As a Muslim, it is part of my belief system to take water issues really seriously, as we as Muslims have been advised by the Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) that “even if we have a flowing river of water, we should still not waste it”. I am taught by the Scripture which I follow(The Quran) to believe that Our Creator has created every living thing by making use of Water as a major component of it’s creation. It’s very simple, water is essential for life, though we as a Human race are abusing this very essential element in just about every single manner possible. There is enough water flowing around our planet at any given time to provide for each and every living being, but we have chosen to make it a right only some of us can enjoy.

Things we’re doing to make our water situation worse:

• Waste in general
• Using unenecessary amounts of water for enternatinment or commercial use
• Hoarding up water resources and depriving others
• Polluting our rivers, lakes and even the oceans
• Polluting the atmosphere out of which the Rains fall
• Unnecessarily using valuable resources on bottled water in many cases where it’s not necessary

In the modern home the amount of water each person uses on a daily basis for various activities could at times equal what others may use in an entire month. If only we could see the thousands of litres we’ve consumed, polluted, wasted unnecessarily we may be more conscientious. I speak for myself first as being very guilt of all of these things.

Here’s a list of things we can all do to be part of the solution right now.

• Shower Instead of bathing
• Shorten shower duration to what is necessary
• Wash your face with cold water, don’t wait for water to warm up
• Rinse dishes, fruit etc in a bowl of water instead of leaving the tap running
• Don’t throw chemicals or other pollutants down the drains
• Water your garden early morning or late evening to avoid vapouration
• Reuse water used to rinse fruit & veg for house plants
• Don’t drink bottled water unless absolutely necessary
• Fix leaking taps asap
• Only run dishwashers and clothing washers when they’re full

I found a great list of 100 tips to conserve water – Use Water Wisely

One more tip to inspire you towards appreciating water in a more meaningful way it, go out into nature where fresh water is still flowing naturally, like a river, waterfall or mountain stream. When you see clean water in nature and you appreciate it’s beauty & benefit it helps increase respect for this divine blessing.

That’s me on a 2 Day Hike in the Cedarberg Mountains in the Western Cape South Africa. It helped me gain a much better appreciation for clean flowing water and the blessings it holds.

1. Go Digital – Save Trees

Going Digital means cutting out many of the paper based systems we use as business people and many times unnecessarily so. I use almost no paper and I don’t use a printer at all. Take you data assets online and back them up using various mechanisms. It will not only save trees but can drastically improve you efficiency.

2. Work Remotely – Save our Atmosphere

There really is no good reason for knowledge workers to be commuting in their thousands on a daily basis. The web has made it extremely easy to setup online collaboration spaces which help keep remote teams in touch with each other. This can also improve your quality of life and reduce stress, save valuable travel time and reduce carbon emmisions.

3. Less is more – Save our Resources

Or should I say, less is less. We tend to go over the top when we get involved in things and go on spending sprees for our hobbies, work and families. Embrace a more simple life and you’ll be consuming less valuable earthly resources as well as needing less money which leads to needing to work less. Humans can survive very comfortably with very little.

4. Re-use – Save money

I buy everything I own or need on a cash basis, keeps me in a almost permanently debt free state. When I do need to make a purchase, most times I opt for a good quality used item whether it be a car, computer, desk you name it. Why should we be increasing the need for production of more and more when the items in circulation are good enough.

I don’t go around hugging trees regularly nor am I obsessive about every last purchase or action, but a few simple life principles naturally reduces the impact I make as an individual. What are you doing to make a difference? I could do with a few extra bits of advice.

Calling all photographers and Earth-lovers … Help us record a day in the life of our planet, in pictures.

If you’re into all things environmentally friendly or just want to celebrate the beauty of this wonderful planet we call home, take a few snaps of your little corner of Earth and submit itto the Earth Mosaic Project!

2,848 cities, towns and municipalities in 84 countries have already committed to VOTE EARTH for Earth Hour 2009, as part of the worlds first global election between Earth and global warming. – www.earthhour.org

The concept is simple, at 08:30pm on Saturday 28 March, if you’d like to cast your vote for the planet, switch off all your lights and go without electricity for an hour to do your little part for the environment.

Human powered energy generators are on the rise and many different designs have been surfacing in the last year or so. This one uses an existing fun activity to produce some much needed energy.

Daniel Sheridan, a student in consumer product design, won three separate awards amounting to GBP 5,500 earlier this year for his see-saw design, which can create enough electricity to power a classroom by capturing the energy generated when children play on it.

What more can I say, brilliant idea, South Africans could do with a combination of sober entertainment & energy production all rolled into one.

