What's on this weekend... 17 / 18 / 19 November

Our green guide to this weekend

Carrotmob Cape Town:

Join Climate Smart Cape Town in South Africa's first carrotmob this weekend in the heart of Cape Town. Carrotmob is a global movement aimed at creating social change and builds upon the power of consumers to change the way in which businesses operate. You will be mobbing certain carrotmob businesses, who will in turn agree to invest a certain percentage of the profits into improving its environmental or social impact. It is a “buycott” instead of a “boycott”.

Carrotmob takes place at Maria’s Café on Dunkley Square, Gardens, this Friday 18 November from 5pm till 10:30pm

For more information, click here

Green Expo Cape Town:

The Green Expo in Cape Town takes place this weeked at the CTICC. Expect some to find some great eco-friendly goods, green technologies, earth-friendly products and more.

For more information, prices and contact details, please click here

Inspiring Change:

Inspiring Change is brought to you by Climate Smart Cape Town and runs concurrently with

Image: www.clker.com

We are generally kept in the dark when it comes to the dangers of nuclear power and radioactive materials.

Japan had a scary awakening after the earthquake and subsequent tsunamis wrecked the No. 1 nuclear reactor at Fukushima. Since then the ‘no-entry zone’ totals roughly 1 100 square kilometres while caesium contamination zones are now estimated at over 8 000 square kilometres.

Cape Town has a nuclear reactor - Koeberg, and it sits slap bang in the middle of the west coast. Yet Koeberg has no evacuation strategy should a nuclear disaster occur, and their emergency response plan only deals with a radius of 16km around the site. This is slightly concerning considering the Cape Peninsula is exactly that – a peninsula. What’s even more concerning is that those evacuated from Fukushima were from a radius of 20km around the site!

Not only are emergency response plans seriously under-prepared, but the scale of possible disaster is also underestimated. The Cape Town city centre is only 28 kilometres from the current Koeberg site and despite this being almost 10 kilometres over the ‘outer reaches’ of an evacuation area, developments along the west coast over the past decade have been enormous.

Oddly enough, the South African Government wants

Inspiring Change: 18 - 20 Nov, CTICC

Running concurrently with the Green Expo this weekend (18th - 20th Nov), the Cape Town Climate Change Coalition is hosting a gathering called Inspiring Change.

Held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) from 18 – 20 November 2011, this series of talks and demonstrations aims to stimulate fresh thinking and to share ideas about our city.

The gathering includes several cool aspects including the Siemens electric mobility roadshow, Pecha Kucha sessions, inspiring panellists deliberating on Cape Town's role in climate change solutions, site visits and a Carotmob.

The travelling exhibition by Siemens has already been in many parts of the world and makes its

A new energy drink hits South African shelves, certified 100% Organic

Say hello to the world's first 100% organic, vegetarian and FairTrade approved energy drink! Racing driver Toby Scheckter delivers a product that is great-tasting, gives energy galore plus is good for you and the earth too.

Unlike most commercial energy drinks, Scheckter’s OrganicEnergy possesses no added preservatives, artificial additives or colours. The super-food ingredients sourced from all round the world make up the energetic properties of this beverage and the fruity taste is uniquely refreshing.

GASLAND screening tonight

Cafe Ganesh and Exploding Cinema will be kicking off a new season of documentary films this Wednesday with a special don't frack with our Karoo screening of the award-winning documovie, Gasland. The Screening is on Wednesday, 16 November at 8:30pm and entrance is free!

With the entire Karoo being faced with fracking leases (yes, the proposed area is almost 15% of South Africa's entire land-mass!), this documovie is now particularaly relevant to all South Africans!

Read some more...

"GASLAND - (2010) Directed by Josh Fox.
Winner of Special Jury Prize - Best US Documentary Feature - Sundance 2010.
Screening at Cannes 2010.

10 great reasons to unleash your inner chicken farmer!

Buff Reds

No farm is really a farm without a few hens scratching through loose hay in the yard and the iconic rooster crowing to the sunrise upon his picket-fence pedestal… It just wouldn’t be right! Although most farms are a far cry from what they used to be (you only need to type CAFO or chicken farm into Google to confirm this), the chicken still does, and has always represented the quintessential farm. There is something simple, sunny and inviting about chickens wandering a property in search of something tasty. But chickens need not be a feature of faraway farmlands and way-out rural regions - the urban chicken has earned its rightful place within the city limits of many capitals around the world.

