1 Two Oceans Aquarium Heritage Report 2010 Helen Lockhart, Communications & Sustainability Manager OVERVIEW Once again it has been a busy period for the Two Oceans Aquarium and we have continued to introduce new initiatives and activities in order to raise awareness of environmental and sustainability issues as well as reduce our ecological footprint. I continue to be impressed by the initiatives and enthusiasm of staff members and volunteers. In this year we nominated and appointed a new chairperson for the Green Team so we have now split the responsibilities of chairing the Green Team and managing the overall environmental management system. We have 21 members on the Team and some real champions. The Green Team has also been joined by a representative from the volunteer body and we are pleased with their support of the Aquarium’s efforts to go green. Below is a brief report of some of our ‘green’ activities over the past year. THERE IS NO PLANET B We printed these t-shirts for all staff to wear. They are printed on organic cotton. Staff are encouraged to wear these t-shirts on Wednesdays.
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Two Oceans Aquarium Heritage Report 2010
Helen Lockhart, Communications & Sustainability Manager
OVERVIEW
Once again it has been a busy period for the Two Oceans Aquarium and we have continued to introduce new
initiatives and activities in order to raise awareness of environmental and sustainability issues as well as reduce our
ecological footprint. I continue to be impressed by the initiatives and enthusiasm of staff members and volunteers.
In this year we nominated and appointed a new chairperson for the Green Team so we have now split the
responsibilities of chairing the Green Team and managing the overall environmental management system. We have
21 members on the Team and some real champions. The Green Team has also been joined by a representative from
the volunteer body and we are pleased with their support of the Aquarium’s efforts to go green.
Below is a brief report of some of our ‘green’ activities over the past year.
THERE IS NO PLANET B
We printed these t-shirts for all staff to wear. They are printed on organic cotton. Staff are encouraged to wear these
t-shirts on Wednesdays.
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BIOBOTTLES
Visitors to Shoreline Café at the Two Oceans Aquarium can now purchase
their drinking water in biodegradable bottles rather than standard PET
plastic bottles which take up to one thousand years to biodegrade.
Shoreline Café is the first outlet in South Africa to stock these eco-
sustainable bottles which were developed and manufactured by Discovery
Water. The bottles are manufactured from plant-based rather than oil-
based plastic which means they are both recyclable and compostable,
degrading in just eighty days in an industrial composting facility. Discovery
Water is currently developing a biodegradable lid to replace the PET lid.
We are working on appropriate signage to place next to the fridge where
the water is housed. We are also purchasing aluminum bottles to sell in the
restaurant and will charge people a minimum amount to refill their bottle
with filtered Discovery water.
WEBSITE
We launched our new website in May 2010 and have included two sections dedicated to raising awareness of
environmental issues as well as of our environmental management system. See
http://www.aquarium.co.za/conservation_research/going_green/ and
http://www.aquarium.co.za/about_us/sustainable_management/
We have also started sending out a monthly e-newsletter to approximately 17, 000 contacts. Each newsletter
includes a green tip of the month.
DYER ISLAND CONSERVATION PROJECT
As a result of the initiative of the AfriSam Children’s Centre supervisor we have successfully adopted a penguin from
SANCCOB and bought a nest on Dyer Island. The supervisor will include this information in the Oil Spill puppet show
which we present in the AfriSam Children’s Centre.
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SIGNAGE
Smoking sign & bins
On recommendation by Heritage at the last audit we installed cigarette butt signage
and bins along the outside wall of the Aquarium where the majority of smokers tend
to congregate! Did you know that one cigarette butt can contaminate a litre of water
so severely that fish cannot survive in the water?
Green Christmas 2009
Our Marketing and Visitor Services teams came up with the idea of a green theme for Christmas 2009. Not only did
we have Christmas trees made from recycled cardboard but we also decorated a yellowwood with decorations made
from recycled materials by visiting children.
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RECYCLING BINS & SIGNAGE IN AFRISAM CHILDREN’S CENTRE
WASTE MANAGEMENT:
• We’ve introduced recycling bins at various points throughout the Aquarium and the images above show the
recycling signage in the Afrisam Children’s Centre.
