Volunteers get dirty to clean city

In the lead up to World Environment Day on June 5, volunteers, students and activists came together to clean Nelson Mandela Bay’s streets, starting with areas  surrounding the Greenacres Shopping Centre.

The cleanup was organised by the global welfare organisation, International WeLoveU Foundation, and will continue for the rest of May and throughout June.

The WeLoveU Foundation is an environmental welfare movement that cleans cities, parks, mountains, seas and rivers around the world.

It was established by chair Zahng Gil-jah.

Gil-jah found that countries and cities around the world were eager to participate, with more than 30 countries having signed up.

On Monday, volunteers tackled the immediate surroundings of the Greenacres Shopping Centre.

“There is generally a lot of traffic in and around the mall, so the sides of the roads and certain parking spaces were polluted by a lot of rubbish blown by the wind, and cigarette butts and food packaging,” the foundation  said in a statement.

The rubbish collected amounted to 25 bags.

The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality welcomed the activity and provided cleaning tools such as rubbish bags and even arranged for a pickup truck to collect the rubbish.

Nelson Mandela University student Simnikiwe Mqwebedu, 21, who took part in the cleanup, said: “Though it seems like we are not making much of a difference, I still want to continue to take care of the environment as long as I live.” 

On Monday, similar cleanups were held in Rwanda, Peru, Cambodia, Japan, Australia and the Philippines, the foundation said.

HeraldLIVE