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Vaping by now is not a new trend but has become increasingly popular over the past few years as a cigarette alternative, as well as a social smoking movement in its own right. Vaping, in essence, is the act of inhaling the vapour produced by a device such as an e-cigarette or vapouriser. The vapour that is inhaled originates from a specially formulated e-liquid or concentrate that mostly contains nicotine as well as a flavouring component. The vast appeal of vaping is associated with the fact that it is seen as being a ‘cleaner’ substitute for smoking in that a vaporiser or e-cigarette usually has […]

World Diabetes Day, observed annually on the 14^th of November has a different theme every year in order to shed light on the condition, its latest medical developments, as well as how best to cope with the disorder and sustain a healthy lifestyle. This year’s theme is Women and Diabetes. The statistics supplied by the International Diabetes Federation show that there are over 199 million women worldwide currently living with diabetes. This total is predicted to rise substantially to 313 million by 2040. This year’s theme of Women and Diabetes is particularly pertinent as the impact of diabetes on women is largely exacerbated by social stressors such […]

Consider this; it takes 200 years for a plastic straw to break down completely. This means that every time we purchase and consume a beverage (most of which don’t actually require a straw), we are inadvertently creating a demand for a plastic product that will most likely only be used once, for a very short amount of time – but yet will remain a part of this planet long after we are gone. According to National Geographic magazine, Americans use a projected 500 million straws daily, each one with a lifespan of almost two centuries. The necessity to eradicate such an unassumingly harmful and insidious pollutant is […]

Eichhornia crassipes (E. crassipes), more commonly known as water hyacinth, is often considered to be the world’s worst aquatic weed. According to the Agricultural Research Council (ARC): it has gained its reputation as such due to its “invasive potential, negative impact on aquatic ecosystems, and the cost it necessitates to control it.” The water hyacinth can be classified as a herbaceous, free-floating aquatic plant that produces attractive lilac flowers and has submerged roots and doubles every 11 to 18 days. Once the water hyacinth has grown sufficiently, it is able to entangle its petioles (the spongy, bulbous part of the plant) with other water hyacinths around it. By doing so, […]

On the 3^rd of October, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the recipients of the Nobel Prize for physics. The Nobel Prize in Physics for 2017 was divided among three recipients: one half was awarded to Rainer Weiss, and the other half was split between Barry C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne for “for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves.”  All three scientists contributed key findings that led to the detection of gravitational waves within the fabric of time and space. The discoveries were made by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory, more commonly known as LIGO. LIGO consists of […]

The 22^nd of September has become a day largely internationally recognised as World Car-Free Day. The first ‘car-free-days’ were held in Reykjavik, in Iceland, Bath in the United Kingdom and La Rochelle in France. However, the first national car-free campaign was initiated and inaugurated by Britain in 1997, followed by France in 1998. It became a European-wide initiative by the European Commission in 2000. It has subsequently spread to 1500 cities in 40 countries. The aim of the day, according to the Washington Post, is to “promote [the] improvement of mass transit, cycling and walking, and the development of communities where jobs are closer to home […]

Hurricane Irma, as the storm system is now known came into existence on the 30^th of August 2017 off the coast of the Cape Verde Islands. Within 24 hours of hurricane Irma’s development, the storm was characterised as a Category 2 hurricane according to the Saffir-Simpson Scale. The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale has a one to five rating system based on the hurricane’s sustained wind speeds. According to the National Hurricane Center, the scale is used to determine “potential property damage”. Hurricanes that are classified as a Category 3 or higher qualify as ‘major hurricanes’ because of their increased potential to cause major damage to property and […]

Although South Africa has been playing catch-up to the rest of the ‘first-world’ with regard to its renewable energy endeavours, it seems as if the country may have just caught up. With a renewable energy programme in place that focuses largely on harnessing and converting wind to electrical power being “lauded as one of the most successful internationally”, South Africa has been making waves both at home and overseas. The renewable energy programme has attracted billions of Rands worth of foreign investment since its inception. Wind farms have become an increasingly popular alternative source of electrical energy due to a global rise […]

LinkedIn, the online networking giant is looking to evolve yet again. The site has undergone several updates since being bought out by Microsoft last year. The latest addition to the site’s services has been defined as LinkedIn ‘matchmaking’ and has also been likened to social media-based dating App; Tinder. This new feature will allow its members not only to manage their online work profiles and strategic network connections but will also permit them to connect with others in a Mentor-Mentee capacity. Suzi Owens, the Group Manager of Consumer Products and Corporate Communications wants it to be thought of as “a new form of mentorship that’s virtual, lightweight, and that […]

The fashion industry’s influence extends far beyond the realm of its social and economic impact. With fast-fashion producers and retailers such as Zara and H&M on the rise, the mass-consumption of widely produced garments calls into question the environmental sustainability of the apparel industry and reveals the darker side of retail. As population growth stretches our natural resources to capacity, the Global Fashion Agenda predicts that with the “current trajectories of production and consumption, pressures on natural resources and social conditions will intensify by 2030 to the point of threatening industry growth itself” (May 2017).

However, this hasn’t stopped a number of determined individuals and retailers from […]