Adapting to Climate Change Step by Stepwessa.org.za/site17/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Adapting...Making a pledge and introducing recycling 42 Conserving water 43 A low-cost way to

Adapting to Climate Change

Step by Step Stories of Change

Stepping Up to Sustainability – Stories of Change – Volume 2, 2012

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Stepping Up to Sustainability „Stories of Change‟ from across South Africa

This book is a collection of real life „Stories of Change‟ where South Africans

have stepped up to sustainability.

Are you trying to live more sustainably? Do you have a change story to

share? Whatever steps you are taking towards sustainability, share them by

e-mailing your „Story of Change‟ to us at [email protected]

In 2010, WESSA, with support from USAID, launched the „Stepping Up to

Sustainability‟ concept, incorporating the „Sustainability Commons‟. Each

of these „Commons‟ includes a range of sustainability technologies that

support more sustainable lifestyle choices. They include reducing, sorting

and managing waste better, installing renewable technologies, conserving

and teaching about water management, as well as, providing experiential

courses on biodiversity.

The goal is simple – to put into practice the lifestyle choices we all need to

make. These innovative concepts are set to expand as we all „step up to

sustainability‟ and seek to do something about minimizing our

environmental footprint. We can reduce our „footprints‟ or grow our

„handprints‟ (actions for good) through our own „Stories of Change‟. First Edition: First Impression May 2013 ISBN 978-1-919991-95-5

A WESSA Share-Net resource, funded through the USAID „Stepping Up to Sustainability‟ project. WESSA Share-Net. People, places and publications for environmental education, PO Box 394, Howick, 3290. Tel (033) 330 3931 ext 2124, e-mail [email protected]; website www.wessa.org.za

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.wessa.org.za/


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Contents

Cleaning up our community wetland and dam 3

No more dumping and burning! 4

Teacher and community permaculture expert 5

Cooking on a Clay Stove 6

Janine‟s Waste Reduction 7

Waste minimization in the fashion industry: Forgotten Cotton 8

Cleaning up Mpophomeni township 9

Rock on with the Rocket Stove 10

Building a clay stove and saving an African rock python 11

Re-using grey water 12

Drinking water from a Rain Catcher 13

Rainwater harvesting does not have to be big and expensive 14

Sustainability projects at home 15

See-through recycling 17

Rosa‟s small changes add up 18

The Birches – a sustainable living pre-primary school 19

A garden of inspiration 20

Taking Action! 21

Saving water at our school 22

Lighting up our life for free 23

Cooking the Climate Smart Way 24

Busisiwe and the worm farm 25

Making my own hay boxes 26

Saving water at home 26

Washing dishes with less water! 27

Towards a more sustainable life – family influence and impact and

my “long” walk to a more sustainable lifestyle 28

No more dumping in our river! 30

Methane for cooking, not for climate heat 31

Reducing water wastage 32

Vegetable gardens 33

Plastic bricks 34

Taking ever opportunity 35

Keeping cool with the sun: chill out! 36

Nature Conservation 37

Bridging the gap! 38

Compost hot-water shower 39

Successful permaculture garden workshop 40

Making a Plan! 41

Making a pledge and introducing recycling 42

Conserving water 43

A low-cost way to clean up grey water 44

Making a home-made solar stove 45

Jonathan‟s Thesis for Change 46

Nomawande Wara Nkontso-Mene‟s story 47

Free light for my room! 49


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Cleaning up our community wetland and dam

As a young boy, I looked after livestock. We used to play near dams and rivers, and

throw stones, bottles and plastic into them.

One day we all went for a swim and I was badly cut by a glass bottle.

I later become a teacher and in 2011 and 2012, attended two very interesting water

conferences. Two of the sayings I remember clearly from these conferences were

“change starts with you” and “practice what you preach”.

After the conferences, our

school decided to involve the

community in a clean-up.

There is a dam and wetland

nearby and in the past, like

myself when I was a child,

community members

including our learners were

throwing waste into the water.

I highlighted the importance

of looking after the dam and

wetland and organised a

clean-up campaign on 14

September 2012.

Learners and teachers picked

up all the waste we could find. We bought refuse bags to collect the rubbish and the

event went well. We also wrote to the Department of Environmental Affairs for a

donation to fence our nearby wetland to prevent it being further polluted.

One of the teachers, Mr Maphopha, volunteered to take the tins from the clean-up to

be recycled. He was financially compensated and the money supplemented the

grade 7s‟ farewell function. Other refuse collected was used by the learners for an

exhibition in Arts and Culture.

Since the clean-up, we have developed a comprehensive action plan for our school!

________________________________________________________

Compiled by Mr Mhogole


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Phindile from Remade Greens Recycling

translates into Siswati while facilitating the

training for the staff members on how to sort

waste into the correct categories.

No more dumping and burning!

My name is Jetje Japhet and I live at Eden

Nature Reserve which is outside Nelspruit.

There are 23 houses on the reserve and we

used to have a dump where all the houses

dumped and burnt their waste. This was

not environmentally friendly. We needed

another solution to dispose of our waste.

After a chance meeting at a charity

event, I asked Louise if she would be able

to come and train all the domestic workers

on how to sort the waste into categories.

After the training I arranged with a service

provider to collect our sorted waste.

Since May 2012, we have raised nearly R4

000 and sent around 7 000kg of waste for

recycling.

This is not only solving our waste disposal issue but is also a fundraiser for the staff. All the

money generated from the waste is specifically used for the staff members. We do this

through incentive bonuses and holding a Christmas braai for them.

Through the recycling incentive, the staff members and land owners have become

conscious of how much waste can be recycled and that although it take some effort

to adjust to new routines, people have a great capacity to adapt to changes. Now

recycling is a part of our daily routines!

________________________________________________________

Compiled by Louise Williamson


5

Nomonde Ntsundwana gives a lesson about

the orange- fleshed sweet potato.

Teacher and community permaculture expert

I first met Nomonde Ntsundwana four years

ago at Canzibe Primary, which is one of our

ABB sponsored Eco-Schools situated in

Motherwell township.

She had started a school garden to support

the school‟s nutrition scheme.

The school garden came second in a local

municipal competition and, as a prize, they

were given an Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato

Nursery by the Agricultural Research Council.

This was the start of many more things to

come!

I could see that Nomonde had an extreme passion for gardening, coupled with a

charisma for getting others interested in gardening. The school garden flourished!

Through a grant from the British Council, WESSA rolled out the sweet potato cultivars to

gardens in 10 other Eco-Schools and also to two community gardens with Nomonde

leading the project with zeal. She organised a Harvest Festival at the school where they

reaped 50 bags of sweet potatoes. She got Correctional Services to provide paroles to

help in expanding the garden. Her school, Canzibe Primary, was selected as one of the

Eco-Pioneers profiled by TOTAL in 2011 in a national competition.

In 2011, Nomonde was transferred to another school, Seyisi Primary, and in a short

space of time has transformed the garden by planting trees, establishing the school

garden and developing a huge community garden alongside the school.

Through the USAID sponsored Community Permaculture Training programme, she is

assisting permaculture practitioner, Jakkie Botha of Urban Harvest, in teaching local

residents who farm on school grounds to practice permaculture practices and

conserve water. These training programmes have been an enormous success as

Nomonde and her garden produce is living proof that these practices reap rewards.

She also voluntarily assists churches and clinics in improving their gardening efforts. She

now gives talks on gardening once a week on a community radio, Nkqubela FM, on a

programme called „UfondoNgezo Limo”.

She has been recognised for her services through being awarded the National Kudu

Award for Community Service by SANParks in 2011 and is currently a finalist in the 2012

Shoprite Woman of the Year Award in the Educator‟s Category. _____________________________________________________________________________________

Compiled by Martheanne Finnemore


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Filario Guieya cooking on his

clay stove

Cooking on a Clay Stove

“I work and live on Boondocks Nature Reserve where

there is no electricity. I have a solar powered cell phone

charger and a lighting unit which I use every day.

