The Owl Rescue Centre in Hartbeespoort has collected 125 million cold-drink bottles for recycling purposes, in just one year!
Hartbeespoort, South Africa – The Owl Rescue Centre started collecting plastic in January 2018 and aimed for just 200 tonnes at the time to start recycling and converting it into owl shelters, bat houses and bee hotels.
And they have just celebrated collecting over 2 500 tons in over a year!
The Owl Rescue Centre rehabilitates and cares for injured and captive owls from all over the Gauteng area. Their main aim is to protect, rescue and release owls back into the wild but they also recently got into the plastic recycling business!
The whole idea of collecting plastic and turning it into nesting boxes started while the staff were discussing plastic in the oceans. They wanted to make sure that more plastic was recycled, that way less would end up in the ocean. Not only are they successfully making nesting boxes now they are also making bat houses and bee hotels.
All these housing units are available to the public for purchase to place in private gardens. These units are also installed in areas that owls are present to offer better housing for them, preventing them from attempting to nest in areas where humans could disturb them.
“Just a little Tuesday trivia. Up to today, we have collected 2500 Tons of waste plastic across South Africa, that equals 5000 one cubic metre bags of granulated plastic. But an easier way of expressing how much plastic that is… is that it’s the equivalent of 125 million cold-rink bottles. Think we are making a difference!”
The rescue centre still needs donations of recyclable plastic. They want milk bottles, cold-drink and water bottles for their project.
You can contact them via email here for more information about drop-off points or contact the Owl Rescue Centre to on their Facebook page here.
The organisation estimates that these new homes could last up to 400 years.
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