PCB Blog - Spring Is Here
Spring Is Here |
| 2011/10/07 |
|
Melanie Veness: PCB CEO Spring is definitely here, bringing with it colourful blooms and plenty of rain, and turning our attention towards our gardens. This past weekend we enjoyed one of Pietermaritzburg’s very special events, the Sunday Tribune Garden & Leisure Show. It is so inspiring to see the phenomenal displays created by talented horticulturalists and landscapers, and to focus on all things green. It was interesting to talk to some of the growers at the show, who said that they have noticed a steady decline in business over the years, as less and less young people show any interest in gardening. One remarked that it is very difficult to get people interested in planting now to see the benefits later when society is such a “now society”. The Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Business was given the opportunity to promote our Picture Perfect Pietermaritzburg campaign at the show, which is bearing wonderful fruit (no pun intended!). The campaign was born out of a desire to see our garden city status restored, because the poor state of our beautiful capital city is having a negative effect on business and investor confidence. It involves businesses adopting an open public space like a traffic island, and beautifying it. A standard sign is then displayed on the sight to indicate their commitment . The idea is that if everyone just does a little bit, then we can make a significant difference. The response to the campaign has been very positive, and I was most impressed by the interest from young people. Two young ladies from Durban, who couldn’t have been older than 10, listened to the presentation on the campaign and then remarked that Durban doesn’t have such a campaign and that it would be good for Durban – they resolved to let their teacher know as soon as they returned to school after the holidays. It was delightful to see their concern about their environment and I was quite taken aback at the level of understanding of these important issues at their age. Having children of my own, I am very aware that schools today focus attention on issues like climate change and the importance of recycling, and I began to wonder how many of these issues are given any importance in our homes. How many of us are translating the learning into action by planting and/or making compost out of our kitchen waste or recycling? How many of us are instilling a love for the garden and an appreciation of home-grown vegetables and fruit? Food is going to become a very scarce commodity in the future, and the world will look to Africa to supply a good percentage of it. How will we do this if we aren’t equipping future generations? With Durban gearing up to host COP 17, there will be plenty of attention on environmental issues, and I hope that this will inspire the people of our country to make positive changes in their homes and workplaces. We need to invest now in order to reap the benefits later. |
| Tags: Garden(2) Picture Perfect Pietermaritzburg(1) Recycling(1) (7) |
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