I have been cooking on an open fire for the last five

years and decided to build myself a clay stove which

can take two pots.

I have been watching Miss Williamson cook using her

clay stove and she kept asking me when I was going to

build one. After seeing the evidence of how well it

worked, I decided to build one.

It works very well and I could have kicked myself for not

building one sooner! Its saves so much wood! This is such

a benefit as I collect wood every day to cook with and now I only need to collect small

amounts.

I can even bake bread. All I do, after making the fire and having enough coals, is close

the entrance-way and the stove top openings with some corrugated iron and then I

bake the bread.

My next step is to make a shelter with some clay and stone benches.

I am also going to build one at my house in Tonga. I think my friends are going to be

very impressed. Maybe they will even build one themselves!”

________________________________________________________



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Janine (in black top) and fellow educators at a

WESSA Climate Change mitigation workshop

Janine‟s Waste Reduction

Janine Brown, an educator at Malabar

Primary, has started recycling.

Instead of throwing away waste

generated in her household, the family

collect it to be used again, which has a

positive effect on the environment.

The positive effect is twofold. Firstly, re-

using materials means less waste in

landfills.

Secondly, recycled materials typically

have lower embodied energy – meaning

they needed less energy to manufacture.

This reduces the production of climate-

altering greenhouse gases.

Janine and her husband, also an educator, have seen an appreciable effect on the

amount of waste they throw away. „Instead of putting out three bags for collection

each week, we now put out one,‟ she says. „The rest we sort into separate bins, and

then take it to school, where there is a recycling project.

Sorting waste for recycling means separating the different types of waste: metal, glass,

plastic, and paper. One can start small, by sorting into these categories, and then get

more complex by separating the different types of plastic (you can look on the item for

a number identifying the type of plastic).

„I recommend you have a system, and keep separate bins for the different types of

waste,‟ Janine says. „Otherwise recycling becomes messy.‟ Getting a good system in

place from the start makes recycling quick and easy.

„It‟s a small thing, but it has a big impact,‟ Janine emphasises. She encourages other

people to start recycling too, acting as an agent of change and leading by example.

________________________________________________________

Compiled by David Franklin and Morgan Griffiths


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Pile of uncut fabric.

Fabric boxed as

waste.

Forgotten cotton website.

Waste minimization in the fashion industry:

Forgotten Cotton

During employment at a large fashion retailer, I

noticed the amount of fabric off-cuts that were

being boxed as waste every week. All the fabric

was unused and although it varied in size, it would

still be useful to make various accessories or be

used for various other purposes.

I began asking permission from lab assistants if I

could take some of the fabric to art schools and

shelter/old age homes where I knew the fabric

would be put to good use.

Forgotten Cotton emerged as an idea for a project

that facilitated the diversion of this waste from landfills and a way to ensure that it

would be used by people who would not have access to such resources.

I was sent many thank you letters for the fabric and the various beneficiaries were very

grateful.

In trying to formalise this, I was

confronted with corporate

barriers that needed the

project to be recognised as

an NGO/NPO organisation

that would match the rest of

their CSR projects.

I later found out that the

company has now recognised

the value in this off-cut waste and has since diverted its course to

other benefactors, I realised that my interventions had not been

fruitless after all.

I am currently doing research, involving others and networking with other fashion

outlets, in order to keep the project going.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Compiled by Justine McCarthy


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Cleaning Up Mpophomeni township

My name is Andile Vilakazi and I identified

„waste‟ hot spots in Mpophomeni township.

These were waste dumping sites which

have been running for several years.

I decided to run a clean-up campaign

which was held in collaboration with the

KwaZulu-Natal Museum, the Department of

Environmental Affairs, Friends for Life and

the Mpophomeni community.

I realised that all of us often have a

negative mindset towards the environment

so we started the clean-up day with an

awareness campaign and discussed the

causes of this environmental crisis.

The activity made people realise that they can separate waste and make money out

of it.

The clean–up campaign was an eye-opener for many people because it is everyone‟s

responsibility to take care of the environment.

Litter runs into our rivers and negatively affects us.

uMngeni Municipality played a crucial role by collecting all the litter bags that we

collected during our clean-up.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Compiled by Andile Vilakazi


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Rock On with the Rocket Stove

With fracking now causing environmental damage in our

country, we have a serious concern about the use of gas for

our cooking. We learnt that the rocket stove is an

appropriate technology being used around the world to

cook using small amounts of firewood so we wanted to try it.

We built one out of cob (mud and straw) which worked fine

but it was big and couldn‟t be moved.

We then received two rocket stoves as a donation from the

USAID funded Stepping Up to Sustainability project. The

stoves are easy to pick up and carry as they are compact

and insulated.

To test them, I enlisted our 8 year old son who took great

delight in feeding the fire as he cooked our dinner! We took one of the rocket stoves

camping where there was very little firewood. It cooked our food quickly using only

twigs and it smoked very little.

We then had a visitor who used the rocket stove to make some of her meals - she found

it convenient and easy to use and we appreciated that she was able to be self-

sufficient - collecting fuel from the twigs around her and that she was using only

renewable resources.

The rocket stoves complement our solar oven, solar cooker, and wonderbox, for energy

conservation while cooking. We look forward to using it more, connecting with nature

as we cook.

In addition, I co-ordinate a cluster of Eco-Schools in Impendle. Many schools are

interested in energy conservation and currently cook school meals over a large fire with

expensive firewood. The schools are keen to have me demonstrate this technology and

teach them how to build their own from the clay on the school grounds.

Compiled by Samantha Rose


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Mandla and his clay stove.

Building a clay stove and saving an

African rock python

My name is Mandla Mdluli and I am an intern at the

SANBI environmental centre in Nelspruit.

I attended the Environmental Educator Course last

year where I learned about cooking in a clay stove

and how energy efficient they are.

We conducted a cooking practical and I saw for

myself how well it worked. I went home and

immediately built one for our family. We use it all the

time.

During the course I also learned about the importance of snakes. Previously, I would kill

any snake found at home, especially when I found them in the chicken‟s cage. Not

long after the course, I found a python amongst the chickens and I remembered the

discussion we had had during the course.

I phoned Louise who asked me to carefully place the snake in a box with small holes

and bring it to work the next day, when she would collect it and release it elsewhere. I

managed to catch the snake and transport it in a box on the taxi to work.

The snake was successfully released in a nature reserve and I feel very happy that I did

not kill it.

________________________________________________________



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Re-using grey water

Grey water is waste water from baths, showers, and washing machines. It is not water

that has come into contact with faeces either from the toilet or from washing nappies.

Grey water may contain traces of dirt, food, grease, hair and certain household

cleaning products. Grey water may look dirty, but it is a safe and even beneficial

source of irrigation water in a yard. If released into rivers and dams, the nutrients in grey

water become pollutants, but to plants they are valuable fertilizers.

Through training at Nedbank, I was able to learn

more about sustainability and learn how to

practice it. I started seeing things in a more

meaningful way and taking care of a lot of

things. Because of this, I wish to say thank you to

WESSA and Nedbank.

During this training, I started thinking about re-

using grey water. I started using laundry and

bath water for the plants and fruits in my

garden. I have also realised that we can benefit

more if we train ourselves and our community to try and save water and re-use it where

possible.

We can reduce the need for fresh water, by using grey water

for our garden plants. This significantly reduces our household

water bills. Re-using our grey water keeps it out of the sewer or

septic system and this reduces the chances that it will pollute

local water bodies.

Grey water can be used on vegetables as long as it does not

touch the edible parts of the plants. I have also learnt that in

any grey water system, it is essential to put nothing toxic down

the drain - no bleach, no dye, no bath salts, no shampoo with

unpronouceable ingredients, no cleanser which is toxic to

plants. It is crucial to use natural products and soaps with

ingredients that do not harm plants.

I believe that sharing is good and beneficial.

