Address

16 Coronation road, Westcliff, Hermanus

Desire to see less harmful products being used and less single use plastic.

We are a self sustaining project now after 5 years. A percentage of profit is donated to animal based charities.

Hermanus Eco Project

What are we trying to do: We are more in the planting-of-seeds business than the selling-stuff business, I think. 😊

The idea is to help people understand why its important to use more eco friendly products in their homes and also to suggest alternatives for plastic or single use products in the home.

Plastic production is increasing radically and much of that increased production is to make single use plastic. Plastic can be a very useful product, particularly in the medical & scientific fields but making products to be used for only a few minutes before being discarded is simply ridiculous.

While many people are unaware or don’t care about plastic pollution- many that see the problems simply don’t know where to start or what they can do to help. Habits are engrained and hard to change. Best idea is to break it down into bite size chunks and make a start regardless. Have a look in your rubbish bin and check what is taking up most of the space-that’s a good place to start making changes .

When you realise that worldwide 85% of plastic ends up in landfill & mlillions of tons end up in the worlds oceans every year then you realise that whatever propaganda put out by the plastic industry we are seriously not going to recycle our way out of this situation.

How does it make any sense to manufacture a plastic bottle to be used once and then discarded. Plastic doesn’t biodegrade, it slowly breaks down into tiny pieces and these microplastics cause a lot of damage in the ground, in rivers and the ocean. Birds and animals can be hurt or killed by suffocation or entanglement.

By buying a refill or products packed into reused containers and using them over and over again you can slowly reduce the amount of plastic going to landfill. While tins and glass can be recycled indefinitely plastics cant. They are usually downcycled into park benches, rubbish bins etc. Make no mistake recycling is a costly business both financially and on the health of the workers. The toxic chemicals found in plastics leach out into the ground, into sea water or onto the skin of waste pickers.

Will we save the planet by eliminating or reusing some packaging , sadly not. Perhaps we can make a difference in our own area and reduce the amount of plastic going to landfill in Overstrand. Maybe others will notice and start a food club as well, who knows. Its all about looking at alternatives, making steady changes and doing the best we can.

Our mantra should be to refuse overpackaged products

To cut down on single use plastics radically.

To reuse and refill what we can

That recycling should be the last resort

As things wear out to replace them with more eco friendly items.