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,

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

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Spurred on by rapid urbanisation and climate change, water is set to be the world’s next major resource crisis – an issue World Water Day is drawing attention to on 22 March, 2011. With its theme of Water for cities: responding to the urban challenge it hopes to incite governments, businesses, communities and individuals to engage and address this growing issue and is something a group of passionate South Peninsula residents have taken significant heed of.

Motivated by a legacy of water issues that affect the Kommetjie, Ocean View, Capri and Noordhoek communities, the group aims to raise awareness about persistently high toxicity levels in Wildevoelvlei among the public at an event at Blue River Café, Imhoff’s Gift on 26 March.

Space of Love: Autumn EquinoxMarch 2011 is all about spreading the love and here are some of the highlights. For more information on these events visit our events page.

Greenpop/Getaway Planting Day
12 March 2011

Getaway and Greenpop have gathered an amazing 100 trees for planting as a result of the Getaway/Greenpop competition. Now they need your help to plant those trees. If you’re interested click on the link to sign up and get ready to get your hands dirty.

Holistic hospitality – Greenstuff to educate hoteliers at Hostex 2011
13-16 March 2011, Johannesburg

While the Design Indaba Conference had some unforgettably inspiring talks the expo did not fall short either. Here are some of the cool initiatives that caught my eye at this year's Design Indaba Expo:

Umcebo: Beaded light

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

Did you know that 26 apples grown in 1997 collectively contain the same nutritional content as 1 apple grown in 1914? This is one of many shocking facts presented in the “Super foods for radiant health” talk which I attended last night. The talk was given by a company called Super foods which was started by Peter and Beryn Daniel who are both UK-trained, Raw Food Chefs working towards raising raw food consciousness in South Africa.

“I can’t live on rabbit food!”

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

Infecting the city

Beginning Monday 21st, it's time for Spier's fourth Infecting The City. For those who are not familiar with it: never fear, whilst contagious it is not likely to be life threatening.

Infecting The City is Africa's only Public Arts Festival and it involves transforming the public spaces of Cape Town into wonderful works of art that will help us view the city from a different and often informative perspective.

This years theme, 'Treasure', is about appreciating the wonderful gifts that Cape Town has to offer: from the wonderful variety of cultures and historical buildings to the forgotten natural resources and seemingly useless waste...this years festival is definitely worth a wander.

We've picked out a couple of events, tours and installations with an eco-friendly angle and listed them below