Well I was very happy to discover, after logging into their eServices (Invoice Center) system on the weekend, that they've introduced this feature, which they list as "Change your Bill Type" under the "Accounts" menu.

If you choose to view your Telkom invoice online, an e-mail notification will be sent to you indicating that your invoice is available for you to view.

Giving their users the choice to reduce their carbon footprint is a huge win. Think of all the paper (trees) that could be saved and energy conserved if all of Telkom's users switched to this electronic bill delivery method. Not only will you be doing your bit for the environment, but you'll also never have to worry about keeping your postal address up to date. And all your invoices will be available for viewing with a few clicks.

If you're not already registered for eServices, I strongly suggest you do so. That way you have quick access to your payment history, can pay your invoices online and save on an extra trip to the local Pick 'n Pay or Post Office where, after paying your invoice, you'll receive even more paper waste in the form of receipts.

To make the transition easier, Telkom give you the option to receive both paper and electronic bills, until you're comfortable with dropping the paper.

And while I'm on this recent drive of green-living, take a look at The Carbon Cost of Christmas report:

An analysis of the carbon footprint of Christmas in the UK shows that consumption of items such as food, travel, lighting and gifts at Christmas produces as much as 650 kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per person - equal to 5.5% of the UK annual carbon footprint.

Download the full report (PDF).

More than 70 percent of the Earth's surface is covered by water, but less than 1 percent of it is actually drinkable. With much of that drying up through desertification or becoming too contaminated for human consumption, it's clear that rethinking old water-use habits is a really important part of greening the future.

A few weeks ago I started collecting practical tips related to green living: reducing electricity usage (and consequently budget, too), reducing carbon emmissions, reducing water usage, saving the environment, healthier living - that kind of thing. A number of them are common knowledge that we've heard before, but inbetween there are some real gems that have made an impact on my daily routine.

Once I've collected 100 tips (I'm currently at 78) I'll be packaging them into easily-digestible and user-friendly formats for distribution across the web - PDFs, wallpapers, screen savers, etc. The idea for this little project, quite obviously, is to do my little bit for the environment by sharing what I've learnt. I'm a bit of a treehugger that way!

So anyway, apart from just sucking the data from various sources, I'm also doing a little bit of research on each tip to give them more weight. I just started with bottled water... yikes!

Consider the following:

• In terms of price versus production cost, bottled water puts big oil to shame. The Wall Street Journal, after seeing the incredible demand for bottled water, is considering it the next best thing to oil and gold. Fresh water is becoming humanity's most precious resource.
• It takes water to make a bottle: if a container holds 1 litre it requires 3-5 litres of water in its manufacturing process.
• Worldwide some 2.7 million tons of plastic are used to bottle water each year. The plastic most commonly used is polyethylene terepthalate (PET), which is derived from crude oil. That's a lot of barrels of oil going to waste.
• The manufacture of every ton of PET produces around 3 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). Bottling water created more than 2.5 million tons of CO2 in 2006.
• Bottled water produces up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year. Worldwide, up to 90% of bottles end up in landfills where they'll take as long as 1000 years to decompose.
• Bottled water is typically printed with expiration dates. Even if the water itself is pure, a plastic container may leak chemicals such as phthalates or Bisphenol A into the bottled water.
• With no residual disinfectant present in bottled water (it's only disinfected at source), microorganisms are free to grow and multiply in the water once it leaves the source. As a result, it has been shown that microorganisms grow in the bottles after bottling and while they stand on shop shelves.
• 25% of bottled water is just reprocessed tap water.
• It distracts from the brass ring of public health: the construction and maintenance of safe municipal water systems.

In South Africa, our tap water compares favourably with countries such as Canada, a leader in the field of managing the quality of tap water (see SA tap water passes the taste test). According to some sites, our tap water quality is third best overall in the world and we're one of only 12 countries with potable tap water.

Furthermore, a litre of bottled water purchased at a supermarket costs approximately R10. To fill a 1 litre bottle from your kitchen tap costs less than 1 cent!

Earth Day Cometh and Earth Day Goeth (and Where Have All the Bees Gone?)