• In June 2010 we started drying all old kelp and some sargassum out on the roof, then shredding it and giving
it to staff for home garden use. At this stage we have done 4 loads which in wet material would fill about 6
wheelie bins, weighing about 300 kg. In dry shredded material this equals 8 x 20L. buckets (a fraction of the
wet weight). Many aquarists enjoy the shredding and have helped with the process.
• We have introduced marked recycling bins in the Aquarists’ Room and in the staff Common Room to try and
prevent contamination of clean recyclable products.
• The Membership team has installed SAPPI bins – one for plastic and the other for paper.
• Used cooking oil from the restaurant is turned into biodiesel and biodegradable soap. We use the soap to
scrub down the exterior walkway outside the restaurant.
• Natasha Townsend asked our radio supplier Lazer Communications whether they recycle the two way radio
batteries and was horrified to hear they just dispose of them with the rest of their rubbish. Since she asked
the question, the manager from Lazer emailed (see below) enquiring how they could “become greener”. He
said that if we are able to find a better way to dispose of the batteries, he would inform his other clients too.
Could you tell me what environmental certifications the Two Oceans Aquarium holds and how I can get in touch with
the various certification agencies? We are looking at improving our environmental impact and I would like to find out
more about the requirements for certification.
Any help you can offer will be appreciated.
Kind Regards Riaan Dietrichsen, Lazer Communications CC
As Uniross in Cape Town have shut down their offices, they could no longer collect our old batteries (old recyclables
as well as normal batteries) as in the past. After speaking to Pick ‘n Pay’s recycling person, I was advised to get hold
of the director of Uniross in Johannesburg. He has kindly agreed to arrange the collection of all our old batteries as
well as 2 way radio batteries. They will then dispose of them in the correct manner. We now need to just box them
up to get sent to Johannesburg. Staff and volunteers are still continuing to bring in their old batteries.
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PRINTING
All our printing is now done on recycled paper through C2 Digital.
EVENTS
AquaFestival
In conjunction with the V&A Waterfront we hosted the AquaFestival in December 2009 and purchased
biodegradable cups from Green Home for use in our various bars.
FLOW - Monday 22 March 2010 (World Water Day)
Zolani Mahola (Freshlyground) performs in front of the I&J Predator Exhibit. Photo: Charlie Dailey
The FLOW event on Monday 22 March 2010 (World Water Day) was a great success with close on 200 people in
attendance. The evening commenced with the film FLOW in the Auditorium followed by a Q&A session with one of
the participants in the film, Dr David Hemson (research director in the Centre for Service Delivery (CSD) research
programme at the HSRC). The guests then flowed through to the I&J Predator Exhibit to be treated to a free dive
meditation by Hanli Prinsloo (SA free diving champion) and incredible music by some very talented musicians.
Some comments on the event include:
“Every so often, if you’re lucky, you stumble across a night so unusual, so magical, so unique that it remains lodged in
your memory forever. You can tell it’s going to be One of Those Nights as soon as you arrive, and although the night
itself is only a few hours long, it’s the kind of night you’ll talk about for hours and hours afterwards…” ~ Bridget
McNulty, guest
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“This event was made possible by the generosity of so many individuals, organizations and companies. All the
performers donated their time, the Two Oceans Aquarium provided the venue and support staff and Pick n Pay
purchased all the tickets allowing the event to be provided free to the public. We hope this flow of participation and
good intention leads to a torrent of action around the issue of water” ~ Justin Friedman, organiser
World Ocean Day – 8 June 2010
Besides our booked education lessons for the day, in which we made a special mention of world Oceans Day, two of
our Education team gave short informal talks to visitors at the I&J Predator Exhibit and the Kelp Forest exhibit during
the course of the day. Our two mascots, Terminator the Seal and Silver the Shark also made appearances throughout
the day and the supervisors with them provided information to the visitors about seals and sharks and the fact that it
was World Ocean Day. Silver the Shark also delighted the children at the feed in the Predator Exhibit and the kids has
the opportunity to hug a shark for WOD.
