The Fourth Tshwane Green Ride will take place for the first time in Hammanskraal this year on Sunday, 26 March 2017. Registration will start at 06:00 and the ride will start at 07:00 at the Hammanskraal Sports Complex next to the Mandela statue.
The Green Ride is the hallmark of the City’s Sustainable Mobility Programme, which casts light on the importance of cycling as a viable mode of transport.
The Green Ride is intended to be rotated in the townships, both as a green community outreach activity and to draw attention to the role of supporting infrastructure to enable cyclists to pedal safely.
For more information on the event, residents can send an email to greenup@tshwane.co.za.
This event is part of the Tshwane celebration of Earth Hour 2017 that will take place on 25 March 2017, marking the 11th anniversary of this global grassroots movement.
Across the globe, millions of people join in the world’s largest grassroots movement for the environment. The organisers of Earth Hour appeal to all role players to “become the change our planet so desperately needs by taking the momentum of Earth Hour into our homes with easy, manageable actions”.
The City of Tshwane is joining this movement for change by hosting an Earth Hour event on the evening of 25 March 2017 and committing to switching off non-essential street lights and electricity in municipal buildings and at iconic landmarks from 20:30 to 21:30 on that night.
The city will also encourage Tshwane’s residents to host their own events and spreading the word far and wide and encourage everyone to share their events and pledge their climate actions on www.earthhour.org.za.
The theme for this year’s Earth Hour is “Say YES to renewable energy”. This theme resonates strongly with the City of Tshwane, who has partnered with various organisations to increase the scope of renewable energy in the city.
Tangible outcomes include the Bio2Watt biogas digester in Bronkhorstspruit, which produces electricity from organic waste; and solar-powered electric vehicle charging stations for the electric vehicle fleet of the City of Tshwane.
The City of Tshwane is also finalising guidelines on small-scale embedded generation (SSEG), which will help to regulate the proliferation of solar energy systems that are being installed to power homes and commercial buildings in the city.
It is the Municipality’s responsibility to regulate the installation of this infrastructure, ensuring that it conforms to the standards supplied by Nersa.
Thus, the objectives of the policy guidelines are to streamline the application process to facilitate rather than impede SSEG, keep a record of applications and compliance with relevant legislation and standards, and report applications to Nersa.
The Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Mr Solly Msimanga, will be celebrating Earth Hour this year by switching lights off at Menlyn Maine. This venue was identified as the perfect location for an Earth Hour event. It is a 315 000m2 purpose-designed green mini-city combining office, commercial, residential and entertainment spaces. It is not only the largest project of its kind within Tshwane but one of the most ambitious projects of its kind in Southern Africa. The developers of Menlyn Maine have partnered with the international Clinton Climate Initiative and the precinct is one of only 17 green cities that will be built in various countries and the only one in Africa.
Other events that support Earth Hour include an open day at the Atteridgeville Recycling Park and the Hammanskraal Kasi Ride.
Launched in November 2016, the Atteridgeville Recycling Park is the first facility of its kind in Tshwane to provide a clean material recovery facility for the diversion of recycling waste from landfills.
The open day aims to raise awareness of the activities of the plant and to present workshops on vegetable gardening and the role of composting therein, and to develop an understanding of entrepreneurial opportunities associated with compost bulk purchasing and retailing.
The event will take place on Saturday, 25 March 2017, from 09:00 to 12:00 at the Atteridgeville Recycling Park in Maunde Street on the buffer of the Kwaggasrand landfill site.
The City pleaded with residents to shine a light on climate action and switch off lights from 20:30 to 21:30 on Saturday, 25 March and to also say ‘yes’ to renewable energy by signing the following online petition: www.earthhour.org/petition.
