Anti-litter blitz kicks off in Yellowwood Park
A litter campaign focused on cleaning up Yellowwood Park was launched on Saturday, 9 March at Yellowwood Park Spar Shopping Centre.
YELLOWWOOD Park Conservancy, Durban Solid Waste (DSW), eThekwini Municipality Business Licencing and ward 64 councillor Gavin Hegter came together in an effort to increase awareness on litter, pollution and illegal dumping through the campaign.
READ: Tree planting in Yellowwood Park
Emelda Mkhulisi, DSW education officer, said waste management and illegal dumping is a persistent issue in YWP. “This campaign is all about educating members of the community about how to dispose of their waste properly. We have residents who don’t put out their trash on the designated day of DSW refuse collection, residents who dispose of domestic waste in public bins at the shopping centre as well as residents who dump trash illegally in undesignated areas, like at the nearby civic centre. As DSW, we try our level best to address this issue by holding such campaigns, handing out pamphlets, visiting local schools and providing residents with the different refuse bags, namely the black, orange and blue bags for domestic, recyclable and garden waste respectively,” explained Mkhulisi.
YWP Conservancy’s Billie Prinsloo said another pro-active way to deal with litter and waste in the area is by promoting the eco-brick challenge among community members. The conservancy educated locals on how to make their own eco-bricks using two-litre bottles and compacting them with unrecyclable plastic material. “We are also reaching out to local schools to teach them that the first step of recycling is re-use. Educating them about how to make their own eco-bricks will not only minimise the amount of unrecyclable plastic found in oceans, parks and landfill sites but also encourage them to teach others to do better,” said Prinsloo.
READ HERE HOW TO MAKE AN ECOBRICK:
Ward 64 councillor Gavin Hegter urged residents to take ownership of their area, by taking out their trash on the designated refuse collection day. This would mitigate having plastic bags lying around untidily in the area, or within the reach of monkeys or vagrants. “DSW and the municipality work hard to ensure the area is clean and that waste is disposed of correctly. We will be getting our city marshals to monitor the area as well as have law enforcement issue fines for illegal dumping. I encourage every resident to take ownership of their area and look after it better, in a bid to enhance YWP,” added Hegter.
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