuclear disasster.

pic: bristol.indymedia.org

The easiest way to start “greening” your life begins with taking closer look at the choices you make on a daily basis. Through making simple alternative choices in our everyday routines we can lower our carbon footprints, support local providers who are more in need of support than large corporations and invest in our own health. Something that is even better than making alternative choices when buying goods is an effort to become more self sustainable through making certain products instead of buying them. I decided to put this theory to the test by listing the products I used in one day and looking at healthier and environmentally friendly alternatives to them: Instead of…

Cape Town's Canal WalkI recently moved to Cape Town after living in much smaller cities for most of my life. Despite adjusting to the changing landscapes and different people I noticed that there is one kind of place, no matter where you are in the world, where you know what to expect. The big sale sign, special offers, all too familiar brands, those standard price tags, the florescent lights and suggestive mannequins in the windows - shopping malls and stores are the same whether you’re in Cape Town or Polokwane! The familiarity was comforting at first but it was not long before concern grabbed hold of me. Let me explain why:

What our shopping malls say about us
Imagine if, in 2000 years from now,

What has fracking (hydraulic fracturing for natural gas) got to do with water? The answer is 'everything'.

This came as something of a surprise to me, sitting virtually in the front row of the independent movie house, the Labia, in Cape Town last night, craning my neck at a rather delicate angle (the lesson here is, get to the movie house early if you want a good seat) to watch the movie Gasland, screened by the ngo While you were Sleeping.

While the South African Water Act recognizes water as a human right this does not necessarily mean water is governed and appreciated as it should be. In a country that uses 93% of its available water supply, South Africans need to be made aware of the difficulties that face our most precious resource. With National Water Week coming up next week and with the United Nations in town for World Water Day, thought we'd highlight some of the water issues facing South Africa:

Acid mine drainage
Water pollution
Drinking water quality management
Acid rain
Invasive alien plants
Commercial forestry
Water privatisation
Climate change

Acid mine drainage (AMD)
Dr Anthony Turton has described this AMD problem as "South Africa’s own Chernobyl" due to its potential to cause a huge amount of harm (including spreading radioactivity). Although the government was warned

Green Cab FleetThere is always something worth seeing and experiencing in Cape Town, the only problem is you often have to travel far distances to get there and those carbon emissions aren’t doing any good to the environment. Foreign tourists, in particular, have been limited to joining a tour group or hiring their own car to get around the peninsula. Never fear though, because now you can get from A to B guilt free. Thanks to The Green Cab, you can visit the V&A waterfront, the Cape Point nature reserve, Simonstown, Chapman’s Peak and several other destinations without adding as much to your carbon footprint.

The Green Cab provides Cape Town’s first responsible tourism transport and tour offering with eco-credentials. Their vehicles are fuelled with

It appears all is not as it seems with the cows down at Fair Cape Free Range (the 'happy, healthy' ones that 'live in super comfort in spacious surroundings').

Muriel Gravenor, a concerned consumer of said milk, emailed us last week with a different take on Fair Cape Free Range's trademarked milk. It seems that these cows are grateful simply to be in a shed all day long and the area in which they are free to range is little more than a glorified feedlot.

It's a pity we can't all visit the farms from which our food comes; get a first-hand take on just how what we eat is treated, before we ingest it. It might help us get a handle on all the marketing speak through which we have to wade on a daily basis, whilst we try to make a decision about just what is good for us.

Consumers can now help fund Wessa's grassroots environmental education initiativesWhat happens to fish if you throw empty plastic bags in a river? Why is it wrong to litter? How many different types of plants exist in my community, and which ones can I plant to provide me with food?

These are some of the questions WESSA (the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa), a nationwide NGO that pro-actively engages with the challenges and opportunities presented by South Africa’s unique natural heritage, is addressing with its Environmental Education (EE) programme for primary school learners across KwaZulu-Natal(KZN).

Home Brewed's bamboo tee's
Pandas love to eat it, the Chinese love to build with it, it’s one of the fastest growing plants in the world and now you can wear it! Not only is bamboo one of the most sustainable resources our world has to offer but it is also being used as a means to raise awareness about the bamboozling clothing industry in our country!

Introducing Home Brewed
Home Brewed is an eco friendly and proudly local clothing store in Cape Town that recently opened their first