Business people are hoping for a positive outcome of the COP17 United Nations climate change conference in Durban. The objective of the conference is to set carbon emission reduction targets, while trying not to impede economic growth and development. South Africa is committed to reducing national emissions to 34 % by 2020. COP 17 conference runs [...]

Recycling just one glass bottle saves the same amount of energy required to keep a 100-watt light bulb powered up for an hour. This is one of the many facts I learned recently when I sat down with CEO of the Glass Recycling Company (TGRC), Shabeer Jhetam, and Kate Haupt, who handles the PR for [...]

The City of Cape Town’s Waste Exchange programme, IWEX, is proving to be an invaluable resource to local entrepreneurs and industries. Integrated Waste Exchange (IWEX) is a free online system that enables waste generators and users to exchange waste materials. Operating on the principle that ‘one person’s garbage is another person’s gold,’ IWEX facilitates the [...]

by Peter Block We cannot build strong neighborhoods and communities while laboring under the principles of traditional economics. The dominant economic thinking begins with a religious belief in scarcity and self-interest. This rules most modern economies and continues to dominate what we measure and value. We measure our well-being as a nation by the growth [...]

A new study says there is no peak age for entrepreneurship, despite the tech industry’s “romanticised” idea of young founders.   In a bid to identify the traits of successful entrepreneurs, The Founder Institute, a global network of start-ups and mentors, conducted a series of personality and aptitude tests on more than 3,000 applicants worldwide [...]

Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” is not only an environmental threat – but a relatively small amount of induced pressure from fracking could potentially trigger earthquakes.   This is the view of Dr Chris Hartnady, technical director of earth sciences consultancy Umvoto Africa, who was an invited speaker in a debate on fracking at the Johannesburg [...]

Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor has the power to quash any attempts that may jeopardise the country’s astronomy projects, including fracking in the Karoo, her deputy said on Tuesday. Pandor delivered her budget vote in Parliament on Tuesday afternoon. While briefing the media, the minister and her deputy Derek Hanekom promised the country is [...]

Over the last few years, the penny has finally dropped that consumers are not going to change their behaviour when it comes to a more sustainable pattern of consumption. Only about 20% are enthusiastic enough about green issues to put their money where their values are and demand greener products. So what is a green-minded [...]