Judy Croukamp Knox and John Ancill started collecting glass as a way to help cover the costs of animal care for people in need; now they have a charity that collects tonnes of glass every year for animals.
Johannesburg, South Africa (20 October 2020) – Informal recyclers make good money by collecting and recycling glass. This idea was adopted by Judy Croukamp Knox and John Ancill as a way to raise funds for charity without having to ask anyone for money; they just needed peoples’ glass.
The pair started in 2016 but officially became a registered charity, Recycling for Animal Welfare (RAW) in 2017. To date, they have collected over 269 tonnes of glass which has been turned into funding for the treatment of animals in their care or for families that cannot afford to cover vet bills.
They first started by collecting other peoples glass but as their project kicked off, they realised it was far too much for them to take on alone. They reached out to The Glass Recycling Company and requested assistance. The Glass Recycling Company dropped off a skip which was used to fill up with glass. During 2020, they have already collected 77 tonnes of glass.
RAW have since established 14 drop-off points for people to donate their glass within Gauteng’s East Rand area. You can take a look at the full list in the image below.
The organisation struggled like many during lockdown as the glass depots where they earned their incomes closed. As the animals still needed help, their vet bills soared to over R30,000. Thankfully the vet allowed them to carry the debt and during level three, they were able to repay the sum by recycling.
If you would like to get involved with the charity, you can contact them via Facebook here. Both Judy and John work full-time so they are ready to welcome anyone who can help them do more.
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