Platbos is the incredible ancient, indigenous forest discovered by Francois and Melissa Krige, just off the coast of Gansbaai, in the Overberg. Africa's southernmost forest - a beautiful space.

If you haven't visited the forest yet, make a date. And now you can stay there too...(read on)

Home Birth Gathering at Erin Hall : Birth as a humans rights issue

Ever wondered about your birthing options?

‘We’re not anti-hospital, we’re just about sharing,’ says Ruth as we begin. According to her, natural home birth is a valid option for an expecting mother. These gathering events are a chance for the interested to meet up and discuss – from couples to mothers-to-be, doulas, midwives or simply anyone who is curious about the idea of having a baby at home. As it was Human Rights Month, this particular Home Birth Gathering topic was titled ‘birth as a human rights issue’.

Meeting with Patrick Dowling, family friend and WESSA environmental educator, we discuss a more perfect world and a positive way out of our current economic and environmental dysfunction...

Patrick Dowling (pictured here doing some planting) believes that a Steady State Economy is now the way to go

Ok so we get that we are stuffed - with the economy doing a double dive and the planet protesting years of misuse - so now what? If economists have been questioning the idea of perpetual growth for centuries, how have we allowed ourselves to walk headlong into this mess? Surely this is a good a sign as any that we must make changes to our system, but the real question is, how?

Patrick believes that a Steady State System could just be the answer to our current situation.

Anthea Torr, eco-entrepreneur and part of the local Freeman Movement - 'The Republic of Good Hope', has recently faced trial and a warrant for her arrest in an attempt for her critisms of the system to be heard.

Anthea Torr, owner of Enchantrix

It all began with a building.

Having lately become very interested in the Freeman Society movement , Anthea decided not to follow the compliant route of obtaining legal papers for her structure, explaining her reasons clearly in 6 letters hand delivered to the council over the duration of a year.

One Struggle – a conference on social justice, animal rights and radical environmentalism - took place in Muizenberg last Saturday (18 Feb) thanks to the South African Vegan Society.

The conference focused on the rights of animals, the environment and human beings.

Hearing about the One Struggle conference, I was immediately excited; the South African Vegan Society represent a genuine passion for true authentic societal change, and I knew this would be reflected in any event they organised.

When we arrived in the afternoon, was busy giving her talk on veganism and food security in Cape Town: explaining how being vegan is better not only for animals, but for people and the earth too. The young lady really sounded like she knew her stuff, and displayed all the facts to back up her statements.

‘We may be making attempts to save water in our home due to turning off taps and showering instead of bathing, but when 85% of our water waste is on our plate it is important that we re-evaluate our diet. And this is not mere theory – the U.N. have been urging people to eat local and plant-based for years,' she explained, adding: 'But it is not just our diet that must change, but the production system of our diet.’

Opening up discussion to the audience, there were

We're seriously impressed with the Vineyard Hotel's latest recycling venture.

They're recycling wine corks and converting them into floors for schools for underpriveleged children.

'The aim', say the Vineyard, 'is to take something totally recyclable that is usually thrown away and create from it something that will benefit the children of our community.'

This they are doing together with their wine partners – Klein Constantia, Buitenverwachting, Boschendal and Anthonij Rupert, and a combined effort by Villiera and Groot Constantia.

In just three months the project, run by David Wibberley, collected 25 000 corks...

Eerste Rivier Empowerment Centre, a safe house for children from abusive homes, is the first to receive a 24 sq metre floor in the playroom.

The Haven Night Shelter Welfare Organisation plans to further empower Cape Town’s homeless

Michael Valentine- project manager of new exciting gardening and worming project

Wynberg Haven Shelter's dusty yard seemed empty save for a handful of the loitering residents smoking cigarettes, playing with an old exercise bike or just staring blankly into space. The huge trees danced restlessly as we greeted a certain Michael Valentine.

Looking for an alternative to the red roses, chocolates? Adopt a pair of penguins (R500) and help SANCCOB to save them from extinction. It's called 'doing your bit'...

Got to SANCCOB's website, click on 'adopt' and the rest is straight forward (you get to name your penguins too).

You will get a note via e-mail to present to your loved one on the day, and the full adoption pack will follow in the post.

For FAQs visit their website.

What is the story behind our food?

Local artisans and food producers

Food With A Story, an online artisanal and ethical food producer’s directory, is the brainchild of couple Deni and Carlin Archer. Believing passionately that people's food choices have a powerful effect on the world, they hope to raise awareness around food consumption through the collection of positive and ethical stories on their website.

The idea behind it is that by knowing how your food is grown - as well as understanding the impacts this may have on the environment - consumers are them empowered to make better choices.

We've just got one of these really nifty, and pretty solar jars from Consol.

The solar jar has a wee solar panel in the lid of the jar that stores energy during the day. It then releases light at night; a fun and sustainable alternative light supply - great for when the lights go out (they're threatening blackouts again soon).

The solar panelling, when placed in the sunlight, powers the LED batteries for almost six hours before it needs to be recharged.

And it comes with a little click or ‘switch’ so that the light can be controlled - it is not automatically 'on' and working when you don't want it to be.

Great gift idea, and green credentials - the glass jars are 100% recyclable and on average each Consol Glass container consists of 35% recycled content.

cost: R120/R150

where can you get one? At Consol retail outlets in Woodmead (Gauteng) and Stellenbosch (Cape Town) or on the website www.solarjar.co.za