Dear friends,
So, Earth Hour (a friend refers to it as 'green hour'...) had come and gone. An hour of no lights or electrical appliances. At least that was the case for us at home.
We spent the evening with friends for dinner, celebrating the moment. A motley group of people gathered for delicious Indian cooking, with all sorts of desserts - including Becca's infamous lemon chess pie...! In between it all we had good wine, interesting conversations and a scattering of kids for entertainment.
At 8h30pm we switched all the lights off, and candles took center stage. We dipped outside to see if the streetlights or neighbors had switched off. Nope. What? How could this be? Are people just not interested or does it not make sense to switch lights and appliances of for an hour? Up to last night I had believed that the world (particularly neighbors...) will participate in this grand event to show our commitment to live more sustainably. I was even told that that the local City Council will turn the street lights off. I was wrong. I was naive. For now, I have to live with that.
Did anyone do anything during Earth Hour. If you did, I would love to hear about it! Just by chance, it might inspire to me remain hopeful. Alas, what keeps us alive if not hope? I discovered as I was writing this post that over 36 million people in the US switched off. If that's true, then I'm impressed!
So that's my story for today. Feel free to leave some comments.
Live large!
Ali
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Earth Hour 2009!
If you have no idea what to do with yourself on the 28th of March 2009, here's an idea! Sign up for Earth Hour and commit to switching off your lights and appliances for an hour at 8h30pm on the 28th. We will be doing that. Join us!
Please pass this on to others that care about our Earth!
With love,
Ali and Becca
Please pass this on to others that care about our Earth!
With love,
Ali and Becca
March Update...
Dear Friends, and blog
It's been two months since my last confession, I mean post... sad, but true. It seems like life just kinda runaway with you if you don't stop and catch it fast enough. My apologies for slacking off...
So much has happened in these last two months, with so many blessings and celebrations. Most notable is that I have become an uncle again, and Rebecca an aunt. On February 28th, my sister Alverisha gave birth to a strong, healthy and gorgeous boy named Keanu Jason! He is as cute and adorable as most babies are, but I think my sister is more cute, and suddenly she is so grown up and all mother-like. Is that normal, and do women just become natural mothers when they give birth? Grant, my sister's husband is a proud father! Below are some pics of Becs and Keanu.
Towards the middle of February Becs and I spent a few days at the Freewheeling Festival, which happened on a farm out in Stanford, a beautiful town on the South Coast of South Africa. The festival is a celebration of sustainable living, pushing our thinking on spirituality, creativity, and deepening our sense of self, the earth, other organisms and our future survival. It was an intense experience with lots of workshops and live events spread over four days. The people were fascinating, the food organic & delicious, the surroundings awe-inspiring, and the farm dams...oh those farm dams, they were breathtaking and cool to swim in! Below are a two pics.
I've also been very busy at work - from a Funder/Donor workshop, to school visits in Durban and Johannesburg, to a Climate Change Summit. And now you may wonder, what is his work? For those of you who have known me for a while now, will know that I have been in the outdoor/adventure education field. Well, I'm not anymore. I have shifted direction slightly. I now for work with a non profit organization called Project 90 by 2030. Say what?!
At Project 90 by 2030 we aim to work with South Africans to reduce carbon emissions and affect a lifestyle change of 90% by the year 2030. An audacious goal? Yes, but hey, let's dream big here! So we help schools, organizations and corporates establish 90 by 2030 Clubs, which enables them to work towards energy consumption reductions, improve waste management processes, reduce travelling, and promote positive behaviour changes. And this is all so that we, as a humanity, can dream and act together to live more sustainably, and just maybe avert the looming Climate Change Crisis. If you wanna know more about my work, check our Blog or Web Site.
In between it all Becs, Namita (Becs' best friend in Cape Town) and Anil (Namita's husband) and myself had time for a Summer Concert at the infamous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. A trip to Cape Town will not be complete without a visit to Kirstenbosch, so put it on your itenary for your next visit! Anyway, every Sunday afternoon during our summer, Kirstenbosch hosts some great South African musicians and bands in a perfect setting on rolling lawns surrounded by lush indigenous vegetation, with a stunning mountain backdrop. The band was Malaika and Wendy Oldfield - what an awesome combination! They rocked the crowd to their feet and made the experience almost heavenly. Rock on Malaika!
And with that I leave you with wishes for an amazing next month, filled with many moments that will take your breath away! Of course I will try and post more regularly. Until then, love you mean it!
Ali and Becs
It's been two months since my last confession, I mean post... sad, but true. It seems like life just kinda runaway with you if you don't stop and catch it fast enough. My apologies for slacking off...
So much has happened in these last two months, with so many blessings and celebrations. Most notable is that I have become an uncle again, and Rebecca an aunt. On February 28th, my sister Alverisha gave birth to a strong, healthy and gorgeous boy named Keanu Jason! He is as cute and adorable as most babies are, but I think my sister is more cute, and suddenly she is so grown up and all mother-like. Is that normal, and do women just become natural mothers when they give birth? Grant, my sister's husband is a proud father! Below are some pics of Becs and Keanu.
Towards the middle of February Becs and I spent a few days at the Freewheeling Festival, which happened on a farm out in Stanford, a beautiful town on the South Coast of South Africa. The festival is a celebration of sustainable living, pushing our thinking on spirituality, creativity, and deepening our sense of self, the earth, other organisms and our future survival. It was an intense experience with lots of workshops and live events spread over four days. The people were fascinating, the food organic & delicious, the surroundings awe-inspiring, and the farm dams...oh those farm dams, they were breathtaking and cool to swim in! Below are a two pics.
I've also been very busy at work - from a Funder/Donor workshop, to school visits in Durban and Johannesburg, to a Climate Change Summit. And now you may wonder, what is his work? For those of you who have known me for a while now, will know that I have been in the outdoor/adventure education field. Well, I'm not anymore. I have shifted direction slightly. I now for work with a non profit organization called Project 90 by 2030. Say what?!At Project 90 by 2030 we aim to work with South Africans to reduce carbon emissions and affect a lifestyle change of 90% by the year 2030. An audacious goal? Yes, but hey, let's dream big here! So we help schools, organizations and corporates establish 90 by 2030 Clubs, which enables them to work towards energy consumption reductions, improve waste management processes, reduce travelling, and promote positive behaviour changes. And this is all so that we, as a humanity, can dream and act together to live more sustainably, and just maybe avert the looming Climate Change Crisis. If you wanna know more about my work, check our Blog or Web Site.
In between it all Becs, Namita (Becs' best friend in Cape Town) and Anil (Namita's husband) and myself had time for a Summer Concert at the infamous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. A trip to Cape Town will not be complete without a visit to Kirstenbosch, so put it on your itenary for your next visit! Anyway, every Sunday afternoon during our summer, Kirstenbosch hosts some great South African musicians and bands in a perfect setting on rolling lawns surrounded by lush indigenous vegetation, with a stunning mountain backdrop. The band was Malaika and Wendy Oldfield - what an awesome combination! They rocked the crowd to their feet and made the experience almost heavenly. Rock on Malaika!
And with that I leave you with wishes for an amazing next month, filled with many moments that will take your breath away! Of course I will try and post more regularly. Until then, love you mean it!
Ali and Becs
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