Papermaking to inspire

The papermaking project being embarked upon by the WEPD group aims to create awareness of the import of recycling. Waste reduction means a smaller carbon footprint, which essentially means a healthier earth. Papermaking and carbon footprint questionnaires are a practical way of making learners conscious of the value of recycling and how it may help to better their school environment.

While recycling is a viable option for a cleaner planet, it is not at all prolifically practiced in the small city of Grahamstwon. Nicky Kohly, a part-time Environmental Officer at Rhodes University, gives two main reasons for why recycling in Grahamstown is yet to take off. Firstly, there is the cost of petrol, the modern day liquid gold. Often empty containers take up too much space, so that the transport costs prove too much. A second problem is staff. Handling separate bags of different materials requires extra staffing. The staff also needs to be educated on how to separate recyclable materials properly.

We need to find creative solutions to these problems in order to get the larger Grahamstown community on the bandwagon, or in this case, the truck. Recycling has the potential to soothe problems of global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It would reduce the need for new landfills, reduce groundwater and air pollution, reduce energy use and the use of natural resources. Basically recycling reduces the burdens of pollution on our planet.
Despite the list of potential pros, recycling can be risky business if the recycling process is inefficient and if materials need to be transported over long distances. In this case recycling could increase greenhouse emissions, energy use, air pollution and the use of natural resources. If recycling projects are mismanaged the effort of separating one’s waste would be pointless.

The Prof Greenthumb group aims to make learners conscious about recycling. Learners should be educated on environmentally friendly ways of reusing waste. Our ultimate goal is for the school to start up a recycling project. This goal is our most ambitious. The least we hope to achieve is environmental awareness. Learners need to be aware of the severity of the problem before we can expect them to be willed to make any meaningful changes. Hopefully by the end of our time with them, they will have learnt enough to make them care about the environment off which they live.

Grocott's spread

The designers and I had a meeting with Stephen Lang, the editor of Grocott's today. He has guaranteed us a two page spread in the Tuesday edition two weeks from now.

This spread will consist of an array of stories, from our projects, governmental policy to environmental education within the school system. Which will all come together through a creative layout.