On Saturday 18 February more than 1 000 Capetonians made good on their promise to support a great cause by pitching up and getting involved in the 5FM Big Cape Town Beach Clean-up. Through focused and concerted efforts we were able to remove 1 640kg of litter from Cape Town’s beloved beaches and waterways, and 1 008,6kg of that will be recycled. 

At 10am on Saturday our litter warriors arrived at Lion’s Head, the Sea Point Promenade/Mouille Point Lighthouse, the Liesbeek River, Milnerton Lagoon and Joe Slovo. They were armed with fabulous attitudes, gloves and bags, to get to the good work of cleaning a great city.

Mouille Point team! Photo courtesy Unogwaja Challenge

Spearheaded by 5FM, this clean-up was supported by the Two Oceans Aquarium, Clean C, Love our Trails (link goes to Twitter) and Sea Shepherd South Africa.

The Cape Town Environmental Education Trust and Changing Lives Through Nature team at Liesbeek. Photo courtesy Helen Whelan‎

The day could not have gone as smoothly as it did without the partnerships with Wasteplan (who transported hundreds of bags of collected litter), Tuffy (who provided the bags for the litter), Upcycle (who provided meals for the kids in Joe Slovo with food they collect from restaurants), and Waste-ED (link goes to Facebook) who are turning the non-recyclable waste into eco-bricks. Wasteplan went a step further and has pledged to donate all proceeds from the sale of the recycables to Operation Smile.

Why?

In September 2016, masses of balloons were illegally released at 5FM's Cape Town Live Loud event. Concerned members of the public drew 5FM’s attention to the devastating effects of plastics on bird and marine life and South Africa’s internationally envied beaches and oceans. “At that point we really saw a need to help our family and community understand the environmental impact of littering,” says Station Manager Justine Cullinan. “It was a terrible error on our part and we felt it was essential to use the power of 5FM to draw attention to the harmful effects of plastics on our environment.”

In response, 5FM decided to invest their time and resources into this fantastic campaign, sending DJs to Cape Town and even broadcasting – live – from the Two Oceans Aquarium!

Lion’s Head

Lion’s Head might not be a beach, but it is one of Cape Town’s most iconic attractions and we would have been remiss if we didn’t “love our trails” too because, after all, everything we do on land we do to the oceans, too. More than 40 trail-lovers removed more than 41 bags of litter from this sleepy giant.

The Lion's Head team

The most common items picked up from Lion’s Head were plastic water bottles, the strangest item was underwear!

“It was a great day out – amazing vibe and wonderful working together with the community!” – Lion’s Head coordinating volunteer Galeo Saintz

5FM’s Linda Mbuso was there in full force to help clean Lion's Head. 

It was also great to see the involvement of SANParks officials! 

See also: An Aquarium mom joins in

Milnerton Lagoon

At Milnerton, about 200 participants showed up. These included Aquarium friend Ryan Stramrood:

The Two Oceans Aquarium SEA Team:

And 5FM’s Das Kapital:

“I am absolutely delighted that there were so many young children picking up trash!” – Milnerton coordinating volunteer and Sea Shepherd SA volunteer and campaign leader Rosie Kunneke

Photo by Marike Ireland

Sea Point Promenade and Mouille Point

Two Oceans Aquarium Environmental Campaigner and Rethink the Bag founder Hayley McLellan was stationed at Mouille Point. Hayley, along with Blake Dyason from Love our Trails and Gregory Player from Clean C, was at the forefront of organising the clean-up day.

The first bag at Mouille Point! Photo by Martine Viljoen

Hayley and the 50-or-more participants at Sea Point picked up 34 bags of litter. The most common item picked up were cigarette butts and two tyres were also wheeled to the collection point!

The Anna Foundation brought 12 children of Cape winelands labourers to the event, many of whom had never seen the ocean before.

Photo courtesy the Anna Foundation

Bianca Peace, also stationed at Sea Point, has been a volunteer with Cape Town Beach Cleanup since December 2011.

“I was impressed with the overall condition at Sea Point this time. Well done to the City’s cleaners. What I would love to raise is the litter blowing from the pool area, especially the area alongside the beach. The public needs to be reminded, when visiting the pool, to ensure that litter is put into a bin immediately. Two of our 8-year-old volunteers went out to “save” the ocean from a huge chip packet. We watched it blow down from the pool.” – Sea Point coordinating volunteer Bianca Peace

“After so many months of planning it was thrilling to experience the event come together. For me the success of the day illustrated that if we each express our environmental passion, take action and play our part in looking after this beautiful planet, it’s a win all round! I think we made a new friend in the 5FM team, as a whole, and I would love to see them being more regularly involved in such powerful community events. Perhaps this can become an annual and national campaign! Who knows… ” – Hayley McLellan

Liesbeek River

About 100 volunteers showed up at the River Club at the Liesbeek River and together they collected more than 200 bags of litter from this beautiful and much-loved waterway. 5FM's Nonala Tose opened proceedings:

The most common item they picked up were chip packets, and the strangest items they found were glass bottles with plants inside.

“The day was very successful, especially in terms of the awareness it created. People can see what devastation plastic causes on the ecosystem.” – Liesbeek coordinating volunteer Jaco van Onselen

Joe Slovo

At Joe Slovo, more than 130 kids collected more than 70 bags of recyclables and 250 eco-bricks were made from the non-recyclables. Tins and polystyrene takeaway containers were the most common litter items picked up, and the strangest items were pieces of a cupboard.

“We were meant to start at 12 in Joe Slovo, but the kids were so enthusiastic and ready so we started cleaning from 9:30am. Bag after bag we went through and sorted, recyclables from non-recyclables, with breaks in between for playing games. Thanks to Upcycle we were able to give food to the kids in exchange for their efforts. The kids loved making ecobricks, some kids made 10 all on their own!” – Waste-ED's Candice Mosters

"The Big Cape Town Beach Clean-up was a dream come true. By partnering with an organisation like 5FM, which can influence tens of thousands of South Africans, we had an opportunity to educate, start the conversation and lead by example. The day was more than I could have asked for. The Cape Town weather played along, hundreds of Capetonians took time out of their weekends to be part of this initiative and to make a difference. It was truly overwhelming. The clean up was so much more than just a clean up, and I hope that this will start conversations, create awareness around our responsibilities to our environment, change our buying habits, encourage corporates to stop using plastic and invest in our environment. The  Big Cape Town Beach Clean-up is just the starting point and I look forward to seeing 5FM adopt this as an annual event and other businesses to follow suit." - Blake Dyason

What next?

If you would like to take part in beach clean-ups, please keep an eye on our blog and our social media platforms for updates. We'll definitely be observing International Coastal Cleanup Day on 16 September, so save the date! For more on Cape Town beach clean-ups, visit the Clean C website.

More great posts from the day

 

 

A post shared by Lynne Meyer (@lynne.meyer) on

 

A post shared by Nadia Arnold (@astronadz) on

 

A post shared by Christie Munro (@minimalwastegirl) on

 

A post shared by 5FM (@5fm) on

 

A post shared by WastePlan (@wasteplansa) on

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