One thousand people. Thirty-plus kilometres of river. Fifteen locations. Nine tons of waste removed. A precis of All Spruits Cleanup day — Johannesburg’s contribution to World Cleanup Day 2022. After glibly offering yet another numerical response, it occurred to me that while statistics seem to be the only truths we have in a vast sea of lies, even those figures, however accurate, conceal a different story.
All Spruits Cleanup day was the essence of the hopes, fears and dreams that have brought every living being on Earth to the edge of what we euphemistically call Climate Change. The Braamfontein Spruit (from the Afrikaans for spring of brambles), the longest river in Johannesburg, bubbles up from a spring in the north of the city and then runs through parkland where people walk their dogs, run, cycle, picnic, kiss, come together for religious gatherings and sometimes, unfortunately, even have to live. The best and worst. Beauty and the beast.
The catalyst for All Spruits Cleanup day came when Paul (my husband) and I watched a mother duck guide her babes through a raft of cups, crisp packets and diapers. The water was covered in oily scum too and when you see such a degree of degradation, myopia or busy schedules aren’t valid excuses anymore. So the call to arms went out, led by the Rotary Club of Johannesburg New Dawn, and the people heard.
Some more statistics: three months of preparation, fifteen zoom hours (that we know about), nine hundred and fifty-two emails (from our side), ninety-seven WhatsApp group members and countless hours of website implementation. All of it dedicated to the creation and coordination of an army of energy that would have been unstoppable if anyone had been insane enough to try.
Army, the word, for me at least, has primarily negative connotations, but like statistics, it can hide a different truth. During All Spruits Cleanup Day, just one day, a microcosm of what could be, I had a sense of that combined strength, of people from all backgrounds, experiences and beliefs (though maybe not still sufficient diversity) coming together to achieve a single aim. Yes, the Spruit will be dirty again tomorrow and yes, we will still have to address the armies good and bad, but if we agree to put our differences aside for the greater good or, more bluntly, our survival, then we can move mountains and oligarchs and fossil fuel producers and… and… and… because our power is in agreeing to agree that we as consumers can decide.
In 2023 All Spruits Cleanup Day will again coincide with World Cleanup Day and everyone wants to be involved. The event will, of course, be bigger and better, but this time it will only be a headline for the underlying text: the environmental education packages planned for underprivileged schools, skills-sharing between schools, privileged and not-so, urban aeroponic agriculture initiatives and the growing awareness, day on day, that the responsibility for change ultimately sits with us. We don’t have much time, but we do have resources, if we look for them. Watch this space.
