IT is with a sad heart that I am leaving Kloof after a quarter of a century.
It really is an idyllic village – a rarity in today’s frenetic, concrete, urban world.
The climate and friendly lifestyle and with everything a short stroll away from my home.
For 25 years I have kept Park Lane litter free – down to the last cigarette stub. Despite this, every day someone drops something.
A first world enclave. If only each street cared for their space and each owner kept their verge clean.
And if they do not put in effort, at least support Keep Kloof Beautiful Association (KKBA). How wonderful the environment would be.
But people who create the mess are oblivious of litter; the rest are “too busy” to take the trouble.
Each person could take a packet with them to pick up litter; or clear the verges and deposit the litter at the gate of the property concerned.
It would also help if:
1) a few houses in each street had a bin placed just inside their gate for this;
2) all ensured their bags are only put outside their own gate and only on the day of collection – not the afternoon or night before which defeats the object and delights only monkeys and dogs.
I have tried in vain to persuade authorities to avert the “litteral” crisis we face.
One just has to encourage every person to pass the message “Do not litter”.
Imagine if every taxi had litter-free awareness promotions on them; instead of litter spewing from them.
After a show at the Sneddon, privileged students piled out of a bus throwing cans and packets on the driveway which I had to dodge – at a centre of learning. To spend millions on clean ups is only a solution if the aim is to create employment; which in turn encourages littering.
“Recycling” in the wrong sense.
I frequently hike in the KZN countryside and the litter is everywhere in rural areas and along rivers and beaches – too ghastly to behold. An ever-increasing concentration of pollution of a dwindling, ever-more crucial resource.
Walk along the beach north of Reunion – one has difficulty finding the sand below the plastic tide – a woe be-tide.
The pedestrians (and even residents) look at me picking up rubbish and whisper to themselves in sympathy, “Shame that man (or Umlungu) has lost his mind”.
A special thanks to KKBA for their enthusiasm and voluntary dedication.
Not only is Park Lane clean; it also enjoys a nature scene skillfully spray-canned on to the adjacent bridge – thanks to Giffy and his kind sponsors.
Cheers and good luck.
Harry Holderness
Kloof
