By Emmanuel Koro

Johannesburg

What may have seemed like a routine handover of separation at source bins and a tree-planting activity at Rus-Ter-Vaal Secondary School carried a deeper message from Gauteng Member of Executive Council (MEC) for Environment, Ewan Botha.

The message was centred on the need to spread an environmentally friendly culture among learners and help them grow up practising good environmental care, making them responsible future environmental managers in their communities and workplaces.

The ongoing tree-planting efforts   support  the Gauteng One Million Trees Campaign, while the handover of bins contributes towards building cleaner, healthier and more sustainable school environments across the province.

Supporting the MEC’s message, the school principal encouraged learners to take ownership of environmental responsibility, saying real change begins when young people adopt positive   behaviour and influence their peers and families.

Social influencer Ms Township South Africa, Tiny Taukobong, told the learners that “waste is wealth.” Another influencer, Siyabonga Mkhize of the Usamo Institute, made the learners aware that trees are also a source of medicine and remove carbon dioxide from the air, helping to reduce the impacts of climate change.

Learners also demonstrated their readiness to become future leaders in environmental management through presentations highlighting the dangers of climate change, illegal dumping and pollution, including challenges affecting their own communities.

In response, MEC Botha emphasised the importance of ongoing tree planting and effective waste management, noting that these actions help reduce climate impacts such as heatwaves and flooding while strengthening community resilience. He added that waste should also be viewed as an economic resource through recycling.

Environmental practitioners explained the role of trees in supporting ecological balance, shade, providing habitats for birds and insects and absorbing carbon dioxide while releasing oxygen, keeping humans and wildlife alive.

Trees also provide us with shade, medicines, cosmetics, food, drinks such as fruit juice, timber for furniture and building.

A total of 20 trees and 400 shrubs were donated to the school.

About the writer: Emmanuel Koro is a Johannesburg-based international award-winning environmental journalist who writes independently on environmental and developmental issues.