Clean-Up & Recycle SA Week took place from 14 - 19 September 2020, culminating in National Recycling Day on Friday, 18 September and South Africa's 24th year of participating in the annual International Coastal Clean-Up Day on Saturday, 19 September. "With an emphasis on COVID-safe clean-ups this year, we asked coordinators to keep the numbers of volunteers to below … [Read more...]
Striving for a world free of litter this July
Each year in July, people across the globe take part in “Plastic Free July” – an international movement that aims to reduce the amount of plastic waste in our environment by encouraging fellow citizens to make the shift towards long-term, environmentally friendly habits. Although skeptics might find it hard to believe, the plastics industry in South Africa and their partners … [Read more...]
Marine waste project removes a ton of litter from KZN lagoon
The KZN Marine Waste Network South Coast was launched at Amanzimtoti Lagoon last week. The event attracted 150 participants who joined in a clean-up at the lagoon to celebrate the network's launch, removing more than 200 bags of litter (weighing more than 1 ton in total) from the area in an hour. Explaining the importance of launching the KZN Marine Waste Network South … [Read more...]
Let’s turn the corner on food wastage
If you take a moment to digest the statistics around the amount of food we waste today, it can be pretty overwhelming. It is thought that around one third of the food produced around the globe is lost or wasted. Richer countries waste something like 222 million tonnes per year, in Europe and North America that equates to 95-115kg of food per person, per year. The numbers are … [Read more...]
Fishing for plastic on Amsterdam’s canal cruises
It’s not fish they’re hunting on their cruise along one of the Dutch capital’s most famous tourist attractions — it’s plastic. With eco-tourism booming around the world, the canal cruises run by the Dutch group Plastic Whale are reeling in big business. “It’s a completely other way of visiting Amsterdam,” said Plastic Whale founder Marius Smit. “Obviously you’re on the … [Read more...]
South Africa’s 2019 recycling champions announced
On the back of a 6% year-on-year increase in the recycling of PET plastic bottles, SA's national industry body has unveiled its 2019 recycling champions. These people and organisations are making strides in sustainability at grassroots level. The annual awards were made across 11 categories, with Western Cape winners scooping nine awards, followed by Gauteng with two, and … [Read more...]
Diverting organic waste from landfills to produce green energy
The improper disposal of waste is one of the fastest growing risks to our planet and way of life. Rotting food leads to increases in methane gasses as the food decomposes in landfills. To address this, the City of Cape Town plans to start banning wet waste from its landfills from 2022. The Waste Transformers from the Netherlands and South Africa’s own JSE-listed … [Read more...]
Shopping without plastic bags?
South Africa does not have a law banning plastic bags. However, to reduce littering and discourage customers from buying them, the plastic bag levy was increased in April by 50 percent to 12 cents per bag. SA department store chain Woolworths Holdings will be removing single-use plastic bags from one of its stores during a six-month trial period in a bid to end plastic … [Read more...]
South Africans unite for a clean environment
Thousands of South Africans rolled up their sleeves, put on their rubber gloves and took to the beaches on Saturday, 15 September 2018 as part of the first World Clean-up Day - the largest peacetime civic action in human history. Stretching across 24 different time zones, involving 144 countries and more than 13 million volunteers worldwide, World Clean-up Day started in … [Read more...]
Wildlands praise recycling efforts in Colesberg
A group of nine hard-working residents in Colesberg (Northern Cape) signed up as Wildlands’ Waste-preneurs in 2016 with a goal of keeping their communities clean and green, while providing for their families. Continuous efforts made by this group have resulted in them forming a company known as A9. This allows them to be formally recognised as a business and draw more attention … [Read more...]
Rethinking the Bag with 5 Gyres Ambassador Hayley McLellan
In 2010 Hayley McLellan (now the Environmental Campaigner at the Two Oceans Aquarium) launched the Rethink the Bag campaign with the goal of banning single-use plastic shopping bags in South Africa - and she's making significant progress. In 2011, the Aquarium made the decision to fully support this campaign which led to staff and volunteers being prohibited from bringing … [Read more...]
Finally, Kenya effects ban on plastic bags
Susan Khalayi, a shopper in Nairobi walks out of a supermarket in the city’s central business district carrying foodstuff, mostly fruits. The goods are packed in an eco-friendly, reusable bag made of cloth. Just a day before, the groceries she bought at the same outlet were packed in plastic bags. That was the norm in Kenya until August 28, when the government effected a … [Read more...]
Coastal clean-up initiative sees record number of participants
This past weekend saw the 21st year in which South Africa participated in the International Coastal Clean-Up (ICC) – an annual event that has become the biggest, global volunteer effort for ocean health. “We coordinated more than 400 beach clean-up points around the Cape and 40 in KZN in partnership with the KZN Marine Waste Network members on Saturday alone. This excludes … [Read more...]
