SA’s first 100% biodegradable takeaway cup and lid.

Observation:  Vida has rolled out the first 100% biodegradable takeaway coffee cup across all stores in South Africa. The takeaway coffee cup’s lining is manufactured from corn starch instead of plastic, making it biodegradable and compostable. The waste from these cups and newspaper is then used to make the takeaway holder. The sip lid is manufactured from moulded fibre.

The drinking experience is also better as the cups are double walled, meaning the cup sleeve is no longer needed.

Why: The conscious consumer movement is gaining traction and consumers’ purchase choices are becoming more considered. Vida wants to provide more sustainable, greener options. Let’s hope that other companies follow suit.

-CS

Converse Conservation

Observation: Utilising photocatalytic paint that cleans the air, Converse has partnered with street artists around the world to share their message of inclusiveness, heritage, culture, solidarity and more Why: The themes explored by the artists using environmentally friendly paint are core ideals of the Converse target audience. Doing no harm will appeal directly to them. Added to this, utilising local artists to do a vision of their own choosing is essential to the authenticity of the project Future: The trend of using local people to share your message in an authentic way, whilst also beautifying ethically will expand.

- BR

Plastic Free Woolworths

Observation: After trialling with 4 stores in 2018, Woolworths have now removed all plastic bags from 147 of their stores. The supplier for their reusable bags is Isikhwama - a 100% black-owned supplier that has employed 148 people from under-resourced communities Why: Woolworths sells approximately 140 million plastic bags per year which equates to between 6 – 7 tons of plastic so stopping selling plastic bags will make a significant impact on a single use plastic bags littering South Africa. This goes a small way to reducing plastic pollution, but still the packaging problems that Woolworths has, continues to cause concern.

Future: As we see Apple committing to go Carbon free by 2030, Johnnie Walker creating fully recyclable paper bottles, Woolworths is on trend with cutting down on plastics and this will only increase. 

- BR

Increase in domestic travel predicted.... and other post-COVID-19 travel trends.

Observation: International travel demand is expected to fall 57% in 2020 and won't reach 2019 levels again until 2024, according to the latest forecast from Oxford Economics. 

Why:  Since lockdown, much of the world went from over-tourism to no tourism. Despite negatively impacting the tourism industry, many locals are appreciating less crowds, a reduction in pollution and a resurgence of wildlife.

Future: Here are some of the travel forecasts predicted for immediately post-COVID:

Some governments will redesign their tourism strategies to limit overcrowding, keep more money in the local economy, and enforce local regulations including those protecting the environment. 

There likely be an increase in demand for domestic travel rather than the overcrowded hotspots.

Travellers will trust places with good governance and health systems. Many health and hygiene standards will become permanent. They will take fewer trips and stay longer. They will see this pandemic as a forecast of what’s to come from the climate crisis and act more responsibly. Increase in ‘slow travel’ also spurred by Greta Thunberg and Flygskam.

‘Bubble Travel’ for group travel of close friends and family members that they feel safe with and may have been deprived of seeing during lockdown and want to social distance from the crowds.

Similarly, travel bubbles / travel corridors / corona corridors, are essentially an exclusive partnership between countries that have contained COVID-19 (e.g. India and Maldives).

Some governments will compete for the shrinking tourist spend with discounts to revive tourism. For example, Cancun, Mexico is advertising free hotel stays, car rental, and discounts at theme parks, golf courses, and spas.

Some countries, such as Maldives, are looking to rewarding loyal travellers with a loyalty scheme.

‘Revenge travellers’ are feeling restless and will seek to make up for lost time and could revive leisure tourism.

Image: South Africa’s first international flight landing in Cape Town since lockdown is treated to a water salute.

- CS

Mitigating over-tourism (pre-pandemic)

Observation: New regulations are attempting to combat over-tourism and protect significant natural and cultural sites. These include closing, fencing, restricting numbers, limiting time periods for visits and costly entrance fees, paving the way for luxury tourism experiences.

2018 examples include:

Amsterdam removed the “I Amsterdam” sign to reduce overcrowding from Instagrammers.

During the Netherlands tulip festival, areas are fenced off and ambassadors teach and encourage visitors to respect the fields.

Venice introducing a €10 ($11) fee to enter the city for short stays. Police officers fine tourists for eating in undesignated areas, littering or swimming in the canal.

2019 examples include:

Australia permanently closed Uluru out of respect for the Anangu people who regard it as a sacred site, which was being eroded and polluted.

Indonesia announced a paid membership scheme that would grant tourists access to Komodo National Park for US$1 000.

Machu Picchu introduced a stricter ticketing policy. The lost city of the Incas has divided the times of entry and visitors must be accompanied by an official guide.

Philippines’ Boracay Island introduced a ban on cruise ships during peak season.

