Project Nelson Mandela Bay, in partnership with Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, SPAR Eastern Cape and Sanctor Primary and High School, pledged their 67 minutes by hosting a community cleanup in Sanctor.

The Project NMB Clean City Task Team, who managed the event, set a clear objective for the community cleanup, "we believe that one should lead by example, and therefore we committed to cleaning up the east side of Calpurnia Road," Kay Hardy, Head of The Clean City Task Team shared, "we challenge the local community to finish what we started by cleaning up the other side."

In the spirit of reducing waste to landfill, a two bag system was implemented.  One bag for recycling and one bag for waste that would have to go to landfill.  "The goal is not only to clean up, but to educate people about the importance of recycling," said Laura Henderson, Clean City Task Team committee member.

Emmy Nxayeka, Clean City Task Team committee member, opened the event by sharing important recycling guidelines with the volunteers.  This was followed by the teams being split up into 5 groups, represented by the big 5.  Groups were each guided to a designated area and the group that filled the most bags received sponsored awards.

Volunteers all received a packed lunch, a cap and a go green bracelet to remind them of their environmental responsibility.

Without support and collaboration, we would not have been able to host this event, we would like to thank Project NMB, NMBM, The Waste Trade Company, Greencycle, SJM Flex, NMB Business Chamber and SPAR Eastern Cape for their sponsorship and support," shared Melinda Labuscagne, Clean City Task Team Committee Member.

"We applaud Project Nelson Mandela Bay for thinking outside the box and approaching the cleanup with such spirit," shared Alan Stapleton, Purchasing and Events Manager, SPAR Eastern Cape.

The cleanup was attended by just over 100 people who collected a total of 312 bags.  Team Leopard snagged first place with a total of 91 bags followed by Team Buffalo who collected a total of 74 bags.  “We would like to extend our gratitude to everybody who gave of their time and resources to make this event a success.  As we loaded our last bags, a butterfly appeared where we had cleaned up – we believe this to be nature thanking us for caring!” shared Kay Hardy.