________________________________________________________

Compiled by Joyce Magasa


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Biopelo receiving her rain catcher, nicely

folded up in a convenient carry bag, from

Suzanne Erasmus.

Drinking water from a Rain Catcher

Biopelo Sekooa attended a presentation held

at the Galeshewe Library in Kimberley,

Northern Cape.

Apart from receiving a Wonderbag

sponsored by Flamingo Casino, she also

received a Rain Catcher through a lucky

draw, sponsored by USAID and Invented.

This appliance looks like an upside-down tent,

and just like a tent, you can errect it in your

garden with tent pegs and ropes to make it

sturdy!

The rain catcher comes in very handy in the

Northern Cape as this is a dry province. When

it does rain, you need to collect as much water as possible!

When it rains, the rain catcher collects the water into a clear bottle and the water can

be used to drink, for washing or in the garden.

Biopelo uses the water for washing, She also boils it and uses it for drinking.

________________________________________________________

Compiled by Delana Rabe


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Me and my low-cost rainwater

tank with no tap.

Rainwater harvesting does not have

to be big and expensive

When people hear about rainwater harvesting, they

often think about great big 5 000 litre green plastic or

ferro cement tanks.

While these are good, they need lots of space, heavy

duty raised platforms to support five tons of water and, of

course, quite a bit of cash. Having smaller and more

numerous containers such as this reused and refurbished

barrel, which cost R100, is an option with many

advantages.

They are easy to place in convenient places under

gutters. You can grow plants on a frame next to them. Making a support base to get a

bit of water pressure is pretty easy. They fill up fast with a little rain. They can be

connected in series. They are useful to teach about volume.

The one in the picture is one of five that I have tucked away here and there. They have

been full and empty many times. Each of these holds more than 200 litres which is quite

a lot of water for young pot plants and herbs.

I have dispensed with taps which often get stolen or blocked and instead use a siphon

pipe made with a discarded piece of garden hose. This is tied to a weight sunk to the

bottom of the barrel. Fill it with water once and from then on air pressure delivers a

steady stream to anywhere lower than the water level.

To “turn off”, you simply raise the watering end of the pipe. Another piece of wire clips it

to the lip of the tank. Voila!

________________________________________________________

Compiled by Patrick Dowling


15

Bridget making plum jam, using the solar cooker.

We are slowly replacing kikuyu lawn with

indigenous grasses and plants.

Sustainability projects at home

Over the past 18 months since we moved into our house, I have enjoyed the process of

trying to make our home more environmentally sustainable.

This started with ripping up some of the

2 800m2 of kikuyu „green desert‟ lawn

which I have been replacing with

indigenous grasses, bulbs and shrubs.

It has been such a reward to watch this

„biodiversity hotspot‟ grow. It is an

ongoing project of expansion with the

ultimate goal of re-converting most of

the garden to indigenous with multiple

benefits including aesthetic,

biodiversity, low maintenance and

being water-wise.

Alongside the indigenous garden, I

have started a vegetable garden using

organic and permaculture principles.

Although a beginner, it has been very satisfying harvesting spinach, brinjals, lettuce,

courgettes, butternuts and beans and learning more about what grows best, where

and when.

To support the garden I have a compost heap as well as a wormery. We have installed

a 5 000 litre jojo tank that provides water for the vegetable garden during the dry

months.

The wonderbag is something that

we use almost on a daily basis.

This is an incredible way of saving

energy while cooking.

I also have a solar cooker which I

can only really use on weekends

when at home and the weather is

good.

The solar water heater was one of

the first technologies we installed

which has resulted in savings in

terms of carbon emissions and, of

course, the electricity bill which is

now under R100 a month.


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The chickens are free to roam during the day and

have a safe house at night!

During winter, we use all the privet wood (invasives) that we cut down in a very efficient

wood burning fireplace to keep warm.

To save energy and water when it comes to clothes washing, I use ceramic wash balls,

which means you don‟t have to rinse the washing (no soap) and therefore more

energy is saved as the usual washing cycle can be shortened. This also means the grey

water generated doesn‟t contain any soap and I often use this on the garden during

the drier months.

Recently, I liberated 5 hens from the egg-

laying „auschwitz‟ farm up the road where

chickens live their entire lives in a space the

size of an A4 page! It has been wonderful to

feel like I have the ability to change the

situation for some of our fellow abused

earthlings even if only 5. There is no pressure

for them to lay and they now have free

reign of the garden.

Plans for the future include building a pond

to include a wetland and home for frogs.

Eventually getting off the grid is our ultimate

aim as well as installing more jojo tanks so that we can harvest all our own water.

Last of all, I shall keep cycling to work - this saves carbon and keeps me fit! _____________________________________________________________________________________

Compiled by Bridget Ringdahl


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Me with some homemade

recycling containers.

See-through recycling

Who knew that recycling would be such fun! You know when you say the word

„recycle‟ to people, they always think that it‟s a long process in terms of doing it yourself

but, hey, it‟s not!

People do not notice that when they are throwing away their rubbish there‟s valuable

stuff in there.

That was me. I threw everything out in one black bag and never noticed that there

were valuable and useful things inside. Making the stuff we throw away more visible in

containers will remind us of what goes where. Separating materials is one of the big

challenges. Simple containers with a see-through section should help people get the

right idea.

We complain about having dirty streets and a polluted community not realising that

some of the garbage we throw away ends up in our streets

Be your own boss and start changing your own life – it‟s so much fun you won‟t even

notice that you are doing it.

You can start by creating your own bins that you can use and this initiative is mostly

likely needed in school. They can start by using whatever is “popular” garbage and

that could be bottles, cans, paper and boxes – there, right before your eyes, you would

be recycling as easy as that!

For me, I will start my initiative with the help of my fellow

students of the Yes Programme to change the way I

see my trash and there and then start educating my

school pupils to also be part of making a change in

their lives.

This initiative could also help them generate some

money that they can use to create an extra activity in

their school.

________________________________________________________

Compiled by Aphiwe Zothwa


18

Separate bins for waste and organic

matter make composting easy.

Rosa‟s small changes add up

Rosa, who works at the Nelson Mandela

Metropolitan University, has committed to making

changes in her life. These changes are her way of

responding to the challenges posed by climate

change.

At work, she uses the stairs to get to her office,

rather than using the elevator. She also switches

her PC and printer off at the wall. Both of these

changes save energy, and reduce Rosa‟s carbon

footprint.

When I spoke to her about these changes, she

commented that they had become habits for her,

and that taking the stairs also has the benefit of keeping her fit! She is going to continue

with these practices.

At home, she committed to switching the geyser on only at night for about two hours.

Since her marriage, however, she has dropped this change. This is for two reasons - the

first is that it is too much hassle. The second one is enlightening - on researching the

matter, she and her husband discovered that switching the geyser off does not save

energy, as a large amount of electricity is used reheating the water!

They also collect their organic waste and compost it – this reduces the amount of waste

put out for municipal collection, which would end up in a landfill site, rather than being

usefully re-used.

Rosa suggests that others who are concerned about climate change should begin

implementing small changes in their lives. These include re-using grey water, switching

off lights when not in use, recycling, walking or cycling rather than driving a car.

„Small changes add up,‟ Rosa says. „What‟s more, these changes save you money, as

well as helping to fight climate change.‟ Rosa suggests that you find out what is

available in your area with regards to recycling and car pooling. You may be

pleasantly surprised.

„Everyone can make a difference,‟ she emphasises.

________________________________________________________



19

The Birches - a sustainable living pre-primary school

The six-year olds did an exercise pretending that the

school grounds was an island in the sea with no adults,

electricity, incoming water services or any help to survive

- for the rest of their lives!

They had to work out how they would survive! Indeed

they did as there are food gardens, chickens, eggs,

various recycling areas, harvested rain which flushes

toilets, a homemade solar water heater and grey water

systems.

