Adopt an Eastern Cape beach
Save those bread tags
Being patient is sometimes very difficult, but many people in our communities have no choice. It is like this for many who need a wheelchair, but cannot afford one and have to join a Department of Health waiting list. Sadly, often, when it arrives, sometimes years later, the person has passed away or has developed more disabilities due to being immobilised for so long.
Those little plastic bread bag tags are helping to change this, tag by tag. Polystyrene Packaging Council’s (PSPC) hugely successful “Bread Tags for Wheelchairs” fundraising project has touched hundreds of South Africans' lives. In its eighth year, consumers are urged to collect their tags which are then used to “purchase” wheelchairs for those in need through selling them to a recycling operation.
So don’t throw them away – keep the tags together in a container and bring them in to our local Pick n Pay – any time – and put them in the clear plastic box supplied for this purpose, near the clothing section (bread tags only, please).
They will be collected and, once checked that there are no other items among them, stored safely until they make up a boot-load to be delivered to a company in East London that uses them to manufacture other items. Towards the end of 2016, around 105kg from Grahamstown were delivered there – just less than one-third of what is needed for one standard wheelchair. Not only will you be helping someone get out and about instead of being housebound; you will also be reducing non- biodegradable waste sent to a landfill. And then we will start all over again to collect for another, and another... • Article supplied by Fiona Semple, who coordinates the project locally (046 622 3712).
Keeping our coasts green
We all know that South Africa, and particularly the Eastern Cape, has some of the most beautiful, unspoilt beaches in the world. But such spaces are often the target for unsightly development. In an exciting new initiative, WESSA (the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa) is pioneering a new eco-label, Green Coast, to add to its stable of ecotourism programmes. Green Coast is all about the sustainable management of sensitive coastal environments – non-urban, wild spaces with minimal infrastructure.
The label complements the international Blue Flag award, which assures a world-class experience at urban swimming beaches and which has been operational in SA for many years. This year, WESSA’s Ecotourism Unit will be piloting several sites along the SA coastline to develop and establish the Green Coast label. For a site to achieve Green Coast status, it will have to comply with a set of site-specific requirements and inspection criteria.
The award will be based on a clear and robust manage- ment monitoring system. The plan is for WESSA members to help select five sites along the coast, and to work with the Ecotourism Unit and the relevant municipalities during the pilot phase of this “adopta-beach” programme. While local municipalities will be responsible for upholding the criteria, WESSA membership will provide specific support in the collection and monitoring of baseline ecological info. Green Coast is all about increasing tourism to our coast, in a responsible way, and we wish WESSA every success with this programme.
For more info about Green Coast: Vince Shacks, 082 337 1273, sa.co.za
The O-Week Environmental Extravaganza
On Saturday, 18 February 2017, 10am to 1pm at Steve Biko Lawns, the event offers first year students a chance to find out more about how to get involved in enviro stuff on campus, and in the wider community. Find us Online: www.grocotts. co.za/environews
Contacts for Makana EnviroNews:
Nikki Köhly: n.kohly@ru.ac.za, 046 603 7205 Tim Bull: timothybull05@aol.com, 076 289 5122 Jenny Gon: j-gon@intekom.co.za, 046 622 5822 Nick James: nickjames@intekom.co.za, 082 575 9781 Philip Machanick: p.machanick@ru.ac.za, 046 603 8635