Restaurant scraps are the ingredients creating hope, thanks to Streetscapes’ clever composting project that’s helping the homeless put food on the table!

Cape Town, South Africa (16 October 2024) – Restaurant scraps have an important place in the bigger ecosystem of social upliftment if used correctly. While the unfortunate reality is that a lot of scraps simply remain scraps and become waste, there’s another side to the coin that sees scraps as an opportunity for growth. And, Cape Town-based non-profit Streetscapes is showing us how it’s done!

Cape Town is a foodie city. In fact, it was even crowned the Best Culinary Destination City at the World Culinary Awards 2024. But what if all those restaurants focused a little more on what happens after the food is plated and ready to be enjoyed?

Streetscapes’ composting project is a shining example of what’s possible when waste is viewed as a tool—an ingredient to do better for the people of the city who most need it.

Addressing two key issues, the composting project lessens environmental impact while giving their clients (the homeless) a new purpose.

Here’s how it works:

Restaurants that have teamed up with Streetscapes share their organic waste after it has been separated from other kinds of waste. It’s collected and thereafter used to create a high-quality compost where fresh vegetables can be grown and sold!

Alfonso Peterson oversees the composting work and explains that their mix is potent.

“Different waste types like coffee grounds of citrus peels break down differently, but the mix we’ve developed is incredibly potent. We’re creating a valuable product that helps grow more food,” says Alfonso.

In fact, Alfonso proposed the innovative idea to develop the compost. A beacon of hope, Alfonso was once homeless himself. But, through his own determination and the Streetscapes Programme, he now proudly rents his home and is a cornerstone of support both for the composting project and various other Streetscapes’ social development programmes.

In only a few months, the project has already shown impressive results. Nearly five tons of organic waste have been diverted from landfills, while clients have been able to reconnect with a sense of purpose—a key point in their journeys away from homelessness.

The composting project was visited by university professor Harold Tessendorf of Mercer University.  Harold noted that it was a great example of the circular economy in action, and concluded that the quality of the compost was excellent.

“There’s a real opportunity here to expand the project’s impact and sustainability,” Harold added.

Its expansion could look like another avenue for income—selling the compost itself at Streetscapes’ market for local gardeners and community members! Ultimately, the project provides a long-term opportunity for clients who have fantastic potential beyond skills-building.

Sources: Streetscapes Newsletter 

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The Street Lit Book Project is spreading hope and a love of reading throughout Durban as those who have experienced homelessness get to turn a new chapter as book vendors!

Durban, South Africa (30 April 2024)—In Durban, people who have experienced homelessness (or who have been very close to experiencing it) have been given the chance to turn a new chapter thanks to the Street Lit Book Project facilitated by the Denis Hurley Centre.

A chance to run their own small businesses while making great reads accessible, the Street Lit Book Project is made up of 20 ‘book vendors’. They share not only a love of reading and literature but also a resilience that’s seen them change their own narratives.

“Street Lit is a team of 20 amazing people. What unites us is we all believe in the power of the written word. All of us are avid readers who truly want to share our love for literature while earning a modest income.”—says project facilitator Illa Thompson. 

Book vendors set up their stalls and hope to make a living from sharing their passion for books all across the City from centres to taxi ranks. Eric Badise, for one, can be found at Durban Botanic Gardens Visitors Centre, while David Jones sets up shop at Berea Centre, and Mongezi Mtolo gives coffee lovers a chance to tuck into a good book at Cortado.

“Most of [the book vendors] have permanent places to set up their book stalls—to mutually benefit their venue host, the customer and themselves,” Illa says.

“Ideally we look for a long-term venue partner—be it a busy mall, shop, business park, coffee shop or places where people gather. We are self-contained, don’t require anything from our host—other than a place to store our books and table overnight—and do our best to promote you, and use the books as an added attraction to bring people into your space,” Illa continues. 

But one book vendor still needs a place to sell his books, and his name is Sbusiso Mnguni.

Familiar with popping up at events, Sibusiso is looking for a place to host him and his books more permanently. As such, the Street Lit team are reaching out to businesses, shops, centres and schools ideally in the Durban North region, to see if anyone would be happy to add a little book nook to their space.

For Street Lit, the initiative is just as much about fostering a love of reading as it is about giving the team a passion-fuelled purpose.

“Many areas in Durban don’t have access to quality books. We want to fix that. Many families only have one or two books at home—we want to fix that. Many people just need a nudge to get them to be readers: a conversation, a recommendation about what to read. We want to fix that. Boredom among homeless people can be alleviated, even in just a small way, by reading. We want to fix that.”—Illa Thompson. 

Those who can help Sibusiso find a spot, or wish to learn more about Street Lit can get in touch via books@denishurleycentre.org. And don’t forget to support the book vendors if you come across them—in bright green attire with a load of books available, you can’t miss them.

Sources: StreetLit Durban

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LaundReCycle is energy and water self-sufficient. It has been running since 2021 at the Streetscapes Urban Farm.

Cape Town, South Africa (31 January 2024)—For three years now, a unique, self-sufficient laundry has been successfully running at the Streetscapes Urban Farm in Cape Town’s city centre.

It uses solar power and reuses water in a closed system. The water is cleaned using a biological treatment method and reused for laundry. There are two washing machines and three large bins to treat the water. Laundry is air-dried, but with more solar panels, it would be possible to use an electric drier in winter.

Launched in January 2021, the eco-friendly “LaundReCycle” is a three-year research project created by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland. The project aims to provide laundry services to poor people as well as address water and energy shortages.

Andrew Tulloch, Operations Manager at Streetscapes, says the laundry runs weekdays and assists people living on the streets. Customers include homeless people, local residents and businesses, and some restaurants that bring their laundry and tablecloths. A one-kilogram load costs R20, but homeless people pay R10. They can also shower with the treated water.

The laundry brings in R2,500 to R3,000 a month. The single biggest expense is eco-friendly detergent.

Tulloch says the shower is the only immediate free shower in the city. Clean clothes and showers gives people “a tremendous kind of dignity”, he says.

The laundry also introduces homeless people to Streetscapes’ programmes.

For about nine months now, Taryn Faro has been running the laundry, something she had never done before. She was trained on the job.

After her husband died in 2010, she found herself living in a “hokkie” near the mountains in Zonnebloem for several years.

“I was an angry bird,” she says. But the Streetscapes program helped her to fix many areas of her life, including anger management, depression and excessive alcohol use. She now has a home in Delft. “I feel like I am stronger,” she says.

The laundry building was constructed by Water Rescue in Paarl. The project and Streetscapes fall under the non-profit Khulisa Social Solutions.

The final report on the project was released last year. Devi Bühler, a researcher from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland said they’ve handed the project over to Streetscapes.

Bühler says the project is successful because its “still running and it seems to be well integrated into their [Streetscapes] activities”.

She says that they are further developing the concept of reusing treated water.

Sources: GroundUp 

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Do you have something to add to this story? Please share it in the comments or follow GoodThingsGuy on Facebook & Twitter to keep up to date with good news as it happens, or share your good news with us by clicking here or click the link below to listen to the Good Things Guy Podcast with Brent Lindeque – South Africa’s very own Good Things Guy. He’s on a mission to change what the world pays attention to, and he truly believes there’s good news around us. In the Good Things Guy podcast, you’ll meet these everyday heroes & hear their incredible stories:

Or watch an episode of Good Things TV below, a show created to offer South Africans balance in a world with what feels like constant bad news. We’re here to remind you that there are still so many good things happening in South Africa & we’ll leave you feeling a little more proudly South African.

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