Karoline Hanks, Coordinator of Project Noordhoeked
While driving around Noordhoek you have probably noticed two men walking or biking along picking up litter, they’re working for Project Noordhoeked.
The project’s aim is to keep Noordhoek’s beach and roadsides litter free and their dedication plays a big role in the beauty, tranquilly and delight we share in living here. This fantastic project is run by one of our local heroes, Karoline Hanks and her partner Filippo.
Karoline, a local since 1993, is passionate about the planet and minimising our impact on it, mainly through waste minimisation. She is an anti-single-use plastic campaigner, an accomplished ultramarathon trail runner, and one of the founders of #ICarryMyOwn, a campaign against plastic sachets used in road running. Her business, SUPA, offers single-use plastic alternatives.
Karoline says, “Project Noordhoeked is really a job creation initiative aimed at keeping Noordhoek clean. We employ two men from Masi four days a week with the main focus being to keep the beach clear of litter and dog poo. Our guys collect dog poo in buckets and make sure the boardwalk, walkways and general beach areas are clean.
Karoline and Filippo took over the project last year from Sonette Son, who started it almost three years ago. The two have added a few new elements to the project:
- Kakapo: non-recyclable beach litter ‘eating’ whale
Kakapo is the wire whale that beach goers can fill with rubbish they have collected off the beach. - EcoBrick bench on the beach
The old, broken bench on the beach has been replaced with a new one built of eco bricks. It used 1000 bricks, roughly 500kgs of non-recyclable rubbish, mainly plastic. The bench ïs dedicated to the late Wes Sweetnam, a much-loved, local Noordhoeker. - Ou Kaapse Weg Clean ups
Two clean ups on Ou Kaapse Weg – one with community members and the other with Team Juliet, a women’s-only fire-fighting team. They collected more than 150 bags of rubbish on the two clean ups.
It costs R6 800 in wages plus roughly R1 000 in compostable dog poo bags (provided to the public at the poo bins) to run Project Noordhoeked per month. “We are funded by the community thanks to 20 regular monthly donors, including the NRPA, but funding is a constant requirement that we work hard to meet every month. We have been incredibly lucky as we have had excellent funding support from the Farm Village through their Golf Day charity event which raises money for this project,” says Karoline. Last year, Karoline raised R14 000 herself for the project by running the gruelling Puffer trail run from Cape Town to Green Point.
“We are also hugely grateful to the NRPA for their monthly contribution,” says Karoline, “There is great vision, leadership and spirit within the association and Brad Bing (the NRPA Chairperson) has always been very supportive of what we do,” she says.
Becoming a member of the NRPA or donating directly to projects like this one is a great way to give back to this fantastic community, she says. “I love living here with the beach and mountains, and the birdlife and wildlife we occasionally see. Noordhoek has some great, passionate people and, in managing this project, I have come to know so many of them,” says Karoline.
DID YOU KNOW: Supporting the NRPA costs only R300/year per household.
Become a member online at nrpa.org.za or email your name and address to treasurer@nrpa.org.za to join today – it’s the best investment you’ll make this year.
The NRPA not only works on the six community goals developed to keep Noordhoek the best place to live, we also financially support other organisations working in Noordhoek such as:
- On The Verge
- Project Noordhoeked
- The Common Committee
- and many more.