School says ‘owl’ help
"Their involvement means so much in the way of conservation moving forward. We regard this project as a great opportunity for schools to teach learners about recycling. "
Noordheuwel — The Owl Rescue Centre in Hartbeespoort is proud to announce that it has received tremendous support for the owl house plastic recycling project from some Krugersdorp schools.
The centre collects used plastic bottles and turns them into owl houses. Curro Independent School in Krugersdorp recently donated a classroom full of bottles to the project.
The school's Geography Teacher, Mrs Engelsman, follows the Owl Rescue Centre on Facebook. As an eco school, Curro Krugersdorp joined the drive to support the local environmental conservation organisation in their endeavour to conserve the oceans, rivers, dams and, in the long run, the local wildlife.
“The learners loved seeing the Owl Rescue Centre arrive and they also loved filling the truck and the trailer with their plastic bags full of bottles and plasticware,” said Roxanne Coetzee, spokesperson for Curro.
“We are hoping to do another drive in the second school term. We encourage conservation of the environment. We challenge all the Krugersdorp schools to collect bottles for them as well.”
Danelle Murray, the co-founder of Owl Rescue, said the team was thrilled and excited about the response from schools nation wide.
“Their involvement means so much in the way of conservation moving forward. We regard this project as a great opportunity for schools to teach learners about recycling. When the children start to collect all the plastic that they use, they become consciously aware of their usage and consumer behaviour. The principles of reduce, reuse and recycle are instilled in them from a young age”.
Thus far, Owl Rescue has collected eight tons of plastic consisting of cold drink bottles, milk bottles, plastic tubs and much more. They've moulded ten 100 per cent recycled plastic owl houses that are used within the rescue centre. They're still acquiring the necessary machinery to commence with production of a product range that will be made available for purchase in May of this year.
Owl Rescue aims to recycle 600 tons of plastic a year, every year. This will be an ongoing initiative to provide a solution to the plastic that is landing up in our environment. This project not only provides a solution for the massive amounts of plastic waste, but it is certainly wise to manufacture these products from something that could literally almost last forever. Although wooden owl houses work very well, they deteriorate over time and often need replacing. The plastic owl houses will still benefit many generations of owls hundreds of years from now.
“We fill two needs with one deed. Instead of the plastic being harmful to the environment, it now has a purpose – it provides a habitat to aid in environmental conservation. We have seen a great increase in the owl population since the onset of our owl house project. It is important to remember that every person who inhabits this earth as a consumer has a responsibility to keep it clean and to conserve it for the wildlife who call it home. This is a principle that should be taught to all students to ensure that our planet will have a bright future. I am terrified to think what will happen if we don’t start doing something drastic in the way of conservation”.
