Sustainable Living Exhibition leaves visitors in awe

WHAT does a language practitioner, art innovator, environmentalist, nature conservator and book publisher have in common? They are all in the business of maintaining and preserving.

For three days, hundreds of exhibitors took part in the Sustainable Living Exhibition (SLE) and Indigenous Plant Fair, at the ICC Exhibition Centre.

Exhibitions on the day ranged from products that promote energy efficiency and renewable energy, waste minimization, water conservation, to food security and greening concepts that can make your home or office more eco-friendly and also help you save on your water and electricity consumption.

Author Ningi Hlongwane who was part of those who came to exhibit said the aim was to sustain and preserve a culture that is constantly under threat.

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“We encourage young people to take pride in their languages and not undermine it. Many people who say they are avid readers, do not have any books in their mother tongue, we want that to change.We are also dispelling the notion that young black people don’t like reading in their mother tongue. In fact, the opposite is true, young people have been very keen to read books written in their own languages.”

Hlogwane also conceded that they are faced with adaunting task as most of the books written in vernac are mostly about culture, which many felt made the books one dimensional.

“We as young writers are pushing the envelope, we write about matters that affect the communities from romance, politics, fiction and everything else. What I have noticed especially with isiZulu is that authors can express themselves very well and it also challenges them. It also makes the reader inquisitive,” she said.

The exhibitors, representing industry, non- profit organisations, schools, and government departments showcased their inventions which included water filtration and purification systems that can provide clean drinking water from any water source such as rainwater, borehole, tank, reservoir, or rivers, to solar-driven pumps and household inverters.

A variety of hydroponic systems (growing vegetables and fruit in water) which produce lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries and much more were also on display showcasing various systems that use minimal water with no water loss due to evaporation or over irrigation.

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The kits are designed to run on minimal electricity or solar energy and can be easily installed in any household, school, hospital etc.

“We always anticipate the exhibition. It is the only place that we get to interact and network with other business people out there. People are more than welcoming to tell you about their products. We are glad that the city also supports emerging businesses through this event,” said Sabelo Khuzwayo, one of the exhibitors.

Durban University of Technology (DUT) walked away with the coveted wire-trophy for their energyDRIVE bus.

This is local engineering and talent at its best. The energyDRIVE project is a custom-built truck container which was designed by DUT’s Energy Technology Station known as the KwaZulu-Natal Industrial Energy Efficient Training and Resources Centre.

The truck features a solar roof structure and a wind turbine mounting system, a bio-digester, a photovoltaic panel display unit, a solar hot water display unit and other demonstration equipment.

It is being used in national road shows targeting rural schools, and technical and vocational education and training colleges and exhibitions in South Africa to inform communities about the benefits and uses of renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency.

The University’ School of Art and Design also put on a show-stopper fashion show and had students strutting their designs made of recyclable material.

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The SA Botanical Society’s plant fair, held in conjunction with the Sustainable Living Exhibition, also reported record sales and visitors.

Various experts did presentations on sustainable and indigenous gardening, bringing nature back to your garden, and even how to plan nutritious meals for your family.

The Sustainable Living Exhibition hosted by the city ended on a high note on Sunday and was hailed a huge success as thousands of people visited the exhibition over the three-day period.

The sustainability seed was also planted in the minds of thousands of school children from around eThekwini who visited the exhibition to learn more about the environment, what they can do to be more environmentally friendly and why this is important.

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