Words: Reputation Matters
It’s hard to tell which school is in the lead for the Clean Up and Recycle Competition taking place this month. On Wednesday last week Woodville Primary School in Mitchell’s Plain cleaned up their school and their community, collecting 537 kilograms of waste at the Clean Up day.
Photo credit: Craig Wilson
Imperial Primary in Beacon Valley, Cascade Primary in Tafelsig and Woodville Primary are competing for the grand prize. The school that collects the most waste at their Clean Up day and recycles the most plastic bottles, cans, paper and glass bottles per learner during the four week competition will win a grand prize of R10 000 to be spent on school improvements. The winner will be calculated by weighing the total amount collected and divided by the number of learners at the school. Woodville Primary School Principal Keith Riddles said that the school needed to replace doors and that there was extensive maintenance work to be done in the toilets.
At the Clean Up Day the school listened to an informative talk by WasteWant Director of Sales and Marketing, Luther Müller. He told the learners that informal collectors can make R3500 a month through collection of recyclable items and that waste is valuable because it can be re-used. The learners enjoyed a snack and refreshment before they put gloves on and began to gather rubbish. For twenty minutes the younger children combed the inside of the school grounds collecting litter while the older grades, accompanied by their teachers, went into the area surrounding the school to clean up. After the hard work was done the children celebrated their efforts by dancing with Mpact recycling mascot, Ronnie Recycler.
The Clean Up and Recycle Competition is organised by Peninsula Beverages (PenBev – local bottler and distributor of The Coca-Cola Company products in the Western and Northern Cape). “This competition is about encouraging recycling and respect for the environment which is an important value at PenBev. All three schools have responded so enthusiastically to the challenge which is very impressive,” commented PenBev Corporate Communications Manager Denise Behrens.
In order to encourage learners to bring in items for recycling, staff at Woodville Primary have arranged a school based competition between the classes. On Wednesday last week, Grade 3A were in the lead, having brought in 77 bags filled with paper, cans, plastic bottles and glass bottles. “Parents have arrived at the school with bakkie-loads of plastic bottles,” reported one teacher.
For more information about Peninsula Beverages, visit www.penbev.co.za