There is even a

„Legotla‟ (the Tree of

Democracy) where

children can sit in a

circle on logs (from an alien tree that was cut down)

to speak about rules and „govern‟ themselves.

The children are involved in early Morning Markets,

selling eggs and home produce and take complete

responsibility for their needs and the grounds of the school.

Recycling of cans, paper, computer cartridges, plastic and more bring in an income

that funds books and „greening projects‟ in the school.

We have a „No dig‟ garden which has been

established using green waste and is producing

herbs and vegetables.

A more long term „Fruit Forest‟ has been

established and due to winning the Saville

Foundation „Business Plan‟ Competition, we have

now been able to put a roof over our main

Recycling Centre which harvests rain for the Fruit

Forest!

During World Environment Week, the children placed their hand prints on the pre-fab

walls into the school and we are now selling „Sustainability Bracelets‟ with little hands to

fund a dream „Sustainability Training Centre‟ (a wooden „off the grid‟ classroom) next

to the Fruit Forest.

________________________________________________________

Compiled by Scilla Edmonds


20

A garden of inspiration

Mr Alfred Ninzi is the caretaker at Dumani Primary

School in Motherwell, Port Elizabeth.

His main duties include tending to school facilities and

guarding the gate, but since he received training

from USAID and WESSA on permaculture gardening,

Mr Ninzi has started a vegetable garden at the school

that helps to feed the children.

Mr Ninzi mulches, he uses organic liquid fertilizer, he

has changed the beds to implement the principles of

crop rotation and companion planting and he is

using several techniques of rain water harvesting. He

uses no pesticides, herbicides or fungicides in the

garden.

His garden consists of onions, comfrey, cabbage, cauliflower, peppers, broccoli,

spinach, tomatoes and mealies. All of these go either to the school kitchen or to the

teachers and pupils.

Before the course, Mr Zinzi had no garden, but now he has the school garden and has

also started a small vegetable garden at his house.

He is extending the school garden so that he has more space to work with and he has

asked the school to redefine his duties so that he can spend more time in the

vegetable garden.

Mr Zinzi says “I loved the course and found the content to be very applicable. I feel so

good about the garden, and the children and teachers love it, they are always coming

around to see how it is doing and if they can help. I really love this garden and I love

gardening.”

Mr Alfred Zinzi is an inspiration and a wonderful example of what the human heart can

achieve with a little bit of knowledge and guidance. Not only has USAID and WESSA

planted a seed of growing within him, they have unlocked a talent that brings great

benefits to his own social well-being, to a school of 600 pupils, and to the community as

a whole.

________________________________________________________

Compiled by Jakkie Botha


21

Laizer Milazi dishing up food cooked

in the clay stove

Taking Action!

“My name is Laizer Milazi and I am an educator at

Vulamehlo Combined School in Kabokweni. I have

always been interested in the environment.

I was fortunate enough to attend the USAID funded

Environmental Educators Course held in Nelspruit

last year.

One of the sessions was to prepare an Eco-Meal

where we cooked on a clay stove. I was amazed at

how fuel efficient it was.

I asked Louise to come and show us how to build

one at our school and she did. Together with

learners, we built the stove and conducted a cooking practical. This was incredibly

valuable as the learners saw how well it worked, compared to the porridge that was

cooked on the open fire.

The learners said they would also build one at home for their mothers!

Our next step is to build a clay oven which we will use to bake bread to fundraise at

school.

After learning about the effects that global warming will have on our water supplies

and the importance of wetlands, I am going to rehabilitate a small wetland near our

school. The learners will also be involved.

We also have a Jojo tank at school to harvest rain water, all thanks to the USAID

Stepping Up to Sustainability project.

I want to encourage people that even though you may not have money, you can

always persist in approaching companies or organisations to help you”.

________________________________________________________



22

Saving water at our school

My name is Nozuko and I am a teacher at Mthatha Community Junior Secondary

School. I teach mathematics, natural sciences and technology in the senior phase.

Mthatha Community Junior Secondary school is a very big school with 37 teachers,

1 300 learners and six non-teaching staff. The school is about 3 km away from the

central part of town. In the district, I am the leader-teacher for maths in circuit 3 and

also an examiner of mathematics.

My school participates in the Eco-Schools programme that is being implemented by

WESSAs East London office. I am the co-ordinator of this programme at our school. In

July 2012, I applied for an Environmental Educators Course which was held in Port St.

Johns. That was an eye-opener for me as I became aware of various environmental

issues that I hadn‟t previously considered important. That‟s where change started

because I was introduced to so many things. The course brought changes to my life

and to my workplace.

When I got back to my school, I decided it was time to implement all that I had learnt

on the course. I chose water as my environmental issue to address in my school. It was

not easy because this work had to introduce change to the whole school. The thing

that helped me a lot was the idea of team work.

I was given a platform to introduce my environmental issue to the school and that was

a day of a great change. We started to improve the way we use water – reducing our

leakages and channelling wasted water from our leaks to the garden for watering.

Some of the teachers felt that this was additional work to the load they already had,

but I persevered. The management of the school was very pleased as we were

reducing the school‟s water bill.

When I was doing my Portfolio of Evidence, which I needed to submit for the Course, I

focused on water. I worked with learners - they cleaned the classrooms under the

supervision of their class teachers, they cleaned the toilets under my supervision so they

couldn‟t waste water, and they watered the garden, flowers and trees under Miss

Mabhengu. This was a big step towards change in the way we use our water, in my

school.

I would like to thank WESSA for the opportunity they have given me, it brought a real

change to my life.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Compiled by Nozuko Ndamase


23

Lighting up our life for free

USAID workshop participants from a

local CBO called Philisa Abafazi were

very impressed by the low-tech litre of

light bottle bulb installed in WESSA

Western Cape‟s rickety shed.

They have committed to

incorporating this cheap lighting

system that requires a cooldrink

bottle, some water, a cap of Jik, a

little silicone, a piece of scrap

corrugated iron and, of course, a

small, temporary, hole in the roof.

The idea is rapidly gaining popularity in areas where cramped conditions make window

lighting unreliable.

________________________________________________________



24

Cooking the Climate Smart Way

Morgan Griffiths, WESSA EP Conservation Officer, has been testing the efficiency and

practicality of a new type of cooker – an induction cooker.

Induction cookers work by generating a high frequency

electro-magnetic field which induces a type of magnetism

into the base of the pot which in turn produces heat. This

heat cooks the food.

The stove produces the energy and the pot produces the

heat. Since it does not have to heat up a stove top first to

heat up the pot, which in turn would heat up the food, it is

much more efficient than ordinary stoves. The pot and

cooker plate directly underneath the pot get hot from the

hot food, but the plate cools rapidly when the cooker is

turned off or if the pot is lifted off the plate, which makes for a much safer appliance. Its

limitation is that it only works with steel pots.

Morgan has found that he is able to cook his food

in about two-thirds of the time his convential

stove-top takes, while using about 20% less

electricity. This equates into 20% less CO2 pollution

for the meals he cooks with the induction cooker;

and 20% saving on his electricity bill. At a cost of

about R700, it will pay for itself in electricity savings

in only 19 months.

While Morgan has had to adapt some cooking

techniques, such as preferably only using wooden utensils and not leaving pots

unattended (they can boil over rapidly), Morgan says “the Induction Cooker is so

efficient that I now do nearly all my pot cooking with it – it‟s even preferable to using my

microwave oven. On top of the 30% electricity (and Rands, and CO2!) savings from

having installed a geyser blanket, with this Induction Cooker, my monthly electricity bill

is down to what it was 2 years ago!”

WESSA EP has provided an Induction Cooker to Canzibe Primary, one of our USAID

Sustainability Commons, to help with their school feeding scheme.

________________________________________________________

Compiled by Morgan Griffiths


25

Busisiwe and the worm farm

My name is Prudence Ndlela but I like to be called

Busisiwe.

I am an educator at Inkhanyeti Primary School near

White River in the Lowveld.

