This week join Fairtrade Label South Africa in their campaign to promote an ethical alternative for all coffee lovers.

Farmers like the one pictured here benefit from Fairtrade's efforts (Photograph by Natalie Bertrams)

While there are many events and initiatives on the theme of fair trade happening internationally - in correlation with last Saturday's World Fair Trade Day - this will be the second time Fairtrade Coffee Week takes place in South Africa.

“Fairtrade Coffee Week has a special meaning for Fairtrade, both locally and internationally, as it celebrates our flagship product and the thousands of small-scale farmers involved in Fairtrade coffee production worldwide,” says FLSA’s Executive Director, Boudewijn Goossens.

Greenpop chat to me about their festival, carbon offsetting and the awesomeness of vegetarian food...

Greenpop have run many great projects, including Trees for Zambia

Greenpop just hosted its second ever Reforestation Festival this past weekend, where participants plant indigenous trees to help restore the ancient Platbos forest. Around 250 people from the ages of 5 to 65 years joined them in their 'Treevolution'.

A heart-breaking film about the often downplayed environmental and health impacts of hydraulic fracking, Split Estate is a relevant watch for all South Africans.

This doccie will open your eyes to why so many are against fracking

Dwindling petroleum resources and technical advancements is what brought on the fracking hype. How it works is that fluid is injected into rock at high pressure to encourage the release of residue gas, which is then extracted. While hydraulic fracturing remains a controversial topic, Split Estate follows the stories of those people who have been affected by it.

Stay healthy this winter with herbal tea, nature's own gentle medicine.

There is a herbal tea for every ailment

When it's cold out there and the wind is a-blowing, there is nothing like a good old cup of tea to warm the cockles of the heart. But by adding milk or sugar we lose much of the health quality of warm drinks, which makes herbal tea a great alternative to keep us hydrated during winter. Plus, the healing properties of herbs is a wisdom that dates far back into our history, and still holds true today.

Herbal teas can help address certain minor health issues, but of course in more severe cases other medications would probably be best. Below are some of the more widely available teas that can help aid our bodies.

Green Tea

Have fun with Artjamming this school holiday!

Check out an Artjamming store near you

Artjamming have a great programme this holiday, teaching valuable painting techniques and encouraging your child to create artworks you can treasure. They will also learn about the style and story of artists such as Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock and Georgia O' Keefe.

Stop by the nearest Artjamming store this upcoming holiday or book now.co.za. Classes cost R155 and this includes all art supplies.

Holiday programme (for June/July)
Mondays: Jamming with art – Learn how music and art work hand in hand
Tuesdays: Colour Awareness – how colour affects everyday life
Wednesdays: Fun with foam
Thursdays: Learn to paint landscapes like Georgia O Keefe

Fairtrade Label South Africa celebrated their first ambassador this week, award-winning musician Loyiso Bala.

Loyiso visits a Fairtrade funded crèche (Photographer: Sydelle Willow Smith)

Joining the rest of the mingling media, we sipped delicious Fairtrade wine under the cool trees of Oude Libertas farm estate. Speeches commenced after the old slave bell was rung: the sound of irony.

'I plan to not just be a face, but to really get involved hands-on, so that hopefully this same time next year I can tell you about all the amazing Fairtrade projects I have been involved in,' commented Loyiso jovially during his speech last Tuesday.

The latest animation movie for kids proves to have a strong green conscience.

Showing at local cinemas now!

If you've never read the book by Dr Seuss - complete with it's fun rhymes and zaney humour - you can now watch The Lorax on big screen! With incredible animation effects by Illumination Entertainment (the guys who brought us Despicable Me) and voices from the likes of Danny DeVito and Zac Efron, you will find yourself touched by the simple story that shows how greed can lead to the demise of nature.

The Lorax himself is a bizarre little creature with a large yellow moustache who claims to 'speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues' - cute or what?

Could commercial chumming be to blame for recent attacks?

Chumming for sharks is legal - but should it be?

Last Friday young local bodyboarder David Lilienfeld was tragically attacked and killed by a shark off Kogel Bay.

Fingers have been instantly pointed at Chris Fischer and NPO Ocearch who, despite public opposition, had been tossing up to 5 tonnes of chum into the False Bay oceans over the last few weeks in an attempt to attract Great Whites for their documentary series 'Sharkmen'. After the attack their permit was revoked.

Where have all the fish gone?

The End of the Line urges us to change our view on fish

Based on the book 'The End of The Line: How overfishing is changing the world and what we eat' written by journalist Charles Clover, this prestigious documentary serves as a wake-up call for all mankind.

Having won numerous awards including the Puma Creative Award and Environment Award at the 2010 One World Media Awards, The End of the Line asks us to re-evaluate the way we see fish.

Travelling up to the Harmonic Resonance party to help promote my mums event The Little Green Gathering , we discovered many hidden treasures amongst the otherwise isolatingly spacious and overgrown landscapes of the Garden Route.

Wild Sprit lodge& backpackers (photograph by Julan Briant)

Friday Night:

After a long-winded and rather dramatic 6-hour ride in the dark and rain, we arrive at our friend's off-the-grid home, greeted mercifully by a cup of Organic hot cocoa. This is the kind of house where you take a flashlight to the loo and have to stand in a certain place in the lounge to receive any morsel of cellular phone reception. I slept like a baby.

Saturday: