Renew Able Plett & Mr and Miss Plett Knysna Contestants clean up

Rhian Berning presented a Renew Able Plett workshop to the Mr and Miss Plett-Knysna 2018 contestants at the Old Rectory Hotel on the Saturday the 13th of October 2018.

The contestants thoroughly enjoyed the presentation and learned so much about the current problem the world is facing when it comes to litter and plastics.

The contestants were shown how to recycle effectively and why it is necessary to reduce single-use plastics and waste to landfill.

An estimated 59 million tonnes of general waste was produced in South Africa in 2011, 90% ended up in landfills and only 10% was recycled.

The rapid growth in solid waste and the fact that there is a shortage of suitable land to dispose of waste means that South Africa is running out of space for waste disposal. Despite the benefits and need for recycling, studies report that as little as 5,2% of households recycled waste in 2015. This is according to Stats SA.

Rhian and the contestants then made their way to Central Beach where the they were divided into teams and went about cleaning up all the litter they came across.

Top of the list of things found was cigarette butts, straws, sweetie wrappers, bottle caps and glass and plastic bottles.

The contestants then sorted everything they found into recyclables and nonrecyclables and the majority of waste was sent to the recycling depot.

A big thank you goes out to Rhian Berning for making a huge  difference in the lives of our future ambassadors!

The Renew Able Plett campaign incentivises and supports businesses, community organisations and schools to reduce waste to landfill, go plastic-free, recycle, compost and make eco-bricks for community building projects.

To find out more about Renew Able Plett check out their Facebook page.