When litter cast a not-so-lekker shadow on Riebeek Valley, Nico Rens decided to do something pretty creative. What began as an experiment to turn plastic bottles and tops into chandeliers and lights has become a whole movement!

Riebeek-Kasteel, South Africa (15 October 2024) — When artist Nico Rens moved to the Riebeek Valley several years ago, he couldn’t ignore the duality of the area. On the one hand, there were charming villages against great backdrops of natural beauty. On the other, plastic and waste seemingly grew from the ground; ruining precious parts of the Valley with litter galore.

With a background in architecture and interior design, Nico was no stranger to coming up with clever solutions creatively. Seeing the litter problem as something bigger, he decided to begin experimenting; tinkering with the idea that if the waste was simply remodelled, it might become something fantastic.

 

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Nico began making chandeliers by reworking plastic bottles, containers and lids as part of the design. But, he was just one person and the waste problem needed a lot more hands on deck. So, he decided to launch a plastic waste collection program amongst the local youth.

Many of the young people were interested in how he transformed the plastic. Nico realised that he could tackle the environmental problems and problems related to social upliftment, and soon, a new project was born!

In collaboration with FOR Life Centre, a Non-Profit Organisation that fosters social upliftment, development and reconciliation through community arts programs in the Valley, the new project offered a way to equip people with a means not just to tackle waste but to transform it.

It provided workshops around waste management and collection, recycling, design, construction, and ultimately upcycling!

When Megan Wilson, an acclaimed theatre director, producer and actor among many other titles, learned of the project, she saw its potential for even more good.

What if it could become something that spreads awareness about environmental issues and the means to empower oneself by tackling them? What if it could offer sustainable employment and training to uplift the local community and extend further into the Western Cape? The lightbulb moment had hit, and it wasn’t long until Africa Illumination was born!

 

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Just like Nico’s original work, Africa Illumination creates lighting from upcycled materials. With four community members employed, the idea has already helped people not only give back to their environment and put food on the table, but connect to a greater sense of purpose.

In fact, team leader Johannes Dirks shares that it is work that is “food for his soul”.

With help from Nico’s brother, Gerhard Rens, a retired engineer, the designs have only gotten more functional.

The team is small, but the spotlight on them is enlarging. They have already participated in Solo Studios—Intimate Art Encounters 2024 in Riebeek Kasteel, as well as the Stanford in Bloom festival. Not to mention some features on TV and customers who have purchased the creations from as far as Canada!

These Riebeek Valley locals are showing us that a little extra care and a lot of creative juices can go a long way, and in more directions than just sustainable living. You can check out their goods at the square in Riebeek-Kasteel or right here.

Sources: Email Submission 

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The Power of 8000 White River Community Action Group led a massive spring clean-up in their town, uniting everyone from mielie selling vendors to students to help spruce up the R40!

White River, South Africa (09 October 2024) — Spring was well in session over the weekend, and while some took to spring cleaning their closets, others, like the Power of 8000 White River Community Action Group, took to spring clean public spaces.

The Power of 8000 led a massive clean-up along the R40 in White River on Sunday, where they united over 50 people —including vendors who had been selling mielies along the road and became inspired to join in on the clean-up effort.

Together, the group worked under the beating Mpumalanga sun to tackle the litter troubles along the roadway. Despite the heat, everyone was committed to seeing the job through. With sunscreen aplenty and gloves in tow, they removed thousands of beer bottles amid other genres of waste, much of which had been thrown out of passing cars.

“The result was an impressive eight bakkie loads of rubbish, which were transported to the local transfer station,” shares the Power of 8000 White River Community Action Group.

“The high turnout and community spirit displayed during the day highlighted the strong commitment of White River residents to keeping their environment clean and beautiful.”

Many businesses, churchgoers, students, and businesses have made the big clean-up possible. The Power of 8000 team hopes that the day’s success will inspire ongoing community involvement in keeping White River clean and safe for all.

About the Power of 8000 White River Community Action Group

Originally a group of concerned residents who took informal clean-ups into their own hands, today the Power of 8000 (named in honour of the roughly 8000 ratepayers in the area) is a registered NPO that’s grown into its own force of environmental and community good to be reckoned with!

You can read more about their story here and can keep up with their work here.

Sources: Supplied

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Volunteers recently gave Golden Harvest Park an eco-friendly makeover, removing invasive plants and litter to support the underserved City Parks team!

Randburg, South Africa (17 July 2024) — Last Sunday was no ordinary day at Golden Harvest Park in Randburg! Thanks to 75 volunteers, the park was treated to an energetic day of eco-goodness and a much-needed boost for the under-resourced City Parks team.

