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Rainwater Harvesting – A Small Step Toward Water Conservation
Rainwater harvesting might be new to the Western world, but this method, which is still in use in many parts of Africa and India has been used by many cultures in antiquity. As interest in reducing the consumption of treated water grows, this ancient technique may yet enjoy a resurgence in popularity. Rainwater is soft and relatively pure; it is sodium-free and has almost neutral pH. This innate quality of rainwater coupled with the current interest in water conservation, is causing many communities around the world to take a second look at it.
Rainwater harvesting, in its essence, is the collection, conveyance, and storage of rainwater. The scope, technique, system complexity, and end uses vary from rain barrels for garden irrigation in urban areas, to large-scale collection of rainwater for all domestic uses. Fundamentally, it is quite simple: raindrops fall on a roof, and then travel down through a gutter to a storage tank. Before it can be used for drinking, the collected water is then treated by a relatively simple process with equipment that occupies only about eight cubic feet of space.
Continue reading Saving Our Water
Jennifer Boyes
The release of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” back in May 2006 caused quite a stir, attracting both criticism and applause in equally large quantities. Regardless of whether you are a believer or a sceptic, this documentary, which looks into how mankind is contributing to global warming, has really got people thinking about how their actions impact on our environment. The film reflects a growing trend in which more and more people are deciding whether or not they use a company based on their environmental standpoint. This can be seen in the countless blogs and forums that are springing up around the globe, with the main focus being on which companies are environment friendly and produce ‘green’ products and services.
Continue reading Why Businesses Are Going Green
How to Succeed as an Eco-Friendly Company
Most business owners, whether they are advocates of environmentalism or not, hope that by making their company more sustainable they will attract more customers and, ultimately, increase their profit margins. This is to be expected and can hardly be criticised. However, it can be easy for companies to make the wrong move or say the wrong thing, resulting in a negative backlash that can be hard to recover from.
Continue reading The Benefits of Green Business Practices
Description
The town of Robertson in the Western Cape is situated in the “valley of wine and roses”. The three wineries and a grape juice concentration plant, located in Robertson, all have a common problem that the quality of their effluent does not meet legislative requirements, and the effluent treatment plant of the municipality is also operating at full capacity. At present, the wineries discharge the effluent through an irrigation system, but the salt and organic content of the effluent is high, with the result that it is polluting the environment and water resources.
Continue reading South Africa: Water conservation and waste water disposal in Robertson town
CHARLOTTE PLANTIVE
South Africa is trying to “green” the Soccer World Cup, but local efforts are struggling to balance out the enormous carbon emissions caused by holding the tournament at the tip of the continent.
The new stadiums built for Africa’s first World Cup incorporate top-notch environmental standards, such as natural ventilation, rain water capture, energy efficiency. Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban have also planted thousands of trees to capture the carbon dioxide blamed for global warming.
Continue reading Soccer World Cup: More grey than green
By Mindy S. Lubber
The hallways at COP are crawling with big private investors who are ready to open their wallets to solve the climate crisis. And there are plenty of folks trying to get their attention — among those, 13-year-old Litha Maqungo of Capetown, South Africa.
“Climate change will bring too much pain and suffering with droughts, famines and floods,” Maqungo, speaking in a slow, powerful voice, told a group of 100 investors at a dinner last night. “In Africa, fertile land is already turning to desert. By 2020, climate change is predicted to reduce some Africa farming harvests by 50 percent, which is 50 percent too much.”
Continue reading What’s Keeping Climate Investment Out of Africa?
BOSTON, MA — Failure to address water risks and other critical issues posed by aging or inadequate infrastructure could further impede the U.S. economy and America’s attempts to regain global competitiveness on a number of fronts, a new study warns.
That’s the conclusion of “Infrastructure 2010: Investment Imperative,” the fourth in an annual series of reports produced by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young that examine infrastructure trends around the globe.
Continue reading The Consequences of Ignoring Water Risks in the U.S
This month the long awaited government rollout of R140 million in drought-relief funding to the Garden Route is starting, this should help the region that is struggling to provide water to support its main income-earner – the tourist industry.
On Monday Eden District Municipality disaster management head Gerhard Otto said the money would be spent on desalination and waste water recycling plants planned for towns along the Garden Route, considered essential to beat the worst drought in living memory.
Continue reading R140m drought plan put in motion
The Nedbank Group announced its commitment to go carbon neutral, making it the first South African bank and large corporate to take this landmark step. Already recognised by the Carbon Disclosure Project as a local leader in disclosing its carbon footprint (ranked top SA bank and fourth in low carbon-intensive sectors in 2008), Nedbank is pushing the boundaries beyond merely managing carbon emissions. Its carbon neutral status will put Nedbank’s green leadership on par with that of prestigious international financial institutions such as HSBC and Deutsche Bank, a fitting achievement for the first SA bank to have joined the United Nations Environmental Programme Finance Initiatives (UNEP FI) and the only SA bank to be included in the Dow Jones World Sustainability Index. The recent recognition as the’ Leading Green SA corporate’ according to the Ask Afrika 2009 Trust Barometer, is a further accolade and enhances Nedbank’s strong green credentials.
Continue reading Nedbank a South African leader in the fight against climate change
By David Spitzley
There has been growing concern over the role of business and industry in the water scarcity challenge.
The specific issues created by international commerce and virtual water have led to an explosion of activity around water management, and so-called “water footprints” in particular.
A recent review by IGD, the food and grocery industry group in the U.K., found more than 60 organizations addressing water-related topics, many of these focused exclusively on water footprints.
But what is a water footprint and why is all of this activity necessary?
Continue reading The Secrets a Water Footprint Can Reveal
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