Design for sustainable living expo in Hermanus

Contributed by Wanda of www.urbansprout.co.za

There is some­thing so excit­ing about this time of year. Yes, it rains a great deal in the Western Cape (who’s com­plain­ing, it’s not like we get a lot!) but it’s also the time of the com­ing of the whales to our shores.

Whale

I love the whales. These beau­ti­ful, gentle, giants show utter trust in human­ity when they enter our bays to pro­duce their young. I wouldn’t trust human beings with quite the same level of humil­ity and grace (hey, I know what they’re cap­able of!) par­tic­u­larly when you take a step back and reflect on the cur­rent state of the envir­on­ment. Yet people flock in their thou­sands to recip­roc­ate the con­fid­ent peace of these great beasts, and to catch a glimpse that leaves each of us feel­ing touched by some­thing infin­itely exceptional.

But back to humans and our com­mit­ment to afflu­ence and eco­nomic growth at all costs, that is lit­er­ally cost­ing us the earth. We live in won­der­ful, yet alarm­ing times where rad­ical changes are called for. Where a pro­found shift in our value sys­tem and our take on the world needs to take place, or there will be little left to enjoy or call our own, and whales will be a dis­tant memory, some­thing about which we tell our grand­chil­dren, but which they will never have the joy of seeing.

This is the second year that the Design for Sustainable Living Expo is on at the Hermanus whale fest­ival, 24^th – 28^th September. It’s indic­at­ive of pub­lic con­cern and a grow­ing interest in all thing green and sus­tain­able. I’m always heartened by indi­vidu­als and organ­isa­tions who act­ively seek to involve indi­vidu­als in solv­ing the prob­lem — many of us can end up feel­ing par­tic­u­larly power­less in the face of the doom mon­gers of global warm­ing, des­pite its being a very real threat.

At the heart of the sus­tain­able liv­ing expo is the issue of com­ing up with a prac­tical plan of action, involving indi­vidual house­holds. This year focuses on plan­ning in urban and non-urban areas, as well as inform­a­tion on agri­cul­tural prac­tice and food secur­ity. Topics include home and work­place design, altern­at­ive energy, water, recyc­ling, trans­port and recre­ation, so head down to Gearing Point in Hermanus to find out how you can do your bit to liv­ing in a more sus­tain­able way. And let the whales be reminder of how close we are to let­ting it all just slip through our fingers ...

Editors Note:

About Urban Sprout — Urban Sprout fea­tures green news and opin­ion, and an organic eco dir­ect­ory that focuses on organic and eco-friendly products. Urban Sprout have won the South African Blog Award for two years run­ning for the cat­egory "Best Green Blog".

Useful Links:
For more des­tin­a­tion info see:
Hermanus Accommodation
Hermanus Attractions
Hermanus Photographs