Check it out here

Both aim to approach 21st Century transportation in an innovative yet clean way, but don’t expect these to meet each other on the same street.

bamboobike meets env bike.

The 2 solutions are suited for the worlds they have been designed for, but both have a similar purpose, provide transport in an environmentally friendly manner.

Bamboo has a lighter footprint

Of course the bamboo bike wins the carbon footprint game hands down as it’s a completely sustainable product manufactured from around 70% biodegradable materials available in the locality it will be used in. It’s low-cost, fuel efficient, healthy, and doesn’t need huge production factories and machinery powered by huge energy resources to put together.

Slick, powerful, clean and extendable

On the other hand, the env is made for the modern city dweller who wouldn’t be caught dead on a bamboo frame with wheels. It’s slick design is only the beginning.

The fuel cell is an electrochemical device which produces electricity, water and heat directly from hydrogen and oxygen. The water by-product can be evaporated, drained or even drunk.

It’s hydrogen powered fuel cell(the core as it is referred to) is at the centre of this sophisticated design. The idea is that the core, as the detachable heart of the env can be used to power just about anything anywhere.

Back to the Bamboo Bike and it’s many advantages in a not so teched up environment. I can see the Bamboo bike having a much greater impact not only on the environment but on the lives of thousands of people living in sub-economic locations.

In Africa, very few people can own cars or even motorcycles and people without bicycles have to rely on inadequate and relatively expensive buses. Bicycles are creatively modified to become boda boda taxis.

Transportation issues on different sides of the economic/tech divide couldn’t be further apart, but it’s good to see that on both sides, practical attempts are being made to find sustainable & efficient solutions.

I’ve thought of getting myself a bicycle and electro scooter many times and hope I might get a chance in the near future to play my own part in conserving and lightening my footprint in this regard.

Just off chatting with White Africa, A.K.A. Hash, blog master of AfriGadget.com who lives in the US. I thought I’d take another look at AfriGadget and see if I can find anything which sparks my interest.

Step onto the scene a Sugar & Yeast Powered Generator

This invention(by Dr. Cedrick Ngalande’s) has massive implications for South Africa, not only directly related to the problem of charging of mobile phones in rural settings but in general, for the energy crisis we are experiencing locally.

This shows that Africans are very much innovating and working towards solutions to some of the most crucial problems mankind will be facing in the very near future.

“The rotor moves slowly most of the times but does pick up at certain intervals. This process continues for many hours. Since the rotor is quite heavy (and hence more inertia) a small geared DC motor can be connected to the rotor to generate power for cell phones, $100 laptops, and other things in Africa. People can leave this thing to charge their phones/$100 laptops overnight.”

The blog post where I found this little invention has a hot commenting debate about the actual viability of the invention, but like “Hash” the blog author responded, we need to be talking about what people are doing and maybe by spreading the word others can contribute and help build on these ideas.

Anyone out there know of any other cool low tech energy solutions? All I can say is Go Africa, Go!!

found on http://www.theethicalagency.co.uk

No this is not my business, of course not, not yet that is. I’ve come across quite a few UK based agencies of this nature in the last few years and it’s been my mission for a while to start one here in South Africa.

TEA – The Ethical Agency, is a UK based ethically motivated advertising company which promotes ethical business and lifestyles and does so in a really thought provoking manner.

Visiting their site has pricked my imagination somewhat and helped further crystallise the idea which has been brewing in my head for way too long.

So who out there has any ideas regarding ethical business?

Does this interest you, do you see a need for it?

Anyone passionate enough to take it a step further and do something?

We are all agents of change in our own right and have the responsibility to create a better space for all of us to live in.

I found these inspiring quotes on TEA’s website:

Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, for as long as you can. -John Wesley

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. -Greek proverb

Ogilvy Cape Town’s art director Jennifer Macfarlane and copy writer Cuan Cronwright are the winners of The Times Young Creatives Competition, held 23 – 26 February 2008 at this year’s Design Indaba Expo.

A PR stunt no doubt saw creatives pitting their skills against each other in a fishbowl style space with Public onlookers. Pity the procedings had to be screened on Plasma screens which would have used a fair amount of power themselves. Kind of defeats the purpose a little but I suppose it was about driving a message home and this little stunt certainly did that.

The winning agency was rewarded with a full page ad they can use for any pro bono client of their choice worth about R50000. Check out the article with all the details.

The following mind map is an excellent example and is available for free to download, spread and share with everyone. It gives simple practical solutions we can all identify with and can definitely start working on right now.

