Step It Up This Recycle Week

Step It Up This Recycle Week’ is the theme for 2021. Recycle Week (13-18 Sep) is an annual event designed to celebrate and promote the benefits of recycling. This event on the environmental calendar highlights opportunities where we can implement positive changes that will help protect our planet. Recycle Week advertising campaigns encourages the recycling of products and packaging, so that less garbage reaches our landfills and incineration plants. By reusing aluminium, paper, glass, plastics, and other materials, we can save production and energy costs, and reduce the negative impacts on the environment. In addition, it saves a lot of virgin resources too. reduces the. Recycling reduces the amount of waste, that often takes many years to decompose, thus reducing the burden on the environment. Very often, our trash can be repurposed for reuse.

In preparation for this week, the Dyer Island Conservation Trust’s Environmental Education Programme known as DEEP put on a ‘Trashion Show’, showcasing their creative talents by creating clothes out of thrash and making a statement of secondary use. The learners also presented on the Marine Big 5 (sharks, whales, dolphins, penguins, and seals) and the impacts on marine animals from pollution. This was attended by the staff of ecotourism companies Marine Dynamics and Dyer Island Cruises and the parents of the learners. The learners concluded that turning the tide of litter helps save our oceans and that we should be PRECYCLISTs, meaning that we should refuse to buy things that cannot be reused. “One of the easiest ways to do this is through avoiding single use items like plastic shopping bags, takeaway coffee cups, straws, and water bottles. All of these have solutions that minimise our impact on the environment,” said Pinkey Ngewu, DEEP educator.

Judges of the winning outfits were Nicola Immelman from Marine Dynamics, Adele Geldenhuys from Taurus Cape Kelp an annual supporter of DEEP and Laticia Mudege, a DEEP learner for six years who mentors the younger groups.

This year’s week will once again culminate in National Recycling Day on Friday, 17 September 2021 and the International Coastal Clean-Up Day on Saturday, 18 September 2021. The DICT team will be coordinating a clean up at the Gansbaai Harbour on that day. Participants can meet at the Boat Club House at 9h30 to 11h30.

Adelè Geldenhuys with DEEP learners