Reduce, reuse and recycle is the buzz words in the Department of Chemistry.
First years following the extended curriculum programme have launched a recycling programme in a bid to ensure CPUT becomes an environmentally friendly campus. The launch, which took place on the Bellville Campus, coincided with Earth Day celebrations, an international event that supports environmental protection.
Student Sive Maguma says they are excited about the project and hope other departments will soon come on board.
“We want to tell students what they can do to save the earth,” he says.
Sive says apart from recycling, students must also play a role in saving water.
“Currently in the Western Cape we have a water crisis, and we as Chemistry students need to make other students aware of how to save water.”
The department will implement a 3-bin system for the recycling of the paper, plastics, cardboard and cans. Over the next few months they hope to extend the project to the rest of their building and to neigbouring buildings on the Bellville campus.
Luther Muller, a representative from WasteWant, a local social enterprise facilitating recycling in the Western Cape, also encourage students to expand the project.
Operating a waste buy back centre, Muller says organisations can raise thousands of rands from recycling. He says a large number of schools in the Western Cape are participating in recycling projects, with several generating well over R100 000 a year.
“By recycling we are creating sustainable communities. We are creating employment for people and we are also saving the environment at the same time,” he says.
Muller encouraged the students to grow the recycling project and reminded the class that they are the future generation who must come up with innovative solutions to save the environment.
Lecturer Prof Vernon Somerset who is coordinating the initiative says the project ties in well with the curriculum.
Somerset says the students are being trained to be analytical chemist who will be able to analyze data and provide stakeholders with valuable information on issues such as pollution and waste which is impacting negatively on the environment.
