pic: GreenpopWe're planting 1000 trees on Saturday 24th September for Day of 1000 Trees and we need a few more planting team leaders and assistants - can you help?

If you've planted with us before, are free next Saturday from 7am (sharp) and feel like being part of this epic Heritage Day celebration, please email lauren [at] greenpop.org for all the details. We will be having a meeting for all leaders/assistants on Wednesday 21 Sept at 6pm at the Greenpop office so would be great if you're available for this too.

1000 trees – 1 day – 1 under-greened community

What better way to celebrate Heritage Day and Arbour Month!

Day of 1000 Trees is a Greenpop initiative that will see community members and school learners of Manenberg near Cape Town as well as volunteers coming together to plant 1000 trees in 1 day to celebrate our country’s natural heritage on Heritage day.

With September being Arbour Month, Day of 1000 Trees has already started spurring excitement among the community of Manenberg which will be the beneficiary of

2011 Wessa AwardsThe Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) celebrates its 85th birthday this year. It was founded in 1926 (when my Grandpa was 7) and is one of SA's oldest and largest membership-based NGO's. WESSA does seriously good work protecting the environment by acting as a watchdog and educator through it's various projects which span biodiversity, waste, water, energy conservation, voluntary social change and legal compliance.

At a special event last week they honoured outstanding individuals and groups for their contribution to SA conservation and education. I thought I'd share with you some of the projects and people that stepped up for an award.

Treasure the Karoo Action Group (TKAG)
They need no introduction for those following the fracking fiasco. Wessa acknowledged Jonathan Deal for his "tenacity and devotion" to the Karoo and his tireless work rallying support around "what represents true and timeless value in a world where quick profit drives many actions".

Friends groups
Wessa and "Friends" groups are synonymous in my mind. Friends groups care for a particular conserved environment and are an opportunity for members of

Climate Reality Project"24 Hours of Reality will focus the world’s attention on the full truth, scope, scale and impact of the climate crisis. To remove the doubt. Reveal the deniers. And catalyze urgency around an issue that affects every one of us." So says Al Gore, in his latest Climate Reality Project.

In a world where most of us have an attention problem, keeping our heads afloat the tsunami of daily news, the big issues like Climate Change can easily drown amongst the other flavours of the day. The Climate Reality Project is hoping to refocus our attention and bring "the facts about the climate crisis into the mainstream" and engage with the public about how to solve it.

The last time I checked I was pretty convinced of the reality of climate change. The reality is that our lives WILL be affected, in adverse ways that scientists have modelled with a reasonable degree of certainty. Is there a link between human activities and the change in climate? Yes, I'm prepared to put money on it.

The trouble is that I don't have much money, while some BIG players like the oil and coal industries have

Following the write-up of themes arising out of the BlueBuck Network Youth Summit, I thought I'd let you know about the young participants involved in the summit and the innovative organisations represented. Some have already been covered in the green youth, my post for youth day, and this post is an interesting addition that will hopefully be useful for any aspiring [young] environmentalists.

About The Bluebuck Network

Recently formed, the BlueBuck Network provides critical links between environmental youth groups around Southern Africa. The idea was initiated by students from

Another Lunch Is Possible
1. Because there is enough for everyone
2. Because sharing is more fulfilling than owning
3. Because corporations would rather see landfills overflow than anyone get anything for free
4. Because scarcity is a myth constructed to keep us at the mercy of the economy
5. Because a sunny day outside is better than anything money can buy
6. Because no one should have to do without food, shelter, entertainment, and community
7. Because life should be a picnic, but it only will be if we make it happen

So read the seven reasons to get involved in the Really Really Free Market on a pamphlet distributed by a group of pragmatic anarchists at said market on the last Saturday of July. I heard of the event via a friend on , and was at once excited by “a day of giving and receiving gifts”. I could bring what I had to share, peruse through what everyone else had bought, and co-mingle with some like-minded souls in the sunshine.

The excitement subsided, however, as I started thinking of the measly (well, non-existent) gifts I had to offer. I don’t have much at all to my name, and little still to give away. It seems, given the small turn-out at the market on Saturday, many people had the same thought, which deterred them from attending. What a sad pity, where so many people don’t realise how much they have to give, in terms of talents, time, skills and old junk lying around the house. What follows is a ‘How to guide’ of attending an anarchist market: read, digest, gather, and get out there.

Requiem: Norman Catherine, Requiem, 1994. Oilstick on paper. 130 x 112 cm. Private collection‘Water, the [Delicate] Thread of Life’ opened at the Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg on Friday 29 July. The exhibition sets out to navigate a course through the many wonders and complexities of water and to challenge the way we think about and respond to one of the most precious substances on earth.

This unique exhibition, which runs until 1 October 2011, seeks to bring home just how fragile and tenuous life on earth would be without sustainable water resources. Through the eyes, minds and creative endeavours of South African artists, it shows how integral and fundamental water is to life. Water is indeed the delicate thread on which life depends.

The exhibition comprises work by a host of

Cannabis for Cancer: Medicinal use of cannabis is legal in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Israel and 16 US states, why not SA?NORML ZA Activists to Highlight The Absurdity of Arresting Medical Patients By Doing The 702 Walk The Talk Backwards.

This Sunday morning a crew of NORML ZA Cannabis For Cancer Patients activists will set out on the Backwards to NORML Walk! The Cannabis For Cancer Patients expedition team, lead by NORML ZA Community Outreach Director, Imiël Visser, will be doing the 5km walk backwards to highlight the South African Government's backwards policy of arresting medical patients for using and growing a plant which has been scientifically proven as an effective treatment for people suffering from cancer.

The Impumelelo Awards are held every two years and are the closest thing to the Oscars for South Africa's NGO sector. I attended the 2010 Impumelelo Awards function and was thoroughly impressed with the quality of the projects awarded, as well as the evening itself. The projects showcased were doing fantastic work to allieviate the plight of many South Africans and a good number of the projects also had an enivironmental focus.

The doors are now open to enter your NGO to be assessed for next year's awards - the deadline is 31 October 2011.

According to Impumelelo: "Projects that particularly focus on the empowerment and advancement of

Re-Imaginings

It's that time of year again to bundle up, brave the cold, and devour the cultural feast South Africa has to offer at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival. This year it seems that environmental consciousness has seeped into some of the performances and workshops, creating an interesting place to explore the arts and the environment. What is collectively on our minds and in our hearts looks to be reflected on stage in some of the festival spaces.

A particularly interesting space you should explore is the Re-imaginings Forum, at the Environmental Learning Research Centre (ELRC) on Rhodes Campus. The space is set up to enable us to

Solar South Africa - Photograph Jonathan Jones

Our recent post, Sasol on Solar, documented the serious interest that Sasol (and other such industrial heavyweights) are taking in renewable energy – particularly solar. Indeed the growing trend in consideration of alternate energy strategies for South Africa, centres around solar energy. It seems all the parties are coming to town this week to discuss everything about solar energy for the Solar South Africa Conference in Johannesburg, run by Green Power Conference. The Green Power Academy will hold workshop/trainings throughout the conference to bring certain participants up to speed on issues such as a Technology Briefing for people not technically trained in the renewable energy field.

This post details what to look out for at the conference and various issues surrounding solar technology in South Africa.