Sustaining the earth and making it a better place to live in, was the message from different speakers at the Schools Recycling Awards at the Pyramid Conference Centre in Johannesburg last Tuesday.
The auditorium was filled with dignitaries who were passionate about waste management and people whose eagerness to sustain the earth was evident.
Thabo Ledwaba, the event’s master of ceremonies, said: “The aim of the award ceremony was to simply ensure the health of our community is sustained through recycling and waste management.”
“When we look after our environment, future generations are saved,” he said.
The event was hosted by the Amalgamated Beverage Industries (ABI), the soft drink division of South African Breweries (SAB) supported by the PET Recycling Company (PETCO)
John Ustas, managing director of ABI, said the event was born from deep introspection in 2009.
“We saw that we needed to touch more customers.
“We needed to give back to our community and sustainable development needed to be our biggest focus,” he said.
He said because the youth were the biggest consumers of their brands, they saw a need to educate and work on early childhood development.
“Before we talked about recycling, we needed to start at home and we currently have 240 soul ambassadors, ABI employees that are committed to recycling and have made waste management part of their lives even though they have full time jobs,” Ustas said.
The Soweto Gumboot Dancers entertained the crowd with their own rendition of different popular South African songs that got everyone dancing and singing along.
Tshidi Ramogase, ABI corporate affairs director, thanked all participants who were going to receive their awards and said the aim was to get high school pupils involved in recycling.
“It is easier for younger pupils to go to school carrying a bag full of waste but we need to get older pupils to a point where it is easier for them to recycle,” she said.
“On behalf of our partners, we would like to congratulate all our winners for an outstanding effort in greening their schools.
“We thank and commend the teachers who supported this learning opportunity to enhance the educational experiences for pupils and pass on valuable life skills to them,” said Gaopaleloe Mothoagae, ABI sustainable development manager.
Winners FF Rebeiro Primary School from Mamelodi West won R50 000 and the first and second runners up, Boikgantsho Primary School from Mamelodi East, Lourdes Primary School from Diepkloof and Isekelo Primary Tembisa, won R30 000 and R20 000 respectively, for infrastructural development for their schools.
