A subcommittee of the Stellenbosch University (SU) chapter of the United Nations Association of South Africa (UNASA) is planning to make eco-bricks to build sustainable furniture for a local community development centre.
The Siyafunda subcommittee at UNASA announced in late May that it aims to assist the Legacy Centre in Kayamandi, which is run by the Legacy Community Development organisation, through the eco-brick project. This was according to Chloe Coetzee, executive member for Siyafunda at UNASA Stellenbosch.
The United Nations Association of South Africa (UNASA) Stellenbosch Chapter will be using eco-bricks to make tables and chairs for students at the Legacy Community Development Centre in Kayamandi. PHOTO: Supplied/Legacy Community Development
Legacy Community Development is a non-profit organisation that focuses on community development programmes, according to the organisation’s website. Members of Siyafunda volunteer at the Legacy Centre weekly, to assist with youth education, said Coetzee.
“We wanted to spark interest in the students [living in] Kayamandi […] to start thinking about sustainability, and how they can implement small changes to [practice sustainability],” said Coetzee.
Siyafunda aims to obtain 280 to 300 eco-bricks through the project, according to Coetzee. These will be used to make furniture such as tables and chairs for students at the centre, she added.
“The making of the furniture process will entail the subcommittee members and the Siyafunda volunteers, as well as the wider UNASA community,” added Coetzee.
An eco-brick is a plastic bottle that is filled with non-recyclable materials — such as foil, lollipop sticks and various other items — which are cleaned, dried and tightly packed into the bottle, according to Candice Mostert, founder and director of Waste-ed, an organisation which provides information and education on waste management.
“[W]hat we stuff in bottles [is] a tool to deal with these non-recyclables, so that they don’t end up in landfill, the oceans or the rivers — but they have a use and that is an insulative building brick,” said Mostert.
Candice Mostert — founder and director of Waste-ed, an organisation which provides information and education on waste management — explains the significance of making eco-bricks as a temporary solution to the waste problem in South Africa, and the world.
UNASA Stellenbosch will be collecting donations for the project until 1 August, according to an announcement posted on UNASA Stellenbosch’s Instagram page on 23 May. While Siyafunda will run and oversee the eco-brick project, they hope to get the SU student community involved in the process as well, according to Coetzee.
“It is also a great opportunity to get the campus community involved in thinking about how much waste they use, and […] thinking of ways to live more sustainably,” she said.
The United Nations Association of South Africa (UNASA) Stellenbosch Chapter is encouraging the student community to donate plastic waste for an eco-brick project by 1 August. INFOGRAPHIC: Instagram/UNASA Stellenbosch
The Legacy Centre could not comment on the project at this stage.