Two Oceans Aquarium Heritage Report 2009

Below is a brief report of some of our ‘green’ activities over the past year.

ENERGY We met with an independent energy consultant on 11 June 2009. He did an initial appraisal of our electricity consumption and made the following initial comments: • Without sub-meters we are unable to properly measure our consumption. He suggests that we put sub-meters on all DBs and on individual HVAC systems. • Our pumps and blowers are probably responsible for 90% of our energy consumption. Where possible we should install variable speed control measures on the pumps to make sure that they are not running at full throttle unnecessarily • Various pipes should be insulated to reduce heat loss e.g. piping around Fangs sump • The compressors in the plant room are really old and are probably not running efficiently especially if we have to rewind them on a regular basis. • The freezer system needs a good clean as it is icing up and therefore not running efficiently. • Peak load – I realise that most of our life-supports run 24/7 but we are being charged for a peak load which means that there is a steep increase in consumption at the start of the day. If we can look at staggering the switching on of various areas, we could reduce our bill by about R3000 per month.

Since this report, we have: • installed a power-monitoring system to monitor our consumption (www. http://www.power- star.co.za) • will be installing variable speed drives on the large pumps to improve efficiency • will be installing timers on the building aircon units to switch off at night. • are looking at warming the Predator Exhibit using black piping on the roof and sunlight. • are looking to improve the use of the heat pump so that Kelp and Predator exhibits act to cool and heat each other more effectively.

We have also: • introduced LED lighting in the toilets, the AfriSam Children’s Centre and certain offices. • Some of the offices and store rooms now have their own light switches e.g. Curatorial, Finance and Communications. • Installed a solar geyser for the showers upstairs • Put signage in our restaurant and shop (see below) to let our visitors know that we wouldn’t be running more air-conditioning into these areas. • Introduced this line to checklists: “switch off all unnecessary lighting before leaving the building”

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WASTE • Purchased colour-coded recycling bins – due to budget constraints we couldn’t order more, but will look to do so in the new financial year so that all offices and classrooms have such bins. • Requested new Sappi ‘war-on-waste’ bins for distribution through the Aquarium • Recycled some of our old computers through Desco Electronic Recyclers (see certificate) • Dispose of our fluorescent tubes responsibly as hazardous materials – see below

• Encourage all staff to bring recyclables from home to work for recycling (see attached fridge poster) • Using recyclable materials in arts and crafts in AfriSam Children’s Centre e.g. mobiles from old cds. We asked our IT company to donate old cds as well as several other organisations.

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Mobile from old CD

Wise up on waste The Two Oceans Aquarium partnered with the City of to present a schools programme on waste minimisation. One of the Aquarium’s environmental education teachers, Khonzani Lembeni, reports on the success of this programme.

Khayelitsha has been identified by the as one of its Urban Renewal areas. As such I selected five primary schools - Sosebenza, Kuyasa, Nkazimlo, Injongo and Sivile - to participate in the waste minimisation programme. The programme was aimed at groups of sixty Grade 6 learners in each of these schools.

Before running with the programme, I conducted a pre-visit to each school to take photographs of the school grounds. In many cases it was not a pretty sight!

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At the schools I met up with the children and we got stuck into picking up the litter in the school grounds. We then hopped on to a Golden Arrow bus to visit a wetland close to the school where the children again picked up litter. This exercise was important because the children had the opportunity to see how litter impacts on nature. We put all the bags of litter on the bus and headed for the Aquarium. In one of our discovery centres, I showed the learners how different animals are affected by litter.

We then took the litter to the Aquarium’s recycling site where, under the guidance of David of Enviroserv, the children learned to separate their litter into recyclables and non-recyclables. After their hands-on activities the learners were taken on a guided tour of the Aquarium to see the lovely creatures

found in the ocean.

The responses by teachers from the participating schools have been overwhelming. One teacher said that they would continue with litter clean-ups at their school and it seems this promise has been kept as was seen by a recent visit to the school by our Outreach teacher.

