Thursday 7 May, 1998

Waste, waste everywhere...
On the left side of the road about 100m past the Lovemore Park turn-off if youÆre driving west, framed by crossberry and wag-Æn- bietjie bush, someone has dumped his rubbish: a fetid pile of plastic bags and sheeting, broken bottles, rotting food and ù most outrageously ù school exercise books. What school does this child go to where such behaviour is tolerated? But, of course, it is the parents, not the child. And whatever bit of respect for the environment their offspring might have learned at school, theyÆre in the process of trashing.

The Sardinia Conservancy, a community environmental group, has alerted the Western District Council to the Seaview road dump and the council is investigating, with the lead already narrowed down to one local school which will hopefully point it to the guilty party. All this might seem like small beer but itÆs the tip of the iceberg. South Africa is fast becoming one of the dirtier countries on the continent and the Eastern Cape is leading the way. Relative economic prosperity and decades of unprogressive environmental policy have resulted in a suffocating "culture of packaging". Combined with over-stretched waste control systems and a uniquely destructive South African mind-set, itÆs a recipe for an environmental disaster.

Maputo, Nairobi and Lilongwe might be grubby and potholed but theyÆre not being swallowed under a tidal wave of unbiodegradable plastic bags. The mind-set is related to respect and responsibility, both of which have been made nonsense of by our political past. And so it is that there are some South Africans who still believe there will be someone to clean up after them ù and others who fail to grasp that this is their country and their laws and thereÆs no one to blame now if it all disintegrates.

Uncontrolled dumping of waste can poison groundwater, which in turn is consumed by humans and livestock. Packaging can snare up birdsÆ beaks and suffocate grazing cattle. ItÆs spoiling some of the most beautiful areas we have to offer the tourist, and rubbishing broader efforts to access that lucrative market. Our established dumping system needs to be re-examined perhaps, specifically where facilities are sited and when theyÆre open. Recycling and dumping laws have to be clearly set down and penalties toughened up.

The Sardinia Bay Conservancy was established three years ago to maintain the natural integrity of the Sardinia Bay-Lovemore Park area, to counter poaching and to make residents more aware of the natural value of their surroundings. One interesting item in a recent conservancy newsletter notes that "all the road verges in South Africa cover more than the entire area of the Kruger National Park". The internationally recognised recommendation is that a minimum of 10 per cent of a countryÆs land should be officially set aside in nature reserves. But while weÆre waiting for that mythical goal to be fulfilled, what a difference it would make if everyone simply took care of their verges, clearing them of litter and exotics. One benefit would be to provide refuge for threatened plants ù 11 per cent of 20 000 species in South Africa ù and the myriad animal life that relies on them.

But this is not just games for the idle rich. Nature is not prejudiced. Put into practice in the townships together with the planting of indigenous species, it could bring a number of benefits such as providing shade and food, preventing erosion and diminishing unpleasant wind and dust, making life more bearable and helping to break that cycle of poverty and environmental degradation that the politicians tell us is indestructible.

Courtesy of the Eastern Province Herald, Port Elizabeth.