It is so easy to get into a recycling culture. South Africa’s DIY queen, Suzelle, gives easy tips to sort out waste and to make your own garden using plastic bottles.
Brand South Africa reporter
Suzelle DIY has become a sensation across South Africa, transitioning easily between the world of vlogging to being broadcast on satellite TV.
With her eccentric take on the South African accent, she has inspired her fans to dabble in everything from cooking to DIY and recycling. A few of her videos teach people about the basics of recycling, and then go on to show watchers innovative ways to reuse plastics.
“I just love helping people get inspired to make and fix things,” she said in an interview with Brand South Africa last year. “It is so easy.”
Recycling numbers
According to Plastics South Africa, recycling is uplifting the country environmentally and economically. The organisation said South Africa had mechanically recycled 292,917 tons of plastics in 2015, an increase of 3% over 2014.
Its statistics also showed that formal employment in the recycling sector increased 3.3% in 2015 from 2014 to 6,234 permanent jobs. Informal employment grew 3% to an estimated 48,820 collectors over the same period.
“South Africa has a thriving recycling industry that creates jobs for thousands of people,” said Plastics South Africa executive director Anton Hanekom.
“Yet it is frustrating to see that there is still not an established recycling culture in our country. We still see too much plastic ending up in landfill that could have been recycled many times over into various new products.”
Do it yourself
Watch Suzelle’s video to see how easy it is to separate rubbish to be recycled:
And create a hanging garden out of plastic bottles:
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