• 100 trees planted with the local municipality at Elethu Themba, Johannesburg
• 115 Trees and 10 vegetable gardens planted at Christel House, Athlone, Cape Town
• Coastal Clean Up Lagoon Beach Cape Town
• 50 Vegetable garden planted at Baphumelele Children’s Orphanage, Khayelitsha, Cape Town
• Rehabilitation of penguins and other coastal birds at SANCCOB Table View Cape Town
• Release of 24 rehabilitated African Penguins Seaforth Beach, Simons Town
• Celebration of NATIONAL AFRICAN PENGUIN DAY
As UNEP and the Seal the Deal! campaign called upon Youth, from around the world, to participate in GLOBAL CLIMATE WEEK we felt it pertinent that Africa and specifically South Africa be involved in every way possible. As an organisation, we believe in the creation of young environmental role models that not only talk the green dream but live the green dream. Through our educational programmes, workshops and volunteer work with beautiful young women, children and community members we have brought about sustainable and significant difference in people’s day to day lives.
We felt that seven days of activism was not sufficient for all the areas we were targeting and so extended GLOBAL CLIMATE WEEK to 10 days calling this OUR GREEN LEGACY.
We started OUR GREEN LEGACY to coincide with “Global Tree Planting Day” by Planting 100 trees at a school outside the city of Johannesburg called Elethu Themba Combined. It was here that that local municipality got involved and where the introduction to the Youth Statement was shared. This tree planting was in support of the UN Billion Tree Campaign. The second day of our efforts saw 115 more indigenous trees being planted at Christel House in Athlone in Cape Town. Extensive educational programmes were done at both schools to ensure a system of sustainability is created and maintained.
Next the Miss Earth South Africa Team were involved in a Coastal Clean Up where along with 100 volunteers from all walks of society, they were involved in the clean up of Lagoon Beach in Cape Town. “Seal the Deal –Go Green Day” saw the Miss Earth South Africa Team plant 50 vegetable gardens at an orphanage in a township in Cape Town. Baphumelele Children’s Home was the beneficiary of this wonderful green act. Trees4schools and the Miss Earth planted the day away encouraging these children to provide healthy organic food for them selves. As this day was to dress and do something green we decided to dress Baphumelele’s sandy back yard in green - green vegetables.
The following “Carbon Neutral Day” became three days were the Miss Earth South Africa Team spent interacting with penguins in Table View and Simons Town Cape Town. First the team were involved in the rehabilitation of several African Penguins and other coastal birds at SANCCOB (The South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds). We were privileged to drive a Toyota Hybrid Prius to and from our destinations thus aiding the control of our Carbon Footprint. The day was made up of feeding penguins, washing oiled birds, scrubbing pens, mats, pools and bird hospitals in preparation for the African Penguin Release day to Seal Our Green Legacy of the South African Youth.
24 African Penguins were finally released at the end of the week at the SANCCOB Penguin Festival held at Boulders Beach Simons Town. Fundraising was done in aid of more rehabilitation for these vulnerable birds that are an indicator of the condition of our oceans. The Miss Earth South Africa Team along with volunteers and community members from around Cape Town witness this auspicious take off. These birds sealed our commitment to greening and our ten day focus on Climate Change: their lives depend on us focusing on climate change. It is their future too.
