KNYSNA NEWS - The WasteNothing Knysna programme is hosting a pop-up shop at the Knysna Mall until 15 October that will feature products that promote a waste-wise, water-wise, space-wise and energy-wise lifestyle.
The shop is called the Flapping Flamingos Pop-Up. Sue Swain from BioWise says they want to show just how easy it is to make a choice to lead a more earth-savvy life. “People often find the principle intimidating, but once they’ve changed their mindset, they will be amazed at how making many small changes can make quite a difference.”
The “flamingo effect” is the inspiration for the name that is used to describe individuals making an effort to “start the earth-savvy movement”. Swain explains that an ecologist studying migrating flamingos on Kenya’s Lake Naivasha noticed that every year, when the time came for migration, a few flamingos started the process by taking off from the lake.
“Since none of the others took any notice, they soon turned around and came back. The next day they tried again. This time a few others struggled along with them but again, the vast majority carried on as usual, so the pioneers returned to the lake. This trend continued for a few days. Each time a few more birds joined in but, since the thousands of others still took no notice, the migration plan was aborted. Finally, one day, the same few birds took off again. This time, however, the tiny increment to their number was enough to tip the balance. The whole flock took flight and the migration began.”
The shop will be in the space that used to be Mugg&Bean at the mall. “Products and services within the theme will be available from a variety of local and regional businesses. Some of the upcycling initiatives we facilitated will run from the shop, producing items on site. We will also host a “bottlebrickathon” to make bottle bricks for ottomans for the public libraries in the Knysna area. There are also daily workshops and talks scheduled on a variety of topics,” says Swain.
“This shop is about celebrating the flapping flamingos of our area with the hope that they will, true to the original flapping flamingos, 'wake the flock up' and get a movement going that will start to do things differently – a movement that takes its cue from nature and doesn’t waste any of our natural resources while turning all waste into a resource.”
“Our thanks go to the National Lotteries Commission whose funding has made all of this possible,” says Swain.
Need to know more?
More info: Bernice 071 100 1208.
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