A Few other mindmaps found on the same site explain the impact and science of Global Warming in a plain and simple manner. These can all be found on a mind maps page which conveys a straightforward yet highly effective message in a visual language we can all understand.

Why use Mindmaps?

Mind maps are an excellent tool for conveying a mixture of elements & ideas especially when these ideas are linked together. A mind map can condense a whole body of knowledge into a single diagram thereby shorting the time it takes to explain something complex in a dragged out step by step manner.

The mind-maps have been collated and expanded upon in the e-book developed by Jane Genovese, public speaker, university graduate of Law and Arts and passionate global warming advocate.

The drawings and mind maps developed to convey her message connect with the viewer even though they have been roughly sketched with simple ink pens found in any child’s stationery kit.

It shows the author’s deep understanding of the subject and appreciation for human interaction and communication.

The structure of this beautifully put together little e-book is another point to note. It takes the reader through a necessary cycle from the point of apathy, to the wake up call, why there is a need to change, what to change and how to change it. The author’s understanding of psychology helps her get inside the mind of the person on the street and understand the thought processes and emotions involved in this issue.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Why We Need Change
Chapter 1: Waking Up
Chapter 2: Understanding Global Warming
Chapter 3: The Big Polluters
Chapter 4: Too Close for Comfort: Overpopulation

What to Change
Chapter 5: You Have the Power!
Chapter 6: What about the Government?

How to Change
Chapter 7: It’s Time for Change
Chapter 8: Goal Setting for a Liveable Planet
Chapter 9: Connecting with Nature

Who Has Changed
Chapter 10: It’s OK, You’re Not Alone!

It goes to show that big budgets are not necessarily a major requirement to producing and spreading ideas which can change the world.

Spread the word

I recommend taking a look at live-the-solution.com, viewing the mind maps page , downloading the e-book and maybe sharing it with your friends, family, colleagues, whoever. Blog about it, print the mind maps and stick them up somewhere where they could make a difference.

A huge thanks to Jane Genovese for the excellent work put into producing such engaging content for such an important issue.

Introducing the Jot-it Eco friendly desktop write board designed by cocoa living:

Basically it’s a plastic base, with another plastic sheet on top which allows you to insert a template between the 2 layers. A note taking template, calendar (perpetual template maybe), a task organising template, or you could customize your own template. The beauty is that you can quickly jot ideas, rough ones without wasting paper and without cluttering up your desktop with scraps of paper you’ve jotted all kinds of random stuff on.

It’s not perfectly designed. You aren’t able to use multiple templates simultaneously, it seems a little clunky to carry around, though it has been designed specifically for your desk and not your pocket. According to the review on Yanko Design the plastic makes a squeaky noise when you write on it so there’s a few bugs which need to be ironed out. The basic idea though is what makes this a good find and I can see this being modified and upgraded to be an extremely useful device. I’ve started thinking about how I can modify my hipster PDA to make use of this white board style note taking, not paper wasting and easy to delete entries.

The flexibility of of this tool is easy to spot. Using it in the classroom situation, in a design agency, in & around the office, next to the phone at home, just about anywhere where you need a quick & easy way to jot down notes.

So head on over to www.cocoaliving.com and see if they have a product to suite your specific needs, or you could devlop your own eco-friendly write board system like I hope to do using a few low cast elements from your local stationery store. If you do please tell me about so I can give it a try.

This is an eco-footprint of another kind which makes fantastic use of the concept of recyclability and re-usability in an ultr-cool way. Like McDonough states in his book over & over eco-friendly design does not have to be boring or less brilliant in functionality or visual appeal to fullfill it’s ecological responsibilities. It’s about the design approach.

Designer: Ben Chappell, has taken up the challenge with a not completely original but very much unique sneaker design which embraces the cradle to cradle thinking fully. The “Think” sneaker, a fully modular, meaning it’s made of seperate parts which can be removed & replaced, recyclable shoe.

Think of how long your trainers, even your favourite ones last, and what happens to them once they’ve reached that inevitably unwearable stage. They get stuffed into deep holes within the earth in the hope that they will just, “go away”.

One of the problems with recyclability of products is the dissassembly process which if problematic makes the reclaiming of the “nutrients” used to produce the product expensive and impractical. The beauty of modular designs is they are easy to disassemble and if designed with materials which can be perpetually reclaimed they enter a complete cradle to cradle cycle which means we never lose the “nutrients” used to produce the product. It is a shame that more products, after costing millions of dollars to conceptualize, design & manufacture have not been produced using this simple yet completely sustainable approach.

Might give you some inspiration next time you decide to sit down at the drawing board. Article found at – Yanko Design