PLEASE NOTE: The Smart Living Challenge Zone is no longer on display at the Two Oceans Aquarium. You can learn more about how you can live sustainably here, and learn more about the City of Cape Town's sustainability initiatives here.
Last month, to help launch the Two Oceans Aquarium's new Smart Living Challenge Zone, an interactive digital learning/play zone that was developed in collaboration with the City Of Cape Town, we organised a Twitter chat with co-hosts the WWF South Africa, GreenPop and Rethink the Bag.
We asked our panel and the wider Twittersphere questions about eco-friendly living centered around water, waste, energy and biodiversty, with the aim of generating new and imaginative ideas that you, our audience, could implement at home in order to have a lighter, friendlier footprint.
The key take out from the day was this: smart living starts at home.
How many of these smart-living tactics for energy management and biodiversity conservation have you, or will you, employ at home?
Click here to read our Twitter tips for waste and water.
Q3: How can we reduce our electricity consumption in the home? @rethinkthebag @GreenpopSA @WWFSouthAfrica pic.twitter.com/uSRaoaqS2x
— Two Oceans Aquarium (@2OceansAquarium) December 8, 2015
.@WWFSouthAfrica @2OceansAquarium @rethinkthebag @GreenpopSA Close the door of your office, if an air-con is on.
— Katja Rockstroh (@Rockkatz) December 8, 2015
.@WWFSouthAfrica @2OceansAquarium @rethinkthebag Solar phone chargers work pretty well! Especially on days like today #SmartlLiving
— Greenpop (@GreenpopSA) December 8, 2015
@2OceansAquarium @rethinkthebag @GreenpopSA @WWFSouthAfrica Install LED bulbs and save money and power. #SmartLiving
— Jay Reeler (@jayreeler) December 8, 2015
@2OceansAquarium @rethinkthebag @GreenpopSA @WWFSouthAfrica Fit a low cost energy meter. What gets measured gets managed. Peter Drucker.
— Sunny, The Solar Guy (@sunnyboymorgan) December 8, 2015
Boil the kettle for hot water when cooking and reduce the energy need it takes to boil on the stove. #SmartLiving https://t.co/3Vwh9Xijqf
— Katja Rockstroh (@Rockkatz) December 8, 2015
Turn your geyser down from 70*C to 60*C - you won't feel the difference and you can save up to 5% on your electricity bill #SmartLiving
— Two Oceans Aquarium (@2OceansAquarium) December 8, 2015
Unplug energy vampires, especially chargers #romanticcandlelight #solarjars #SmartLiving
— Rethink the Bag (@rethinkthebag) December 8, 2015
Q4: How can we as city dwellers co-exist in the web of life & help preserve our natural biodiversity? #SmartLiving pic.twitter.com/yv1EmhuyIK
— Two Oceans Aquarium (@2OceansAquarium) December 8, 2015
@2OceansAquarium @rethinkthebag @WWFSouthAfrica @GreenpopSA Support roof top gardens that reduce urban heat + invite nature in #smartliving
— Rita Adele Steyn (@ritasteyn) December 8, 2015
Biodiversity is the web of life. Visit a nature reserve. Speak up for the environment - our lives depend on it. #SmartLiving
— Two Oceans Aquarium (@2OceansAquarium) December 8, 2015
Join a beach clean-up! Clean ocean & clean environment = happy animals! #SmartLiving https://t.co/6ETrmI1iSt
— Katja Rockstroh (@Rockkatz) December 8, 2015
.@2OceansAquarium @rethinkthebag @GreenpopSA make time to be in and connect with nature. #SmartLiving
— WWF South Africa (@WWFSouthAfrica) December 8, 2015
Start with healthy soil! @OrganicReliance has helped us turn a barren plot into a food forest! #SmartLIving https://t.co/o0zmQPCDDS
— Greenpop (@GreenpopSA) December 8, 2015
Give thanks to nature for the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink. We cannot be without nature #SmartLiving
— Helen Lockhart (@2OceansHelen) December 8, 2015
Create an insect hotel in your garden to encourage diverse insect life #SmartLiving https://t.co/o0zmQPCDDS
— Greenpop (@GreenpopSA) December 8, 2015
Save and spread wild seeds. Some city guerrilla gardening can be fun & rewarding. #smartliving https://t.co/KlnEnNII6f
— GreenHome (@GreenHomeSA) December 8, 2015
Form a close relationship with nature, hike, cycle, swim, picnic, kayak, plant trees, soak up sun shine, breathe.......... #SmartLiving
— Rethink the Bag (@rethinkthebag) December 8, 2015
Nature is not out there, it is home #SmartLiving
— Helen Lockhart (@2OceansHelen) December 8, 2015