Green Gain Consulting

Global warming and the idea of your personal contribution, your carbon footprint,

can create an inner panic but with minimal effort we can all make a difference.

There is a perception that global warming is least likely to influence ‘ME’ but one

look at a weather forecast or a newscast is all the clarity needed to understand

the true magnitude of the situation we humans find ourselves in.

Your carbon footprint is a measure of the amount of greenhouse gasses (GHG)

produced by your activities and products you use over a time span of usually a

year. These GHG emissions get trapped in the earth’s atmosphere and this

creates the phenomenon called Global Warming.

The main contributors to your carbon footprint are electricity consumption and

transport but in the greater picture every single activity you partake in and every

product you use has and contributes to your carbon footprint. To reduce your

carbon footprint you need to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, this does not only help our

mother earth and all of her inhabitants but is a fool proof way to save a lot of

money.

This concept concerns not only the amount of things you buy and use but also

the amount of packaging these require. We often buy more than what we use

and end up throwing a lot away, food is a prime example. Take some time the

next time you’re shopping and ask yourself whether you really need everything

that is in your trolley.

You most certainly do not need 10 different prints of paper serviettes, buy fabric

napkins and instead of buying disposable razors buy the type which uses refill

blades.

‘Drive less and more slowly, turn lights off when you are not using them and do

not waste water may sound simple but it is pitiful how few people take the time

to not only save themselves a little money but also save our natural resources.

Try to be mindful of packaging as well, buying goods in larger quantities usually

reduces the amount of packaging, buying a 2l soft drink or juice instead of 6

smaller containers safes a lot of waste.

Reusing items not only saves money but

makes a big difference in our carbon

footprint. In today’s lifestyle most of us love

shopping for new things rather than working

out how to reuse ‘old’ items we already have

at home, extremes include buying new

clothes because you’re too lazy to do

washing- true story! Here are a few ideas on reusing items:

Plastic bottles and containers can be used as birdfeeders or plant pots with

minimal modification;

Mend clothes or make adjustments to oversized clothes before buying new

ones;

Shoes can usually be re-soled or mended when you think they are over the

hill;

Give unwanted clothes to charity shops or needy persons;

Use old towels and linen to make pet beds and old blankets can be used to

make dog coats;

Donate old magazines or books to doctor’s offices, charity shops or share

them amongst friends;

Reuse dishwashing or bath water for watering plants;

Buying refill packs of household cleaners, spices and food and refill the

containers you already have instead of buying new containers each time.

Recycling is becoming more accessible in South Africa although infrastructure is

not yet fully developed, mostly scavengers on municipal refuse sites collect

recyclables and sell it to buy-back centres. Presently your main options are

kerbside collection which involves private companies collecting your recyclables,

drop-off centres and buy-back centres. The peace of knowing you’re making a

difference makes up for the small amount of effort it takes to recycle.

Treevolution has a guide to recycling in South Africa on their site which is very

useful and lists what can or can not be recycled, visit them at

find drop-off and buy-back centres. According to their statistics about 67% of

cans, 50% of paper, 21% of glass and 17% of plastic gets recycled in SA. This

seems to be almost impressive but when you consider how much more can be

recycled if we each do our part these figures are nominal.

When all else fails you can join a carbon off-setting project which invests in

projects that compensate for your emissions, this includes organisations planting

trees.

So go on and make a difference, try using less electricity, travelling less, reusing

items instead of replacing them and keep track of how much money you save in

one month and the happy feeling your heart and mind is filled with.

The Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs has amended activity 1(i) as

sites.

All sections except Section 1 and 8 of the National Environmental Management

Protected Areas Amendment Act have come into operation on the 23rd of October

2009.

The amendment to the following sections might be relevant –

extend the period if agreement has been reached by the owners of the

land in question.

apply.

Section 7(3) of the Promotion of administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000 requires that

the Rules Board for Courts of Law make rules of procedure for judicial review. The

Rules Board has made the rules and the Minister and Parliament have approved

them.

Judicial review means a review of an administrative action and these rules apply

to proceedings for judicial review in the High Court, the Labour Court or the

Magistrates' Courts.

The Rules Board for Courts of Law has under section 79 of the Promotion of

Access to Information Act 2 of 2000, made rules for application to court in terms

of the Promotion of Access to Information Act.

The National Energy Regulator (NERSA) has in terms of Section 33(3) of the

Petroleum Pipelines Act made the Petroleum Pipelines Act Rules. These Rules will

guide the following –

Notices have been published for the prohibition of making fires in the open air.

