The inaugural eThekwini Enviro Week is a call to action for everyone in eThekwini to work together to care for the environment. Hosted by the eThekwini Municipality with partners Green Corridors and the City of Bremen (Germany), Enviro Week offers a packed programme of fun and insightful activities at venues in and around Durban from 18 to 25 March.
Looking forward to Ethekwini Enviro Week: Green Corridors team members Jonathan Welch (left) from the KwaMashu Materials Beneficiation Centre, Musa Shange (Coastal and Waste Management Project Officer), Nomfundo Phewa (Agro-Ecology Green Spaces Project Officer) and Siphiwe Mthabela (Green Hub Office Manager) check out a paver made from recycled plastic and glass.
The eThekwini Enviro Week is a collective of events, happenings, and activations packaged together to make them accessible to the public and increase the impact being made by organisations and individuals working in the environment and conservation sector.
“The devastating floods of 2022, hit home for all of us living in Durban,” says Nomfundo Phewa, of Green Corridors. “Everyone has some touchpoint with these floods, which we now know were a result of the climate crisis. There are over 150 different organisations working in Durban to help educate and inspire people to take action and make the change we need, and this eThekwini Enviro Week collective is one way we can begin to work collaboratively towards the same goal.”
Getting ready for eThekwini Enviro Week are Mboniseni Ndimande (left) and Noxolo Sibiya (second from left) from eThekwini’s Transformative Riverine Management Programme (TRMP), Siphiwe Mthabela (centre) from Green Corridors and Alvin Dube (left), a Denis Hurley Centre Street Lit book vendor, with some of his enviro friendly books.
Taking place in a week of important world environmental days, eThekwini Enviro Week will celebrate Global Recycling Day (18 March), World Frog Day (20 March), Human Rights Day and International Day of Forests (21 March), World Water Day (22 March) and World Meteorological Day (22 March). During this week there is also National Water Week, National Library Week, and Earth Hour (25 March).
Activities will centre around these themes, and encourage participation and involvement from the public in working together to help support the idea of cleaning up the environment, recycling, reducing and reusing waste, with practical ideas on how to minimise the impact on the climate. There will be clean-ups in communities, beaches, riverine and other sites, with a focus on getting materials to recycling facilities.
The week also aims to celebrate the rich natural heritage in the City, considered one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots to enjoy and explore. Sites such as the Beachwood Mangroves will be open to the public with bird walks and beach walks hosted by experts in their fields. There are countless places to explore on one’s own, or with a guide, such as the Botanical Gardens, Green Corridors community tourism sites, uShaka Marine World, Umgeni Bird Park, the Umgeni Estuary, many of the conservancies, indigenous gardens, wetlands, green spaces, and many others.
The City’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture offerings will also include displays at the Durban Natural Science Museum and various displays and activities at libraries to coincide with Library Week.
In some of the events, the public can learn how to grow vegetables, swap seeds, and help clear small pocket parks in communities to support local food security.
With Human Rights Day and all it stands for, several organisations will have events that aim to raise awareness of the right to a safe and clean environment.
The week closes off on Saturday 25 March with a celebration at Green Hub at Blue Lagoon, where a range of Environmental Education and Public Awareness (EE & PA) organisations that have been planning ways to collaborate will share updates on the plans to establish a formalised EE & PA Action Network.
“This is a week to celebrate, learn and find ways to forge a future together, in a remarkable demonstration of solidarity,” says Phewa. “It’s a perfect opportunity to experience the natural beauty of the city, and participate in how we can best care for it. Our campaign hashtag - #ourworldiswonderful – serves as a reminder of why we do what we do.”
All these events and activities will be published in a full programme online with details and contact information at: www.enviroweek.co.za, or follow on Facebook/ Instagram – enviroweek.
For general eThekwini Enviro Week queries contact info@enviroweek.co.za
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