Enviro Events 2015 Sunday 15 March – ring the date! – is for everyone. Join the Makana Green Fun Run. It’s the biggest of its kind on our annual sporting and environmental calendar.
Enviro Events 2015 Sunday 15 March – ring the date! – is for everyone. Join the Makana Green Fun Run. It’s the biggest of its kind on our annual sporting and environmental calendar.
Find out more on the Green Living pages – www.ru.ac.za/greenliving Also keep an eye on the Grocott’s Community Pages, scan publicity and notice boards, and visit online calendars at www.edutourism.co.za and www.grocotts.co.za Soil is Life 2015 has been declared the International Year of Soils, under the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
The aim is to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of soil for food security and essential ecosystem functions.
Civil society – that’s us! – and decision makers – yep, us again (we make decisions with every step we take) – need to wake up and smell the roses.
Er, soil. Our soil is in danger due to poor land management practices and constant expansion and building.
Without healthy soil, food security would take a dive.
When it rains, water wouldn’t soak down properly, so there’d be more surface runoff (and more soil erosion), which means more flooding, interruption of services, and diminishing groundwater levels.
That’s the doom and gloom. The good news is that it is quite easy to look after soil.
Careful town planning is key to avoiding urban sprawl and keeping green belts intact.
And all of us should let indigenous trees and bushes grow – or plant new ones – to protect the earth.
Adding compost and mulching also helps. Avoid waste and chemical dumping and polluting.
And of course, good farming practices are vital.
Livestock should be moved through a large number of small enclosures every three days – to allow the grazed veld to recover.
Soil conservation in crop farming includes contour ploughing, terracing, groundcover crops and windbreaks, and avoiding excess fertiliser or salty water.
Most important, let earthworms thrive – they make the soil very nutritious.
More info: www.fao.org/soils-2015 Food from the soil If you don’t have time or space to grow your own food, don’t worry.
Supporting local is lekka.
There are plenty of fresh veg shops selling local produce.
And there is the Saturday Market – now on the MogDog Pizzas lawn, corner of African and Allen Streets.
Apart from freshly picked vegetables, you will meet interesting local characters selling their handcrafts, home baking and bottling, health products, etc.
Just a short stroll from Pepper Grove Mall – stop in for a cuppa and chat, and get to know your community.
Skeptics vs Deniers Are you a ‘climate change skeptic’, or a ‘denier’?
Professor Philip Machanick says that a true skeptic – like a good scientist – examines an issue from all angles and is willing to change position as new facts come to light.
By contrast, a denier takes one position and sticks to it no matter what the facts.
Good scientists have been taking new facts into account and advancing the study of climate science over the years.
But climate change deniers, according to Machanick, have been undermining scientific debate and policy formulation by claiming that science has “one true answer” (like a religion).
They continue to stick to the same old arguments long after these have been refuted.
Admitting you are wrong is hard. But if you are a good skeptic, you can do it.
And keep up with good science.
Find us Online: www.grocotts.co.za/environews
Contacts for Makana Enviro-News:
Nikki Köhly: n.kohly@ru.ac.za, 046 603 7205
Jenny Gon: j-gon@intekom.co.za, 046 622 5822
Rachel Ibbetson: g14i5652@campus.ru.ac.za, 079 951 3005
Nick James: nickjames@intekom.co.za, 082 575 9781
Philip Machanick: p.machanick@ru.ac.za, 046 603 8635
Tim Bull: timothybull05@aol.com, 046 622 6044, 076 289 5122