I attended the Level 5 USAID-funded Environmental

Educators Course in July last year at the Botanical

Gardens in Nelspruit where Felicity Weir gave us a

demonstration and talk about worm farms.

I simply fell in love with the idea as we produce a lot of organic waste from our feeding

schemes at school.

Felicity was kind enough to give me some worms and I went and bought a geyser tray

and started our worm farm at school.

I have three learners that help me feed and care for

the worms. They also harvest the tea once a week for

me and then we fertilize the school‟s gardens. I could

not believe how well the tea worked. Our vegetables

were bigger and healthier than before. Our other

plants at school also started to blossom better.

Over the Christmas holidays, I took the worms home to

care for them, but the chickens got in and ate them

all! Louise gave me some more worms at the beginning of the year and they are safely

kept at school where the chickens can‟t get to them.

I am also learning about caring for them better and not making the worm farm too wet

all the time.

All the educators at school are also impressed with the worm farm and that the tea is

such a good fertilizer. As soon as the worms have reproduced to such an extent that

there are too many, we will start to give worms to educators and parents that are keen

to start their own worm farms.

________________________________________________________



26

Making my own hay boxes

Hazel Clark has found that making and using her own

hay boxes has been very cost effective and efficient.

All you do is take a box, fill it with hay and then place

your pot (after bringing it to the boil) into the hay.

Your food will continue to cook and never burn. This is

where the idea of the “hot box” came from.

Another way of insulating your pots is to wrap them in a duvet. This works just as well!

Saving water at home

Mishka writes ... When you are the smallest child in a family, it‟s hard to get everyone

else influenced by you but it seems in the matter of saving water, I have rubbed off my

habits onto them!

We first began by switching from bucket-bathing to showering as it saves a seriously

large amount and our showerheads allow us to change the amount of water we wish

to come through so now the water comes through the smallest holes.

We then decided to time how long we actually shower and so we bought a very

simple, not fancy or complicated, shower suction clock. Sadly our only one could suck

no more but now we have an idea on how long to actually shower or else my dad

shouts us.

I also make sure all taps are securely closed and that none are leaking. Clean water

that we want to throw away now goes onto the plants. We also wish to purchase a Jojo

tank in the future to save more water.

Saving water, as my dad says, has saved him a lot when it comes to paying the water

account.

This is exactly how my shower suction clock looks like:

________________________________________________________

Compiled by Cara Smith


27

Washing dishes with less water! It started when we went for a school trip to Bush Pigs in South Africa. During our stay, we

were taught about conservation and other important things like recycling.

While we were at Bush Pigs we went for mini excursions, where we learnt even more!

On our way to Camp Hedgehog, which is one of the camps, we found out about the

trees and plants we came across as we walked and how they have adapted to the

environment.

We also learnt about the creatures that live in these plants and we had a taste of

Mopane worms, known as Phane worms here in Botswana.

Before we started our walk to Camp Hedgehog, one of the staff members told us about

the owls they look after!

At Camp Hedgehog, we were shown some of planet Earth‟s water statistics – how

much fresh water there is in the world and how this fresh water is used.

At Bush Pigs, we went to another camp called Camp Gemsbok or as we called it,

Camp Heaven!! At Camp Heaven, we went for a game drive where we saw and learnt

about different animals. Seeing all the beautiful animals made me realise how much I

wanted them alive and not extinct - extinction that would be caused by human‟s lack

of care for the world‟s natural resources.

After the trip, I came back home with a resolution that I was going to conserve natural

resources and natural habitats.

I also made a pledge that I would stop washing dishes under running water, as well as

other stuff. Ever since our trip to Bush Pigs, I have been very careful about my daily

actions.

________________________________________________________

Compiled by Amantle Kutlo Marobela


28

Towards a more sustainable life – family influence

and impact and my “long” walk to a more

sustainable lifestyle

My dad always says that meat is the best

vegetable one can eat, therefore, when I

was a child, my daily diet contained a lot of

meat. Especially in the form of salami, ham,

liver sausage and other meat products with

our beloved German bread, which we eat

at least twice a day - when the sun rises

and sets and often in-between!

While I think of it now, I can still remember

how naturally I ate my bread with

sausages. I particularly loved the special children products, which had a funny animal

face on it or the shape of an animal. What can I say? Although not a full consumer yet,

I was already being manipulated in terms of my consumer habits!

I can still remember how I, as a young girl, loved the smell of roasted chicken, how I

loved to pick up pieces of the soft, white and tasty flesh with my fingers, which I licked

afterwards. All this was guided by my family, for whom meat is an easily available and

highly recommended food source.

But with time passing and me becoming older, my habits started to change.

At first, it was slow and out of practical aspects, but later it was faster and due to my

growing knowledge and experience through my studies.

For example, I started to ride my bicycle to school because the bus took double the

amount of time, as could be done on my bicycle. Since then, I cycle whenever possible

on my beloved bicycle.

Today it is naturally and totally logical for me to use it. It is sustainable, often less time

consuming than going by car. You also never have problems finding a parking area

and beside this, you do your body a favour in keeping it healthy and fit.

In terms of my eating habits, I have also changed out of practical necessity. When I

started my studies, I lived on my own and who wants to eat half a pig on her own? I

didn´t! Therefore I focused on vegetarian dishes and soon fell in love with the huge

range of colourful and healthy food.

Furthermore, I gained a deeper understanding of how meat is produced and what kind

of economical impact it has on a global level. I have also observed, at least in

Germany, that the food in general, in this case the killed animal, isn´t valued. The cause

for this might be the fact that our food production is nowadays no longer part of our


29

daily life experience. Therefore it is much easier to avoid the connection of the

individual consumer habit and the consequences of our food production. Although I

am not one of those animals that will end up on somebody‟s plate, I think that animals

who are farmed for „food production‟ have lives that are not as happy and healthy as

we would like to think.

So how does my family, and my dad in particular, cope with my new ways? I would say

they have got used to it, although they don´t understand me properly. My father,

whom I really love, still thinks he might die of iron deficiency if he doesn´t eat meat

every day. I have to admit, that there is no lunch or dinner that passes, during which my

father tells me once again, that I eat “Hasenfutter” (food for rabbits).

My personal conclusion out of my experience is therefore, that the change to a more

sustainable life is not easily done. It needs opportunities, knowledge, a strong mind and

a lot of good humour. But ... it is a lot of fun and worth achieving!

________________________________________________________

Compiled by Maike Köster


30

No more dumping in our river!

My name is Phumsile Sambo and I am a Life

Sciences educator at Khumbula High School in

Kabokweni in Mpumalanga. I also went to Khumbula

High School myself as a learner!

As I teach learners about the environment, it made

sense to start implementing environmental projects

in our school. The first one was to restore the beauty

back into our school.

I had been working with Louise for four years, so I asked her to help us source water-

wise plants, which she did and we planted a water-wise garden.

I had also been attending many environmental workshops and it was then that the

potential consequences of global warming and climate change really hit me,

especially around the water issues we will experience.

I knew immediately that I had to do something in my own community.

We have a river near our home where, in the past, we have always dumped our waste

and then when we had no water, we would go and collect water from the river.

This was not healthy and people used to get sick. I asked four community members to

help get children to help me clean the river banks and start a recycling collection

point.

I engaged a recycling company to collect the sorted waste. The money we are

making is directly benefitting the community as we give the children a little pocket

money every time they bring waste to us for recycling.

We also use some of the money to buy plants to green the community.

My next step is to start eradicating alien plants in the community as they use a lot of

water. It is far better to plant indigenous plants that are water-wise!

________________________________________________________



31

Methane for cooking, not for climate heat

Inspired by a visit to an industrial composter which also

produces methane in a batch digestor for water

heating, participants on the WESSA Western Cape

Environmental Leadership Course have decided to do

likewise and build a simple digestor with a refurbished

plastic drum.

