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Wednesday, 28 October 2009 |
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The term 'carbon footprint' is now a part of our everyday language.
You hear people talking about it when referring to events, businesses
and even their travel to and from places. But how often do we apply it
to ourselves as individuals?
Do you even know what your carbon footprint is?
We last calculated our household carbon footprint using the CAP (Climate Action Partnership) calculator
in April 2008. Then our total tons of CO2e (equivalent) emitted by our
household per year was 10.37 tons (roughly 3.46 tons of CO2e each). The
South African average per capita footprint was 9.3 tons...
Their calculator measures your electricity, transport, flights and
waste, although this isn't a complete picture as they've now upgraded
their calculator to include wood burning and braaing.
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Tuesday, 27 October 2009 |
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Unless we act now,
our children will live in a significantly warmer world. To get an idea
of what the cost of inaction means for future generations, the climate
research team at the United Kingdom's Met Office Hadley Centre released an impressive interactive map of what a warmer world will look like. The dollar-store summary is that a world at +4°C/7°F isn't pretty.
Recently, the map was the centerpiece of U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband's press conference to call attention to the pressing need for us to get something significant out of the Copenhagen negotiations.
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Monday, 26 October 2009 |
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Working With Gardens and Orchards to Build Healthy Communities
Urban Harvest is a nonprofit organization that uses fruit, vegetable and habitat gardens to improve quality of life in the greater Houston area. These gardens serve to educate, strengthen community spirit, create therapeutic environments and provide food and income. They teach organic gardening techniques, help neighborhoods build successful community gardens, create outdoor classrooms at schools that teach core curricula, nutrition and respect for the environment, provide fresh, locally grown food, and encourage responsible land use.
While based in the USA, their website (www.urbanharvest.org) has some good advice and great resources that would be useful to anyone wanting to grow their own food in Durban.
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Monday, 26 October 2009 |
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KwaMashu is one of the oldest townships in Durban and it forms part of the INK area (Inanda, Ntuzuma and Kwa Mashu). The Mqadi Upholstery is a business that has been operating withing KwaMashu for the past 20 years and is very well-known. It is a 100% black owned business which is currently managed by Mr GS Mqadi who took over from the founder of the business Mr BP Mqadi. The business operated from KwaMashu's J section until 1998 and than relocated to the KwaMashu shopping centre small business unit, Emahawini.
The Upholstery operates as a leather factory and couch factory. This business is committed to community development in KwaMashu and employs only young people from the surrounding area who would otherwise be unemployed. It is a shining example of how business can make a difference in the lives of the people it serves.
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