Happy Birthday to the man who said: “…I have no hesitation in saying that each one of us is as intimately attached to the soil of this beautiful country as are the famous jacaranda trees of Pretoria and the mimosa trees of the bushveld.

“Each time one of us touches the soil of this land, we feel a sense of personal renewal. The national mood changes as the seasons change.

“We are moved by a sense of joy and exhilaration when the grass turns green and the flowers bloom.

“That spiritual and physical oneness we all share with this common homeland explains the depth of the pain we all carried in our hearts as we saw our country tear itself apart in a terrible conflict, and as we saw it spurned, outlawed and isolated by the peoples of the world, precisely because it has become the universal base of the pernicious ideology and practice of racism and racial oppression.

“We, the people of South Africa, feel fulfilled that humanity has taken us back into its bosom, that we, who were outlaws not so long ago, have today been given the rare privilege to be host to the nations of the world on our own soil." – from his Inauguration as President of SA, Pretoria, 10 May 1994

Today is Earth Day – named such in the hope that it will inspire awareness of and appreciation for our Earth’s environment. As a planet, we’ve been observing Earth Day on April 22 for 38 years – it was launched as a protest against corporate environmental misconduct in 1970.

©R.KanatnikovEarth Day is a noble movement that deserves to be heard. We were contacted by a local newspaper exploring what South Africans were doing to celebrate Earth Day. Despite diligent digging, we came up with nothing, nada, which we wrote off to general apathy, lack of awareness and several inconveniences at home (load shedding, Zim crisis, embarrassing gaffs by politicians…)

But lack of a local event isn’t due to lack of concern. If anything, the world has never focussed as much on the environment as now – every corporate player and manufacturer is laying claim to their efforts to save the planet; governments and business have international environmental marketing campaigns, never mind a mere Earth Day, to blaze their green trails all over the world.

The screening of Manufactured Landscapes – a feature documentary by Jennifer Baichwal. Winner of Best Documentary – 2007 Genie Awards and nominated for Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival last year, Manufactured Landscapes is the striking new documentary on the world and work of renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. Internationally acclaimed for his large-scale photographs of “manufactured landscapes”—quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines and dams—Burtynsky creates stunningly beautiful art from civilization’s materials and debris. The film follows him through China, as he shoots the evidence and effects of that country’s massive industrial revolution. Don’t miss the screening tonight - 7pm for 7.30pm in Jo'burg.

SA blog Awards 2008. The final awards ceremony is tomorrow, 2 April, at UCT Tennis Club in Cape Town. If you’re planning to attend, you need to head over to the SA Blog Awards Wiki and put your name on a list. New categories for this year include: Best Group Blog - Best Website Promoting Blogging - Best Sports blog - Best Green/Environmental Blog - Best Blog about Design - Best African Language Blog (other than english) - Best Social Upliftment Blog - Most Controversial Blog - Best Travel blog - Best Undiscovered Blog - Best Post about the SA Blog Awards.

Vote for Eat In awards. The foodie awards are back. Eat In awards recognise the small independent producers who demonstrate integrity, care for the environment, passion and innovation. This is your chance to nominate and promote the organic sector in SA. Vote now

Although it was Saturday, I pulled into Wits University with a lot more enthusiasm than I usually do. Having never attended a "green" gathering before, I was bubbling with excitement at the prospect of attending One Struggle, a one day event addressing an eclectic range of ethical and environmental issues.

On arrival at the Origins Centre, I was greeted by the sounds of live act UFO, a Green Africa Collective, and tables heavily laden with delicious vegan treats. The corridor leading to the conference venue was flanked by numerous display tables hosted by the Anti-Privatisation Forum, People Opposing Women Abuse, Beauty Without Cruelty, Earthlife Africa, and Food and Trees for Africa, among others.

First on the agenda was the anticipated launch of Animal Rights Africa, an amalgam of the Justice for Animals, Xwe African Wild Life and South Africans for the Abolition of Vivisection organisations. This was immediately followed by an address by Dr Steve Best, an internationally acclaimed philosopher and activist.

The first step down the road of making a difference is awareness: if you don't know what's happening out there you can't act. At urban sprout we try to raise awareness in a few different ways - news and opinion articles, green guides, a directory of positive options and details of upcoming events. We've been sending out details of events in our newsletter for the last few months, but today we launch a green events calendar to make this information more visible.