Volunteers from ASEZ WAO (We Are One)—a group of young working people on a mission to ‘save the earth from A to Z’)—paid the park a special visit, marking their 8,142nd Worldwide Clean-Up campaign in the process.

Teaming up with Joburg’s official waste management provider, the volunteers got down to business to beautify Golden Harvest Park, tackling a myriad of tasks from removing invasive and alien plants to trimming overgrown vegetation and, of course, making sure the trash in the park was collected.

For the City Parks team, the visit was nothing short of a welcomed dose of support.

“We have 45 parks to maintain and we have only five grass cutters. It’s so hard to go everywhere to fix what needs to be fixed. As for us, we can’t manage everything by ourselves. So you coming here to assist is a huge lift for us. I’m so happy and excited to work with you guys,: City Parks’ Doreen shared. 

But, the eco-work was about more than beautifying Golden Harvest Park. Despite its position as a natural escape in the City of Gold, the park faces challenges when it comes to safety concerns from time to time due to ‘panga gangs’ who have put visitors at ease.

The volunteers and Councillor Bitkau hope that if the park is maintained and cleaned more regularly, its visibility will be enhanced, and crime will be reduced.

Earlier this month, WAO students also made a green difference in Carletonville where they planted fresh olive and fruit trees for the Kokose community!

Sources: Supplied 

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We all have a little baggage when it comes to the environment, sometimes quite literally (we’re looking at you, shopping bags in the boot). This International Plastic Bag Free Day, Dr Lize Barclay walks us through how we can make better use of our bags, and support the Zero Waste Movement:

Global (03 July 2024) — As the fight against plastic intensifies, alternatives have come into the market in the form of cute cotton tote bags adorned with environmentally friendly puns, becoming a trend and an aesthetic for social media.

Yet the impact of these so-called plastic alternatives is debatable.

Dr Lize Barclay, Senior Lecturer in Futures Studies and Systems Thinking, Stellenbosch University Business School says it is projected that you must use a cotton tote 7100 times before you equal the ‘footprint’ of one plastic bag.

“Cotton is a resource-intensive crop that requires water, pesticides and fertilisers which add to the negative effects of pollution and climate change.  Whilst many shops have removed plastic bags, requiring us to purchase their branded bag, these alternative bags have become an unsustainable pile of shame in the boot, entryway, or kitchen.”

“Like most so-called green energy solutions, from a systems perspective, nothing is truly green, and everything has some systemic environmental price. True innovation and vigilance are needed to find real and lasting solutions that are near-truly green and are not green-whishing and green-washing.”

The Plastic Bag was Itself Meant to be More Eco-Friendly

The initial designer of the plastic bag, the Swedish designer Sten Gustaf Thulin, designed the plastic shopping bag in 1965 to save trees and to be reused. According to his son, he always kept one folded (which was part of the principle behind the design) in his pocket to use and reuse.

International Plastic Bag Free Day

So, why are we telling you all this now? Tomorrow marks International Plastic Bag Free Day, which aims to raise awareness of the dangers of the native effects of plastic pollution, especially plastic bags, motivating people and institutes to embrace sustainable alternatives and combat the detrimental effects of plastic pollution.

“Although the initial design of plastic, including that of plastic bags, was also intended to protect the environment and counteract deforestation, as well as the use of horn, ivory and hooves for creating containers and products – we have since realised the dangers of plastic, especially disposable plastic,” says Dr Barclay.

“All plastic ever created is still in the environment, although not necessarily in its visible form. Plastic breaks down into micro and nano-plastic which eventually finds its way into our water, soil and food.”

Recently plastic has been found in the blood of animals and humans, including in the brain and placenta. Research shows that it could be detrimental to human health, ranging from increased risks of cancer, heart disease, hormonal disruption and gut microbiome disruption.

Dr Barclay says engineers and industrial designers are exploring circular design to keep redesigning, reusing and refurbishing products to keep them and their components in circulation and out of the landfill.

“As consumers it is essential that we support these initiatives and products, to ensure that it becomes the design norm and not the design exception – including for plastic bags.”

How to Support the Zero Waste Movement

“The Zero Waste Movement, from a consumer perspective, focuses on an aspirational personal limit of creating zero waste. We can all follow their five Rs as an upside-down pyramid.”

1. Refuse what you don’t need and don’t add to the amount of disposal products, especially plastic, into the world.
2. Reduce that which you have and need – donate the rest.
3. Reuse what you have, even if it is not aesthetically pleasing.
4. Recycle paper, glass, metal, plastic, etc. or empower the waste-pickers in your area by providing them with your items to transport to recycling plants and earn much-needed income.
5. Rot – compost organic vegetable matter.

