Centurion Rekord
“A great giving spirit reigned, with all ages and races coming together to heal our environment.“
As many as 350 people came together to clean the heavily-polluted Hennops River on Saturday.
The event, which was the 10th of its kind in Centurion, was held at three locations next to a portion of the river near Wierda Road.
The area had become especially polluted following the formation of an informal “sorting station” on a nearby open property.
Event organiser and NGO Fresh director Willem Snyman said it was difficult to estimate how many community members assisted as they were scattered across the three sites.
“The morning started with a yoga session,” said Snyman.
“Thereafter volunteers took to cleaning the styrofoam flotsam in the thick forest bordering the nearby Royal Elephant Hotel.
“Others focused on the area further upstream by cleaning the mounds of trash left from previous cleaning efforts.”
A great deal of effort was spent creating eco-bricks, said Snyman.
This technique involves filling empty bottles with pieces of plastic which are then compressed using a stick.
The hardened bottle can be used as a construction tool or brick.
“A great giving spirit reigned, with all ages and races coming together to heal our environment,” he said.
Hundreds of bags of rubbish were removed.
Snyman said this would not be the last campaign of its kind in the area.
“Much of the garbage in the river remains so we’ll have to come back a few times,” he said.
Two huge styrofoam and rubbish blockages near the hotel needed urgent attention as they were functioning as natural litter traps.
“Our aim is to keep growing [as a group] and restore the Hennops River by pushing back the destructive chaos of pollution.”
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Source: https://rekordcenturion.co.za/165463/update-hundreds-gather-10th-hennops-clean/