This summer the City of Cape Town’s Solid Waste Management Department will host a ‘Waste to Art’ market at the Company’s Garden to show how one person’s waste can become another’s art. The market will run from 09:00 – 18:00 daily, from 1 to 16 December 2012, and all residents and visitors are welcome to attend – free of charge. The market is ideal for environmentally friendly Festive Season shopping.
The ‘Waste to Art’ Market is also an educational experience which seeks to create awareness about waste minimisation. It showcases the importance and the role of the public in assisting the City reduce the amount of waste that is directed to its landfill sites.
It also showcases economic opportunities for entrepreneurs to either divert waste by reusing and recycling, or by marketing and selling recycled products.
Entrepreneurs will showcase their unique products created from recycled waste material at the market’s 40 stalls, while food and drink will also be on sale.
Since the initiation of the ‘Waste to Art’ project last year, the City has been visiting various markets to recruit a diverse range of participants, while also conducting product assessments to ensure quality merchandise for customers. As a result, there is a large range of products on offer: old newspapers transformed into baskets; handbags made out of plastic bags; two-litre bottle lamps; old record players that have been converted into bowls; computer part jewellery; toys created from discarded wood and fabric; plants; and home-grown organic compost – to name but a few.
In addition, local musicians will keep visitors entertained as they stroll through Government Avenue. The historical Company’s Garden also features an aviary, rose garden, art gallery, ample lawns, benches and a tea room.
The City’s Solid Waste Management Department provides waste management services to over 900 000 formal residential households, while also ensuring that Cape Town’s approximately 2 400km² extent is kept clean and tidy. One of the department’s key strategies is to turn the traditional waste management approach around by promoting waste minimisation, whilst reducing waste’s socio-economic and environmental impact.
