IN a bid to do their part to keep the ocean clean, the grade five learners at Jeffreys Bay Primary School recently began filling plastic bottles with plastic bags to create ecobricks which will be used to build benches for the learners.
According to grade five teacher, Rinette Crafford, when learners first returned to school after the COVID–19 nationwide lockdown period, there were many adjustments which included no games or physical contact; friends were separated; learners attended school every second day and all sport was discontinued.
Since teaching time had been limited and computer classes had been halted, a plan had to be devised to keep the learners busy.
Crafford said to help the learners focus their attention on something else, they looked through images of pollution in the ocean and saw that there were many deformed sea turtles and the mouths or legs of seabirds were trapped in plastic bottles or cones.
“The images were enough to inspire the learners to make a difference. We then decided to embark on a plastic recycling project,” said Crafford.
“The idea was that the learners would start motivating their parents to work with them on the project. For every piece of plastic that mom does not throw away, one less piece of plastic is in the oceans.”
Crafford said the learners were encouraged to bring their own plastic bottles from home which they then tightly filled with plastic bags to create as many ecobricks as they could.
The ecobricks will be used to build benches for the learners, which have been approved by the principal, Johan Dippenaar.
“On sunny days, the children were able to relax outside, exert their strengths and learn to work together to do their part to keep the oceans clean,” said Crafford.
“The learners amazed me with their enthusiasm. Empty bottles and bags of plastic flooded the classroom. There were so many ecobricks that we had to start storing them in the school’s storage room.”
Crafford said to further encourage the learners to participate in the project, a plastic recycling competition was established.
Grade five learner, Anja Wagner, was the winner of the competition and walked away with prize money worth R 300 after she enthusiastically and dutifully brought packed ecobricks to class every week.
Crafford said once the school opens in the first term, they will begin building the benches.
She said the caretaker of the school, Johan Arpin, and his team will build the framework for the benches and the learners will then stack the ecoblocks to further assemble the benches.
She said the school hopes to continue the plastic recycling competition next year by involving more learners to make them aware of the dangers of plastic in the ocean.
“This project may be a drop in the bucket, but starting awareness at one school can spread to a generation which will grow up with a culture of recycling and conserving our precious oceans,” said Crafford.
