Sustainable Africa News: January 2009 |
Current news from Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe.
Ugandan government urged to involve NGO’s in saving lakes
Posted: November 25, 2008
Source: New Vision (Kampala)
Author: Francis Kagolo
The call was made at a workshop at Bulange in Mengo by Anna Nantale, the coordinator of the East African Communities Organization for the Management of Lake Victoria. Read more
Where’s the Love in a Time of Cholera?... Crisis in Zimbabwe
Posted: November 25, 2008
Source: SW Radio Africa
Author: Alex Bell
Medical charities other aid groups and the MDC have all urged the government to take this crucial step to spur more action to halt the spreading threat of the water borne disease. At least 300 people are confirmed to have died in hospitals across the country, but it's believed the figure is up to 400 percent higher in the communities, where people have been unable to access medical care. The outbreak of the disease and the critical lack of medical care across the country have seen scores of Zimbabweans crossing the border into South Africa, searching for medicine and treatment - fuelling concerns the disease will keep spreading in the neighboring country.Read more
Nigerian toilet designed to recycle human waste into cooking gas
Posted: December 29, 2008
Source: Vanguard
Community gardens supplement food security in South Africa
Posted: December 29, 2008
Source: Inter Press Service News Agency
Author: Stephanie Nieuwoudt
Community gardens make ecological sense and attract a number of insects and small animals turning the areas into small conservancies. A backyard garden four times the size of an ordinary door, can supply a household of six people with fresh vegetables for a year. By replanting and ensuring that the ground is nutrient-rich, the four-door garden can be farmed fruitfully for years. Read more
Senegalese farmers reap the benefit of drip irrigation
Posted: December 29, 2008
Source: All Africa.com
Author: Ngohé Ndioffogore
Israeli Ambassador Gideon Behar, funding the materials and training for drip-irrigation, says the system is based on science. “If the system is properly installed and the filters cleaned regularly, to prevent the pipes from clogging, drip irrigation can save up to 50 percent more water than regular irrigation. Little water is lost to evaporation, so farmers can "drip" their fields for eight hours every day. The water is spread out more evenly this way, reducing over salination, caused by watering only in one spot. Minerals in water can destroy the soil, so we need to get the water to the plants' roots as quickly as possible.... Read more
Green Belt Movement committed to invasive plan removal
Posted: December 21, 2008
Source: Kenya Broadcasting Corporation
Author: Rose Kamau
The Green Belt Movement is spearheading an operation to weed out the water hyacinth from Lake Naivasha, which is in danger of drying up. The water hyacinth is believed to be spreading fast in the lake due to the nutrients in the lake from fertilizers used in nearby flower farms, compounded by insufficient drainage systems, lack of wet land buffer zones, as well as loss of the natural riparian areas. Read more
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Green Tips: Reduce Your Footprint |
1. Stop Junk Mail from filling up your mailbox. Subscribe to Green Dimes, a company that puts a stop to junk mail coming to your mailbox. http://www.greendimes.com/
2. Change your search engine either to save energy, or to benefit your favorite charity. Check out www.blackle.com as an alternative search engine. Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. Or, check out Good Search http://www.goodsearch.com/ which lets you register any school or non-profit organization of your choice, and every search you perform through Good Search, a penny is donated to your selected recipient.
3. Curb your plastic water bottles consumption. Did you know that only 3% of all plastics are actually recyclable. That’s right. Even though they have the recycling triangles on them, only the #'s 1 and #'s 2 are actually recyclable.
Also, did you know that the plastic debris currently floating in the Mid-Pacific Gyre, the swirling mass of ocean northwest of Hawaii, where all the Pacific waters currents converge, is as large (or larger) than the state of Texas? And the the ratio of plastic to plankton is currently 30:1... that’s right !! There are 30 times more plastic that oxygen generating = plankton in the Pacific Ocean.
So choose a better alternative for your drinking water. Reusable, stainless steel water bottles. There are a number of companies offering these stylish and sustainable hydration essentials.
Check out Klean Kanteens at: http://www.kleankanteen.com/
Or Sigg at: http://www.mysigg.com/index.asp?Category=3&PageAction=VIEWCATS
Or EcoUsable at: http://www.ecousable.com/
4. Use a durable canvas bag (or other re-usable shopping bag) instead of paper or plastic. Buy a few and remember to take them with you when you go to the market. Even if you forget to bring them every once in a while, at least you will drastically reduce the number of paper and plastic bags that you use.
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Treehugger treehugger.com
World Changing worldchanging.com
Grist www.grist.org
Plenty Magazine www.plentymag.com
Union of Concerned Scientists www.ucsusa.org
Co-Op America www.coopamerica.org
Environmental News Network www.enn.com
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Discovery Channel: Planet Earth Guide
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/planet-earth/guide/guide.html
Sundance Channel: The Green
http://www.sundancechannel.com/thegreen#/homePage
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The Future of Food www.thefutureoffood.com
 The Future of Food offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.
An Inconvenient Truth climatecrisis.com
From director Davis Guggenheim comes the Sundance Film Festival hit, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, which offers a passionate and inspirational look at one man's fervent crusade to halt global warming's deadly progress in its tracks by exposing the myths and misconceptions that surround it. In this eye-opening and poignant portrait of Gore and his "traveling global warming show," Gore also proves himself to be one of the most misunderstood characters in modern American public life. Here he is seen as never before in the media - funny, engaging, open and downright on fire about getting the surprisingly stirring truth about what he calls our "planetary emergency" out to ordinary citizens before it's too late.
11th Hour www.11thhourfilm.com
 "So, we find ourselves on the brink. It's clear humans have had a devastating impact on our planet's ecological web of life. Because we've waited, because we've turned our backs on nature's warning signs, and because our political and corporate leaders have consistently ignored the overwhelming scientific evidence, the challenges we face are that much more difficult... What will guide this massive change? And does nature hold the answers we need to help restore our planet's resources, protect our atmosphere, and therefore help all life survive? — Leonardo DiCaprio
Excerpted (Vanity Fair May 2007) from the film The 11th Hour, a documentary created by Leonardo DiCaprio; directed by Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners; the film, to be released later this year by Tree Media Group and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. Read more at www.leonardodicaprio.org
The Corporation www.thecorporation.com
Winner of 26 International Awards! 10 Audience Choice Awards including the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.
 Provoking, witty, stylish and sweepingly informative, The Corporation explores the nature and spectacular rise of the dominant institution of our time. Taking its status as a legal "person" to the logical conclusion, the film puts the corporation on the psychiatrist's couch to ask "What kind of person is it?" The Corporation includes interviews with 40 corporate insiders and critics - including Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Milton Friedman, Howard Zinn, Vandana Shiva and Michael Moore - plus true confessions, case studies and strategies for change.
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Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew
America
by Thomas L. Friedman
Cradle to Cradle
by William McDonough info
Introduction to Permaculture
by Bill Mollison info
The Art of Natural Building
by Joseph Kennedy, Michael G. Smith, Catherine Wanek info
Gaviotas, A Village to Reinvent the World
by Alan Weisman info
Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands
by Brad Lancaster info
The End of Poverty
by Jeffrey Sachs info
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