The Waste Awareness Programme Waste-wise Schools is a project aimed at using the platform of international environmental days to spread information and raise awareness of environmental issues and proper waste management among our youth.

For the occasion of World Rainforest Day on 23 June 2022, the Children of St Pauls Primary School in Sea Point banded together, under the guidance of the City of Cape Town, to host an information session and exhibition focusing primarily on illegal dumping and the environmental damage it causes. This forms part of the City’s Waste Awareness programme for schools where students are challenged to develop presentations and productions that raise awareness of the problem and motivate their peers to dispose of waste responsibly.

On event day, three sessions took place where students prepared presentations, a drama show and an art exhibition on their message. Students integrated concepts and topics covered within the City of Cape Town’s Smart Living Handbook into their work. This will be the first stop to the programme that will visit numerous other schools in Cape Town. Future shows could also include poems or song and dance, or anything else that can help spread the waste-wise message engagingly and unconventionally.

‘What I like about this event is that by asking children to develop an educational theme, we are fostering future leaders in our communities. A big challenge around illegal dumping is motivating adults with all their competing concerns and stresses to work with the City and take responsibility for their local environment, so we must foster more positive behaviour from a young age where we can. Hopefully when children who attended or participated in the event grow up they will be less likely to dump illegally, and more likely to take action if they witness dumping.

‘I am very appreciative of the work put in by the learners, and the passion they have shown for making the world a better place. Their presentations certainly encouraged me,’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Alderman Grant Twigg.

Source: City Of Cape Town