WATER • We continue to use the Discovery Water filtration system in the restaurant as opposed to selling mineral water. We put pressure on them to introduce biodegradable bottles so that we can sell water in take-away bottles. • We installed electronic taps in the restaurant toilets, but unfortunately a couple of these have been broken!

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ENVIRONMENTAL DAYS

Earth Day

In the AfriSam Children’s Centre, we did sand art where the children traced their hands and then cut out them out and glued them on to a page. They then glued the Earth on top of their hands and did some sand art on top of that. Our message was, “Earth’s future is in your hands”.

Earth Hour 2009

We handed out candles to all our visitors and some of our staff wore Earth Hour t-shirts courtesy of WWF. Below are some of the staff initiatives:

Simphiwe: …In fact I switched all Electrical Appliances off and I slept. Guess what time I woke up? The following day after 08h00… So I also dreamt EARTH HOUR. And OH I forgot to mention that I managed to get my uncle and family to switch their lights off too

Tania: Just thought I’d let you know what I did for earth hour, our family had a great deal of fun playing domino’s, cards and 30 seconds we did not even realise we had gone way past an hour! What great family time! (even Ash had a ball). …it was such a great experience for us that we are planning to do it at least once a month.

Russell: WE put off our electricity in our house and lit candles. The family, lit candles and had a discussion about how much damage electricity generation causes (we had my 2 nephews over for a sleepover).

Kath: I invited another couple over for supper. Nick, Shan, Laurie plus two of his friends and my extra son Paul were there too. We turned all the lights off at 08h30 and put candles on the coffee table in the

5 lounge. 9h30 came and went and by midnight when our friends left, we were still “lights out”. Most pleasing of all as that all but one of our immediate neighbours were lights out too.

Helen: I had a candlelit dinner and then took the dogs for a walk around the neighbourhood to see who had switched off and who hadn’t! We even saw a spotted eagle owl! When we got home, we didn’t turn on any lights or shower - we went straight to bed in the dark!

Arbor Week

Arts and crafts

In the Afrisam Children’s Centre we made trees from toilet rolls and tissue paper. We got loads of compliments from the public about the toilet roll trees.

Handing out seedlings

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In celebration of National Arbor Week, Russell Stevens, Head of Education at the Two Oceans Aquarium, distributed yellowwood Podocarpus latifolius seedlings to Aquarium staff on Wednesday 3 September 2009. Staff were encouraged to bring containers and potting soil to work and, those who were willing to make the commitment to caring for them, were given seedlings to take home or to keep in their offices until the trees are robust enough to be planted outdoors. Stevens handed out over fifty seedling to Aquarium staff. He also offered seedlings to his daughter’s Brownie group and they have agreed to care for the trees for six months at which time they will then see whose tree has grown the tallest and has the most leaves.

Stevens, who lives in , discovered the seedlings in his garden and he and his two children gently removed them from the ground and placed them in containers. He decided that he would give the seedlings to Aquarium staff and other interested people to take care of and subsequently plant in areas which would benefit from these indigenous trees. More importantly, he wants to encourage people to take ownership of caring for a tree. “It is no coincidence that the yellowwood is ’s national tree and therefore distributing the seedlings during National Arbor Week seemed an appropriate way in which to highlight the importance of trees and to get people to invest in caring for a tree,” said Stevens.

International Coastal Clean-Up

Co-ordinated International Coastal Clean-Up on 19 September 2009. In the week prior to this, we handed out clean-up kits to visitors (bag, gloves and info). The actual clean-up was attended by members of the Aquarium, volunteers and a handful of Aquarium staff. The biggest turn-out came from Sappi – see below.

Sappi supporters at Beach Clean-Up 2009

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National Marine Week We participated in the Save our Seabirds Festival which was presented by Birdlife SA. We provided venues free of charge for three evenings of talks and a gala evening at the end of Marine Week. with funding from Birdlife and MCM we ran a schools birding programme in .

