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28 February 2018 Photo Pixabay
Use less water and save more
Don't think twice about being water-wise

“Lift up the handle as soon as you flush. Don’t use the whole five litres at a go,” says Dr Cindé Greyling, who reckons we could save 25% of the water we flush down the toilet. Dr Greyling, who completed her PhD in Disaster Management at the University of the Free State (UFS), has spent years studying ways to shape the drought dialogue. Her voice is one that deserves our attention as citizens of this province.

Over the past five years the Free State has been experiencing heightened stress levels on reservoirs and dams due to the drought conditions induced by climate change. Since 2013 the issue has been worsening instead of improving.

Feasible water-conservation strategies
Students and staff members are advised to apply the same principle in the bathroom and kitchen alike by not letting the tap run while rinsing coffee cups. You could save a litre or two a day by (depending on how much coffee you drink and the number of cups rinsed) by quitting this bad habit. According to Dr Greyling, litter on campus is a secondary way of wasting water which many are unaware of. Litter blocks the drains and water which could have otherwise been recycled is lost in the process.

What do fellow Kovsies say?
Unamandla Mdlotshana, a third-year Actuarial Science student proposed eco-friendly adjustments that could potentially save litres of water on our campuses. He believes that using bottles to collect drinking water from taps, installing more water dispensers, and introducing hand sanitisers in bathrooms could drastically minimise water usage.

According to Dr Greyling, litter on campus is a
secondary way of wasting water which many
are unaware of. Litter blocks the drains and water,
which could have otherwise been recycled,
is lost in the process.


In Tebogo Chabangu’s view, taking shorter showers, turning off the tap while brushing your teeth, and making sure taps are properly closed are some of the ways we could be water-wise. For the Anthropology honours student being water conscious means changing habits on a daily basis.

Join us as we spread the message of reversing the effects of the drought by saving water prior to the Rector’s engagement with students at 11:30 on 08 March 2018 at the Albert Wessels Auditorium on the Bloemfontein campus.

Remember to tag us on your water-saving tips on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

 

News Archive

UFS invests in community journalists
2013-12-09

The first group of journalists who completed the Department of Communication Science’s short-learning programme for community journalists. The course was developed by Mrs Willemien Marais (far left) and Mrs Margaret Linström (far right). In front in the middle are Prof Lucius Botes, Dean of the Faculty of the Humanities, and Mr Lumko Mtimde, CEO of the Media Development and Diversity Agency, the sponsor of the programme. Fifth from right is Ms Manana Monareng Wa Stone, Programme Manager of the MDDA.

An investment in our people, our region and our democracy. This is the value of the Department of Communication Science’s short-learning programme for community journalists.

The first 20 community journalists from radio stations and newspapers in the Free State and Northern Cape received their certificates recently after successfully completing the course Basic Journalism Skills for Community Media.

This credit-bearing short-learning programme is fully sponsored by the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA), a statutory body with the aim of developing and promoting community media.

The University of the Free State (UFS) is the first university in South Africa that presents a course of this nature. “It is also the first large-scale formal training of community journalists in the Free State and Northern Cape,” says Mrs Margaret Linström, journalism lecturer in the Department of Communication Science. She developed the course together with another journalism lecturer in the Department, Mrs Willemien Marais. “What distinguishes our programme for similar programmes is the element of mentoring,” explains Marais. Students attend a week-long training session on the Bloemfontein Campus of the UFS. The lecturers then visit all the participating newsrooms to provide further training in terms of the unique challenges of their area. “During the second semester we’ve travelled more than 3000 km to visit radio stations and newspapers as far afield as Springbok and Phuthaditjhaba,” says Linström.

During the certificate ceremony the CEO of the MDDA, Mr Lumko Mtimde, said this partnership with the UFS has the potential to make a tangible difference in communities. “Combined community media reaches the largest target audience in the country. Against this background the importance of training community journalists becomes very clear,” says Mtimde.

The role of community journalists differ from that of journalists who work for state or commercial media. Yet most of these community journalists fall outside the network of formal training, mostly due to a lack of resources and access to training.

“This course has changed my life. I came back as a newborn baby for whom everything is new!” said Mr Setona Selisa from Naledi FM in Senekal. Selisa and his colleague, Mr Teboho Mabuya, received the award for the best participants of the 2013 course.

 

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