Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Young eco-warrior helps clean beaches
ROCCO Antonio da Silva is a little boy with a big vision and strong determination. His aim is to clean up the environment and protect our sealife.
The 9-year-old plans to do so by creating awareness about pollution and recycling and by helping the youth get more involved.
The Somerset West resident has formed a club called The Future Kids, which aims to create awareness online and to conduct monthly clean-ups at beaches in the Western Cape.
When asked why he wanted to start the club, he said he was tired of seeing litter on beaches.
“I mean, who wants to go to a beach that is full of litter? It became very hard to look at. I am trying to get through to people to stop littering. It is important to recycle – our landfills are getting too full.”
Rocco’s inspiration came from his chess coach, who told him about an app he was creating. This made him think about launching a website to help kids and adults to learn how to look after the environment and recycle.
“I told my mom about this and she helped me get started. I then came up with the name.”
The Future Kids club is about being “responsible for our future and taking action to make sure we have a clean and safe environment in the future”, Rocco said.
After meetings with Peter Vee from Vee Station Design Studio, who designed the logo and website, he spoke to Interwaste, which is going to assist with the clean-ups. Finally, he met Warren Parkin of Manor Homes, who provided the club with financial support to enable them to keep it free and for members to get a free goody bag when they join.
At their first clean-up in April at Strand Beach they collected about 80kg of litter. Of that, only 5kg could be recycled.
“I was very disappointed by this,” Rocco said.
He hopes to get people to keep their immediate vicinity clear of l litter, implement recycling/upcycling, move towards zero waste and refrain from buying single-use plastic.
Becoming part of the club requires kids and adults to commit to attending monthly clean-ups.
Rocco is determined to get clubs worldwide to help make the world a cleaner place and get more schools on board.
“If schools get involved and every week there are clean-ups, we won’t have this problem. People need to know every piece of plastic leads to a devastating end.”
Other club goals are to eventually raise money to provide dustbins in areas where there are none and to help people learn to recycle. The club will be at the Sea
Point Rock Pools, next to the pavilion to clean up and to mark Youth Day today.
“I am so happy it is on Youth Day this means more kids can get involved.”
www.thefuturekids.co.za