STAFF TRAINING AND AWARENESS

1. Introduced monthly DVD session for staff and other interested parties e.g. our cleaning contractor. We offer lunch (soup and rolls) and a short discussion afterwards. Films viewed thus far include: An Inconvenient Truth, Curitiba, Black Gold, Story of Stuff, Fish Fraud, Flow, Oil Crash and Six degrees could change the world. 2. Have drafted and will be introducing a ‘green’ section in all job descriptions. 3. Staff awareness survey sent out on 6 October 2009 to establish awareness levels: have received 37 responses back thus far (total no. of staff = approx 80)

OTHER

Air quality & Robinson Dry Dock

We have been monitoring and recording the air quality around the Robinson Dry Dock and have been in discussions with the Ports Authority and the V&A Waterfront. Of extreme concern, is work done on ships in the Dock that involves the spraying of highly volatile paint and sand-blasting. Both impact significantly on the air quality in and around the Dock and a large number of people inside and outside the working area are badly affected by the paint fumes, including Aquarium staff and visitors to the Aquarium. Visitors to the Aquarium include a significant number of school children. Often the situation is uncomfortable and, on wind-free days, it becomes intolerable.

Aids Day donation

We donated a percentage of the revenue generated through visitation on 1 December 2008 to Baphumelele, an organisation which assists those infected or affected by HIV. http://www.baphumelele.org.za/

Aids Day Christmas Party

On 1 December 2008 we hosted a Christmas party for about 40 children from Home of Hope who are affected/infected by HIV/Aids. We treated them to a tour of the Aquarium, lunch, arts and crafts and a visit from Father Christmas who brought them gifts.

Amphibian Ark On 7 July 2009 the Aquarium transferred R34,633 to the Amphibian Ark, an international frog breeding programme in zoos and aquariums . The money was collected from donations from Aquarium visitors in the wishing well in the Frogs-Beyond the Pond gallery in the Aquarium. The well, with the heading “Small change to make big change – making cents for frogs”, is one of the interactive elements in the successful large-scale temporary exhibit which was opened by the Aquarium in partnership with the City of Cape Town in October 2008. The Aquarium joined a number of zoos and aquariums around the world which 8 committed to similar displays to raise awareness of the plight of frogs, inform visitors on what they can do to create frog-friendly environments and raise funds for the Amphibian Ark.

Bag donation

Renée Leeuwner, Tourism Co-ordinator for the Aquarium, came up with a great idea to re-use old conference bags. She urged all delegates attending the recent SATSA (South African Tourism Services Association) National Conference in Cape Town to bring their old conference bags along and donate them to charity. The donated bags represented an array of past conferences attended. One in particular dated back to Indaba 1998!

Through SATSA’s involvement with Tourism Industry Charity Events (T.I.C.E.) in the , the bags were donated to the Tourism Education Trust (T.E.T.), a charity supported by T.I.C.E.

T.E.T. is a non-profit organisation which works towards educating the next generation about the fundamentals of tourism in South Africa. The delegates’ old conference bags were handed over to a school in the small town of Pniel, outside Stellenbosch. They were received with great appreciation from the children who will use them as school bags.

State of our Environment Competition

We teamed up with the African Carbon Trust to run a State of our Environment Competition. The aim of the competition was to give ordinary citizens an opportunity to show how their environment is being threatened or destroyed. Although we only received about 30 entries which was disappointing, we at least received entries with substance. The entries focus on issues ranging from degradation of the Wild Coast, overgrazing on farms in the Northern Cape, pollution in a river near Sir Lowry’s Pass, degradation of the Canal and the proposed mining development near Verlorenvlei. Judging by Leonie Joubert and Don Pinnock took place on 26 October and winners will be announced shortly.

Staff T-shirt

The Marketing team is finalising the artwork for a T-shirt for all staff. This T-shirt will be worn on all environmental days.

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