HOWICK ON A QUEST TO BE SA’S CLEANEST TOWN
Pupils from Howick Prep School collected six bags of rubbish.
Seeing Howick become South Africa’s cleanest town is one of the goals the Love Howick team hopes to achieve by partnering with the people and businesses of Howick.
Founder and director of the organisation, Matt Hogarty, told Village Talk that he believes it is a very achievable dream.
“They say if you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together,” he added. “We have this far, long-term, big, audacious goal of being the cleanest town in South Africa.
“Green Week gives us the opportunity to bring people together, to clean up our community and make it a place where we are proud to walk down our streets; a place where we are proud to bring visitors to; a place which attracts investment.
“Green Week is about citizens, businesses, NGOs and schools coming together to preserve our environment and clean up our streets.”
The Green Week Challenge, which runs twice a year, shines a spotlight on the cleanliness of Howick, Hogarty said.
“It is a week where groups of people select a spot around Howick and do what they need to do to beautify and clean,” he added.
“This year we saw businesses, schools, citizens and other NGOs join us and take action and we want to thank them for taking the time and joining the movement for positive change.”
This is what this year’s Green Week achieved:
• SOS Contractors: Cut brush from the Tweedie off-ramp to the hill; removed alien invasive plants near Natal Forest Nursery; and replaced arrow signs. St Michael’s Ambulance: Cut brush to the fence line; cleared drains and removed alien invasive plants from the bottom of the hill up to the traffic lights at Greendale SuperSpar; cleared drains and road edges in Lakeview Park; brush cut and straightened signs from the Curry’s Post intersection with Main Road to Eagle Ridge Estate; and brush cut and cleared drains from Curry’s Post intersection with Main Road to the Engen Garage.
• Oasis Preparatory School: cleared along each side of the road and brush cut along Symmonds Lane.
• Aquamad Swim School: cleaned the verges in Ridge Road and removed graffiti in the vicinity.
• Midlands EMS and Midlands Power Equipment: Brush cut and fixed broken pavements from Power Park Lane to Prospect Lane.
BuildIt: Brush cut and planted
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• flowers along the retaining wall on from the Karkloof Road intersection to the Ambers; and planted gardens and cleared the perimeter of the Howick Police Station.
• Love Howick and Renoverge: removed broken steel bins and brush cut from the Engen intersection to the Somme and Bell Street intersection; cleared litter, brush cut and tidied gardens from the bridge to the falls; removed broken cement bollards; cleaned and cleared the park, rock walls, verges, pavements and drains from the bridge up into Morling Street. Midmar Tile and Hardware: brush cut, tidied and replanted gardens, and cleared drains along the Bell Street, Somme Street and Harvard Gardens. Oasis Church: cleaned verges, pavements and drains and planted flower beds from the Karkloof intersection to the Engen garage.
SupaSlab Midlands: eradicated bugweed, pruned trees and brush cut up the hill at the Howick West intersection. Knight Security, Xtra Merrivale and Verge Masters: eradicated Bugweed at the bridge, cleared drains and brush cut in the Merrivale bridge surrounds. Mayor’s Office: cleared and tidied the areas around the Howick West Library and Hall.
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Oasis Preparatory School got their hands dirty to help make Howick the country’s cleanest town.
Tidied gardens and did general maintenance.
• Xtreme Skips: provided skips for refuse disposal points in
Bell Street.
Howick Prep School Eco Club: cleared and cleared the verges
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Oasis Church cleaning up the intersection of Main Road and the Karkloof Road. of Harvard Street, Berea Road and Theed Street. Collected six black bags of rubbish.
Karkloof Canopy Tours and Midmar Hardware and Tiles also donated generously to the cause.