They are sourcing the bits of pipe, burner and truck tyre

tube for storage necessary for this project to work.

The final product, running on a mixture of cow dung,

grass cuttings and kitchen waste, will become part of

the region‟s Sustainability Commons.

We hope to get three hours of burning time out of

each batch of gas!

_______________________________________________________



32

Reducing water wastage

After my trip to Bush Pigs, I wanted to change the way water was being used in my

community. So, when I arrived home, I formed a group. The group was to educate

people about water wastage, what influences water wastage and the different ways

of re-using water.

Water shortages are one of the main problems facing Botswana. Most people in

Botswana have no idea of how important water is and, as a result, water in Botswana is

wasted. Many people in Botswana do not realise that „every drop counts‟. It is not only

Botswana which has this problem of wasting water, other countries also have this

problem.

The aims were to:

form a group of people who will help in educating others about water;

give people ideas of how to use water again and again (you can use the water

you wash your dishes in, to water plants);

teach people why we need to reduce water wastage.

What have I accomplished?

I named my group in a way that would show people that we are serious about the way

people waste water. We went from house to house and from door to door trying to ask

people to help us in educating others in reducing the way they use water.

Initially nobody wanted to be told how to use the water they pay for, but now, after my

friends volunteered to be part of the group, I feel that water wastage in Botswana will

decrease.

Although some people did not want to hear the truth, they finally signed up for the „Use

Water Wisely‟ Campaign. What made me happy was that what I believed was actually

coming true!

________________________________________________________

Compiled by Chedu Ernest


33

Vegetable gardens

In 2011 our school begin – we registered 134 learners

from pre-school to grade 8. The school is in old farm

buildings on a farm called Veeplaats at Masemola.

Alien plants which were planted in the past by farmers

who used the buildings were numerous and

outnumbered indigenous trees. In fact, very few

indigenous trees had survived.

We had to remove the alien trees by cutting them out. They became wood for fire. We

explained to everyone why we were removing the trees as many people, including the

learners, were surprised that the alien trees were being removed.

As the area became clean and empty, we had to think of what to do next. We started

by planting 20 indigenous trees and demarcating an area for a vegetable garden.

Next, we started preparing the vegetable garden area. We started quite ambitiously

and demarcated a very big area! We planted spinach, tomatoes and carrots. The

garden soon became full of healthy vegetables and learners and parents were able to

buy vegetables very cheaply. As the vegetables grew, there was a need for more

water. Our water tanks were not coping. The soil was not well prepared as it dried out

quickly after being irrigated.

Early the next year, we demarcated a size suitable for the amount of water we could

store in our tanks. We dug trenches of at least a metre deep. We lay grass and other

objects at the bottom and then covered them with a thin layer of soil. The pattern was

repeated for a metre.

Next, we started planting spinach and green beans. As they grew bigger, we used

leaves on top for mulching. We have an even more productive vegetable garden now.

We sell to the community and give some to our learners for free. Parents have

remarked about the freshness of the vegetables and how tasty our spinach is. We are

encouraging the children and the villagers to start their own gardens at home.

We have discovered how cheap and easy it has been to have a vegetable garden.

We feel everyone is able to start a food garden at their home no matter how small a

space they have. And, once it is well prepared, it uses far less water.

We hope to have changed the perception of the community about vegetable

production. If, in the next few years, each of our learners have their own vegetable

garden „story of change‟, our country will change for the better!

_______________________________________________________

Compiled by Patrick Mogowe


34

Plastic bricks

When I first encountered the idea of plastic bricks, I was

unsure it would work. My friend explained to me that washing

the plastic and then stuffing it into milk/Coca Cola/water

bottles, also cleaned, was the way to treat all your

unrecyclable trash. I thought it was a bit silly. But after trying it

for a week, I was convinced. In that week I had no use for my

garbage bin. Soft plastic, polystyrene, pill dispensers, milk

sachets and more all went into the “brick” and after 4 weeks I

still had not filled my garbage bin! I started to forget on which

day the trash man came.

After filling a few bricks, stuffed down with a stick to compact

it as much as possible, I sent it to a wonderful project in

Greyton. “Trash 2 Treasure” uses these bricks to build

community buildings and projects.

Using chicken wire to build a “cage” in the shape of a wall, the bricks are laid in vertical

positions. This is then covered with cement or clay. Finally, a very cheap building is

erected. The plastic is not in contact with humans so cannot leach into their direct

environment.

After this, I saw pictures of schools

being built using clear bottles as glass

pane substitutes and filled bottles as

walls.

Even if you don't use it as a brick, it

creates less wind-blown landfills and is

a lot cleaner. Another friend of mine

walked into my kitchen the other day

and looked at the brick and said

“hey, it's like a time capsule for when

we know how to recycle those

plastics!” It has been a small change

that has given me a feeling of being

pro-active about waste.

________________________________________________________

Compiled by Sonica Kirsten


35

Mrs Mathai putting up the

community recycling station.

Taking every opportunity

My name is Mrs Mathai and I am an educator at Sakhile

High School in the Lowveld. Our learners come from very

disadvantaged communities. It is always very difficult to

raise funds to send learners on educational tours.

When the opportunity came to start a recycling

campaign at school, I jumped at it as I knew we could

fundraise through this.

After we received training on how to separate waste, the

learners, Mrs Masego my colleague and I started to

collect waste.

We entered the clean-up and recycle event and won 1st place. We received R5 000

and together with our recycling earnings, we were able to take learners to visit the

Sterkfontein Caves.

What was bothering me still was that there was a lot of dumping taking place in the

community so I funded and designed some recycling information boards and the

learners helped me to build a recycling station in the community where the dumping

was taking place.

At school, we also rely on the water delivery trucks to supply us with water and because

water is so scarce, we could not plant many plants at school. Louise came one day to

talk about water-wise gardens and this was a perfect solution for us to promote

biodiversity at school. We managed to get a sponsor for a water-wise garden which

has now been planted.

I really wish there was a faster way to educate the community about how bad litter is

for the environment and also how important it is to promote biodiversity. I am aware of

global warming and climate change and the consequences this will have to our water

supply.

________________________________________________________



36

Keeping cool with the sun: chill out!

We love our new chef at home. She makes quick and

easy left-overs, she keeps our food from going off, she

refreshes on a hot day, she even feeds the dog. Best

of all, we don‟t pay her. She works off the sun..........it‟s

our refrigerator!

In February 2013, we received her as a donation

through the USAID funded Stepping Up to

Sustainability project.

Given that we are running an off-grid Sustainability

Commons and hosting many visitors, she saves us

much time in cooking and is a great way to

demonstrate how the sun‟s power and this 12-volt technology work together.

Up until receiving the fridge, we could only keep our things cool by putting a damp

towel around them or in a container in water.

We tried building a charcoal fridge but we didn‟t get the design right so it didn‟t work.

Frequently, our food went rotten in the heat. It was difficult to keep left-overs which

meant that we had to cook more often.

We have a National Luna 125 litre fridge/freezer. At first we thought the fridge would

drain much of our limited solar power but once we got it running, we saw that it uses

very little energy. And it is big enough to share with our off-grid neighbours who

occasionally need to keep things cold.

________________________________________________________

Compiled by Samantha Rose


37

Nature Conservation

Mr Winston Khuzwayo is a member of KwaCele-Nhlangwini Community Trust.

They have a large area which they want to

convert into a nature reserve because they

have indentified potential environmental

projects.

The KwaCele farms are part of their

community heritage.

It is important that farm rehabilitation and

degradation reversal becomes a priority so

that those who are using the farms leave a

legacy for future generations.

The following places need to be identified and restored:

Land with clay reserves used to make traditional containers

Land where ibomvu was mined

Perennial streams

Restoration and rehabilitation of streams and fauna

Identification, rehabilitation and restoration of different types of wetlands that

exist

________________________________________________________

Compiled by Winston Khuzwayo


38

Clare preparing locally produced organic

snacks for „Bridging the Gap‟.