So without further ado, here are some important happenings in the next few days you'll want to support:

Safeage talk: Learning from the South American experience

The most common belief about genetically engineered crops is that they are necessary to feed our burgeoning world population, but when big business takes over small scale family farming, it results in the concentration of land ownership, the destruction of peasant economies and indigenous crops, malnutrition, urban migration, increased poverty and crime.

Join Safeage and Javiera Rulli tonight at the Portobello Restaurant, Long Str, Cape Town as she explains the social and environmental situation of South America due to the expansion of Round Up Ready soy monocultures.

Clean-up of Black River

Black River testing: Pic: SA Mercury Assessment ProgramCape Town's Black River is in dire need of a clean-up and this Saturday, 8 December, local citizen group What On Earth is Happening (WOE) will lead a massive campaign, backed by the City of Cape Town, celebrities, other environmental and corporate partners to clean up the Black River in one of its most polluted stretches close to where the N2 connects with the M5. This is a great opportunity to meet up with other like minded people and be part of a solution. Positive action is very empowering!

While You Were Sleeping screening: Uranium Road

If you're still sitting on the fence about nuclear power in South Africa and the PBMR this is the movie to see. Uranium Road lift's the lid on the closed world of nuclear in SA revealing secrets and greed. Uranium Road is a 53 minute documentary, based on the book by Dr David Fig.

Take a look at our calendar view of events here

And if you know of any upcoming green, organic, enviro events be sure to let us know

As would be expected for this time of year there are some great markets on the go, which makes it easier to avoid inhumane shopping malls and put your hard-earned rands to more effective use in the local economy.

Cape Town Talent Exchange Market Days
Actually if you join the Community Exchange System you can avoid spending hard earned Rands entirely! The Community Exchange System has it's own currency called Talents which you can use to buy or sell your own goods or services. There is always something interesting to be found at the CES markets and you'll no doubt meet some interesting people too. The whole idea behind the CES is that it is community based rather than debt based (where private bankers are made wealthier at everyone else's expense.)

At the last market I got to enjoy some awesome home-made lemonade and took away some delicious butternut chutney as well as adding to my vinyl collection. There were traders selling some great clothing and gifts and there was a self-published booklet of poems (printed on recycled paper) that I have to go back for.

There are two markets coming up this Sat, 8th Dec - one in Kalk Bay and one in Khayelitsha. And then there is another on Sat 15th Dec at the Novalis Ubuntu Centre in Wynberg.

Prince Albert Christmas Market
The weekly market in Prince Albert has a history that dates back to 1855 when the then Governor of the Cape, Sir George Grey, gave permission to hold a market in the town.

If you're lucky enough to be anywhere in the vicinity of Prince Albert on Saturday 15th then don't miss their Christmas Market. There will be organically grown fruit and vegetables, homemade jams, chutneys and preserves, and Christmas cakes and cookies. Also lots of handmade products and gifts.

Bryanston Organic Market

It's now Christmas Night Market season at that stalwart of organic markets,

Tomorrow, Sat 24th is International Buy Nothing Day. A day to abstain from consuming and to reflect on our purchasing habits.

Buy Nothing Day is about taking a stand against consumerism – an annual revolt against a culture of materialistic hedonism. And the message is simple: shop less, live more. And of course it's not by chance that Buy Nothing Day coincides with the Christmas shopping frenzy.

So why take part? Well changing our habits for one day and pausing to think may trigger a lasting lifestyle commitment to consuming less and producing less waste. These are some of the things I'll be contemplating this buy nothing day:

Could I make everyday a buy nothing day? I've long been interested in self reliance, although with my DIY skills I probably wouldn't get very far. I do, however, confess to owning a copy of John Seymour's Self-Sufficiency which would come in handy ;-) I've thought about perhaps leaving mainstream society - living on a farm or small holding outside of the city and going it alone. Or joining an intentional community, an eco-village. I think that this could be a very fulfilling experience, but have probably romanticised the idea and would have to look closer at my motives for wanting to escape the city. There is no doubt that communities like Findhorn, Auroville and the Centre for Alternative Technology are producing some pioneering thinking that is contributing to a shift in society. Closer to home we have Berg-en-dal, Khula Dhamma, Lynedoch, Oude Molen, Forest Vale and Tlholego that are teaching us lessons in new sustainable models of living. Maybe it's time to pay them a visit?

