Saving the environment
FOURWAYS - Green Beings is a non-profit organisation aimed at educating children and teenagers at various schools using eco-friendly programmes.
Operating from Fourways, the organisation was established in 2011 by Roxy Lourens, Marloes Dikjema and Alex Frost.
Green Beings began as an extra-mural project at Fourways High School where Lourens was a teacher. The project involved pupils planting trees at Norscot Koppies, learning about the flora and fauna in the area, and teaching them about water testing.
Through the initial Green Beings project they developed the Green-schools model which consists of an Eco-schools programme, and a number of other projects and events to teach pupils about the importance of green technologies and processes. The Eco-schools programme has become their primary mode of educating schools and communities about the state of their natural environment.
The Eco-schools programme is currently hosted at eight Cosmo City schools where the organisation develop youth councils, which consists of pupils from the schools who bring forth participation from the local communities to embrace different technologies and processes such as rainwater catchment, vegetable gardens and recycling to help improve the environment around them.
In the Eco-schools programme Green Beings set up eco-committees at schools to facilitate and embrace a sustainable programme in these schools through structured projects.
Lourens said, “The school pays a registration fee and sets up an eco-committee made up of parents, teachers, ground staff and students. They then get a tool kit used to audit the school. After the audit the school is assessed and then the eco-committee set up a theme for the year in an area of their environment where the school can improve and then do a project in order to improve in this area.”
Green Beings have been involved in many other projects such as a volunteer programme at Norscot Koppies, extensive work at the Diepsloot Nature Reserve, a River Rehab at the Klein Juksei Spruit and work with the Montecasino Bird Gardens for the Owl and Box project which brought awareness regarding the importance of owls to schools in Cosmo City.
“The most important aim of our organisation is connecting the youth with nature, and showing them how to live in harmony with nature. We are trying to change attitudes and help the youth realise the importance of a clean environment,” said Dikjema.
