It was with great pleasure that we hosted the first Dung Beetle Beach Cleanup at the mouth of the Umgeni River north of Durban. We would like to thank our partners Zig Zag Magazine, Durban’s Green Hub, Durban Green Corridor , Durban Maker Space, and Durban Solid Waste-DSW , and the City of Durban. It was a huge success thanks to these organizations and everyone who pitched up.
The Umgeni river is one of the biggest sources for ocean plastic in the south west Indian Ocean. It was great that teams of people were able to remove about a ton of plastic from the beaches and mangroves of the river mouth. We shredded it with help from Durban Maker Space using an open-source shredder design from Precious Plastics in Holland. We also built one of these shredders and although small, it is mighty. Thanks Durban Maker Space for the help!
We had a great talk that included Durban’s Municipal Manager Gary Cullen, as well as scientists from the University Of KwaZulu Natal. Thanks to everyone for being part of such a great event that saw hundreds of people participating. Thanks especially for the hard work of Andy Davis from ZigZag Surf Magazine and Sifiso Mngoma from the Green Hub !