Iceland’s popular Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon is open to visitors for only five weeks each year.

Why: Many consumers don’t comprehend the impact when travelling or respect. Social media has has bread selfish selfie-seekers who try to impress and induce FOMO with their travel images. Some travellers, governments and companies are becoming increasing conscious of how over-tourism can threaten the future of heritage landmarks and cultural traditions. 

Future: Counter-trends, such as slow travel and sustainability and new trends due to Covid-19 will evolve. Costly entrance fees and restrictive access are turning these sites into exclusive destinations for luxury travellers.

- CS

On a Road to Nowhere

Observation: Multiple Asian nations airlines are currently conducting dummy flights, as well as actual flights to nowhere.  

- Thai Airways has opened a cafe within a plane, allowing remote passengers to get on board and enjoy a cup of coffee.  - EVA Air in Taiwan and China Air both allowed customers to experience traveling by letting them check-in and board an airplane. Each trip lasts for three hours, as the plane circled the skies before returning to the same airport.  - Singapore Airlines is also planning to start hosting trips that will see planes taking off and landing back at Singapore Changi Airport, this service will launch in October. 

- EVA are particularly creative as they have created themed flights including a Fathers Day Hello Kitty themed flight, passengers could enjoy a photo opportunity at check in. After security, they spent time in the Eva Air Hello Kitty Joyful Dream Lounge, where they could take photos with a costumed Hello Kitty and her friends, during the flight customers received Hello Kitty-themed in-flight amenities, gift bags and meals created by three-Michelin-star chef Motokazu Nakamura, the cost for this experience is US$180 Why: Travel has, alongside hospitality been hit especially hard by lockdown. Airlines desperately need to create some form of income, in the same breath many around the world are desperate to start traveling again and perhaps pretending to is the closest thing you can get to a real flight.  That said, it seems particularly wasteful to burn jet fuel into the atmosphere just for a funfair ride.  Future: Are EVA’s themed flights a sign of things to come? Could planes be used for something other than just flying? We could possibly see bands touring on a plane, or maybe even doing bougie markets with michelin starred meals?

- BR

Reforesting in a Flash to “heal our planet’s lungs”

Observation: Flash Forest aims to use drones to plant a billion trees by 2028. Some drones can plant 100,000 trees per day whereas a person can plant 1 500 trees per day. It combines the use of drones with specially-designed pods and an accelerated seed germination process. Drone are currently firing seed pods to restore the devastation from the Toronto wildfire. 

Why: Every year our planet loses 13 billion trees and regains less than half of that. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that “it’s necessary to plant 1 billion hectares of trees—a forest roughly the size of the entire United States—to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.” Trees need to begin growing as quickly as possible now. Drones plant 10 times faster than humans and at 20% of the cost.

-CS

Stompies are also Litter

Observation:  We spotted this butt “buttress” in Woodstock Cape Town encouraging smokers to place their butts in the hole. It's attached to a solid concrete cone so chances of theft are far lower than usually expected in Cape Town. Why:  Smokers have that habit, you know the one: *take final drag *drop butt onto pavement *squash with foot *turn and walk away as if the squash has through some higher power dissolved the cigarette butt into the ether.  Future: It won't be long till smokers are being reproached for their littering, and something like this will keep out cities a bit cleaner and hygienic till that happens. 

- BR

The Next Fad - Intermittent Fasting

Observation: Each year a new fad appears on our timelines and our consciousness. This year it's intermittent fasting, throughout 2019 people started talking about it ... and now there is an app to help you do it. 

Why: We are constantly on the lookout for health hacks, and this one appeals to both spiritual as well as dietary desires.    NOTE: We encourage you to always speak to a dietician before embarking on an alternative eating plan. 

- BR

100 Million City

Observation: The fastest growing city in the world Lagos has grown by over 100 times, from under 200,000 people to nearly 20 million in just 2 generations. The assertion is that by 2100 Lagos will house nearly 100 Million people. Why: Although a long way in the future, we are looking carefully at the powerful impact of urbanisation. As we move forward, fewer and fewer kids are interested in farming and agriculture. What does this mean for how and what we eat? 

Future: Farms might become hydroponically controlled by robots and technology, we could see towering indoor farms in the city.  - BR

Thai Plastic Free Flex

Observation: Recently Thailand banned the use of plastic bags at supermarkets, the Thai people being far from irritated at the idea took the opportunity to show off their alternatives to plastic.  Why: Sustainability and the anti-plastic movement have created a need for alternative ideas to single-use plastic. Doing a little flex with your alternative is a way to obey law, not destroy the environment and have some fun while doing it.  Future: Once banned we will all have to come up with alternatives. It wont be long till countries all over the world have banned single-use plastic bags.  - BR

UN Says We Need To Change Our Relationship With Land

July was the hottest month ever recorded in Earth's history - the latest troubling data point in the world's climate crisis.

