Seafood giant tackles local river

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GEORGE NEWS - They might be better known for seafood, but John Dory's takes a lot of pride in its community clean-up projects along rivers and beaches.

Their latest initiative in George focused on the Schaap River in Thembalethu, during Clean-up & Recycle South Africa Week in September.

The week consists of National Rivers Day (13 September), National Recycling Day (15 September) and International Coastal Clean-up Day (16 September).

Braving a gale force wind last Friday 15 September, representatives of John Dory's Zero Waste Initiative, John Dory's George, Garden Route District Municipality, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, CapeNature, Working on Fire and EPWP teams (George LM, SANParks and DFFE) managed to fill truckloads of black bags of rubbish from Zone 6, Ward 21, including the banks of the Schaap River.

PHOTO GALLERY: Clean-up & Recycle South Africa Week

From left are Innocentia Sikweyiya (GRDM Waste Management), Londeka Phetha (DFFE), Kudakwashe Denhere (GRDM), Katherine Perry (John Dory's), Wayne Maarman (GRDM), Phelele Antsi and Sivenathi Gwaza (WOF) and Thabiso Mokoena (Cape Nature). Photos: Michelle Pienaar

Mammoth task

Digger loaders helped to speed up the process, which by all accounts seemed like a mammoth task. All around the neighbourhood, the amount of household rubbish, plastic and glass products has literally become part of the general landscape.

A digger loader had to clean a small area to enable teams to put up their gazebo for the duration of the morning.

Even the banks of the Schaap River have changed. Looking down from the gravel road above, one first notices the mounds of litter spread over huge areas, and then some greenery far down below, where the banks meet the river.

"Our mission is to foster and cultivate a future where sustainability is the cornerstone of our existence, providing education, support, resources and funding to positively impact and extend the lifespan of our planet's resources," said John Dory's COO Donovan Cronjé.

"Our franchisees, staff and the general public come together to remove waste that would ultimately end up in our oceans and negatively affect our marine wildlife. We are grateful for these partnerships, collectively we are making a difference and growing our clean-up events year on year."

John Dory's support projects and organisations focus on reducing or eliminating waste, recycling, educating the public on the importance of our environment, drowning prevention for young children and rehabilitation of animals affected by plastic waste pollution.

Digger loaders helped to speed up the process.