Local schools praised for protecting environment

Over 30 schools from the Pietermaritzburg and Midlands

area gathered recently at Laddsworth Primary School to celebrate their KZN Eco-schools awards for 2016.

Water Explorer programme manager, Bridget Ringdahl, said Wessa Eco-Schools is an internationally recognised programme, that accredits schools that make a commitment to continually improve their school’s environmental performance.

Currently, there are 63 countries that are part of the programme worldwide and over 30 000 schools participate.

In South Africa the programme is in its 14th year, having been launched in 2003.

Two Pietermaritzburg schools that have taken part in the programme since the beginning are Epworth and Scottsville Primary.

Ringdahl said said the ceremony was action-packed with environmentally friendly games.

Some of the projects celebrated on the day included save-water drives, water-wise gardens and petitions, and workshops, to educate people about the dangers of fracking.

Fracking is a process that uses high pressure into the ground so as to force open existing cracks and extract oil or gas. 

The process uses ample amounts of water and is fast becoming the popular energy source.

Ringdahl said the project’s aim was to develop an environmental ethic in pupils.

She said they hoped that when pupils go out into whichever career paths they choose they have developed an environmental ethic to inform their decisions as future CEOS, and bankers.