Environmental sustainability is about making decisions and taking actions in the interests of protecting the natural world, preserving the environment's ability to support human life, and ensuring that humans use the environment in environmentally friendly way. It also calls into question how economic development conversely affects our environment. Environmentally unsustainable activities (long-term damage) include: Damaging rainforests and woodlands through logging Damaging land through mining Polluting and overfishing oceans, rivers and lakes Polluting the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels Damage prime agricultural land through Use of unsustainable agricultural practices In a recent Standard Charted Bank study measuring the long-term sustainability of 31 countries, South Africa came last. Furthermore, as of 2006, South Africa is one of the top 20 emitters of greenhouse gases in the world. This is mainly due to mining activity in the country. The heavy reliance on coal mines to provide 80% of energy in South Africa causes pollution and allows toxic chemicals to seep into surrounding soils and bodies of water. Poor spatial planning of human settlements, sanitation and waste management systems, stormwater management and declining life expectancy in recent years have also contributed to South Africa's low long-term sustainability and high greenhouse gas emissions. sustainability (comparisons and trade-offs) Economic development depends heavily on natural resources for the production of food and energy, on inputs for production and on the absorption of waste and pollutants. Dependence on agriculture is therefore high. However, South Africa is not rich in agricultural resources; ...... half of the article ...... in 1995 demonstrated that native plants and microorganisms grow naturally in hostile mining environments and how they can be propagated to potentially rehabilitate TSFs and polluted soils. The program focused on the effectiveness of different vegetation types in reclaiming groundwater and soil. Approximately 80 plant species were evaluated in tailings experiments; almost 60 tree species are evaluated in forest experiments on TSF infiltration; and approximately 200 plant species will be used out of the nearly 600 that grow naturally on coral reef outcrops, polluted soils and tailings. The final phase of the research (2009-2012) will examine how constructed wetland plants might be able to produce materials such as valuable wood, fibre, chemicals, essential oils, dyes, rubbers and recoverable minerals and metals for secondary industries, thus helping local communities.