13 November 2008
Windhoek — Hollywood film producer, Stephan McGuire, a producer of the award winning documentary film, The 11th Hour starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was the special guest last week at the launch of the country's first Green Charity, GAWA (Green Awareness Africa).
GAWA was officially launched in the capital by Minister of Environment and Tourism Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, who welcomed the green initiatives that will be undertaken by GAWA.
According to the Environmental Performance Index (EPI), Namibia is ranked 88th in the world, and fourth in Africa.
"Namibia's first green charity, GAWA is a section 21, non-profit organization, which has been established with the aim of leading and growing the Green Movement in Namibia," said the managing director of the Interact Group of Companies and founder of GAWA, Gareth Amos.
He emphasised that there is no greater imperative than the prevention of the ecological collapse of our planet as reflected in the film The 11tth Hour, and it is crucial that each nation's people work together to literally turn back the tide of environmental damage.
"Since people spend so much time at work, GAWA's first objective is to encourage Namibians to practise green awareness in their workplaces, therefore helping them to integrate healthy environmental practices into their everyday activities," said Amos.
GAWA's first initiatives will focus locally on the business, corporate and government sectors.
"Ultimately, it is the vision of GAWA to be the preferred partner for all green initiatives throughout Namibia. However, GAWA has already achieved recognition as a credible green charity on the international arena," said Amos, thanking Stephan McGuire for traveling all the way from Hollywood to be a guest speaker at the launch of GAWA.
McGuire is a partner in Tree Media Group, the company which produced the film The 11th Hour. Narrated by and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, the film highlights the urgency of reversing the current ecological collapse, whilst also providing many solutions from experts focusing on sciences such as biomimicry and alternative energies.
Following the launch, GAWA will immediately start the implementation of its first project known as The Business Recycling Project.
"Through this first initiative, GAWA will provide two types of recycling bins to Namibian companies - one for paper products and another for plastic waste. GAWA will liaise with companies to establish a convenient collection cycle, emptying the GAWA bins free of charge, and disposing of the contents at a recycling plant. Initially, these bins will only be available in the City of Windhoek area, but a national roll-out is planned," said Amos.
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