Bridging the gap!

My name is Clare and I live in Cape Town.

Once a month, I run an event called

Bridging the Gap, in a community hall, on

the property where I live.

The event is based on sharing information by

using local resources. Together we

strengthen a local economy with assets, skills,

action projects and knowledge. The event

functions as an incubation hub. It runs from

6pm to 9pm every 14th of the month.

Local producers in sustainability are invited to

share information on their products. NGO's

with local action projects and performers are welcome too.

I invite guest speakers to provide talks. So far, we have had the African Centre of Bio-

Safety talk on Genetically Modified Foods, an earth artist talk on indigenous garden

growing and food production, and a herbalist vet. Otherwise, an educational film is

shown with a discussion forum afterwards.

Locally produced food is sourced to make delicious snacks and information on where

the food is from, is provided. Informative posters about food security, permaculture and

sustainable technologies are put up for people to read. The theme of the event is

sustainability.

The event can be found on www.facebook.com/EcoElfSustainability so if you are

interested in attending or being an active participant, do contact us. We charge R10

per person to cover food costs. Information station holders come for free.

My friend, Indigo Basset-Smith, has a company called Eco-Elf which is an earth

sustainability service provider. She and her company support me in running this event,

and we hope that more action projects will become involved so that the cause is

integrated deeper into communities and more people can actively connect while

sharing their resources.

I hope that more citizens shall initiate such a gathering in their own community areas.

Share what we have and make change with our choices!

________________________________________________________

Compiled by Clare Morris

http://www.facebook.com/EcoElfSustainability


39

Compost hot-water shower

WESSA EP Conservation Officer, Morgan

Griffiths, helps run a boys‟ summer camp

each January, called the Annual Hermanus

Camp. Celebrating its 104th annual camp, it is

one of the oldest youth organisations in the

world (www.hermanuscamp.co.za).

The Annual Hermanus Camp has traditionally

not had hot-water showers – the hot summers

making them unnecessary. This year,

however, a group of the adult leaders,

including Ricki Allardice, Murray Bridgman, Dr

Ollie Raynham and Morgan, developed a

hot-water shower utilising the heat generated in a compost pile. They laid a 50m coil of

black water pipe through thick layers of compost. The piping was led off from a

municipal potable water line, and connected to a shower mixer.

The organic process whereby vegetation decays to form compost generates heat as a

by-product which we used to warm the water. Within a few hours of developing the

compost pile, about 100 litres of water in the piping had heated up to 50°C! We were

then able to enjoy really hot showers - enough hot water for 5 of us! It would take

between 1-2 hours to re-heat the cold water entering the pipe.

The compost pile gave us consistant heat over the 2 weeks that the Annual Hermanus

Camp ran for. It only cost us about R250 in piping and fittings.

You can see an explanation of our innovative, low-tech and eco-friendly hot-water

solution at www.youtube.com/watch?v=igBS1FZ7wFA. What‟s more, the compost pile

also provided us with good quality compost to spread over the campsite lawns – we will

have a thick pile of grass cuttings at the end of the year to remake our compost hot-

water shower.

__________________________________________________

Compiled by Morgan Griffiths


40

Successful permaculture garden workshop

Andile Vilakazi conducted a three- day

permaculture workshop in Mpophomeni

township.

This happened after he had attended a USAID

funded „Stepping Up to Sustainability‟ course at

WESSA‟s Umgeni Valley Nature Reserve, just

outside Howick.

Andile realised that people can easily grow their

own vegetables at home.

His workshop started with some theory behind

gardening and permaculture, followed by a practical hands-on session where

participants made compost heaps, liquid manure and started a vegetable garden.

Today the participants are all running their own gardens successfully and making cash

out of their work!

_______________________________________________________

Compiled by Andile Vilakazi


41

Making a Plan!

My name is Melter Mbiba and I am a foundation phase educator

at Tsembaletfu Primary School in Kabokweni in the Lowveld.

It is a very large school with more than 1 000 learners. Many

learners are from very poor homes and often don‟t have enough

food to eat.

Our school is also a no-fee school and we struggle to have

enough desks and chairs for learners. We also have severe water

shortages and relied on the water delivery trucks to supply water. This has affected our

vegetable garden and sanitation at school.

After attending many environmental workshops, I was fortunate enough to attend the

Level 5 USAID funded Environmental Educators Course in Nelspruit last year. It was time

now for action!! I asked learners to bring water from home in 2 litre bottles so we could

sustain our garden. A sponsor offered to install two Jojo tanks to harvest rain water and I

decided to make desk tops and chairs by re-using old frames, using a type of paper-

mache for the desk tops and plastic for the chairs. I then decided to implement various

permaculture techniques at school like the pyramid vegetable garden and doorstep

gardens. I did the doorstep garden as I really wanted the learners to realise how

important it is to grow vegetables and the beauty therein. We also have around 57 fruit

trees. All the vegetables and herbs we grow are used to supplement the school‟s

nutritional programme and to add a bit more flavour to the food.

What encourages me the most is that some learners have started to plant their own

gardens at home which tells me that they are learning skills and realising the value of

growing their own food. As our school is rural, we do not receive any municipal services.

We used to dump and burn our waste. This has stopped now as we are recycling. We

have sent 4 106 kg of waste for recycling since May last year and raised R1400 which

we will use to buy more vegetable seedlings.

I would really like to encourage people to know that there is always a way you can

solve a problem and that there is always another or better way to do things. The best

news of all is that we were sponsored a borehole in December 2012 and now we can

have a really big vegetable garden - one big enough to properly supplement the

feeding scheme and hopefully have some spare to sell to the community.

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42

Making a pledge and introducing recycling

In 2010, Sadeeka Salie encouraged her school, Uitenhage High School, to register as an

Eco-School. She then started an Eco-Club at her school.

The club has been participating in various projects such as supporting penguin

rehabilitation efforts and anti-rhino poaching initiatives.

They have undertaken litter clean-ups and are planting trees. Sadeeka has also

attended various workshops held for our Eco-Schools teachers.

In April, she attended the USAID Windfarm Workshop which focused on energy issues.

She completed the Stepping Up to Sustainability pledge where she committed herself

to introducing recycling at the school.

She then contacted the Waste Trade Company, which partners with WESSA, for

assistance and started with recycling paper at the school.

On 7 September, she visited the Waste Trade Company recycling site with her Eco-Club

members where they had an informative visit, learning about how the company goes

about recycling cardboard, paper, glass and plastics.

The school is going to proceed with further recycling and will be focusing on plastics.

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Compiled by Martheanne Finnemore


43

Conserving water

Water conservation is a critical concern for people across the globe. While I was at

Bush Pigs EE Centre, the staff motivated me to write about conserving water and why it

is so important.

According to the United Nations, more than one out of six people in the world lack

access to safe drinking water, and more than two out of six lack adequate sanitation.

As the global population continues to rise, the resulting increase in demand for clean

water will put enormous strain on the environment and some experts predict that the

global wars of the next generation will be fought not over fossil fuels but over water.

Three-fourths of the Earth‟s surface is covered by water. 97% of the Earth‟s water is in the

oceans and is too salty to drink. Of the remaining 3% that is fresh water, 2% is frozen in

polar ice caps, glaciers and icebergs, leaving just 1% available for human use.

Droughts and shortages are especially prevalent in the American West and have

reached critical levels in sub-Saharan Africa.

What can we do? Well, we can start by repairing leaky taps and other outlets, installing

low-pressure shower heads and low-flow toilets, taking shorter showers, running

dishwater and clothes washers only when they are full to capacity, washing our cars

from a bucket rather than at a car wash and storing drinking water in the refrigerator

rather than running the tap until the water runs cold.

So, if we really love our planet Earth, we will consider these few steps. I am already

doing my part, what are you doing?

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Compiled by Lavinia Hishongwa


44

Sarah shows off a home-made

wetland.

