You ask what is Planet B? To me, Planet B means that Earth is our only option we have right now, there is no other place where we as humans are going to survive if we destroy our planet. From 24-26 October 2012, I was honoured to attend the inaugural Sustain Our Africa (#SOASummit) which took place in Cape Town, South Africa. The summit, a real eye opener, aimed to provide practical solutions for tackling the continent's environmental problems.

From politicians to lawyers to poets and activists, the summit was a gathering of people with the one vision - to save our planet! SOA was one of the many events that I attended that have had an impact on me. In a nutshell, we need to start taking more care of our planet before we have nothing left.

Something that really stood out for me at the summit was something that Jason Drew, an entrepreneur turned environmentalist, said. He said we all talk about change, but what are we doing about it? And then it struck me, if everybody made one small change to their daily routine in an attempt to sustain our planet, then we have the chance to restore the damages our planet has already endured. Change starts with one person and so I challenge you, what are you going to do to maintain our environment?

There are numerous initiatives taking place across the continent. I suggest you get in touch with one near you and together we can make a difference - even if you think it's small.

In news this week: The 2012 AABLA winners were announced; MTN will from November deliver the Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 devices to its customers in the African markets; Airtel, the 4th largest mobile operator in the world in terms of subscribers, has celebrated its 60 millionth customer in Africa; and following the recent Lance Armstrong spectacle, Donna Rachelson provides insight into what we can learn about personal branding.

Have a great week!

Evan-Lee Courie @evan1985

Responses to this column welcomed in our online editor's column archive. Send all your Africa marketing news to africanews@bizcommunity.com and opinion pieces to contributors-africa@bizcommunity.com, also take a look at our guide "How to contribute to Bizcommunity, from op-ed pieces to news". Follow Bizcommunity on Twitter @Biz_Africa and join our Facebook page.