On 17 June 2017 the WBHS Environmental Task Team initiated the collecting of empty milk bottles at the school. The Team noticed that many milk bottles were being generated by the tuck shop and the staffroom. They were also made aware of the many recycling enterprises in South Africa and thus the drive to collect and assist in reducing the impact of waste on the environment was initiated.
Members of the Task Team collect the bottles from the tuck shop, staffroom and from the boys who bring bottles from home on a daily basis and store these in large bags until the bags are full; these bags are then transported to the designated collection point with the kind assistance of Mr Erwin Brandt and his Grounds staff.
The milk bottles, including all other plastic bottles and containers stamped with the No 2 triangle, are collected throughout the year and to date the school has delivered 875 kilograms of plastic products to the recycling company, which in turn processes these plastic containers and uses the resultant product to manufacture garden furniture and many other plastic products.
The Task Team is proud to announce that the School has received its first bench made out of the collected milk bottles as a token of thanks from the recycling company, and we would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all the parents and boys who have assisted in this very necessary recycling effort by the School. Your contribution and assistance has prevented 875 kilograms worth of plastic pollution to enter the environment, a notable achievement, even if on a small scale, as every effort helps in some way to stem the pollution of our seas and the planet. We urge you to please continue to support this most worthy cause, as the more bottles we recycle, the more we assist in reducing pollution.
We are proud to be part of the South African effort to reduce pollution by organisations such as Wildlands Schools Recycling and PETCO. Wildlands has recently provided the School with recycling bins for all plastic and paper containers and cans which have been placed in the various Grade areas to boost the recycling efforts by WBHS.
PETCO, another major recycling company, has recycled 2.15 billion bottles for 2017. It is gratifying to know that because of these initiatives, 2.15 billion bottles have failed to reach and pollute the seas. (The PET products are the see-through plastic water bottles, for example, and all products stamped with the No 1 triangle) Furthermore “the 93 235 tons of collected PET products created 64 000 income-generating opportunities for waste pickers, collectors and recyclers, saving 578 000m3 of landfill space and 139 000 tons of carbon in the process. Through the remarkable network of people, companies and organisations we work with, 5.9 million PET bottles were collected for recycling across South Africa every day during the course of 2017, creating thousands of income-generating opportunities for small and micro-collectors, and changing their lives and those of their families in immeasurable ways.” (PETCO: 2018)
To everyone who has contributed to the milk bottle collection, thank you for caring.
“Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting. We allow them to disperse because we’ve been ignorant of their value.” ( Buckminster Fuller)