Youth Fight Litter Louts

- Imke Maeyer -

On 4 September, 230 children from Prince Albert Primêr and Hoërskool Zwartberg filled 339 bags of rubbish on their second joint litter pickup of this year. Sadly, soon after, a strong wind decorated fences and thorn bushes with the never-ending supply of flying plastic packets!

Recycling is now part of the school curriculum but respect for the environment begins at home. We hope that litter pickups will encourage our children to practise what they learn and encourage friends and family to do the same.

Children’s safety on a litter pickup is a priority: the area is first scouted, they are supervised, wear plastic gloves donated by the hospital and are not allowed to touch glass.

Our goal is a litter-free town. Join us on our next “action against litter”, if only to see the children’s sense of achievement at clearing an area of rubbish.

Thanks to our townsfolk’s generosity on our first litter pickup, we could give each child a juice and many of them prizes!

“Litterbug” takes on a new meaning

- Ailsa Tudhope -

The Grade Four English Home language class at Hoërskool Zwartberg were enthusiastic participants in the litter clean-up campaign held last term. The event coincided with their starting a chapter in their language books about the Wombles, the dangers of pollution and our responsibility for caring for the Earth. One of the activities was to write a description of a Litterbug. When we started chatting about it I was astounded to find that their definition of a litterbug wasn’t someone who drops sweet wrappers but a creature that goes out to clean up litter. Now, there might be those who think I am an irresponsible language teacher who should have taught them the proper definition, but I believe their take on the whole business is marvellous, so they gaily set about drawing and describing their brand of the bug.

This term we invited Imke Maeyer and Ellen Joubert, organisers of the clean-up and recycling projects in Prince Albert, to visit the classroom to see their litterbug pictures and hear them read their descriptions. Imke and Ellen thoroughly enjoyed themselves and were able to provide our young anti-litter campaigners with an update on the recycling project, encouraging them to spread the word and get others involved.

Here are some extracts from their litterbug descriptions:
Louis van der Nests’ litterbug is Nosy: “…he sucks the litter through his nose, his wings are lights so in the night he can put his lights on to see in the dark.” Thomas Gous’ Pinky “…lives under tables and eats every type of litter.” Greeny, created by Germari Steyn, …eats rubbish like paper, bottles and plastic.” Lisa Esterhuizen’s Kinkerdew “…sucks up oil from the sea and gives it to farmers to use in their tractors.” Marjohandi Fourie’s Linky “…picks up rubbish,” and Andrew Steyn’s Taily “… sucks all the pollution up his tail.”

They all listed a hint to help us stop polluting: Use a car that works on bio-diesel, pick up rubbish left in the road, tell the government to make littering illegal, do not throw litter around and recycle everything that can be recycled. Let’s follow their advice and make them as proud of us as I am of them.

Schools tackle town’s litter

- Imke Maeyer -

Prince Albert Primêr and Hoërskool Zwartberg have joined forces to start what will hopefully be an ongoing process of picking up and sorting litter.

After some valuable lessons taught in play form at both schools by the Patchwork Theatre and a poster competition with the theme of recycling and not littering, the children got into the swing of thinking about our planet, and set forth with great enthusiasm on Friday, 6 June, to try and make a dent in the vast amounts of litter that decorate our town.

250 schoolchildren met at the VGK hall where they had a snack and were briefed on what to do. Our aim was not only to collect litter, but also to separate it.

We divided the children into four main groups; each allocated one area of town to clean up.

They set off with their teachers, a handful of parents and even a couple of volunteers from the community! Each group was accompanied by a bakkie on which to load the bags as they were brought in.
The children were fantastic; they managed to separate the litter with even the smallest participants (Wildekanisland Nursery School) almost getting it right. They spent just over one hour on their mission and collected 4 bakkies full! The loads were driven to the Municipal storage where they now patiently await the building of the new recycling depot.

The teachers and children in the meantime gathered again in the VGK hall for a prize- giving ceremony. Five Grade 1 children picked up the most litter – 23 farmers feed bags full! They won a glorious chocolate cake and an olive tree each.

Due to the generosity of many Prince Alberters, who opened their pockets and also gave of their precious time, this event was a great success and we have money left to continue with the campaign.

The next step in the direction of making a change is to get permission from our respective headmasters to let us do a rubbish round once a month, and to introduce a system at the schools where the children will bring their recyclable litter from home. For every bag they bring, they will earn points which will be converted to stationary prizes.

The feedback has been interesting: not many people can see a difference, but for the children it has made an impact; they are seriously thinking twice about throwing their litter on the ground, because in all probability they are the ones who will have to pick it up! Soon they will hopefully see the long-term benefits but in the meantime, at least, their minds are on the subject!

We would like to thank the following for their support: Anton Joubert of Remote Meter Solutions, PA municipality, Denise Ohlson, Bergwater Vineyards, Marlene and Laurie Knowles, Koggelmander, Rudi Maeyer, Weltevreden fig farm, Dorrien Tissiman, Karoo Slaghuis, Ria Steyn, Charles Roux, Lazy Lizard, Gay’s Dair,Essie Esterhuizen, Lorna Verran, Renu-Karoo, Mavis Aggett, Seeff Properties, Andrea Badenhorst, Di and Jeremy Freemantle, P A Tourism, Pam Golding Properties, Laetitia Van Dyk, Pam Wessels, P A Gallery, , Prins-Kem Pharmacy,Fransie Pienaar Musuem Sandy Bower, Helene Smit, Mark Steyn, Jeff Armoed and Café Albert.

Prince Albert Schools Tackle Town’s Litter

-Imke Maeyer-

On Friday, 6 June 2008 the grades 1 to 6 children of Hoërskool Zwartberg and the grade 3 learners of Prince Albert Primêr will move through areas of our town where litter is a problem. They will clean up and sort the rubbish in support of the recycling project which will be up and running very soon.

The project is a collaborative effort between the two schools and the Prince Albert Solid Waste Management Forum and is the start of a campaign to raise awareness about issues of waste management. The schools would like to do similar and ongoing projects of this nature if the campaign is successful.

The project has a number of aims:
· Cleaning our town and making it a better place for all to live.
· Increasing awareness of our success in the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism’s Cleanest Town competition – in 2007 we won the prize for most improved town!
· Raising awareness of school children and adults about littering and recycling.

The rubbish pick up will be preceded by a poster competition and a play by the Patchwork Theatre about pollution and waste. The play will be performed for all the classes from grade 1 to 6 in both schools. The Matric science learners will give a talk to the older children about global warming.

The children in the pick-up campaign will receive a healthy, filling snack to motivate them and give them strength on their mission. To encourage participation, there will be prizes for the biggest collectors, most enthusiastic collectors, etc.

Teachers will accompany the children. As 250 children will participate on the day, if anybody would like to join us to collect litter or assist in supervising the children, or in any other way, we would be MOST grateful and who knows, there might be a prize in store for you too!

If you have any advice, or if you feel you can assist in any small or even big way, please contact Imke Maeyer at 023 5411 184 or Ellen Nicol at 023 5411953 for further information.