How to Use Plastic Bags More Consciously

1. Keep a bag or two, any bag, in your pocket, as the designer of the plastic bag intended – ready to use and reuse.
2. Find all the various bags scattered throughout your home and in your boot and put them in the kitchen.
3. Take stock of your mountain of bags, be that plastic, material or otherwise and sort them into plastic, paper, cloth, etc.
4. Give away some of the fabric and paper bags to the shops where you got them, for them to reuse or recycle (even if you bought them).
5. Donate plastic bags to non-governmental organisations that use plastic bags to make carpets, toys, clothes, etc with the bags.
6. Take the spare pretty cotton and other bags which is not used, fill them with essentials and donate them to your local shelter.
7. Create artwork from the bags, post it on social media (tag @lize_barclay on Instagram) and keep the art at your front door to remind you to put and keep a bag in your pocket.
8. Visit a Zero Waste shop in person or online.
9. Take bags and containers to the shops with you and get them, and yourself, to fill those, rather than into another disposable bag or container.
10. Get a plastic bottle, and a sturdy stick and create an ‘Ecobrick’ for any new disposable plastic bags that find it your way and donate your ‘Ecobrick’ via various non-governmental organisations for construction purposes – just note that it is not the ideal environmental solution due to some harmful leakage that could occur as the plastic breaks down and we want to keep all plastic out of the environment, but it is a solution at least.

Sources: Supplied 

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An environmental play is set to grace the stage in Cape Town; bringing song, dance and eco-activism into the spotlight!

Cape Town, South Africa (26 May 2024) — An environmental play is set to bring song, dance, adventure and eco-activism to Cape Town audiences in a one-of-a-kind show with an important message.

‘Captain Kwanda’s Fanplastic Adventures’, adapted from The Legend of Captain Fanplastic will take to the Homecoming Centre’s stage in late June, thanks to the Jungle Theatre Company. The environmental play is described to be much more than a theatrical performance, classed instead as a “mission to weave environmental education and action into African storytelling.”

Environmental Literacy Takes Centre Stage

For those new to the beloved Captain Fanplastic, the hero raises environmental literacy among youth around the world in the kind of stories where eco-heroes are superheroes. Through experiential education (with Captain Fanplastic leading the way) the shift toward eco-conscious mindsets becomes much easier for our future leaders. This way, behaviours are encouraged to connect children to their environments all while preventing plastic pollution and encouraging better waste-management efforts.

An Environmental Play with Real Impact

This kind of activism comes at an ever-so-relevant time with the Global Plastics Treaty in the current public view. Directed by the talented Heather Gielink, the play features a stellar cast including Noxolo Magadla, Marvin Safoor, Beviol Swartz, and Siphesande Mkokose. These accomplished artists bring the vibrant characters of the Fanplastic universe to life, delivering a performance that is both entertaining and enlightening and that holds the possibility for real impact.

“The play explores, in true African storytelling fashion, themes of climate change, global warming and human overconsumption and production of plastic the subsequent causes of the former. However, audiences will be spared from environmental despair with inspiring songs and dance that will leave them inspired at curtain call,” says Heather.

To the Future and Beyond

Driven by collaboration and harnessing the power of the arts and storytelling, Captain Fanplastic’s very real mission to achieve the goal of reaching one million young people with eco-awareness is on and counting.

This crew of positive storytellers is also on a mission to ensure many people see this play with current fundraising events to ensure a class can benefit from this intersection of culture and environmentalism.

Anyone who wishes to make a contribution towards getting a school class or group to see the play they can contact Captain Fanplastic’s founder and head of programme, Ruben Hazelzet on Ruben@captainfanplastic.com.

Event Details

• Date: Saturday, June 22nd, 2024
• Venue: Homecoming Centre, Cape Town (Star Theatre)
• Time: Morning Show: 10:00 | Afternoon Show: 13:00
• Tickets are available here.

Sources: Supplied 

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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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Festivals are often associated with feel-good moments, great music and a chance to escape from the everyday world. But this festival adds something else into the mix—enough trees to make a forest of impact:

Western Cape, South Africa (20 May 2024) — There are festivals that impact the moment and there are those that impact a future of moments. While many might argue that watching their favourite musician perform at a festival tends to stick with them long after the fact, there’s a special strain of hope that comes from a festival where the present is all about tangible positive impact, for the future. And as of last month, a one-of-a-kind festival made a forest of impact—literally.

