[ECO]: Paper Recycling

Why Should We Recycle Paper?

Image: Unsplash

Those that have been reading my blog for a while now, know that I have an obsession when it comes to recycling. I can become quite hectic over it but I feel in terms of the environment, it's a good obsession to have. Over the next few weeks I'll be chatting more about recycling but today's post features a few facts on paper recycling.

While paper is pretty much a necessity in our everyday lives, we're luckily switching over to the electronic side of things but we still use so much paper everyday, and while it may be essential, the trees that are being cut down for it are far more essential.

Did you know that recycling one tonne of paper can save the following?
17 Trees
3.3 cubic yards of landfill space
9 barrels of oil
4000 kilowatts of energy
7000 gallons of water

So how can you play your part?

1) Change to electronic billing - this saves all those bills being thrown in the bin.

2) Need to print something out? Try use both sides of the page.

3) Keep a paper recycling bin right next to the photocopier and fax machine at the office, you'll be surprised how quickly it will fill up.

4) Subscribe to your favourite magazine or newspaper digitally.

5) Buy recycled paper. Using old paper to make new paper uses a lot less energy.

6) Visit Treevolution to find out where you can take your paper recycling to or if it can be collected from your house.

Need any help with recycling? Drop me a message - I'd love to help, like I've said, it's a passion!


Love Always, The Glam Green Girl xXx

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[NOTE]: I'MPossible Ambassador

Exciting Announcement

 

I'm thrilled to announce that I am now a I'MPossible ambassador! So what is I'MPossible? Well they do what their slogan says, "make things possible"! They partner with different companies to try and help those that are disadvantaged, for example, they work with the ACFS (African Children Feeding Scheme) - an organisation that focuses on educating and feeding children in different communities.

 

Through working with I'MPossible I will be able to go after the projects that I've started working on with much more force. As you know, trees in Zambia and the Platbos Forest are very important to me as well as the Elephant Orphanage in Zambia so I will be able to use I'MPossible as a platform to work more with these organisations. I also cannot wait to start on some new projects that will help spread the word of going green!

 

Yesterday we planted some vegetables at a school in Naledi, Soweto and gave monthly food packages to the families of the community. We also filmed a segment explaining what we were planting to help inform the communities on planting vegetables. This will be aired on Tshwane TV (DSTV channel 262) but I will hopefully be able to share the episodes on my YouTube Channel.

Here are some photos from yesterdays event:

 

 I'm so looking forward to haring more exciting projects with you!
Thank you all for your support!

Love Always, The Glam Green Girl xXx

 

 



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Miss Earth: Updates & Thank You's

What I've Been Busy With, Plus a Few Thank You's

Hi everyone!

Wow, what a crazy 10 weeks it's been! I've loved every minute though! Felt so good doing what I'm passionate about! 

I wanted to share with you some of the projects that I did during the semi-finals of Miss Earth South Africa - most of you have been keeping up with all my events via my personal twitter and Instagram accounts but here are a few links to what I've been up to lately:

One of my first projects as a semi-finalist was to attend a hospital drive in Soweto for the Easter weekend but I was away with family and friends in Zambia so I decided to hand out Easter eggs to some of the kids along the Zambezi River, you can read more about that here.

Next up, I planted a small vegetable garden at a nursery school in Pretoria. I had such a great day with the kids, they were all so cute and so eager to learn! You can read more about that here.

From the beginning of my Miss Earth journey, I mentioned that I would be collecting gently used clothing and non-perishable food for the Jacaranda Children's Home. I also got a few of my beauty blogging friends to donate some of their beauty products that they weren't using. I was so overwhelmed with all that I received! One whole room in my house was filled with donations! Here is the link for that project. 

I live in a beautiful estate in Pretoria that even has a game reserve in the one section so I knew when I had to my tree planting, I wanted to do it close to home. Have a look at this post to see what this area is all about. 

As my last project as a semi-finalist, I donated food; blankets and jackets to the SPCA in Watloo, Pretoria. I'm a huge animal lover and it was important to me to make sure the animals had blankets and food to keep them happy during the winter. Here is where you can read more. 

