The resulting articles, which made innovative use of all types of waste materials from an old pair of denim jeans to the rubber ring of a creepy-crawly, were displayed in the exhibition area.
Recycling organisation Collect-a-Can later judged the items and awarded gift hampers to the four most creative articles from each school. Collect-a-Can is experienced at judging such competitions as it has been running its own schools' competitions since 2003 and has just recently wrapped up its CAN Craze Competition, which encouraged learners to build creative structures out of 300 or more used cans. It will be announcing the winners shortly.
The winning entries from Hoërskool Marais Viljoen went to Alecia Sowden in first place for her Creepy crawly picture frame, 2nd place winner Taneal Otto for her dreamcatcher and candle holder made out of old CDs and 3rd place shared by Marchat Marais for his braai cleaner and tong and Wilmur Tereblanche for his "moonshuttle" bedlamp.
The winning entries from Fourways High School; 1st place winner Natalie January for her Recycling man made from cans and plastic bags, 2nd place shared by Ryan Horwitz and Connor Moodie for their can guitars and 3rd place winner Maxine Tuerk for her handbag constructed out of an old banner.
"I think it's a great idea to introduce waste management concepts to young people at this age as they are still impressionable and grasp the importance of waste management more easily than the older generation," said Theresa Hurter, waste management consultant at Interwaste. "We'd love the opportunity to show these learners around our material recovery facility (MRF) in Weltevreden Park so that they can see firsthand how the waste separation process works."
"The youth play such an important role in the future of waste management and following the success of this visit we will definitely endeavour to continue the trend of inviting schools to attend our conferences in the future," said Kobus de Meyer, chairman of WasteCon2010.