Over the long Easter Weekend, people gathered from all over the country at Bodhi Khaya Nature Retreat to relish in a tree-hugger’s paradise known as the Reforest Fest.

There, teams leapt from their tents to plant an abundance of trees who kitted-out their own spades in anticipation of the event . It was a time of community, camaraderie for a greener future, and a passion to create a new piece of our natural heritage.

When all was done and dusted, the festival participants left having created a forest with 5000 indigenous trees planted—something the Greenpop team are immensely proud of.

And, the cherry on top of the forest came when a Cape Leopard was spotted in the milkwood forest adjacent to Bodhi Khaya; a special sighting by photographer Callum Evans.

 

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A post shared by Callum Evans | Photography (@callumevans_photography)

“The sighting is a true testament to the importance of the restoration work we are doing with our partners in the area,” Greenpop reflected. 

The event has made an ineffable difference for communities and ecosystems reliant on forest resources and is a reminder to all of us that there is so much power in coming together to do something as small and massive as planting a tree.

Sources: Greenpop Newsletter

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In Pietermaritzburg, Epworth Primary created Eppie the elephant, which was made from recycled goods and even parts of an old washing machine! The Ellie Challenge has big hopes to support a team dedicated to keeping Elephant City clean:

Pietermaritzburg, South Africa (13 May 2024) — Another school is putting on their creative caps and stepping up to do their part for the environment by turning a wireframe animal into a recycled masterpiece. In Durban, learners are using recycled materials to make Project Rhino a success, while in Pietermaritzburg, Epworth Primary have taken up the Keep Pietermaritzburg Clean Action Group‘s ‘Ellie Challenge’.

With a task to ‘Create an Ellie and Fill his Belly”, the ellie challenge doubles as a way for learners to jump on the eco-conscious train and a fundraiser for the KPCA Group—a dedicated team working hard to live up to their name by keeping Pietermaritzburg clean and green. The Group have had many success stories when it comes to beautifying down-trodden parts of the City, with Victoria Road being a current example of how an area can transform when a community takes action together.

Pietermaritzburg’s other name ‘Umgungundlovu’ means ‘the place of the big elephant’. And just like the City’s spirit animal, its citizens are “large and strong and can face our challenges in PMB head on,” as Lara Edmonds who presented the Group’s ‘Ellie Tale’ to the school shares.

Last year, Lara presented a herd of handmade elephants to City Hall as a soft reminder of the community’s collective power.

The school’s elephant—Eppie—has already been kitted out with recycled goods.

“Eppie the Ellie was made out of all recycled material by ground staff including parts of an old washing machine, His trunk was made from ducting from an old air-conditioning system. The Grade 5s then covered his frame in paper-mache before painting him,” says Epworth Head, Mrs Carlitz. 

Now, the challenge is on to fill Eppie’s belly with items that generally end up taking space in landfills, like aluminium cans.

KPCA shared that the school children will also post their cans down Ellie’s long trunk, while a special Epworth satchel has already been created to collect R20 notes (the notes that honour South Africa’s elephants).

You can keep up with the KPCA’s good, clean things, here.

Sources: KPCA Group

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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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Tshwane embarked on its first public Separation-at-Source project to help kickstart the positive chain reaction of recycling in the city!

Tshwane, South Africa (09 May 2024) — The City of Tshwane is celebrating its first separation-at-source (S@S) project in a public space; a successful effort that aimed to entice the public to recycle more consciously.

Since February, visitors to Tshwane’s popular public Fountains Valley Resort have been given the easy option to get into the habit of separating at source thanks to 12 large, colour-coded and labelled recycling bins. In fact, the bins themselves were said to have been made largely from waste materials; a mixture of plastic and aluminium pellets extracted from recycled liquid board cartons used to package fruit juice and other liquids.

The pilot project was the first recycling campaign in a public space for the City and aimed to get an area where the public frequents involved in reducing the strain on landfills.

More empty aluminium cans, plastic, paper and glass packaging waste were able to be sorted by members of the public themselves in a recycling concept centred around nipping waste concerns in the bud.

The pilot project was a collaboration between the City of Tshwane and producer responsibility organisation Petco. Thanks to the success of the Fountains Valley Resort mission, plans are reportedly afoot to extend the project into more public areas.

“It is of crucial importance that we separate our waste so that we enhance our recycling efforts,” councillor Ziyanda Zwane said, noting that, like much of our country, Tshwane is running out of landfill space at its four main landfill sites.

Why does Separation-at-Source Matter?