These notices cover the following areas - Districts of Swellendam, Montagu,

Robertson, Clamwilliam, Worcester, Piketberg, Ceres, Tulbach, Paarl, Caledon,

Stellenbosch, Strand, Somerset-West and a portion of the Cape Peninsula.

It is advised that if you fall under these areas to conform to the notices. It is also

advised that you check the notices as they have different applications for different

districts and allow for burning permits to be obtained during these periods.

A new list of protected tree species has been published. The list is exactly the

same as last year's list and contains the same 47 listed species of protected trees.

Protected trees may not be cut, disturbed, damaged, destroyed nor may any

person possess, collect, remove, transport, export, purchase, sell, donate or in

any other manner acquire or dispose of any protected tree or product derived

from a protected tree, except under a license granted by the Minister.

Contravention is an offence that may result in a fine or imprisonment for up to 3

years, or to both such a fine and imprisonment.

A new list of Dangerous Goods Training Bodies has been published in the above

gazette; please refer to the document for the full list. All organizations involved in

handling and transportation of dangerous goods must have undergone training

with an approved dangerous goods training body. Clients must be able to verify

this by means of records.

The following are the requirements to be approved as a Dangerous Goods

Training Body obtained from the Department of Transport in terms of Regulation

280 of The National Road Traffic Act, 1996 (Act No 93 of 1996):

The International Conference on Climate Change took place from 7 to 18

December 2009 and its main aim was to establish a global climate agreement to

take over where the Kyoto Protocol will leave off in 2012. Very few people,

countries or organisations are happy with how the conference in Copenhagen

went last year, somehow the conference managed to be a very expensive waste

of time and money with the ‘boss’ nations refusing to see reason and the ‘little

guys’ waging war with no result.

An agreement, the Copenhagen

Accord, was formed committing

to:

Limit global warming to

Developing nations

pledged $30bn to aid

developing nations….

And that was it….

There were high hopes for

Copenhagen with developing

nations finally realising the

causes and effects of global

warming and an overall increase in education on the subject. Unfortunately the

real offenders of our earth are the countries with all of the money and resources

and although their actions are making developing nations suffer they clearly just

do not give a damn.

South Africa has had a surge of road works taking place in anticipation of 2010

and although these have been driving us up the walls, there are some silver

linings!

Most new and many older highway on- and of-ramps are being separated from

areas surrounding them by built up barriers making life a little bit more tolerable

for residence living in the areas. Although these cement, brick and sometimes soil

barriers tend to be the ugly ducklings they bring the joy of peace to surrounding

neighbourhoods. These barriers block sound, the sight of highways and when

constructed correctly can even reduce the amount of air pollution being spread

from the highway to surrounding areas. Having a quite afternoon in your fresh

smelling garden might just make you see a little bit more of a silver lining in the

storm of road construction.

South Africa has made us all accustomed to changes,

whether a city or airport names, how things look and

work and for the most these have made our lives

better in one way or another. Once again there is a

change coming, Gauteng number plates will under go

a format change between 31 December 2010 and 31

December 2012 under the National Road Traffic

Regulations, 2000. Personalised number plates will be

affected as well and if you plan to keep your

personalised plate you need to apply for such.

A couple in the USA have recently started planning the ultimate ‘green’ wedding,

not necessarily because of venue, decorations or their menu but because of how

they are collecting funds for this special day. The couple is collecting aluminium

cans for recycling and so, can for can, getting the funds they need to hopefully

get hitched by 31 July 2010. For this to happen they need to collect 400 000 cans

which they are fairing very well with through the help of their local community

and recycling companies. You can see how far they are from target in their

The River Lee in Ireland has become one of the first technology enabled forces of

nature according to a report in National Geographic. The river has been fitted

with sensors which detect pollution in the river in real time and then wirelessly

transmits its information back to a website as part of a water monitoring project

called the DEPLOY Project. This project does not only assist scientist and

environmentalist in acting immediately when pollution is detected but local

residence check the website before going for a dip in the river. This project will be

extended to multiple rivers once it successfully completes its trial run.

This is an environmental

game where you choose

the materials to construct a

home and calculate the

overall building footprint.

Design a 10th planet

making decisions about

size, spin, tilt, rings,

atmosphere and biology.

The Stop Disasters Game

allows you to anticipate and

mitigate the affects of 5

common natural disasters:

tsunami, hurricane, wildfire,

earthquake and flood.

Pollution Simulator is a

game that lets you control

pollution by engaging in

anti-smoking campaigns,

ISO 14001 standards and

recycling, etc.

