Cultivating Sustainability in Namibia – AltGen at NaDEET

A group of the AltGen Admin team were recently honoured to take a journey to The Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust (@NaDEET ) where we delved into sustainable living practices amidst the breathtakingly harsh and beautiful landscapes of Namibia.?

In 3 days, we underwent a comprehensive educational journey with the knowledgeable team at NaDEET, one that went beyond the mere communication of knowledge. This was an immersive experience that not only equipped the AltGen team with valuable insights about sustainability on a global scale but also about our own sustainable practices at a really concentrated scale.

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NaDEET is a non-profit organisation based in Namibia that focuses on environmental education and sustainable living practices. The organisation operates out of an environmental education centre in the Namib Desert, where it provides hands-on learning experiences for students and adults on topics such as renewable energy, water conservation, and biodiversity.?

Here are a few highlights of our trip:?

• Engaging in outdoor and nature-centric activities, we aimed to forge a stronger connection with the environment. This included a guided desert walk, observing local flora and fauna, and exploring the intricacies of the desert ecosystem.?
• Our team experienced the simplicity of bucket showers in an effort to minimise our water and electricity consumption.??
• We experienced the joy of farm-to-table living, enjoying meals prepared with the fresh, organic vegetables of the NaDEET vegetable garden…an impressive garden considering the extreme and dry conditions of the surrounds.
• The NaDEET team helped in sharing valuable insights into energy consumption, and we were exposed to the usage patterns of various day-to-day appliances. Through hands-on demonstrations, we learnt how to optimise our appliance usage, which will hopefully, pave the way for individual electricity savings through small but impactful changes.?

Our teams favourites:

• Unleashing our culinary creativity - we were taught some solar cooking techniques and baked cakes and pizzas using only the power of the abundant Namibian sunlight - minimising our carbon footprint.?
• We had an interesting session learning about light pollution, complete with visuals showcasing its effects on the night sky. NaDEET has earned certification from the International Dark Sky Association, making it Africa's first International Dark Sky Reserve. After the session, we headed out to the dunes, where we enjoyed observing constellations, stars, and the stunning Milky Way galaxy.??
• Concluding this remarkable 3 days, we took a hike the peak of some neighboring dunes and enjoyed a thrilling round of dune boarding. ?

These experiences fostered a culture of introspection, prompting us as a team to evaluate and look to adopt environmentally conscious lifestyles – in our personal as well as professional capacities.

NaDEET exposed us to a range of impactful experiences, leaving us at the end of the trip, with the deliberate decision to embrace environmental responsibility and steadfastly engage in sustainable practices and we appreciate the chance to witness how subtle changes can contribute to nurturing a sustainable lifestyle.