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A Conversation with the Recycling Drive Initiators
A few weeks ago, one of our awesome Champions, Wynberg Boys’ Junior School, needed to organise extra ad hoc collections. Why did they need this out of the blue? Well, they had way more recycling than their weekly normal, and it would not fit in the truck on their typical collection day.
How did this happen you might ask? Because two grade 6 legends, Adam Cronje and Tanay Kooverjee, created a recycling drive so their school would divert the most recyclables that month compared to our other Champions. We love some competition!
We were lucky enough to chat with Adam and Tanay following the huge success of their recycling drive.
Q: What inspired you to start the recycling drive?
We wanted to raise awareness about the impact that recycling has on the environment and bring in the most weight of recycling amongst all the participating schools. We especially wanted to beat WPPS [Western Province Preparatory School]. A competition seemed to be the best way to motivate everyone to participate.
Q: How did the competition work?
Every Tuesday morning, for a month, boys would bring recycling for us to weigh. Parents and maintenance staff assisted with weighing and sorting the recycling. Plant the Seed collected all the recycling each week. At the end of the competition, there were prizes offered to the boys and the class that brought the most recycling.Â
Q: What was something you learnt while running the recycling drive?
We learnt how much recycling can be collected if we work together and how much awareness one idea can create. It also does not matter how little you recycle, as long as you are recycling, every small amount counts.
Q: What would you say to encourage more people to participate in future recycling drives?
It is our personal responsibility to contribute to a more sustainable future and recycling is the best way to take action. Recycling is an easy and cheap way for us all to help save the planet.
Q: How did it feel to see the drive come to life and make a difference?
It was very exciting, and we felt empowered that our recycling initiative was supported in such a big way. It felt like we were actually helping the world in our small way, and it was rewarding to see so many boys and families pitching in.
So, what impact does a recycling drive like this actually have?
As you can see in Figure 1 below, there was a clear spike in the amount of plastic, cardboard, and paper collected during the competition months (May and June 2025) as these were the only materials accepted.
In May, WBJS diverted 1,744.5kg of waste from landfill, and in June, that jumped to 2,358kg. To put that into perspective: before the competition, their monthly average was just 309.4kg.
So, in May, they recycled 5.6 times their usual amount, and in June, an impressive 7.6 times their monthly average.
Small Actions = Big Impact
This recycling drive is such an amazing example of learner-driven incentives and we would love to see more learners getting creative like this. What a great reminder of how small ideas can make a massive difference.
We challenge all our other schools to get creative and try to be the Champion of the month. You stand a chance at being top of our leaderboard.
