Gift With a Purpose

With the holiday season approaching, many people look for sales to stock up on gifts. We would like to let you know that with our biggest sale of the year you’re not just saving money on gifts that will be loved and used every day, you are also contributing to greater good.

Our positive impact initiative continues to support the Pristine Earth Collective. As of July 2020, 2,5% of all sales made on notabag.com (excluding shipping) goes towards solving one of the biggest issues of today: the pollution of our planet’s waters.

PEC aims to see no single-use plastic going into South African landfills and oceans by 2025. It’s not an easy challenge to take on, so every contribution counts. We thank you for your support and want to highlight a few activities that PEC has brought to life over the last months:

July: Youth Awareness Event on the Lotus River
On July 24, 2020 PEC hosted their first Youth Awareness Event on the Lotus River. They took 22 youths and 2 community leaders on a "source to sea" journey of waste.

Their journey started in Gugulethu. The under-serviced, low-income area in Cape Town is a hot spot for illegal dumping as waste services and lack of awareness are an issue. In partnership with the City of Cape Town's Green Jobs department, the learners were shown the direct impact of the waste at source near their community.

They then went south to the Lotus River in Grassy Park to illustrate how waste travels downstream daily toward the wetlands of Zeekoevlei and showcase interventions. There are 2 Litterbooms placed across the river to trap the surface waste and intercept ocean bound plastics.

From there, they took the learners onto boats to experience the delicate ecosystem at the end of the river, which is annually drawn down to flush into ocean of False Bay (Muizenburg). They enjoyed this very much, especially after months of being locked down in their neighbourhoods.

Overall it was a very impactful day, full of inspirational experiences. So much so that the young learners were inspired to do a cleanup in August. 

See PEC’s IG recap: https://www.instagram.com/p/CDL4yQjpA2R/

August: Youth Cleanup in Gugulethu Area
In August PEC held their first PEC/Gugs Youth Clean event with 40 youths from the Gugulethu area. It was a successful day of hard work where 112 bags of litter were collected in just 1h30!

These community champions showed incredible initiative and with the encouragement and support of organizations such as PEC, they are fast becoming environmental stewards tackling pollution at the heart of their neighbourhood.

See PEC’s IG recap: https://www.instagram.com/p/CEtlqDrJGz5/

September: World Cleanup Day
PEC celebrated the World Cleanup Day 2020 with a passionate group of 42 youths (over double the expected turnout) cleaning up selected dumping hotspots in the Gugulethu area.

Together with the City of Cape Town Green Jobs Department, the group collected almost 500 bags of rubbish in 2 hours. That’s over 2 tons of litter that was prevented from ending up in our oceans and rivers.

Many of the participants were involved in PEC’s July and August events. They also organized multiple cleanups on their own so PEC wanted to encourage and reward their initiative. They organized lunch and prizes such as paint and citrus trees (donated by Laughtons Hardware) to be used in public spaces.

See PEC’s IG recap: https://www.instagram.com/p/CFcGyu7pDhE/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The above are just 3 examples of culminating points of the efforts that PEC, their partners and local community undertake to do their part towards a cleaner world. These events take tremendous organization and their successes often rely on volunteers and sponsorships. We are truly inspired by the work PEC and the local youths are doing to tackle pollution.

While this year has been a tough one for so many in many different ways, it has also brought opportunities for people to come together and support each other. We thank PEC for the opportunity to contribute to their efforts and we thank you for choosing to make a difference with us.

To learn more about PEC, their efforts and how you can support them, visit their website pristinecollective.com or follow their efforts on Instagram.

To shop our full collection and contribute 2,5% of your purchase towards supporting PEC, click here.