Environmental Newsletter
International Project: The Great Green Wall
The Great Green Wall is a project led by the African Union which plans to grow an 8000km long, 15km wide wall of trees stretching across the entire Sahel region
Problem it’s trying to solve:
The Great Green Wall is trying to combat the desertification of the Sahel region. This form of land degradation has left the land arid and is stripping the soil of its fertility. Due to climate change, droughts have also become more and more common in that region. The Sahel is becoming unlivable for both humans and animals.
This has left both land and water resources stressed, causing armed conflict for the ownership of the remaining resources. These conflicts have led to the displacement of people as well as a loss of jobs and income for the people.
How it’s solving it:
By growing trees, grasslands and vegetation across the Sahel, The Great Green Wall aims to stop the desertification of the area. The compost used when planting the vegetation helps to improve soil quality and help restore the land’s lost fertility.
This has created around 10 million jobs for people in the region. The plants grown also provide people with food to eat.
With the scope of this project, 22 African countries are involved in the project. The project has created unity amongst the people, reducing the number of conflicts in the area.
Links:
https://www.greatgreenwall.org/about-great-green-wall
Local Project: Spring Clean Cape Town Campaign
The Spring Clean Cape Town Campaign was launched at the beginning of September by Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and Mayco Member for Urban Waste Alderma Grant Twigg in an effort to change attitudes and behaviours towards littering and the illegal dumping of waste.
Problem it’s trying to solve:
The Spring Clean Cape Town Campaign aims to stop the problem of litter and illegal dumping in Cape Town.
In January this year alone, the City of Cape Town spent R52 million on cleaning up illegal dumping sites all over the Western Cape.
How it’s solving it:
- Clean up campaigns of streets, rivers and beaches have been started.
- Posters have been made to try and teach people what is and isn’t recyclable
- There’s been an increase in the number of police officers on the lookout for illegal dumping
How to aid the project:
Go to clean up campaigns
- Teach people what is recyclable and what isn’t
- Hold yourself and your friends accountable
- Report illegal dumping using the 24 hour tip-off line: 0800 110077
Current Environmental Issue: Food Wastage
Food wastage refers to food that is fit to eat but discarded, by either restaurants, homes or retailers. About 931 million tonnes of food is wasted globally every year.
Reasons for the problem:
The most common causes of food wastage are overbuying, overproduction and spoilage.
For example, restaurants contribute largely to the issue, as they throw away that their food customers don’t finish and often buy too much food stock as a result of overestimating the demand.
Problems it causes:
Food waste burdens waste management systems, increases food insecurity and is a big contributor to climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
Food waste, when dumped into landfills, produces harmful greenhouse gases, which contribute to global warming and climate change.
How to reduce food wastage:
- Don’t throw away oddly-shaped fruits and vegetables. Their shape doesn’t determine whether or not they are edible.
- Know that there’s a difference between ‘sell before’ and ‘best before’ dates. Foods that are past their ‘sell before’ dates are still edible, but those past their ‘best before’ dates might not be. Don’t throw away food that has passed these dates before doing an inspection of the foods yourself.
- Don’t overbuy food, instead try making a grocery list before you go to the shops and stick to it.
- Eat leftovers; don’t just throw them away
Links:
https://mg.co.za/environment/2021-08-21-south-africa-wastes-10-million-tons-of-food-a-year/
– By Danielle
Recent Comments