Turn last night’s empty wine bottle into today’s funky work of art is the motivation behind Bottle Craft who are not only recycling glasses, they are transforming poverty stricken craftsmen into self employed entrepreneurs.

Bottle Craft is busy recycling lives with an amazingly simple, yet innovative craft kit that transforms last night’s trash into funky and functional glasses and other household items. The bottle craft kit opens the doors to a great new hobby and can also be the beginning of a viable small business. The glass bottles currently littering our environment can be collected and transformed into artistic and functional items and sold.Of the approximately 540 000 tons of glass being produced each year less than 20% is recycled. It is easy maths to understand, 80% of all of this glass ends up in landfills but it also provides endless resources for budding entrepreneurs to utilise in the bottle crafting arena.

The Bottle Craft SA concept grew out of Jo Kearney’s garage who was looking at a part-time business opportunity for boys from the Durbanville Children’s Home. In 2004 he began manufacturing and distributing the Budski Bottle Cutting Kits to South African crafters and hobbyists. Jo was recognised as an entrepreneurial crafter and it became clear this concept had enormous potential for skills development and job creation in poorer communities. Given the current unemployment rate in South Africa, especially in our rural communities, many poverty stricken families are left destitute and either “contributors to” or “victims of” the rising crime rate.

These are growing concerns shared by both government and local communities. For almost 90% of the unemployed people in SA, self-employment is not only a good option, it’s the only option.This is where the give-away gets interesting. You are able to nominate a person of your choice to win a place on the next Bottle crafting course and they will win one craft kit to get them going after the course. To help them qualify please sign up to the bottle craft newsletter as well so you can stay up-to-date with the innovative ways of recycling glass. Please sign up to the newsletter at http://www.bottlecraft.co.za/ Then send your email newsletter confirmation details and nomination with a reason why you believe they deserve to win this chance on the course to michele@lifeinbalance.co.za The competition closes on the 30th August and the winner must be able to attend a course in the Western Cape.

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South Africans consume, per capita, 2500 litres of water per day, but not by drinking or cooking or gardening alone. What we overlook is just how much is required.

Called ‘virtual water’, it determines our water footprint (visible and virtual water used) as individuals, businesses and a nation. To produce an apple weighing around 100 grams, 70 litres of water is used.

One slice of wheat bread requires 40 litres and a cup of coffee, 140. The water footprint of a beer, 75 litres, pales in comparison to that of the hamburger that usually accompanies it, which comes in at a whopping 2400 litres. Beef requires a full 15 500 litres of water to produce just 1kg. One A4 sheet of 80gr paper, processed from wood, requires 10 litres of water.

Something to consider before printing out the joke email that will be discarded later. The impact of virtual water can be either negative or positive. An obvious problem arises when many of the goods demanded by modern consumers are grown or manufactured in countries with already stretched resources.

According to the WWF we are facing a global fresh-water crisis, and South Africa is on the list of critical countries.

To calculate your water footprint and read more about the research and work being done www.waterfootprint.org

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Check the pressure: Before you head out to Darling, make sure that your tyres are inflated correctly. This should improve your fuel economy, as well as wear and tear, which also saves money.

Check the map: Make sure you know where to go, because getting lost will just use more petrol and take more time – which leaves you with more time to party.

Catch a lift: By driving with a friend you will be able to share petrol costs and we will have less cars at the event. Fewer cars on the road means less CO2 emissions.

Bring bio: When selecting your toiletries, make sure it is biodegradable to reduce the impact on the environment. This is specifically important when you go camping or spend time in nature.

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle: To make it easy for you we have provided recycling bins around the festival site for recyclables, non-recyclables and compostable items. Please help us to sort the waste so that we can minimize the waste going to landfill.

Eat Less Meat: Many people do not realize the impact that the meat industry has on our natural environment. We do not all have to be vegetarians, but we can make a choice with each meal we have.

Bin the butt: Cigarette filters are not biodegradable and contain cellulose acetate, a type of plastic that has a negative impact on our environment. Please treat your cigarette butts as litter and place it in the bin.

Get switched on: When camping it is always important to take a torch along – bring a wind up torch that does not need batteries and uses LED lights. Alternatively, make sure your torch has re-chargeable batteries.

Drink tap water: It takes 26 liters of water to produce one bottle of bottled water, while we have the third cleanest tap water in the world. Bring your own water bottle along so that you can drink tap water instead of bottled water.

Local is lekker: When buying local products you support our local economy and help build a better future. Local products require less transportation, storage and packaging.