And now for the acknowledgments of donations:

Main Sponsor: 

Jesper Kjøller from Ess-Foods

Jacaranda Children's Home Donations:

Sylvia Taylor-Memmory

Irina Domanchuk

Verushka Ramasami

Leanne

Ali Graaff

Hildegarde Koen

Chicara Joubert

Mairi Yates

Heidi Taylor

Alyssa Koorts

Vegetable Garden Donations:

Dolores Grundlingh

Tree Planting Donation:

Jesper Kjøller from Ess-Foods

SPCA Donations:

Alyssa Koorts

Chicara Joubert & Family

Dolores Grundlingh

Stationery Packs:

Dolores Grundlingh

Hessian Bag Sales:

Sylvia Taylor-Memmory

Dicky Bosma

Amy Giliam 

Caron Giliam

Anne Giliam

Dolores Grundlingh

A very BIG Thank You to you all! You son't know how much I appreciate all the wonderful donations!

Another big Thank You goes to each and everyone of you that has been supporting me every step of the way! You are the BEST!

Here are some photos from the events:

You all rock my world and thank you for allowing me the opportunity of spreading the green love ♡

Love always, The Glam Green Girl xXx

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GGG Tip: Easy Ways To Go Green

A Few Simple Tips

Hi there my green darlings!

It's a new month, a new week and it's National Environmental week here in South Africa! So what better time to start making changes in your lifestyle to become more green!

Here are a few tips on how to play your part in saving the environment:

♡ Switch off all lights before leaving the house

♡ Unplug all unnecessary electrical appliances when not in use ~ After I've done my hair in the morning, I always switch off the plug that I use for my hair styling tools, every little bit helps!

♡ Unplug your cellphone charger when you're not using it

♡ Reuse magazines & newspaper as wrapping paper

♡ Switch off the tap when brushing your teeth

♡ Try cut your shower time by 1 minute, you will save 3300 litres of water a year

♡ Wait until your dishwasher is fully loaded before running it

♡ Need a new light bulb? Replace it with a compact fluorescent bulb

♡ Buy local - food, clothes, beauty products etc

♡ Love to buy a coffee every morning? Take your own cup!

♡ Donate your unwanted clothes to a charity or organise a clothes swap with friends

♡ Choose paper less billing for your accounts

♡ Find out about recycling collections in your area and start a recycling program at home

♡ Change a small area of your garden to a vegetable garden and grow your own food

♡ Support brands that are cruelty free

Not too hard right?

Lets GO GREEN!

Let me know what tips you have for going green?

Love always, The Glam Green Girl xXx

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ZAMBIA: April 2014

Easter Weekend in Zambia

April 2014

Hi everyone!

Sorry that my blog has been so quiet - I was up in Zambia for the Easter weekend and since I got back it's been go; go; gooooo and I can't seem to find the snooze button? Not that I'm complaining, I love being busy! Don't you agree?

So for the Easter weekend I went up to Zambia again (here's the link to my trip in March) with my family and friends. We stayed at a different lodge to where we usually stay and I loved it! It's a lodge called Gwabi River Lodge and is situated on the Kafue River which runs into the Zambezi River (it's about 6km from the Zambezi River). We also got to see a lot of our friends that live in Zambia so it was definitely a winner of a weekend!

Here are some of my photos from the trip:

The sunset on our first night

A local fisherman reuses plastic bottles as a fishing technique.

I managed to catch a 4kg Tiger Fish, the biggest fish I've ever caught! YAY! Like I've mentioned before, on the Zambian side of the Zambezi River it's catch and release so this big boy was set free back in the water as soon as I had taken the photo and weighed him.

On the Saturday, we stopped off on an island in the middle of the river (first checked to see that there weren't any animals having a picnic there) and had a braai under the beautiful trees. It was so cool having the island to ourselves.

Definitely one of my favourite shots from the weekend!

Found this wild cucumber while I was walking around the island

I think this will be one of our new hot spots for lunch!

A beautiful elephant family we passed by, how cute are the babies?

As part of my Miss Earth South Africa initiative (more info on that coming soon) I spent Easter Sunday sharing the Miss Earth love by dropping off some Easter eggs at a village in Jordan, Zambia. To see those smiles on those kids faces was just too precious!

At Gwabi River Lodge they are busy cultivating saplings of indigenous trees as their way of offsetting their carbon footprint and to help stop the deforestation that's occurring in Zambia *Go Gwabi!*

Another reason why I love Gwabi is because of their cool natural water filtration system! As a lodge they are certainly playing their part to help the environment!

Those that follow me on instagram would have seen this photo that I posted last night. It's one of my favourite trees along the Zambezi River and I always manage to capture a great shot of it (this hasn't even been edited!). 

All in all, it was another successful trip to Zambia and I cannot wait to return soon!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on my latest trip - comment below :)

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