The competition a Bellville couple started in February to reduce plastic waste in the community is still running despite the lockdown.
The Plastic Waste Competition encourages the public to repurpose plastic, make art from it or organise a community clean-up of plastic waste. The winner of each category will get a cash prize.
Lyzette Schwella, one of the founders of the competition, said lockdown was a good time for people to make something creative from plastic waste.
“It will help with the rethinking of plastic waste and how we can clean the world of unnecessary plastic waste. There is of course also the possibility of winning prize money, e.g. the clean-up project is R10 000; the artwork is between R3 000 and R5 000; and the repurposing is between R3 000 and R5 000.”
The competition was not only about eliminating plastic waste but also about making people think about it differently, she said.
Theresa Loubsher, a retired medical practitioner from Bellville, is taking part in the competition. For the past five years, she has been making eco-bricks and teaching local schools about their advantages.
“Before the lockdown, I was helping two schools in Elsies River, Eureka and Eurocon primary schools, by teaching them how to build eco-bricks and how to collect plastic waste. I follow the guidelines on the Go Brick website, which is a national website which I am registered with, that teaches people all about eco-bricks.”
Ms Loubsher has hundreds of eco-bricks at home and during lockdown she is preparing her school programmes.
“The eco-bricks are made from hard plastics, which a lot of people do not know is not accepted by landfills or recycling plants. At the moment, there are a lot of people who are recycling their plastics, but they are not aware that when it comes to recycling plants then it is just dumped. Making eco-bricks is the best way to repurpose those plastics.”
Prior to the lockdown, Ms Loubsher hosted a weekly pop-up stall at the Willowbridge Mall, where she taught people about eco-bricks.
The Plastic Waste Competition will run until Friday May 29. The winners will be announced at the opening of the Wintermark Festival at the Dutch Reformed Church, at 61 Postma Street, in Oakdale, on Tuesday June 23. Entrants must send photos of their work and the story behind their entries to wintermarkbellville@gmail.com