So why are chickens such good urban companions, and why should we keep them in suburbia? Here are 10 great reasons!

A wonderful mosaic stands at the door

In the quiet Cape Town suburb of Plumstead a listed national monument building houses a vegan/vegetarian friendly restaurant that specialises in fresh and fantastic lunch buffets.

Michelle Carelse, the owner of Organic at Heart, took us for a walk around the kitchen garden - a space that was car park only 8 months back, now a thriving veg patch - where we discuss companion planting, worm-composting and the joys of eating as fresh as the last pick.

‘I like the idea of sustainable living,’ says Michelle. ‘This garden inspires people to start their own vegetable gardens. It’s not difficult to start growing your own herbs and salads – if everybody could just grow a little bit we could be well on our way to becoming a more self-sufficient society.’

Bikes from one of BEN's BIC's (bicycle empowerment centres)

Bike to work this Transport Month and be part of the solution.

With most of the worlds population now living in cities, it is no news to say that traffic congestion has become a huge urban problem, as is the pollution and accidents caused by motor vehicles. With the added fear of climate change and peak oil, there has arisen an urgent need for a social shift towards more sustainable mobility use.

The City of Cape Town recognises October as "Transport Month" and last week hosted a couple of events focussing on Public Transport Interchanges (PTI).

A PTI is a facility where commuters can

A pregnant Tatum Roche‘I can have my baby at home?'

In North American and ancient San Bushmen tradition, women would give birth squatting, sometimes held up by a lover or a friend.

‘I think there is something in the human body that wants to give birth naturally,’ Marianne Littlejohn, a local practising midwife with 25-years experience behind her, explains.

‘Most people are just surprised to hear it’s an option,’ Ruth Ehrhardt, co-ordinator of Cape Town’s Home Birth Gathering groups, explains. ‘They ask questions like ‘I can have my baby at home? Am I allowed to?’ The answer is yes and yes.’

Ruth is also a practising Doula- a birth supporter - and currently studying to be a Midwife, who is a person trained in assisting prospective mothers with pregnancy and birth. She believes it to be important mothers have their baby where they feel most comfortable and safest.

Expecting and planning for home birth

Tatum Roche, 30 years old and 6 months pregnant with her first baby, hopes to be able to give birth at home in a birth pool, and in as natural way as possible.

‘The reaction I get from most people when I tell them I plan to have this baby naturally and at home is ‘What would you want to do that for? Are you crazy?’’ she says. ‘It would be nice if

I received this moving email from a friend, Dawn Pilatowicz, who administers the Cape Town Community Exchange and relies on her "service dog", Shyann, to help her through her day. Read on to find out about Dawn's braveness and willingness to overcome, the amazing difference these animals make and how you can support the .

Dawn and ShyannDear friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances,

Last year we raised a record R53,000 for S A Guide Dogs! Thank you thank you thank you.

What can we achieve this year? Why should you help Guide Dogs? Who are Dawn and Shyann?

Shyann is a service dog, from the ‘S’ litter of 2008. S A Guide Dogs breed their own puppies and each litter is given a letter of the alphabet. They then get ‘puppy raisers’ to name them, by submitting three name choices using the letter of the litter. Each name is unique and never repeated. The puppy raisers raise the dogs for a year and a half. The dogs then go to the training centre to be matched with a recipient and trained for that recipient’s requirements, be it Guide dog for the blind, or Service dog for the disabled. At around 2 years old, the dogs are shipped off, to be trained with their new owners. These new owners then have to commit to their dogs for the rest of the dog’s life. Guide Dogs keep a watchful eye on their dogs: via monthly reports from the owners, regular vet visits, and frequent visits from the trainers. If there are any issues with a dog, Guide Dogs are there to help.

My life changed completely in January 2010 when Shyann came into my life. I applied for her a year before I got her, never knowing quite what I was getting myself into. Because of Shyann, I am out and about in my neighbourhood every day. I have met