An Environmental Festival
Each year the National Arts Festival takes on an ever stronger environmental focus, and this year was no
exception.
An Environmental Festival
Each year the National Arts Festival takes on an ever stronger environmental focus, and this year was no
exception.
In addition to the many performances with a clear environmental message, the management of the festival itself is becoming more conscious in how it deals with tricky issues of waste management, recycling and sensitivity to the natural environment.
In terms of performances, some, such as Ellis Pearson’s Man up a Tree, and Neil Coppen’s Tree Boy, were clearly premised on the belief that we have much to learn from our natural environment, and everything to lose if we destroy it.
Many others, including Neil Coppen’s other production, the extraordinary and beautiful Tin Bucket Drum, explored and exposed social and environmental justice issues, recognising that the two are inseparable.
Many musicians, too, referred to the inspiration they derive from the beauty of the African landscape, with Vusi Mahlasela singing of the exploitation of the people and the polluting of the land by the powerful and greedy few.
The beauty of the African landscapes, seascapes, skies, animals and plants also clearly inspired the majority of the artists exhibiting at the Festival.
The performances by the young people, including Grahamstown street children and car washers, of the Artwork collective, sent a message of care.
The costumes and props were all fashioned from waste materials in a demonstration that almost nothing should go to waste.
The “Greening of the Green” initiative, with its recycling points on the Village Green, was set up to recycle as much as possible of the debris produced there.
An initiative proposed for next year is that food stall owners will be offered discounts on their stand fees if they use recyclable or biodegradable and compostable containers, plates, cups and cutlery. One of the stalls this year, Green Home, produced just such material.
Green Soccer
The fi rst-ever wind energy powered soccer world cup stadium is the Nelson Mandela stadium in Port Elizabeth.
For the duration of the tournament this stadium is receiving free electricity from the wind turbine visible from the N2, in the Coega Industrial Development Zone.
While this is clearly a promotional ploy by the Belgian company who installed the turbine (with 23 others planned in the Coega area), it does indicate a growing interest by European alternative energy companies in investing in this country, with its surplus of wind and sun. Locating the turbine in a designated industrial area is also a welcome move.
Makana Ward Waste Management Project
The 13 environmental facilitators and two co-ordinators employed by Makana Municipality to initiate educational waste management projects in 7 wards, held a meeting on 17 June with representatives from
the Rhodes University Environmental Education and Sustainability Unit (RUEESU) and the Makana municipal
manager to report back on progress and plan for their activities.
The central idea behind the project is that although the initial activity would focus on cleaning up waste “hot-spots”, the main thrust of the project would be to educate people in the management of waste.
One of the main issues discussed was the role of waste skips in any waste management strategy. There was agreement that skips, rather than being part of the solution, were almost always part of the problem, and that it would be better if people were supported in managing their waste in their homes, yards and businesses without them.
The facilitators suggested that the skips could be used for fi nal clean-ups, to take the rubbish away, but then should not be replaced. A fi nal report-back workshop on the project will be held at the RUEESU on 9 July.
