Many of us came to this beautiful part of the world from cities and towns with dysfunctional municipalities. I remember moving here and for the first couple of weeks I was in awe when seeing a garbage truck. Where I came from, garbage was towed away by individuals with shopping carts… It is such a privilege to live in an area, with not only a functioning municipality, but also one that aims to go greener, is proactive and works with the community and other shareholders.
Eden Waste Management’s vision is to contribute to a clean and healthy environment and vibrant economy for the district. They envision achieving this through responsible solid waste management practices and by recognising solid waste as a useful resource wherever possible. Therefore, their mission is to provide sustainable and innovative waste management solutions that exceed the expectations of the residents in the Eden district municipal area.
A Household Composting Pilot Project was launched in May 2018, by the Eden District Municipality in collaboration with the Mossel Bay Municipality emphasising the urgency to be pro-active and ‘Going Greener’. This project relates to the fact the methane gas that is emitted from kitchen (as well as garden) waste contributes to global warming. The municipalities reiterated the problem of huge amounts of organic waste (30% of all household waste) going to our landfill areas; that these areas are almost at capacity; and that new sites are very expensive. They explained what to compost and what not, but most importantly, they differentiated between types of compost (hot, cold, vermicomposting); and how to compost (bin, pile, and vermicomposting).
Schools play a major role in the education of tomorrow’s consumers and decision makers. Involving learners at a young age to reduce the amount of waste produced by a school and their own families can trigger their wider responsibilities to both the community and the environment. Hence, the Eden District Municipality (in collaboration with the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning and the Local Municipalities) has rolled out the waste management education programme to pre-schools and schools in the Eden area.
How can we, as responsible residents in this district municipal area, contribute to the solution and not the problem? We need to ensure that the waste we create is carefully controlled as to not harm our environment and our health. The environment is everything around us – the air, land, water (microorganisms, plant, and animal life) and the atmosphere.
There are various categories of waste including Soft Plastics, Hard Plastics, Cardboard, Paper, Glass, Metal, Food, Garden Waste, Textiles, Wood, Inert, Nappies, E-Waste, Hazardous Waste and the Rest, which is all waste that cannot be sorted into abovementioned categories e.g. hair, dust.
Eden Waste Management follows with the 3Rs strategy to Waste Management – Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle which by now all of us should have knowledge of.
On 1 July 2018 the Mossel Bay Municipality the three-bag system (black, blue and green refuse bags), encouraging households to sort waste at the source. Each household will receive 13 of each colour bags per quarter and the bags will mostly be delivered during the second month of each quarter. The Municipality will collect the black bags and service providers will collect the blue and green bags.
The green bag is the new bag and the public are requested to use it for garden refuse only. Although this new service addresses garden waste, composting is still the desired way to dispose of garden, organic and wet waste.
So, let’s get to it – reduce, reuse, recycle and compost – we all need to clean up our act. Most importantly – use the bag for what it is meant for!
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