The S@S bins are the beginning of a chain reaction of eco-consciousness. When recyclable waste is diverted from the City’s landfills, they play an important role in improving the quality of the recyclable materials separated, given that they are not contaminated by non-recyclable, residual and organic waste. This then helps waste pickers earn a better living, as they are able to receive better payment from buy-back centres when they collect cleaner materials that are separated according to type!

You can learn more about bettering your recycling habits, here.

Sources: Supplied 

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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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21-year-old eco-champion and Savie a Fishie founder Zoë Prinsloo and her team are getting ready for another Cross-Country clean up following the success of their 2023 mission that collected an elephant’s weight of litter!

South Africa (06 May 2024) — Zoë Prinsloo and other environmental champions, part of Save a Fishie NPC, will once again be tackling a cross-country clean-up following the success of last year’s Cost 2 Coast mission.

In 2023, Zoë and ‘Save a Fishie’ friends successfully travelled 7,895 kilometres from South Africa’s West Coast before reaching the East Coast and then heading back West. They collected an elephant’s weight in rubbish (2,962kgs); cleaning 111 beaches on their mission!

Now, they’ve cleared the logistics for another clean-up across South Africa with sights set on a route from Cape town to Port Nolloth where they will cross the country via the Hennops and Juskei Rivers and then down the East Coast from Richards Bay back to Cape Town.

This is yet another massive commitment to our beaches from the 21-year-old environmental activist and Save a Fishie Founder, Zoë Prinsloo, who began cleaning beaches at the age of 10 and founded the environmental powerhouse organisation at just 16 years old. To date, Zoë has cleaned over 270 beaches and collected over 20 tons of litter, broken a World Record for the longest beach clean-up, been awarded a Civic Award for conservation by the Mayor of Cape Town and as of recent, represented South Africa at the Helen Storrow Seminar in Switzerland. Not to mention, she was also announced as one of the top 100 African Youth Conservation Leaders in 2022!

Needless to say, the 2024 cross-country clean-up is, once again, in the best hands.

“This time round we will be focusing on those beaches we identified during Coast 2 Coast 2023 as needing extra attention. We will also be working more closely with schools and local organisations, fostering lasting relationships and raising awareness on a national scale,” says Zoë of the 2024 Coast 2 Coast mission.

The journey will be documented across various social  media platforms with three key elements in mind: “Environment. Education. Entertainment.” There will also be a live tracking meter for the public to see how many kilometres have been travelled as well as the kilograms of litter collected and the number of nurdles picked up along the way.

Here’s to another effort that’s wasting no time in showing South Africa how much can be done when just one person starts something incredible, and enough community members follow in their sandy and powerful footsteps.

Sources: Supplied—Save a Fishie 

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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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In an effort to bring waste consciousness front of mind, Stellenbosch University put ‘waste towers’ on display to showcase the power of eco-action!

Stellenbosch, South Africa (24 April, 2024)—Earth Day has come and gone, but the impact our choices can make on the planet are a lifelong thing. And as soon as we realise the answer isn’t being afraid, but taking eco-action, great green things can happen!

Showcasing just how must waste two days on campus can produce (and how much eco-action matters), Stellenbosch University put two waste installations on display in an effort to raise awareness and waste consciousness during Earth Month.

The ‘waste towers’ on the Rooiplein saw 3000 kgs of waste collected and sorted by the University’s centralised Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). This is around 30 bales of waste. What of the eco-action? Well, 28% reportedly end up being recycled, 46% are composted and only 26% head to landfills—a striking difference from a time when recycling and composting were abstract terms.

Accompanying the waste towers were little signs to prompt action. “What do you leave behind?” and “Does all this waste make you uncomfortable?” were just two messages that gave students and staff a lot to think about in terms of their own efforts.

The good news, beyond rallying awareness, as the university notes, is that thanks to the MRF, more than 1000 tonnes of waste were sorted away from landfills last year, as well as 10.4 tonnes of e-waste. To make life easier for students to get in on the action, three-bin sorting systems are available on all campuses, while other eco-conscious practices focused on water security and carbon-emission reductions have also been introduced to get to net zero. A recent win was being awarded the City of Cape Town’s 5-star and 3-star ratings of the Tygerberg and Bellville campuses’ efforts towards effective water management, alongside the Green Building Council of South Africa certifying 18 buildings on the Stellies campus.

All of these efforts, including the waste conscious towers, play a part in putting not merely eco-fear, but the efficacy of eco-action front of mind. And it’s vital that educational institutions—who pride themselves on shaping the next generations of leaders—spearhead the charge.

But, the individual has their own role to play and their own ‘waste tower’ to introspect on.

Sources: Stellenbosch University 

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