Welkom has been experiencing an influx of dumping of medical waste in the past

couple of months which includes syringes, used supplies, bloody linen, amputated

limbs and old medications. This causes a significant health risk to communities,

animals, soil and underground water reserves and a maximum penalty of R 10

million or 10 years in prison or both may be imposed for this environmental crime.

A waste company is being investigated by the Green Scorpions in connection with

the dumping.

Any environmental crimes can be reported to 0800 205 005.

Just when we thought that our technological

‘life partners’ are going to kill us for sure we

are surprised by some good news! The

Environmental News Network has reported

that a study at the University of South

Florida has shown that there might be some

advantages to spending quality time with

your cell phone.

USF did a study on mice which have

Alzheimer’s disease to investigate whether

electro magnetic waves generated by cell

phones have any influence on the mice.

They have found that cell phone exposure

assisted in reversing memory impairment in mice and that cell exposure in early

adulthood in the mice protected the mice in later life from Alzheimer’s symptoms.

To top it off the study showed that months of cell exposure boosted the

memories of normal mice to above-average!

Finally technology is embracing the environmental appeal through the savvy ‘app’.

You can now load an array of environmental applications on your iPhone and

although most of them are currently directed at consumers in the USA, the trend

is growing and will hopefully soon be available in South Africa. Here are a few

handy applications:

Bottled water has become a necessity in some people’s minds but we fail to

understand the full extent of the bottled water dilemma. People prefer to drink

bottled water as they believe it is cleaner and healthier but this is purely a well

established marketing ploy by the bottled water industry.

In South Africa the bottled water industry is not regulated while our municipal

water ranks amongst the cleanest in the world and with the World Cup

approaching it is important to spread the message of how wasteful and

unnecessary bottled water is. Bottled water’s life cycle involves manufacture of

plastic bottles, filling with water, transport to shops and last but not least

disposal, this leads to an enormous carbon footprint for one bottle of ‘healthy’

water. It is estimated that it takes 3 times more water to make a bottle of water

than it contains, in an arid country like South Africa this is shockingly wasteful!

Using municipal water is much cheaper and environmentally sound than bottled

water which may or may not be municipal water in a disguise- Make the wise

decision and be a leader in saving our precious natural resources.

Being obsessive-compulsive about germs is often misunderstood by the masses

but in today’s day and age a certain measure of care is needed to ensure our

healthy living and when faced with the facts OCD seems all the more reasonable!

Mother Earth Network described in an article the everyday situations in which we

are exposed to illness and how we can protect ourselves in some of these

situations. Most of us do not realise how ‘dirty’ our everyday routines are and with

winter and another wave of H1N1 approaching it is now more important than ever

to build up and protect our immune systems.

Some of the worst places for your health include doctor’s offices, hospitals, public

bathrooms and any enclosed area with a lot of kids and library books, public

telephones and computers are scary germ monsters. Washing your hands often,

keeping anti-bacterial wipes handy and staying clear of sick people reduces your

risk of becoming ill but it is equally, if not more important, to drink your vitamins

and have your annual flu shot. Be aware of your surroundings and the risks they

hold and remember prevention is better than cure.

Once again the seasons are turning and before we know it we’ll be in the depths

of winter not being able to remember our complaints about summer. The colder

months do however bring the joy of big cuddly blankets, hot chocolate and movie

nights. Mother Earth Network has listed its 10 top environmental movies of all

time which can make any winters night an educational, terrifying or eye opening

experience. The following have

made the list:

Environmental News Network has reported that few people realize how toxic

indoor air quality can be to their health. Chemicals in paint, cleaners and

furniture and natural gasses can result in cancer, asthma, nervous and

reproductive system damage and most of all a general feeling of being un-well.

Some of the worst offenders are:

Radon which occurs naturally in soil and seeps in through building

foundations;

Volatile organic compounds found in paint, cleaning products and

adhesives;

Plastics containing Bisphenal-A and Phthalates;

Pesticides and herbicides; and

Mold

The good news is that it is

relatively easy to eliminate

these poisons from our homes

and workplaces. Firstly, DO

NOT smoke inside a building, it

is your own choice to kill

yourself but remember that

other people and your pets have

a right to life. When painting

ensure that the area is well

ventilated until the paint is

completely dry and keep out

until then, it is suggested that you let enamel paint dry and ventilate for at least

2 days before using the room. Read the ingredients in chemicals and pesticides

before buying them and if possible do not use them, there are plenty of organic

substitutes to using these and they are more kind to your health and our

environment. Most importantly, love the fresh air! Open up your windows and

ventilate all of the harmful substances which you do not have control over out

of enclosed areas.