Clean starts with me, you, us.

There is no “away”.

Every single thing you throw away has to go somewhere.

Stop. Let’s think for a moment about where that somewhere is, and whose responsibility it is.

Even when you are responsible and put all your rubbish in a bin, it is not really away, is it? It is collected and has to go, well, somewhere.

That somewhere is the landfill site.

It is still not gone. And it is still not away. It is simply elsewhere.

Perhaps it has left your mind, but it has not left your space.

The Cape Winelands District Municipality together the local municipalities has embarked on an awareness campaign aimed at a cleaner Cape Winelands district.

“We all need to rethink our habits when it comes to waste,” said Dr Elna von Schlicht, executive mayor of the Cape Winelands District. “Our future depends on how we behave today.”

Every local municipality is responsible for the collection and removal of household waste.

To help reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill sites, many municipalities have been distributing clear bags to households for them to place recyclable waste in.

These bags are collected and taken to Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), where recyclable items are sorted and prepared for sale to recycling companies.

The level of recycling varies across the Cape Winelands. Some areas have well-developed recycling programmes, while others are continuing to expand and strengthen their waste-management and recycling initiatives.

The objective of the campaign is to:

• teach us all that reducing our waste is easier than we think;
• show us how to recycle, and why it is so important that we start waste reduction and recycling in our homes, places of work and schools;
• encourage understanding and respect between residents and waste reclaimers;
• ultimately ensure that only waste which absolutely cannot be recycled, repurposed or reused is sent to landfill; and
• clear up myths and misunderstandings we may have about waste and how to manage it.

Did you know you can contact your local municipality and speak to its waste-management team to find out more about waste management in your area?

Most areas have a variety of recycling businesses and initiatives. If you prefer not to put your glass, tins, plastic and paper in your clear bag for municipal collection, you can find out where to take your recyclables. You may even get some money back!

Always remember that there is another person on the other side of your waste.

Only clean items can be recycled, so rinse out tins, glass containers, milk bottles, yoghurt containers and other recyclables before putting them out for recycling.

Keep an eye out for our two competitions, which open on Thursday 10 September.

The first competition is open to Grade 9 learners from schools in the Cape Winelands. To enter, and stand a chance of winning one of five R500 vouchers, learners need to show how they pause, pocket and place their waste in the right bin.

Grown-ups also have an opportunity to win one of five R500 vouchers. All they need to do is show that “clean spaces = beautiful places”.

Any clean place can be a beautiful space!

Share your clean office, classroom, garden, road, shop or business with us.

Clean starts with me, you, us.

• For more information have a look at the advertisement in this newspaper and visit “Cape Winelands DM” on Facebook to keep up to date with all the happenings.