The University of Johannesburg Community Engagement unit (UJ CE), together with the City of Johannesburg Member of the Mayoral Committee for Environment and Infrastructure Services Department, launched a city-wide monthly Friday Clean-Up Campaign on Friday, 3 June 2016, World Environmental Day.
On the same day, UJ’s community Engagement Specialist, Mr Andy Balaram, signed a pledge for the UJ CE unit to clean up the city every second week of the month, to help create a world class city.
Mr Balaram delivered an address discussing the state of cleanliness in the inner city and unpacked long term solutions to waste issues faced by the City of Johannesburg.
“The image of our city is of utmost importance to attract tourism and enhance our rich history of democracy. UJ CE Volunteers from the faculty of Environmental Studies will educate street vendors about the importance of a litter-free city. We have implemented a campaign in which business owners around the city will be given the responsibility to adopt street to take care of it,” said Mr Balaram during his address.
As part of the World Environmental Day celebration, UJ students cleaned up several inner city streets in Joubert Park, Doornfontein and the MTN Taxi Rank.
World Environment Day (WED) is the United Nations’ principal vehicle for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the environment. Over the years it has grown to be a broad, global platform for public outreach that is widely celebrated by stakeholders in over 100 countries. Every year, participants, young and old, organize clean up campaigns, art exhibits, tree-planting drives, and concerts, dance recitals, recycling drives, social media campaigns and different contests themed around caring for the planet.