Below is an extract from an Earth Day essay (dated 20/04/2007) by Paul Watson - "founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and a significant, albeit controversial, figure in the environmental movement and the movement for animal rights":

Albert Einstein once wrote that "if the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man."

That is the Law of Interdependence.

Forget global warming folks. The disappearance of the honeybee could end our existence as human beings on this planet far sooner than we think.

And the honey bee is in fact now disappearing. Why? We don't know why. It could be genetically modified crops, it could be pesticides or it could be that our cell phones are interfering with their ability to navigate.

Whatever the cause the fact is that they are disappearing. All around the world bees are disappearing in a crisis called Colony Collapse Disorder.

We hold on to our place on this planet by only a toehold. If anything happens to the grass family, we are screwed. If the earthworms disappear, we are in big trouble. If the bees disappear, well according to Albert Einstein who was considered somewhat smarter than most of us, we will have only four years. Just enough time to get a college degree to discover that everything you learned is relatively useless when sitting on the doorstep of global ecological annihilation.

We are cutting down the forest and plundering the oceans of life. We are polluting the soil, the air and the water and we are rapidly running out of fresh water to drink.

Only corporations like Coke and Pepsi have figured out that water is more valuable than gold. That is why they are bottling it in plastic bottles and selling it. This week I saw a bottle of water in my hotel room that I could have drunk for only $4.

A fascinating read.

Related reading: SA tackles climate change

Nature is overwhelming. From the largest mammal to the tiniest microbe, it is a system so magnificent that one can respond only with utter wonderment.

I sat for over an hour solid today clicking through Michael Poliza's nature photography, adding to my favourites as I went along. I especially enjoyed the Namibia after the rain (aerials taken last month) and Botswana sets, and the B&W Himba portraits. Words can't even begin to give them justice, just check them out.

And how did I miss Starship Millennium Voyage - a 1000 day educational circumnavigation around our planet ending in 2001, which was avidly followed by millions online. Poliza, a native German currently living in Cape Town, was the project director. Check out his website for more.

The final journal entry dated June 21st, ends with the following:

Think of the Earth as an immensely beautiful and complex living organism. An infinite set of carefully equilibrated variables maintain life. Through arrogance and ignorance, Homo sapiens are dismantling the system to make room for individual ambition, unaware that the actions of one are mirrored by many. The destruction is violent and extensive, the situation is critical. Already damage has been caused that can never be repaired.

Hope lies in global comprehension of a collective responsibility. Positive action, urgently summoned, is required to minimise human impact and maximise conservation efforts.

Find a recognised organisation (such as the WWF, Nature Conservancy or the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust) involved in lobbying for the protection of the environment and restoring ecology at a grass-roots level. Support it.

Happy Earth Day 2006.

As the biggest single source of greenhouse gas and accounting for more than a fifth of world pollution, shouldn't they include themselves in that list?

The 141-nation Kyoto Protocol took effect yesterday - a legally binding international agreement to reduce emissions of gases such as carbon dioxide to pre-1990 levels.

"The protocol's aim is to slow down global warming through a reduction of carbon emissions from burning oil, gas and coal that are trapping the sun's heat rather than let it radiate out to space. The resultant "greenhouse" effect has potentially far-reaching consequences for the planet's climate system.

The Kyoto Protocol not only strives to stop global warming it also aims to curb global pollution.

The protocol has the backing of most of the industrialised world except the United States and Australia, who say that its burden to their economies would be too great."

That's.. umm, rich, considering the US and Australia are the 2nd and 19th richest countries respectively.

"Scientists say that reductions of around 60% are urgently needed to avoid wreaking potentially catastrophic damage to the world's climate system."

Continued reading: 'The signature that could save SA' via IOL, 'Kyoto Protocol comes of age' via M&G, and 'Kyoto Protocol may benefit SA' via iafrica.com.

I've said it before, I hate web advertising. But I despise billboard advertising. And not only because a billboard advertising company is a past client and the owner was an unappreciative prat: there's something to be said for billboard advertising and it's environmental impacts. *does hippie dance*

When a man throws an empty cigarette package from an automobile, he is liable to a fine of $50. When a man throws a billboard across a view, he is richly rewarded.

- Pat Brown, quoted in David Ogilvy, Ogilvy on Advertising, 1985

So much to look forward to.