Three-day Earth Day at the Hennops
From removing invasive plant species to testing river health, local volunteers came together over three days to combat pollution and promote sustainability in the Hennops River.
Community members in Centurion came together over the weekend to celebrate Earth Day with a series of clean-up events along the Hennops River.
Dozens of volunteers from various organisations and local residents participated in the three-day event, with the goal of cleaning up and restoring the river and its surrounding areas.
Tarryn Johnston, the founder of Hennops River Revival, was given the AfriCAN EARTHizen’s honoree award for her outstanding effort in environmental conservation.
For the first event, Johnston met with representatives of the Department of Water and Sanitation, volunteers from OUTsurance , Brand IQ Outdoor Advertising, Hoogland Health Hydro and ARMOUR (Action for Responsible Management of Our Rivers).
The first of the Earth Day celebrations saw participants given a demonstration on how to test the health of a river by tracking the number of macro-invertebrates present in the water. The demonstration highlighted the importance of citizen science in taking care of rivers and streams.
“This clean-up effort was a huge success,” said Johnston, “with a total of 691 bags of waste collected and removed from the river and its surrounding areas”.
The Waste Group provided two skips and 18 wheelie bins to make the task easier, and the collected waste was taken away from the site.
Johnston said that the event was fuelled by the generosity of Rebels Pizza and Oasis Water Wierdapark, who sponsored food and water for the volunteers throughout the three-day event.
The second event took place on Friday at the Bishop Bird Nature Area, where volunteers focused on removing alien vegetation, cutting back overgrowth and clearing out organic matter from storm channels.
No bags were used in this part of the celebrations as organic waste should not be sent to land-fill sites. The City of Tshwane, however, supported the initiative by providing trucks to remove the tonnes of organic plant matter collected during the event.
The event was attended by local ward councillor Cindy Billson and representatives from the Bishops Bird Nature Area, with volunteers from Mars, Inc and 20 EPWP workers from the city.
On Saturday, the focus shifted to the Hennops Mews Conservancy, where volunteers worked together to pick up trash and clean up the river. The event brought together members of the community, including students, children and local residents, who were eager to take part in the clean-up effort.
The Earth Day celebrations were an opportunity for members of the community to come together and take action to protect and restore their local environment.
This latest award adds to a long list of accolades for Johnston, who has dedicated her life to restoring the Hennops River in Centurion.
Speaking about the event, Johnston expressed her gratitude to the organisers and the community of fellow earth and eco warriors. She praised their efforts in making a difference in the country and daily work in conserving the environment.
Johnston also congratulated the other award winners in different categories, saying she was honoured to walk the earth with them.
Since Hennops River Revival started in November 2019, 2 882 680kg of trash has been removed, including 123 246 bags of waste collected across 348 river clean-up days.
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