MOSSEL BAY NEWS - When the volunteers of The Stranded Marine Animal Rescue Team (S.M.A.R.T) decided to enter a float in the 2019 Dias & Port Festival street parade, they wanted to convey a special message.
Their float was aptly named “A whale of waste” and a clear message against plastic pollution was broadcasted.
They have been collecting plastic bottles and it was quite alarming how quickly enough bottles were received!
A frame was built with PVC pipes and the bottles were strung together with fishing line. The ventral grooves of the whale were made out of newspaper and the eyes were the bottom parts of 2 l soda bottles. More than 400 bottles were used in this project and the pre-assembling by mastermind Carly Marsh, took two weeks. The volunteers worked about 6 hours to do the final assembly and décor.
It took a team of passionate and concerned Smarties (as they call themselves) to plan, build and win the first prize as the best float in the 2019 parade. The prize money will be used for much needed stranding equipment. The non-profit organisation S.M.A.R.T, has been operational since 2015 as a stranding network in the area Wildernis to Gouritsmond and is based in Mossel Bay. It is also the second year that S.M.A.R.T won the 1st prize in the parade.
After the parade, the float was dismantled and everything from the bottles to the fishing line were put in bags and taken to a recycling collection point.
Please help to re-think, re-use and recycle!
Some of the S.M.A.R.T volunteers with council members and their float "Whale of waste" that won first prize.
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