Globally 80 billion apparel items are manufactured each year. A rubbish truck full of clothes ends up in landfill every second. By 2030, we are expected to be discarding more than 134 million tonnes...
Features
Why a single solution won’t solve our waste issue
We are facing a waste crisis, with landfills across the world at full capacity and mountains of “recycled” waste dumped in developing countries. Food packaging is a major source of this waste,...
Can luxury fashion brands ever really be inclusive?
Luxury goods tend to be associated with exclusivity rather than inclusivity. But thanks to the universal scrutiny of social media and consumer activism, high-end brands are under increasing pressure...
New IPCC report: “We must act decisively now to keep 1.5 alive”
Statement issued 9 August 2021 by the United Nations secretary-general António Guterres on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group I Report on the physical science basis of the...
Discover 7 visionary women who are disrupting the status quo
Despite the COVID-19 restrictions over the last 18 months, there has been extraordinary creativity in shaping ideas, society, business and, well, the future. The pandemic has heightened awareness of...
Research shows why a living wage gives people dignity
A recent report from the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Development Policy Research Unit indicated that in quarter four of 2018, 46.6% of all minimum wage earners earned below the national minimum...
Climate change is a moral issue
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba has told national government and business leaders that the climate emergency presents South Africa with a “Kairos moment” – a critical turning point and an opportune moment...
It will take much more effort than beach cleanups to solve problem plastics
After recent big ocean swells, SA’s beaches have become clear evidence of a plastic crisis. We collected two bags of waste in less than 10 minutes on Camps Bay beach last week. There are the usual...
Mandela Day 2021. What now?
Already thousands of words have been written as reporters, commentators and analysts try to make sense of a week in South Africa that will forever be remembered as a turning point in our history. In...
Q&A: Greenpeace’s Angelo Louw wants refill and reuse distribution to be the new normal
Plastics, we know, are a major scourge on the environment littering the oceans, and blocking drainages. According to Greenpeace Africa over 2 billion single-use plastic bags are used every year in...
Durban psychologist suggests 7 ways to destress after the week of violence
After being caught in the midst of the unrest, Yasmeen Engelbrecht compiled this list of 'dos and donts' for her family and friends to help them optimally navigate the next few days. The post has...
Q&A: Bernice Whitby tells us how The Baobab Project creates sustainable livelihoods
A Durban-based socio-economic development initiative is inspiring a generation to rethink, redesign and build a positive future for the city. The Baobab Project, launched at the end of 2019,...
How a new discovery shows that cows could help solve the plastic pollution crisis
Plastic is notoriously hard to break down, but researchers in Austria have found that bacteria from a cow’s rumen – one of the four compartments of its stomach – can digest certain types of the...
Q&A: WWF’s Lorren de Kock says climate change and plastic pollution are entangled
There is little sign on beaches and in waterways that the problem with plastic is being solved. After some recent big ocean swells, beaches have become clear evidence of a plastics crisis. Research...
Long read: How shipping pollutes the planet, dodges regulations and gets away with it
There is no doubt, even in the minds of its most ardent proponents, that shipping pollutes on a grand scale. The global fleet of more than 50,000 vessels – container ships, cruise ships, tankers -...