The DSD is a very proud Eco-School and has been for the past 7 years, achieving the Platinum 3 Level in 2021. To uphold this status, as well as to upgrade it every year, the DSD has put initiatives in place, to make a positive impact on our environment. Some of these initiatives include:
Recycling all of our Waste
Our school has recycled its waste for many years. The allocated bins urge students and staff to separate their waste into paper, plastic, tin and other. Glass and paper is collected by “The Glass Recycling Company” and “MPact” respectively, while the rest is collected by the municipality. In 2019 the DSD collected 13 498kg of glass. These efforts also include the collection of plastic bread tags, plastic bottle caps and batteries and printer cartridges, which are collected and distributed to a variety of initiatives that either recycle them or dispose of them ethically.
Collection of Ecobricks
Ecobricks are 2l Cold drink bottles that are tightly filled with non-recyclable plastic and are used to build constructs such as green houses and sheds. After handing over more than 500 Ecobricks last year, the DSD re-introduced this initiative this year.
67 Minutes for Mandela
Every year, for Mandela Day, our school takes 67 Minutes of their time to do something for the environment. These activities included things such as making sandwiches for an underprivileged primary school, clearing weeds and alien plants from the school property and cleaning up litter in the school area.
Planting Indigenous Gardens
We have planted a few indigenous gardens throughout the school property in an effort to eradicate alien plants entirely.
For a full overview of our initiatives, have a look at our 2021 DSD Eco-Schools Report.