Food Gardens – Food for the Body and the Brain DIFFICULT TIMES We are living in difficult times. Money is short, jobs are scarce, and many people are looking for alternative sources of food and income. Some of us are desperately trying to keep to our sustainable living principles. Others, like UK Prime Minister, Rishi

Floods and Drought Flood or Drought? The recent floods are still fresh in our minds and we have started receiving messages from the authorities to save water. Many people’s first reaction is to say, “make up your mind, have we got too much water or too little water?” Our Status Sadly, it is not quite

Theme – Krantzkloof – A Nature Reserve near Durban “…As we distance ourselves further from the natural world, we are increasingly surrounded by and dependent on our own inventions. We become enslaved by the constant demands of technology created to serve us…” David Suzuki David Suzuki is a Canadian academic, science broadcaster and environmental activist

We have been pummelled in the Media by the so-called “New Normality” that appears to have emerged from Lockdowns associated with the Covid-19 Pandemic. Has it affected you? Lockdown Analysing the positive practicalities that have been experienced, I identified the following: Homebound The forced “imprisonment” of families in their homes during Lockdown levels 5 and

Lockdown, COVID-19 and Change By the time you read this column, the pain of Lockdown and COVID-19 will, hopefully, have lessened. We still have to come back to some sense of normality, whatever that is. However, that normality will be different because of the changes that we have all had to make. Human beings abhor

Global Footprinting – Do we know what our Impact REALLY is? Where does milk come from? A few years ago, I was working with some children in a school in Hillbrow, Johannesburg and we were discussing environment and conservation and I detected a degree of scepticism from the youngsters. I decided to test this so

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” Chapter 64 of the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu Load shedding reared its ugly head again in the first quarter of 2019, the Department of Water and Sanitation is deeply concerned about where the water is coming from to supply the country’s growing

Ecosystems Services – what are they and why are they so important? By Arend Hoogervorst Ecosystem Services? Ecosystem services are services provided by natural capital (“Nature” or “the environment”- see Explanations below) that support life on earth and are essential to the quality of human life and the functioning of the world’s economies. For example,

“A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” Aldo Leopold Wilderness It is always interesting to be reminded of those events, activities and people that triggered change in views and perspectives on environmental matters. I have always been

“The Source and Fate of Things”  Have you ever considered what would happen if you were made to take responsibility for the sourcing, content and fate of all the “things” that you acquire?  That means being held accountable for the impacts of mining raw materials, their transport, the manufacture of the goods and their distribution

Mention the word “litter” in a conversation with a group of people and it is almost guaranteed that everyone present will have a horror story or example of the scourge of litter. Kloof Conservancy chairman, Paolo Candotti, will tell you about his distress at the quantities of litter seen during a weekend walk through the

Have you ever said things to yourself like, “It’ll never happen to me”, or “It won’t affect me”, “I can never do that”, or “It doesn’t apply to me”? Do these phrases sometimes come back and bite you? In the environmental business, we get many issues that do just that. I am not just talking

How much do we appreciate water?  No, seriously, have you thought about how important clean, fresh water is to you and what it would be like without it? No, of course not, you are used to opening a tap and using as much as you want. It’s cheap, we are told it is one of

 “…There is no such thing as chance or accident; the words merely signify our ignorance of some real and immediate cause…” Adam Clarke Introduction After incidents and accidents, most organisations go through some form of review or soul-searching to ask themselves if they could have done things better. The problem with this is that often

I still periodically encounter people who will tell me that “environment” has nothing to do with “real” life and is only in the minds of “bunny huggers” and eco-freaks. Sadly, there are many people who judge environmental management and sustainability thinking as a luxury practiced only by, “…the rich, the feeble-minded and those with nothing

As a professional environmental advisor, I stopped using the opening line, “Can I help you to save the environment?” about 20 years ago.  Why? Mostly because very few people are altruistic enough or rich enough to magnanimously be able to “save the environment”. Even more people counter that request with the question, “What’s in it

 “Thought makes every thing fit for use” – Emerson (1844)  “If a man sits down to think, he is immediately asked if he has a headache” Emerson (1833)  Does anyone think these days? No, I mean really THINK about things…. When facing an important decision, do we still ponder on the options and the pros

We all collect “stuff”.  Some of us take this to extremes and become hoarders. If you think carefully about your various friends, I am sure that amongst the list, somewhere, there is at least one serial hoarder. That is often one of those people that uses that magic phrase, “I’ll keep it because you never

As an environmental auditor, I have been privileged over the years to see both sides of the proverbial environmental coin: that is, what the industrialists perceive as environmentally friendly products and what the consumer expects as “eco-friendly/environmentally friendly” products. As you might imagine, the two perceptions are often poles apart and at times, incomparable. As

“Environment”, “conservation”, and “development” can be touchy subjects, usually because in any group of individuals, one can get a diverse, wide and emotionally sensitive range of views, opinions, beliefs and doctrines emerging which can be quite polarised. As humans, we are, by nature, diverse and competitive and often struggle to agree or achieve consensus. It

 “Why should I care about the environment?” How many times has that question been asked?, I wonder. It comes up frequently at talks and discussions that I am involved in and it is not an easy question to answer. (Try googling the question and see the range of answers that come up…). Asking the question

Over the Festive Season, there are always many lists being generated in various printed and broadcast media, urging folk to follow 10 Green Resolutions, or 5 Recycling Tips or 10 Green Christmas Hints or some similar set of suggested behaviour changes. Most people tend to be a little irritated by them because they are ready-made

Does sustainable living come naturally to human beings?  I was sitting on a long haul flight recently, (I spend a great deal of time on these types of flights and yes, I know, my carbon footprint must be enormous…) looking at the plastic supper tray in front of me, thinking about the enormous amounts of

Have you ever thought to yourself, “I’m only one person, I can never get this done/changed/fixed?” Sometimes, the sheer, seemingly, hopelessness of a situation is overwhelming and results in endeavours and tasks never even getting started. Often, the inspiration of what others can do, or have been able to achieve, can provide the nudge to

The National Treasury has published a Carbon Offsets Paper for public comment. The paper outlines proposals for a carbon offset scheme that will enable businesses to lower their carbon tax liability and make investments that will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This document needs to be read in conjunction with the “Carbon Tax Policy Paper: