Consider this snippet taken from www.think2wice.co.za

“In Cape Town we are running out of landfill (dumping) space at an alarming rate. We currently dump approximately 6 000 tons of waste every day. As an example, 1 ton of waste will fill up a standard 3m x 2m room right up to the roof. So imagine 6000 of these rooms being filled with waste every single day.At the current rate we only have enough landfill space for the next 3 years. By the time the last landfill site closes down; we will be building mountains of waste equivalent to 6000 rooms per day.”

Examples of what can be recycled. Picture courtesy of www.thinktwice.co.za

So why is the city not making it easier for us to get rid of our recycling? Why don’t we have sexy multi-coloured bin recycling stations every few blocks? According to a source who operates a recycling depo at a school in the CBD, there is a lot of lip service from business and government – but no real commitment. He has had to move from school to school, battling to keep operating. Currently he is in the process of moving again.

Luckily for Woodstockers there is an effective recycling depo in our neighbourhood. It is situated at the Woodstock Drop Off just off Beach Road near The Old Castle Brewery. In the past it catered only for building rubble and organic garden waste, but now it has a recycling station in the main building. It’s not the coloured bin experience you might expect – just bring all your recycling mixed together, leave it there on the floor and they’ll sort it into bags.

It's not sexy but it's efficient. Recycling in progress.

Also of interest: There is ‘junk’ on sale, taken from the rubbish that people throw away. I spotted some valuable items as well such as old radio players. It just depends on what’s in at the time. Other items on sale include wood stripped from houses and garden compost.

Unwanted junk for sale. For bargain hunters there may be a treasure hidden in there.

How to recycle?

1. Remove the cap or lid: The cap is often made from material that is different from the container or bottle. In most cases this will be obvious, glass jars and bottles, Tetrapak etc, however with plastics the cap could become a source of contamination for the plastic resin that is being recycled from the bottle. These lids and caps can still be recycled so please don’t just dump them, simply remove them and put them in your recycling bag separately.

2. Rinse: Although the recycling facilities clean the recyclables as part of the process, it is much easier if you quickly rinse your bottles and containers before you place them in the recycling bag. This doesn’t mean you need to thoroughly wash them and please don’t use soap, since that requires time, energy, and quantities of water as well. Simply drain out any remaining liquids and rinse it out briefly.

3. Flatten or Crush: Please flatten cartons and boxes or crush the plastic bottles and cans before placing them in your recycling bag. You will be able to fit much more in your bag, and the recycling truck will be able to carry more too. Cardboard boxes may be too large to fit comfortably inside your recycling bag, so please place the folded boxes next to your bins when you take them out.

3. Recycle: This is the easy part! Just toss the recyclables in your recycling bag and take the bag out with your other rubbish bag as normal. Because the recycling bags are different to normal black rubbish bags we will be able to easily differentiate between recyclable and non recyclable waste when we come to collect it.

These antique radio players were on display.

What can be recycled?

PAPER: Old letters, computer paper, envelopes, books, coloured paper (invoices, etc.), newspapers, magazines, cardboard
GLASS: Bottles and jars – rinse and remove the lid (which can also be recycled)
PLASTIC: Anything with the recycling logo regardless of the number as well as any bags, bottles, tubs, coat hangers, lids and tops, containers, sweet wrappers and chip packets.
METALS: Cans, Coat hangers, Lids and Tops, Aluminium foil and any Solid metal items.
TETRAPAK: Foil lined cartons and containers mainly from Juice and Milk.
POLYSTYRENE (Styrofoam): Food trays and Packing foam.

What cannot be recycled

PAPER: Paper cups and plates, blueprint paper, cigarette ends, carbon paper, waxed cartons
GLASS: Broken Windows/Windscreens/Mirrors, Glass kitchenware, Light bulbs, Crystal.
PLASTIC: Disposable nappies.
METALS: Electrical appliances, batteries, needles, aerosol cans or paint tins.
ORGANIC WASTE: Food scraps, garden waste, vegetable peelings, Wood.
TEXTILES: Old clothing, shoes, furniture.
OTHER: Any overly dirty or contaminated items.

Source: http://www.thinktwice.co.za/get_involved.htm

Window frames, doors and wooden planks ar for sale. Mostly from demolition sites

For more info on recycling also see:

Think 2wice and Mandla recycling informational site:

http://www.thinktwice.co.za/index.html

The Cape Town Solid Waste information page:

http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/solidwaste/Pages/ReduceReuseRecycle.aspx

A PDF map of Solid Waste Drop Off facilities for the City of Cape Town:

http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/solidwaste/Documents/WasteDisposalFacilitiesMap_0903102.pdf

Organic compust for sale. The building used to be a railway station back in the day.

It’s wish list time again!

The discretionary budget for Subcouncil 15 (which includes Wards 51, 52, 53, 55, 56 & 57) will be allocated in the next few months for the period 1 July 2012 – 30 June 2013, which means if you have something you feel strongly about, you have until 21st October 2011 to send it in. This is part of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for the City of Cape Town.

If you are within the Upper Woodstock Resident’s Association’s (UWRA) boundaries (Nelson Mandela Boulevard to Melbourne Rd to Main Rd to Queens Park Ave), you can send any suggestion to UWRA head Roger Hislop ([email protected]) directly who will collate the list before sending it on. However, if you are in another area or you wish to send your suggestion directly, you can send any suggestions directly to Melany Levendall at the City Manager offices (see full details below).

Unfortunately the discretionary funds are spread over all wards and not just Woodstock, though last year, UWRA did manage to properly enclose the Victoria Walk park as well as upgrade the facilities there allowing dogs and children to play safely in the park.

Other priorities according to Lee van den Berg, head of the UPRA Aesthetics committee, are traffic calming measures as cars continue to speed through the Woodstock streets, though some progress has been made in some areas.

Personally, I’m wishing for a tram system through Woodstock. Maybe not today but…

Melany Levendall Sub-council 15
email: [email protected]
Fax: 021 531 3319
Hand Delivery:
The Manager
Sub-council 15
Pinelands Training Centre
St. Stephens Rd.
Pinelands
7405

What does it mean for Woodstockians to use the MyCiti bus terminal?

So you’ve heard about the MyCiti bus system, Cape Town’s new rapid bus service. You may even have traveled on one of the routes and marveled at the comfort and smoothness of the system. So what does this mean for people living in Woodstock, which is a fairly large transit point for the MyCiti buses? (All the Table View routes go through Woodstock before continuing into town and further i.e. the Waterfront).

So where exactly is the terminal?

The terminal has been built on the far end of the Woodstock railway station, that is, on the side closest to the sea. The challenge I can foresee for anyone wanting to quickly pop into town, is that the walk to the station from anywhere above Main Road Woodstock is fairly challenging considering you could take your car, or jump into a minibus taxi for R5 anywhere on the Main Rd and you’d be in town immediately. And if you are lugging anything it could be quite strenuous. So for someone coming from Woodstock you can either go through the station all the way across two sets of platforms or you can access the terminal from the bridge after the Castle brewery (after Beach Rd).

The advantage of the MyCiti option of course is that as a feeder route, you could use your R10 ticket to continue on after transferring at the Civic Centre terminal such as the Waterfront at no extra cost (and of course future routes are planned (viewed here) and would make this a stronger alternative. Perhaps more practically, you could cycle to the terminal as you can take your bicycle along as in Europe, though you may have to wait for space during peak times.

The reality, however, is that most people use the service for travelling from Blouberg/Table View into town (including Woodstock) as this route has always been somewhat impractical with existing transportation or even private cars (the Paarden Island turnoff in particular can be a nightmare at times).

What are the costs and when does it run?

The feeder routes are R5 for adults (children under 4 free) and the trunk routes R10 with free transfers to the feeder services. More information can be found here. And it runs every 10 minutes during peak times , else every 20 minutes for the Table View – Civic Centre / Civic Centre – Table View route.

The airport route is R53 for adults (children 4-11 years R26.50, children under 4 – free) which is reasonable (though for some reason the price has just been raised from R50 which was a more practical amount) and runs every 20 minutes between 04:20 and 21:00 daily.

Overall impression

The bus is clean and even fun (public transportion in Cape Town being rather a novelty) and the people working there for the most part friendly. However, I couldn’t help notice the following on the MyCiti webpage: “If you are found without a validated ticket, you could be fined, unless you have a valid explanation. “ I cannot wait to hear some of the excuses that Capetonians will no doubt come up with, that may be worth following up on.

The Myciti homepage.

And here a link to our previous article on Art at the Woodstock Myciti bus terminal.