Game Changers

The 1960’s classic film Mary Poppins was arguably one of the first pieces of popular culture to show the notion that a woman’s handbag can house a large number of objects that are seemingly far too much for the volume…

In 2003, a fabulous film entitled Second Hand Lions showed the story about a young boy named Walter who goes to live with his two eccentric uncles in rural Texas. In the first half of the film, one of the…

There are many ways to skin the every saving cat that do not involve living by candle light or bathing in the Liesbeek River, but rather taking a bit of trash and turning it into something marvellously creative. If you…

If one is a frequent watcher of the popular series Game of Thrones, then the phrase “winter is coming” will be something with which one is familiar. Although for those of us living at the southernmost tip of Africa, we…

Roses are red, violets are blue, and who needs metal-when you have bamboo! This is the idea that underpins a remarkable fusion of engineering and creativity, otherwise known as Erba cycles. Since opening its doors in October 2010, Erba’s beautiful…

There are many materials which one might spin into something, for the Miller’s daughter in Grimm’s Brother’s fairytale Rumplestilksin, it was gold, for Dutch artist and designer Greetje van Tiem, it’s something more pratical. This artist has elevated newspaper recycling…

The appeal of glass lies in its ancient mystery, its liquid translucence and its elemental changeability, and what was once seen as simply a craft is increasingly being recognised as an art form in its own right. “Among the many…

The city of Sao Paulo, Brasil, has nearly 20 million inhabitants, all trying to make a living despite a challenging economic environment. In this context, large amounts of waste are generated on a daily basis. However, due to the many…

Raw Studio’s mission is to provide design, prototyping, testing and production of high quality designer furniture and furniture systems. And they only work with sustainably sourced and environmentally responsible engineered materials like Birch plywood. This makes their catalogue well worth…

Kisma & Co is a Grahamstown-based business featuring handmade products from the area. Choose from dolls and teddy-bears, Shwe Shwe bags, greeting cards, beaded jewellery, stained glass light-catchers and much more. We particularly love their old-school wooden toys and upcycled…

Good design has the power to radically alter and improve the way people interact with our modern world. The international World Design Impact Prize seeks to identify and recognise groundbreaking designers who are taking new approaches to tackle human challenges…

Most of us know that alkaline batteries are bad for the environment. If not disposed of correctly they can leach toxic chemicals and heavy metals into our soils and groundwater, with potentially severe ramifications. The problem is, it doesn’t seem…

What happens when you are unable to find affordable, quality, furniture made from sustainable raw materials? If you’re Tameron and Peter Grahn you decide to make it yourself, even if, you’re pregnant or, in Peter’s case, have a full time…

It’s not every day that you get to meet a personal idol. And it’s definitely not every day that you get to spend two days with them, being regaled by their stories and experiences, studying their characteristics and body language,…

A crowd funding campaign to raise funds for a small piece of technology no larger than an old ‘beeper’ has smashed it’s crowd funding goal of earning $15 000 dollars by being pledged over $170 000. So what could this…

Imagine making something beautiful, selling it and using all – yes, all – of the profits to make others’ lives better. Meet Milkwood. The team behind this amazing initiative based in Cape Town shares their story, which we think is…

Over the past 4.6 billion years, through trial and error, earth’s natural systems have gone through the most laborious and rigorous research and development phase of any technology in the world. They’ve become efficient, closed loop systems that operate at…

International pressure on our food systems is being felt. From dirty production methods, to vast amounts of CO2 emissions as a result of transporting foods vast distances, from massive food wastage to poor diets and uninformed decisions, the challenges of…