Recycling SMMEs around South Africa recently received an early Christmas gift which will aid them in their hard work to rid the environment of plastic pollution. The gifts came in the form of 1,500 recycling bulk bags collectively worth R130,000 and were thanks not to Saint Nick, but rather to Safripol – a national company which manufactures high-density polyethylene and … [Read more...]
Plastic bags have now been banned at these shops
A popular retailer has announced that it will stop offering plastic bags at three more stores: its stores in Maroun Square in Johannesburg, Moreleta Village in Pretoria and Delcairn Centre in Durban. In November last year, Woolworths banned plastic bags at the Steenberg Village Woolies in Tokai. At the same time, it also launched R5 reusable fabric black bags, made from … [Read more...]
Turning rubbish collectors into micro-entrepreneurs
In South Africa, 98 million tonnes of waste is still sent to landfill each year. Recycling initiatives remain limited and progress is slow. If increased, recycling enterprise could create many jobs for the 25% of the population that remain unemployed. KZN businesswoman and founder of Supa Mama, Thina Maziya, is tackling both of these problems one refuse bag at a time. Here’s … [Read more...]
Changing lives one planet friendly bag at a time
Can you imagine a bag created from recycled seatbelts, reused car/homestead upholstery and rejected fabric sample books? This is exactly what planet friendly bag company I Scream & Red has done. They also bind all their products with natural or organic cotton and materials to ensure that it is green endorsed. Not only the earth benefits here. People from previously … [Read more...]
Innovative school kits transform old billboards
The school year is starting in style for hundreds of Western Cape pupils whose anxious parents, unable to equip them with appropriate equipment, watched happily as the learners received funky pencil cases, chair bags and school backpacks recycled from old vinyl advertising billboards. The Ads to Bags campaign has given the vinyl skins from old BP advertising billboards a … [Read more...]
Plastic pollution leads to desperate measures
On 30 March 2011 a first meeting to attempt to ban plastic bags from South Africa was held at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town. "The plastic bag we want banned is the checkout bag at supermarkets. Cashiers just hand them to you and ask: would you like a bag?" says Hayley McLellan, senior bird trainer at the Aquarium and initiator of the Ban the bag campaign. "My ideal … [Read more...]
