20 tons waste fetch N$10,000 prize
The school famous for growing its own organic vegetables, Dagbreek, has reached another milestone when it won the Schools Recycling Competition by collecting and processing a whopping 20 tons of waste. Their win earned them the first prize of N$10,000. Their 20 tons waste is a new record. The first prize is sponsored by the Breweries.
Recycle Namibia Forum Coordinator, Anita Witt commented “What an example Dagbreek has set amongst all the schools. These children went the extra mile and showed that anyone can make a difference, irrespective of circumstances, with a lot of passion and a little bit of support.”
Witt further emphasized that since the inception of the Schools Recycling Competition more than 750 tons of sorted recyclables have been diverted from local landfills. In second place with a cash prize of N$5000 sponsored by Collect-a-Can is Pro Ed Academy with a collection of 29,4 kg per learner (total volume of 9 tons), while All Nations Christian Primary School ended in third place with a total collection of 29,14 kg per learner or a total volume of 3 tons. They received a cash prize of N$2500 sponsored by Plastic Packaging. Fourth and fifth spots were taken by Private School Swakopmund with a total volume of five tons (16,46 kg per learner) and Welwitschia Private School with 2.5 tons (11,81 kg per learner). They walked away with a N$2000 and N$1000 cash prize respectively, sponsored by Rent-A-Drum. At the award ceremony, John Pallett of the Namibian Environment & Wildlife Society said “Each citizen has a role to play in preserving the environment and ensuring that it remains a safe place not only for us, but also for future generations.” The Schools Recycling Competition started with 10 schools in 2009. This figure rose to 26 schools in 2010, 41 in 2012 and during the past year, a total of 51 schools participated. “Over the past years, volumes have consistently grown, and whilst the average in 2009 was around 14 kg per learner collected, last year’s winner – All Nations Christian Primary School broke all previous records with 75 kg per learner collected. This year Dagbreek upped the ante with their 179 kg per learner.