Our feed talk presenters also mentioned WOD in their talks.
At lunchtime we showed the staff the film The Greatest Shoal on Earth – a film about the sardine fun – to showcase
the beauty of our oceans.
Our WOD blog on our website attracted a high number of readers -
http://www.aquarium.co.za/blog/entry/waves_of_change_oceans_of_opportunity_world_oceans_day_and_the_aq
uarium/
So all in all we managed to raise WOD awareness both onsite and offsite.
Biomimicry workshop
On 27 and 28 July 2010 a group of about fifty individuals from diverse education and career backgrounds came
together at the Aquarium to discover the essence of biomimicry in an introductory workshop presented by Claire
Janisch, currently South Africa’s only certified biomimicry professional. Architects, designers, engineers, ex-nurses,
teachers, sustainability practitioners, Aquarium staff and volunteers, environmental educators, farmers and nature
lovers, were amongst those who participated in the interactive workshop.
We hope to incorporate biomimicry into the Aquarium’s signage and education programmes and we also hope to be
able to offer biomimicry tours of the Aquarium in the future. Instead of just learning about the animals and plants
which we house in the Aquarium, we’ll be learning from them. And thanking them for their inspiration!
Earth Day 2010
In recognition of Earth Day, we encouraged staff members to make a pledge of something which they were going to
do in order to make a difference to the environment.
We had people pledging to start veggie gardens, reduce power at home, use grey water on lawns, recycle more,
recycle their fat clothes and plant trees.
Here is a pledge made good. Well done Xavier!!!!! He even went a step further and did not only investigate installing
a gas hob, but actually had one installed.
ORGANIC GIRL
Hayley McLellan, Chairperson of the Green Team (and alias Organic Girl, joined us as a member of staff in 2009.
We are now using a Biowash ball instead of detergent to wash all the towels.
We have encouraged staff to purchase organic and biodegradable cleaning
She has sold approx 10 Biowashballs; 3 x bulk (5litre) Better Earth dishwash liquid(hand); 10 x Better Earth 750ml
dishwash (750ml)(hand); 5 x 500ml Better Earth dishwash (machine); 5 x Triple Orange Biodet (1litre); 1
Orange Wondergel (500g).
ARTS & CRAFTS ACTIVITIES
Our Afrisam Children’s Centre supervisor continues to offer themed arts and crafts to children and uses recycled
items wherever possible. The children painted clay candle holders for
crafts for National Marine Week.
COSATU Pensioners’ visit
The annual COSATU pensioners’ visit day took place on 09 March 2010.
Approximately 1500 pensioners were treated to a free visit to the
Aquarium, as arranged by COSATU.
cLellan, Chairperson of the Green Team (and alias Organic Girl, joined us as a member of staff in 2009.
iowash ball instead of detergent to wash all the towels.
We have encouraged staff to purchase organic and biodegradable cleaning and personal care products from her.
She has sold approx 10 Biowashballs; 3 x bulk (5litre) Better Earth dishwash liquid(hand); 10 x Better Earth 750ml
dishwash (750ml)(hand); 5 x 500ml Better Earth dishwash (machine); 5 x Triple Orange Biodet (1litre); 1
Our Afrisam Children’s Centre supervisor continues to offer themed arts and crafts to children and uses recycled
The children painted clay candle holders for Earth Hour and made various bird arts and
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The annual COSATU pensioners’ visit day took place on 09 March 2010.
Approximately 1500 pensioners were treated to a free visit to the
cLellan, Chairperson of the Green Team (and alias Organic Girl, joined us as a member of staff in 2009.
and personal care products from her.
She has sold approx 10 Biowashballs; 3 x bulk (5litre) Better Earth dishwash liquid(hand); 10 x Better Earth 750ml
dishwash (750ml)(hand); 5 x 500ml Better Earth dishwash (machine); 5 x Triple Orange Biodet (1litre); 10 x Triple
Our Afrisam Children’s Centre supervisor continues to offer themed arts and crafts to children and uses recycled
and made various bird arts and
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