Sarah shows the out-pipe

arrangement from bath, shower

and basin.

A low-cost way to clean up grey water

The average South African produces about 50 litres

of grey water per day from showers, baths and

hand basins. That‟s a lot of water and most of it

goes into overloaded sewerage systems, storm

water drains or streams, rivers and wetlands.

It is our water, however, and we should look after it

once we have pulled the plug. One way is to make

a small wetland near the grey water outlet from the

bathroom. Use small locally indigenous wetland

plants like lilies, rushes, sedges and reeds as much as

possible. You can enclose the bottom of your

wetland in plastic and bricks if you want and put in

layers of stones and white sand to help in filtering if you want to or just let the plants

make their own habitat.

Maintenance will include making sure that the pipes from the bathroom are cleared

every now and then and that plants are trimmed as they grow fast absorbing all the

nutrients in your water.

You could also pipe the cleaned water to specific plants or let it just drain away into the

garden as I do, with no odours or residues. This system means there is no storage of

warmish water in which possibly nasty bacteria could flourish

You could also filter your kitchen sink and washing

machine water if you want but this would mean lots

of care about what soaps you use and filtering food

scraps from the sink first.

Such a small wetland will help remove phosphates

and nitrates from your grey water.

Black water is the subject of another story.

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45

Solar cooked food – too hot to

handle!

Making a home-made solar stove

This is a high-tech solar stove which costs thousands

of rands. The stove consists of a plastic box, a built- in

mirror for the reflection of the sun, two glass panes

that are built inside the box lid, but with a gap

between each other so that the air can‟t escape

and in order for insulation to take place.

The positioning of the solar stove is important - it must

be in a position directly with the sun to catch as

much sunlight as possible. Then you can put the

ingredients of a meal in the pot and place it inside

the box, so that the food can cook without gas or

electricity, only with the energy of the sun.

With the solar stove, the process is sustainable and energy saving. It is, however, too

expensive for most people. Most South Africans have to be satisfied with their gas or

electric stoves or making fires for their meals, which is cheaper than the solar stove, but

is not sustainable and uses energy which costs money.

This is why I came up with an idea of making my own home-made solar stove which will

be environmentally friendly and sustainable by using materials that are easily

accessible. The home-made solar stove materials consist of a home-made wooden

box. I‟ll look for scrap perspex or glass, to keep the heat inside so that the air will not

escape.

The box floor and outer sides must be painted black on the inside and outside to

absorb heat, but with insulation to prevent it catching fire. Some aluminium sheeting will

help reflect the sunlight into the “oven”. The positioning of the box should be directly in

line with the sun.

This will probably take longer than the expensive solar stove, but the process is the

same, which means that South Africans will be in a position to use an eco-friendly,

sustainable, energy efficient and money saver stove in the future!

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Compiled by Randall Du Plessis


46

Impression of interior of the proposed skills

centre/shop/restaurant/conference centre

Jonathan‟s Thesis for Change

Jonathan Roux, a final year

architecture student at Nelson

Mandela Metropolitan

University, is passionate about

reducing waste and making

ecologically friendly choices

through architecture.

At the moment he is working

on his thesis, which is focussed

on this issue.

At his proposed skills centre

located at the Fountain Road

intersection between the communities of Walmer and Gqeberha, Port Elizabeth,

Jonathan is aiming to up-cycle waste products: using waste to make products, as well

as to educate members of both communities about sustainability through building and

about reducing over-consumption.

Examples of items to be made from waste include frames for light fittings, plastic light

fittings, and public commissions of artwork. The centre will also serve as a school for

adults and a community centre, where residents of Gqeberha can be taught how to

make useful items from waste. Also proposed is a restaurant and display galleries, which

will provide opportunities for visitors to interact with the centre participants.

Jonathan has designed the building to include „green building‟ features - rainwater

harvesting, using natural ventilation, gabions to control erosion, and recycled bricks.

He hopes that this project will also act as a catalyst for social change, providing an

environment for the two communities, historically divided by race and income, to

interact with each other.

Jonathan intends to pursuing the development of this proposed centre once he is

qualified, thereby being an agent of change in the building sector. He says, “My

advice to others is that if they feel they can and should make a change, they must.

Apathy is death to the soul.”

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47

Nomawande Wara Nkontso-Mene‟s story

My life and the lives of my learners changed when I was able to integrate

environmental education within the curriculum in my classes. I wanted my learners to

grow and become responsible citizens.

My school environment changed and there were no alien plants around the school.

In my school, we have an Eco Committee which includes learners, parents and

teachers. We have also introduced Eco-Clubs where every issue affecting the school is

discussed and learners and teachers join in freely.

The Natural Science and Technology teachers, together with our learners, have come

up with a plan to do recycling with tins, plastics and papers. With tins, we make cars,

with plastics, we make plastic mats and clothes. In Arts and Culture, we do paper

moulding. We have also made a rule of no littering in our school environment!

We mow our school lawns regularly and try and keep our environment clean.

We have a vegetable garden where children can learn how to grow vegetables. We

have used the WESSA environmental calendar where we observe environmental days

and weeks like Arbor Week. During Arbor Week, we planted trees and used the waste

from the kitchen as fertilizer for the garden.

This programme was introduced by the Wild Coast Project, because my school was

surrounded by many invasive plants.

I was nominated to go and attend as one of the Natural Science teachers. We had no

clue as to how dangerous these plants were and how to control them. Then the project

did a clean-up campaign.

I was just an educator with no knowledge or clue about environmental education. I

had no clue on how to include this environmental education into the curriculum. I

attended the workshop and it gave me an idea of how to do it!

I also had no idea about waste management and how to do recycling. I didn‟t know

about the dangers of littering in our environment. I had no understanding of the

importance of our indigenous trees and how to conserve them. My school was just a

school with litter and uncut grass.

There was no garden and no understanding on how or why to keep our environment

clean. There were no bins to control littering. In my school, we had no idea that we

must have a community which is going to control the cleanliness of the school in

general.

The Environmental Educators Course made me interested in learning more about the

environment. Now, if I see a person littering, I become so worried and try to rectify it.


48

I wish all the educators could attend this Environmental Educators Course so as to be

where I am today. I am now able to organise excursions around my school surroundings

so that my learners can visit the beach, the wetlands and Silaka, to see how to

conserve nature in general.

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Compiled by Nomawande Wara Nkontso-Mene


49

Free light for my room!

This is Duncan Griffiths. He has a covered verandah at his

house which is great on hot days but in winter, his room is

dark.

He did not want to keep lights on in the daytime because of

the cost and the carbon, so when he saw another house

suggested by WESSA staff, with see-through tiles being used

as roof windows, he thought “what a great idea” and found

out where to get them.

They are quite expensive, but with the help of family

members, he bought enough to give all the bedroom

windows on the stoep some extra day light.

Now he‟s looking for extra ways to save money and the environment and telling his

friends to “catch a wake-up” and get greener in how they live and what they buy.

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Compiled by Sarah Dowling


50

WESSA Share-Net resources to support adapting to climate change

Sustainable Technologies: People, Products and Practices. A handbook

for deliberating climate change adaptation and ecosystem restoration.

Health Gardening

Knowing and Growing Muthi Plants

Household Environmental Management

Eating for the Earth: A selection of vegetarian recipes

Puzzling Climate Change: A start-up pack of pictures

The Handprint Resource Books – Action Towards Sustainability

Recycling, Waste Reduction and Creative Re-Use

Did you Grow your Greens?

Re-using Shower and Bath Water

Growing Mother-tree seedlings

How to series

How to make fire bricks

How to make a hotbox

How to build a traditional clay stove

How to build a pyramid vegetable garden

Change Choice Pamphlets – with good, better and best lifestyle

choices around energy, water, waste, shopping, travelling,

gardening and more.

Share your sustainable living photos Take photos of sustainability practices or technologies and share them.

Upload your photos by e-mailing them to

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

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