Kids find out it pays to clean up the environment

PUPILS at Cascade Primary School in Mitchells Plain cheered with delight when they heard that their school had won the Clean Up and Recycle Competition.

The school collected 2 519kg of recyclable items including plastic bottles, cans, paper and glass bottles throughout the four- week competition arranged by Peninsula Beverages Company.

Cascade Primary’s 950 pupils competed against two other Mitchells Plain schools, Woodville Primary and Imperial Primary, to collect and recycle the most per pupil during World Clean Up Month, between September 9 and October 9.

Each school also participated in a clean- up day where they learnt about the value of recycling and collected waste in and around their school. The total weight of the waste collected on the day and all the items recycled over the four-week period were divided by the number of pupils at each school to determine the winner.

PenBev’s communications manager Denise Behrens said: “We are thrilled by the amazing response from all three schools to clean up their community and collect so many items for recycling. Altogether Cascade Primary, Imperial Primary and Woodville Primary recycled 4 555kg during the competition.”

Cascade Primary School principal Gale Adriaanse said that the grand prize of R10 000 would be spent on painting some of the classrooms and doing other repairs. “We are so thankful to all the learners, teachers, parents and community members that got into the spirit of the competition by recycling everything they could for our school. The message this competition has is a valuable one for our learners – we all have a role to play in taking care of the environment.”

The school plans to continue recycling throughout the year as a way to create additional income. “We are sitting on a goldmine,” said Adriaanse, “with each item recycled, we can raise funds... and there is quite a lot of enthusiasm from learners and parents to continue recycling.”

This is the first year that PenBev have run the competition.

We plan to involve even more schools next year.

“Ultimately this is about educating youngsters by showing them that recycling and keeping our communities clean is something we can all do to live more sustainably,” said Behrens.

PICTURES: CRAIG WILSON TEAM WORK: The Cascade Primary School in Mitchells Plain won the Clean Up and Recycle Competition held between September 9 and October 9.