According to a new report from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), our food system is a major yet under-examined contributor to climate change. And ironically, the more that system fuels planet-wide warming, the harder it will become to adequately feed ourselves.

Agriculture, forestry, and other types of land use account for 23% of human greenhouse-gas emissions.

The food system overall - including farming and grazing, transportation, packaging, and feed production - produces 37% of greenhouse-gas emissions, the report found.

changing the way we use land is important as well, the report said, because those shifts offer us a way to suck carbon dioxide back out of the air (unlike reducing the burning of fossil fuels, which would cut emissions but not undo any of the damage we've already created).

Changing the way we farm, leaving forests standing, and reducing food waste could reduce emissions, capture carbon, and increase global food security, the report's authors said.

Alarmingly, the air temperature over land is rising twice as fast as the global average, the IPCC scientists found. It has already risen more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.

When it comes to agriculture's contribution to this warming, soil management accounts for almost half of US agricultural emissions. Fertilizer enriched with livestock manure and nitrogen releases nitrous oxide and methane, two potent greenhouse gases, into the atmosphere. (Methane is about 25 times better at trapping heat than carbon dioxide.) Cows also produce methane through their digestive processes, and rice cultivation emits the gas as well.

What's more, tilling practices also encourage erosion, deplete nutrients, and release the gases stored inside the soil.

Increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere also reduces the nutritional quality of crops, decreasing the concentrations of protein, zinc, and iron in grains like wheat.

Combined, the report suggests, these challenges could lead the prices of grains like wheat and rice to jump by 23% by 2050.

That's a dire threat for the 821 million people who are already undernourished worldwide.

The IPCC report found that human use now directly impacts more than 70% of Earth's ice-free land.

 - JS

Italy Declares Emergency After Apocalyptic Venice Floods

Italy declared a state of emergency after floods brought carnage to Venice, flooding its historic basilica and leaving 'widespread devastation' in the city.

Emergency funds were offered after Venice authorities said the damage ran to hundreds of millions of pounds, including millions in St Mark's Basilica alone.

 - JS

Biodegradable Plastic Alternative Wins Dyson Award

Observation:

An easily biodegradable material that could be "part of a global answer" to single-use plastic pollution has won its inventor, British designer Lucy Hughes, the international James Dyson Award.

Hughes' MarinaTex bioplastic is strong, translucent and flexible, making it a possible alternative for single-use packaging such as bags and sandwich wrappers.

Unlike current materials used for these purposes, it breaks down in home food-waste or compost bins, and its key ingredients are fish scales and skin — waste products that MarinaTex saves from ending up in landfill.

 - JS

Expect More Tornado’s In SA

Observation: The number of tornadoes in South Africa is likely to increase as thunderstorms grow more severe, experts say.

This after a tornado ripped through New Hanover, Pietermaritzburg, on Tuesday afternoon, killing two people, injuring twenty, and damaging homes and public infrastructure.

Tornadoes are likely to occur on the Highveld in Gauteng, and in the parts of the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal prone to thunderstorms.

 - JS

EU Investment Bank To Stop Investing In Fossil Fuels

Observation: The European Investment Bank (EIB) decided on Thursday (14 November) to scrap financial support for fossil fuels from 2021, after marathon talks ended in a compromise that has been hailed as “a significant victory” for green policies.

It took an entire day of negotiations for sceptical countries like Germany and Italy to sign up to the EIB’s ambitious review of its energy lending policy, which is set to transform the EU lender into a fully-fledged ‘climate bank’.

Under a compromise fleshed out during the talks, the EIB’s initial proposal to scrub its loan books of fossil fuel projects by 2020 is extended to 2021 in order to placate countries that wanted more flexibility for gas projects.

It will mark a drastic change for the triple-A rated lender, which according to figures compiled by NGO Bankwatch lent €13.5 billion to the fossil fuel sector between 2013 and 2018

The extended negotiations paid off as Germany, which is one of the EIB’s largest shareholders, eventually backed the updated policy, cancelling out the negative votes of Hungary, Poland and Romania.

 - JS

2Billion Tons Of Waste Inspires Art

Observation: ‘Traces’ is the latest work by artist The Krank, which intends to illustrate the consequences of over-consumption in modern society.

The 100 m2 art installation fills the space with a sea of 500 black plastic trash bags, resulting in a striking image that makes a blatant comment on the wastefulness of contemporary lifestyles.

Activated by the shocking amount of trash the world produces each year – which currently stands at 2.12 billion tons.

The bold and poetic work invites visitors to view the 500 plastic trash bags which occupy the minimal exhibition space. at night, the space glows red, evoking a feeling of peril that perfectly fits the pressing subject matter.

 - JS