WOMEN in Siachilaba, Binga, have started an innovative fencing initiative by using plastic bottles to create boundary fences.
The women use the plastic fence as perimeter plastic walls for their homesteads as well as their nutritional gardens.
They mainly use recycled brown opaque beer bottles, which are readily available as the bottled opaque beer is a popular drink in the area.
One of the women Violet Mombe from the Siachilaba community said she was introduced to the recycling fencing initiative by a neighbour and has not looked back ever since.
“I learnt to use bottles for fencing from a friend in Hwange who had a beautiful fence from recycled plastic bottles. I really liked the idea of using the bottles and I came back home to start mine,” she said.
“I realised that not all waste can be thrown away, but some can be reused. I started collecting empty bottles from the business centre daily and started making plastic poles for my fencing. I cut of the bases to stake them together to make a pole. To date I have collected more than 10 000 bottles from the business centre for my fencing projects,” she said.
According to the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), plastic takes up to 500 years to decompose.
EMA environmental education and public relations manager Amkela Sidange, pictured, speaking to the Daily News said the country had made great strides in educating communities on recycling and reducing waste.
“It is very encouraging to see communities taking recycling seriously and making useful usable items from waste materials. To us, it shows that our work is bearing fruit,” she said.
“We recently commemorated global recycling day last month (March 18) and it should be a reminder that recycling should be part of our daily life. Finding useful items from debris and giving them a second lease of life should be part of our efforts to reduce waste and save our planet,” Sidange said.
She said there was a need for Zimbabweans to start similar initiatives as that of the Binga women in order to reduce the amount of trash that goes to landfill sites or ends up flowing into rivers and oceans.
“Recycling is a key pillar of sustainable waste management. It remains the cornerstone of reducing carbon footprints, as a country we need to embrace recycling culture as part of our daily activities.
Recycling, also, is the basis of amplifying the secular economy, ensuring waste minimisation and resource efficiency,” she said.
“As we generate waste, let us also consider how we can feed into the recycling value chain. This starts with me and you, at household level and escalates all the way up to communities, schools, churches, workplaces and mainstream economies. Let us separate what is recyclable so that we are able to benefit from it.
“Recycling is a continuous value chain and we need to work together towards creating a robust recycling culture and economy. Let us support people in the recycling business,” she said.
Sidange commended community recycling initiatives and individuals pioneering a conservation culture in their communities. By Andile Tshuma