Questioning my purchasing motives. Is this a need or is it a desire? Obviously life is not just about just getting by with what we need. We have dreams and desires that need to be fulfilled. But spending a lot of money on

Some cool green things on the go this week and beyond:

The Turbine by "The Upsetters", Afrika Burns 2007Afrika Burns has finally arrived. After originally being scheduled for sometime in July, the organisers wisely decided to dodge the Cape's winter rains and move it out until November. Afrika Burns is a SA-style Burning Man and it promises to be one of the best events on this year's calendar. Afrika Burns is more than just one helluva big party in the middle of nowhere. It's...
"An art festival... Participant created... An experiment in temporary community building... Radical self-expression, self reliance and non-commercialism... Encouraging a culture of environmental mindfulness".
It's simply going to be awesome. There are no more tickets to buy online, but you can still get them at the gate on the day for R350.

Eco-lifestyle TV show, Hybrid Living, has just hit the airwaves. It covers living a greener life (i.e. living more sustainably) without having to sacrifice the conveniences of modern living. So it will be more eco-chic hip than tie-dye hippy, but will hopefully create awareness of environmental crises facing us whilst at the same time presenting an eco lifestyle so darn enviable that we'll all want to change! It's co-presented by Irvan Damon of Big Brother, Green Drinks (Jhb) and Carbon 'd Afreeque fame so it's bound to be worth seeing. Check it out on SABC2 on Fridays at 2.45pm. It'll also feature once a month on 3Talk.

Kirstenbosch "Hard Rain"Kirstenbosch is hosting an open-air exhibition of photographs inspired by Bob Dylan's apocalyptic "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall". The exhibition, called "Hard Rain", is presented by a London-based photographer, Mark Edwards, and makes "a powerful commentary on climate change, pollution, poverty, habitat loss and human rights, evoking strong emotions and appealing to humankind to act responsibly or brace ourselves for imminent collapse of the world's ecosystems". [via sa climate crisis]

Hemp products exhibition day Join Hemporium and the Wellness Warehouse for a special presentation dedicated to hemp and hemp products. Where: The Wellness Warehouse, The Lifestyle Centre, Kloof St, Gardens in CT. : When: : Sat, 27 Oct, 10am – 11am

Annual cob convergence in McGregor. McGregor has a large number of heritage earth houses. All the restaurants are in earth houses, it has heritage and modern cob houses; heritage and modern adobe houses, and, of course, modern strawbale houses, plus houses off the grid powered by solar. Many of these need serious attention. MAT are running two workshops before the convergence - lime rendering and plastering, and repairing a house with materials from your back garden. The convergence includes speakers: Andy Horn, Eco Design, Bernhard Lembeck, Envirotouch and Etienne Bruwer, Greenhaus ; and there will be displays of solar equipment, ideas on recycling, different types of natural building, compost toilets and more! When: 15 – 17 Dec Contact: Jill Hogan jill.hogan@mat.org.za

Eat less Meat and Help save the Planet. Earthlife Africa invite you to join them for the screening of this film and ‘Truth or Dairy’. Where: The Goethe Institute, 119 Jan Smuts Ave cnr Newport (entrance in Newport), Parkwood, Jhb. When: Tues 30 Oct, 7pm. Come armed with questions!

Organic strawberry picking. It’s strawberry picking time at Tangaroa strawberry farm. Where: North Riding, Jhb Find out more here

This is one of 2007's BIG events for me. Along with the Design Indaba (held back in Feb), The Natural & Organic Products Exhibition is an annual must visit. If you're an urban sprout regular you'll have read about the NO KAK fashion extravaganza planned, or about the Natural & Organic sponsored screening of the 11th hour (and if you're a newsletter subscriber, you may even have walked off with a couple of N&O tickets!).

With tomorrows 4th Natural & Organic Products Exhibition back in Cape Town again, it means it is really going to be a rocking event. The last one we attended was in 2005 (remember Woody Harrelson pulled out at the last minute), and visiting the expo was one of my green defining moments; an affirmation that the directory we had started to compile was what I really wanted to be doing. There were so many exhibitors that were not just there to sell you a product, but because they really believed they were on a mission to do good for the planet. Wanda was (very) pregnant at the time and a memory that sticks was Bruce from Absolute Organix giving her a huge bottle of organic Omega 3-6-9 oil gratis and telling her to make sure she takes every last drop of it for the baby's sake.

Anyway I digress... this is what you can catch this time around!

There is a hectic performance schedule on at the Lifestyle Stage every day. The programme includes