Young Helderkruin recycler a whirlwind of eco-friendly action
Zane Steyn reminding the community of the importance of sustainable consumption
Innocent eyes peek through the consumerist veneer and into an abyss of unsustainability.
Latching onto ideas of eco-responsibility, an eight-year-old boy is on a mission to restore the equilibrium between humanity and nature. Already well known to his neighbours, Zane Steyn has immersed himself in the world of plants, organically grown foods, recycling and everything encompassing eco-sustainability. With an awareness of every action, every decision is a calculation on the benefits to the world around him.
With the help of a family whole-heartedly in support of his endeavours, Zane has transformed every inch of earth on the family’s property into something of use. Absolutely enamoured of the regenerative properties of succulents, aloes and cacti, he has re-imagined the house’s flower beds into terraced artworks that display the incredible power of plants, most notably his favourite, pekboom.
In addition to his fledgling botany, Zane has turned the backyard into a farmers market’s paradise. With as much selection as the average supermarket, he and his family cultivate a host of fresh fruit and vegetables that include pumpkins, chilis, gem squash, green beans and mint. Nourished by rows of corn, cabbages bigger than his head, pineapples, avocados and figs, Zane and the Steyns seldom bother the green grocer.
Recycling goes hand in hand with sustainable consumption and Zane strips anything of use before discarding an item in the trash. This has helped him repurpose many household items and is the source of his upcoming water-filtration project. This returns full circle to his gardening, as Zane uses hollowed-out tree stumps as pots as well as broken pots to shape and decorate his flower beds.
Agriculture is in the young whirlwind’s blood as both paternal and maternal grandparents have farms in Kimberley and the KZN midlands, respectively. The extended family regularly bring Zane horticultural treats from afar while his parents, Jaco and Marnie give their son all the resources he could want to achieve his goals. Leading by example, their home-schooled son’s classroom-cum-wendy house is fully solar powered.
Jaco and Marnie play a guiding role, with Jaco taking Zane through the hills and fields around their house looking for flowery treasures. Marnie, owner of organic lifestyle advice website The Health Chef, shares her own passion for sustainability, saying, “It puzzles me when I hear young people say that fruit and vegetables come from Pick n Pay. Promoting eco-friendly mindsets is a way of passing on the baton so that the younger generation have a world worth inheriting.”
Zane was shocked into action by a video showing the extraction of a straw from the nose of sea-turtle and in the three years since has been unstoppable in his pursuit. He uses his young eco wisdom to remind the adults around him of their own responsibilities with a virtuous smile and a caring demeanour. In his unrelenting quest to save the world, Zane cares not for the if, focusing on the how but always remembering the why.
