Founder of Goby Foundation improves environment with recycling

By encouraging recycling, the founder of the non-profit company Goby Foundation, Vaughn Bishop, hopes to improve the environment and how children view recycling.

Through the NPC, Bishop, a Marais Steyn Park resident, hopes to reduce environmental waste and educate the youth on the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling waste while removing plastic waste from water systems and communities.

The initiative aims to meet the broader United Nations Global Sustainable Development Goals and target priority interventions for children in partnership with the departments of Basic Education and Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, and Hitachi Construction Machinery Southern Africa.

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Bishop said this includes learners making simplistic sports equipment from plastic waste.

“This ensures our children get an equal opportunity to play while understanding the importance of conserving their environment,” said Bishop.

Having always been involved in sports and coming from a career involved heavily in sports, Bishop values and understands the importance sports plays in a child’s life.

He was previously involved with Adidas SA and later moved to SuperSport, where he helped conceptualise the Let’s Play programme, which encourages children to be active and healthy in a fun way.

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“In 2019, corporate decided it was time for me to retire, but with my passion for sports and development, I wanted to continue with the Let’s Play concept but in a different direction.

“Thinking about issues affecting communities and the amount of plastic waste, I thought it would be cool to teach the children about recycling.”

Designed from an actual goby, a bottom-dwelling scavenger fish, artist John Addams designed the 5m-long fish, and Wessel Else constructed it.

“The goby is a scavenger, and by having it as the steel structure to house the recyclables, we are showing the children that it is alright to take the plastic out of the environment and put it in the metal goby for recycling.

After the initiative launched in 2019 in Durban, Bishop went on several road shows, and since then, support for the project has grown.

The project has engaged over 340 schools and collected over 14 tons (14 417kg) of recyclable plastic waste from schools. Additionally, it trained 515 teachers.

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The Goby Project works with Lothlorien Recycling to collect and process recycled plastic.

However, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Goby was halted, and the approach to teaching learners was adapted.
Bishop explained that when the Goby initiative visits a school, it helps in many ways, including.

• Training teachers and providing South African Council for Educators (SACE)-accredited physical education training.

It includes theory and the practical element and approved facilitators deliver it.

“We also remind educators that they do not need top-of-the-line sports equipment to train and teach their learners. They can use recycled materials,” said Bishop.

• Creating awareness and educating learners on the importance of repurposing plastic waste.

The Goby team educates learners on the vital nature of conserving the environment through the climate change curriculum.

• Using sports and play-based initiatives to protect children from the impact of climate change and environmental issues.

Bishop said these initiatives hope to make schools, communities, and other services critical to children’s well-being resistant to climate and environmental impact.

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Each school the NPC visits is encouraged to collect as much recyclable plastic as possible.

Bishop said this plastic is now upcycled and used to create Bakelite-like desks.

He said because the wooden school desks’ tops often deteriorate or break, the NPC created the upcycled plastic desktops.

When a school wins a collection drive by collecting the most plastic, the school can choose to receive new sports equipment or learning aids, such as desks.

Call 082 558 2521 for more information.