Pick up a paper, save SA
ON A Friday night on CTV ( a local community TV channel ) I was made aware by the Argus editor about the #CleanYourHood idea and its powerful transformation potential in Cape Town. I started reminiscing about my TedX 2016 talk titled, “Saving the planet, one paper at a time!” As you can see both ideas have one thing in common – a call for action which can change communities and the country.
I started my talk saying:“Cape Town is one of the most beautiful places in the world with the sea, sand and mountains but today the city of Cape Town is in danger of littering... litter.”
We have a major problem and if we do not act we may regret it . Just imagine no more Table Mountain but a waste mountain in the future. The first step towards change is acknowledging we have a problem, Cape Town has a problem.
The second step would be to acknowledge that the problem affects everybody (rich and poor, young and old and male and female). I used this analogy to explain this, “Litter has devastating journeys which may land up at your doorstep in Kewtown or in your backyard in Klipheuwel or in your Olympic swimming pool in Camps Bay”.
As we have acknowledged the problem and understand the effects, we must think how we take action. The Argus has reported on these actions making a difference in the hood where community members have taken up arms (brooms and bags) against the littering problem.
I challenge more Capetonians to support this idea; picking up one paper a day can make a huge difference in your community. The idea is simple, convenient and easy to motivate everybody to do their bit.
What does picking up a paper a day do to you? It will make you feel a sense of pride in your community service. Hopefully, the idea will catch on.
If you want to be part of thisand learn more from it and use it (it’s entertaining and will definitely #Clean more Hoods. Watch on YouTube: One Person, One Paper, One Planet /Wilmot Arendse-Youtube.