Blogs

Recent water samples taken of the Westlake River have confirmed the presence of blue-green algae, as well as the presence of the toxins associated with it.

The City of Cape Town is forging ahead with the process of securing environmental protection status for the Paarden Eiland Wetland, also known as the Zoarvlei. The wetland is all that remains of what was once an extensive esturine system. The Paarden Eiland wetland is now completely cut off from other water courses.

The National Department of Water Affairs (DWA) has donated R8,21 million to the City of Cape Town to assist in funding water demand management initiatives and water saving projects during the remainder of the 2009/2010 financial year, which finishes at the end of June.

Cape Town has become the first city in Africa to officially endorse one meat-free day a week. The city may be the second city in the world to have officially endorsed a meat-free day a week, following on the heels of Ghent, in Belgium.

The second edition of the Cape Town Green Map, due to be printed next month, will be printed on Sappi's Triple Green environmentally friendly paper. Triple Green is a range of high quality coated fine paper and tissue wadding products.

When you are new to a city, you want to get around and explore it. Public transport is a means of doing this, and metered taxis are one of the most convenient ways of doing so. On the 11th of March, the City of Cape Town launched its first eco-friendly driven taxis.

On Wednesday, the City of Cape Town announced its plans to start selling Green electricity, which is produced at the Darling Wind Farm on the West Coast.

pic: John Maarschalk

The City of Cape Town will again be supporting the annual ‘Earth Hour’ initiative in 2010. Millions around the world will turn off their lights for an hour at 20:30 on Saturday 27 March 2010 to raise awareness and show support for climate change action.

pic: Jennnyfer

Water - life on Earth could not exist without it. All living things need water, and the human body is made up of about 60% water, and it is also one of the most abundant substances on our planet, giving rise to the term "the Blue Planet".

This week is Water week in South Africa and the UN World Water day is on Monday 22 March.

Sustainability is becoming part of ‘business as usual’ in many large companies and nowhere is this more evident than in Cape Town, according to Accelerate Cape Town CEO Guy Lundy. A group of sustainability leaders from some of the largest organisations in the Cape gathered on Thursday, 26 November - brought together as an initiative of Accelerate Cape Town - to connect with each other, share common experiences in the sustainability arena, and to draft a plan of action to achieve jointly-held sustainability goals.