Heatherhill on lagoon-cleaning mission

KNYSNA NEWS - Heatherhill School learners are cleaning up the Knysna Lagoon one rubbish bag at a time as part of an ongoing programme initiated by the school.

The school's owner Rosalind Gerber said they try to involve the learners in a lagoon clean-up effort at least once a term to not only do their part for the town, but also to create awareness about the impact humans have on their environment.

On August 8, the entire school set off to the lagoon for one of these clean-ups and managed to collect 18 rubbish bags filled with waste – this was done in less than an hour and within a few hundred metres along the lagoon’s edge. Most of the rubbish included plastic bags, polystyrene containers and food wrappers.

Gerber said the youngsters had in the past collected more than 30kg of rubbish in one clean-up session.

“We do this because we want to help improve this beautiful town we live in, and create awareness around the negative effect we can have on our environment if we are not careful,” Gerber said.

The effort paid off as several learners noted that they were “disgusted” about how much people littered and came up with several suggestions to reduce waste.

Some youngsters said they would think twice before asking for a plastic shopping back at the grocery store and instead bring their own reusable bags on their next shopping trip. Others said they would consider taking their own mugs when stopping for a takeaway beverage, and would make an effort to recycle more.