Arts school puts energy into green alternatives
"Greening" is an art at Chistlehurst School in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. The small private performing arts high school operates off the grid by using water tanks, batteries, solar energy and a small generator, and collects waste.
At the end of last year the school bartered its waste for 30 "green" desks made of recycled plastic and the school's Grade 8 mathematics pupils had the privilege of using the "rubbish" desks on Monday, 16 January.
Jacyn Fanner, director of the school, which accommodates a maximum of 80 pupils, said that when the school started in 2004 it struggled to get its water and lights connected to mains and decided to "make a plan".
"We came to the decision that it was perfectly feasible to operate this way, so we never went onto the grid. It fits our ethos," says Fanner.
The school started a recycling village six years ago with help of the Wildlands Conservation Trust, an NGO with programmes across six provinces aimed at building a green economy. This entailed establishing bins to collect eight different types of waste material and encouraging members of the surrounding community to drop off their waste at the school.
"Wildlands gives us an annual rebate on the amount of waste we collect," said Fanner.
"Last year they offered to barter our waste for 30 ecofriendly desk and chair sets. The kids love them and the teachers are fighting over them," she said.
The trust's Moira Potter said the green desk pilot project was a great success.
"Chistlehurst was one of the first we approached and they jumped at the opportunity," she said.
Source: The Times
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