Community Projects
We are the people who care
We are the people who makes all the difference
Together we can change South Africa
More projects will be posted soon
If you have a project you want us to know about, please send a email to foodhealth@communitiessa.co.za
River recycling Community project
Starting a community project can be challenging, but it can also be really rewarding especially, when the positive results are achieved. When people start talking about the project it creates a sense of community.
For our recycling community project we considered the following:
How to create awareness. as well as. create projects that could be adopted as a community recycling project?
- Find effective, efficient and economical pre-sorting ideas to develop as an in- house project i.e. sorting specific items into related containers/bags
- Starting a door-to-door collection service where residents have already pre-sorted the recyclables
- Invest in a mobile recycle container, however we would need to consider the cost of such an expense.
For this project our focus is on the rivers of South Africa
It is imperative that we focus on our rivers: As there is no control over the rubbish floating in the rivers, we aim to call a halt to the polluting.
Communities need to realize that clean water is scarce. It is their responsibility to ensure that every effort is made to reach our/their goal i.e. a clean and healthy environment.
The Solution
- Creating awareness. The public have no idea how bad the situation has become. The pollution in our rivers have reached a critical point. We need to involve communities to be part of the solution.
- We would like to have members of the public join us and eventually adopt the project as their own, thereby taking ownership of their rivers
What is the goal for this recycling idea?
- To eradicate any rubble, especially plastic from getting into the sea
- To stream-line the process. We can narrow the area of collection before we start collecting the rubbish.
- Train people on site – everybody must fulfill a specific goal on site.
- Use the scrap to generate an income
- It is important to collect data that can be analysed and used later when we work on different rivers and areas
- As the process continues, we need to consistently monitor our progress to ensure we are working in the right direction. A progress report must be created and updated
What is the proposed budget for this project?
I haven’t worked out a budget yet. An accurate budget will be available once all the elements of the project come together.
First things first
We are going use our own money in order to start building the barriers that will float on the rivers.
This program only be implemented on the coastline, on land & any part of a river.
The design
- These barriers will consist of 110mm PVC pipes which we will use as floaters. Underneath the floaters will be a steel rectangular frame with vertical bars in between.
- Each vertical bar will have a PVC pipe that will turn on the round bar.
- Each section will be 1m wide. This will create a barrier wall depending on the width of the river.
- If the PVC pipe and steel are too expensive we will use 2lt coke bottles for floaters and vertical barriers
- As the waste from the river is full of water, we plan to use shade netting for the bags as it is easy to manufacture and economical enough to make according to the requirements.
Next Step:
- Set up sponsors to help in the project
- Create awareness programs; let people in the community know what we are doing and what our goal is.
Other things we going to need.
- A sorting space or yard
- A washer- to clean the material. We can make the washers ourselves by cutting open one side of an old drum and turn by hand
- A Sorting table with steel rings on the side for the bags to hook on
- A lot of shade net bags for sorting purposes
- Computer for all data collection.
Our ultimate plan is to make the project profitable
I am approaching this project as if it were my own start up for a large factory. Implement the four pillars and stick to the basics and allow the business to grow from there while we grow and overcome any challenges.
Our Veggie Garden Community Project
Sunday 10th Dec 2023 was a momentous day in my life but also in the realm around all of us who participated in the very first Community garden – our garden!
Some made food, some served, some brought plants, seeds, tools, know-how and then most just dug into the lovely soil and worked!
I felt great joy and have tremendous gratitude for everyone’s attitude, willingness and openness to embark on something new. You all have such wonderful characteristics – very different but oh so enjoyable to those coming into contact with each of us.
There are layers of goodness in each one who imparted something of yourself, releasing the first seeds of come-into-unity in wholesome generosity which will carry your DNA in more ways than one on the ether into wherever it should be…
I love each one of you for who you are. Let’s meet soon again and just chat while enjoying the growth in our garden.
