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...
Features
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 -...
Meet 6 young Africans shaping the future
It has been 45 years since the oppressive, racist and murderous, apartheid government killed hundreds of young people in Soweto who were amongst the thousands protesting an education system designed...
Reimagine. Recreate. Restore.
The world’s ecosystems - forests, farmlands, cities, wetlands, grasslands, oceans, waterways - which are critical to supporting life on Earth are in danger. The next ten years offer the last...
Q&A: Sarah Robyn Farrell makes music to activate a revolutionary love for the planet
Sarah Robyn Farrell wears many hats. Her work as eco-communicator, writer and activist bridges social and environmental justice. And it is all reflected in her music. Following her debut single,...
Just 20 Companies Produce Over Half of All Single-Use Plastic Waste
In a groundbreaking report published this week, researchers revealed that just 20 companies are responsible for producing 55 percent of all single-use plastic waste worldwide. The 20 global...
11 Ways you can help protect nature’s biodiversity
To mark International Day for Biological Biodiversity on Saturday (22 May), we've compiled a list of tips you can apply to your life to help conserve nature's biodiversity. Biodiversity is all the...
Legalising the budding hemp industry will help it bloom
Did you know that the hemp plant is a carbon sequestrator? Did you know that hemp needs less water to grow compared to other plants commonly grown for textiles? Did you know it can be grown largely...
Tips on how to avoid greenwashing
A brand or company greenwashes when it gives a false impression or provides misleading information about how products are environmentally sound. It deceives consumers into believing that a company's...