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Is there a pollution solution
To make one cotton T-shirt up to 2 700 litres are used – that is two-and-a-half years of drinking water for one person.
Dr Cindé Greyling, a UFS DiMTEC (Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa) alumni, studied drought mitigation – with a strong focus on communicating important water-saving information. 

Coming out of the closet
“We often point to the mining, agriculture, and energy sectors as water pollution culprits, which they are, but what about closer to home?” Dr Greyling asks. It is good if you take short showers, harvest rainwater, and are conscious about closing taps, but, she explains, there is a big problem hiding in your closet. Textiles. “It is difficult to put an exact number or ranking to it, but the textile industry could easily be in the top 10 water polluters. The cotton plant requires a lot of water and is one of the most chemically dependent crops in the world. Long before manufacturing starts, water is already at stake.” Not that polyester, or polyester blends are much better – when washed, thousands of microplastic fibers are released that eventually end up in our water sources and the oceans.

To dye for
“Most dyes used for textiles are also heavy water pollutants,” she explains. “And since we’ve developed a taste for cheap, mass-produced clothing, the production sites take strain – putting the community and environment at risk. When you wash these cheaply made garments, the same toxic dye is often visibly released.” The fashion industry is regularly criticised by animal activists for their insidious labour practices. But maybe it is time to help limit their environmental impact too.  

One in, one out
“We must unlearn our fashion gluttony. There is no pride in having a wardrobe full of clothes that you do not wear. Buy less, buy better quality, and care for your clothes so that you don’t have to replace them that often. To make one cotton T-shirt, up to 2 700 liters is used – that is 2 ½ years of drinking water for one person. My household applies a ‘one-in-one-out’ rule. You can only buy, for example, a new pair of denim jeans, if you take an old pair out that you either donate or repurpose. It works very well – you think twice about purchasing.”

A helping hand
Dr Greyling thinks that beside individual efforts, the UFS community can contribute a lot toward reducing textile water pollution, such as opening a pre-used clothing bank on campus. “Students are very influential and can easily create a ‘cool to re-use’ fashion trend, even if just locally. Also, research students can further explore and develop textile alternatives like bamboo, hemp, or a more water-friendly synthetic.” 

News Archive

SRC elections: A first for UFS main campus
2005-08-14

Students on the main campus of the of the University of the Free State (UFS) will this week for the first time vote for the Student Representative Council (SRC) using two voting systems: proportional representation (PR) and first-past-the-post. 

According to the Vice-Rector, Student Affairs, Dr Ezekiel Moraka, this year’s elections are a milestone for the UFS as it will be the first time that the main campus SRC will be elected according to the amended SRC constitution, which was approved by the UFS Council in June 2005.

“It is also a major breakthrough for student governance and transformation of the UFS main campus and constitutes a legitimate basis for the democratic participation of all students at the UFS main campus in the governance of the university,” said Dr Moraka.

The amended constitution of the main campus SRC determines that nine of the 18 SRC members must be elected by means of proportional representation and nine on the basis of an individual, first-past-the-post election.
 
According to Dr Moraka, the introduction of the proportional representation system follows earlier calls by some student formations, notably Sasco and the ANC Youth League, for such a system to be introduced at the UFS main campus in Bloemfontein.

The new main campus SRC constitution is the result of consensus reached during a lengthy negotiation process involving diverse student formations such as Sasco, the ANC Youth League, the Young Communist League, the ACDP, HEREXVII, KovsieAlliance, as well as the democratically elected SRC members of the main campus.

“Independent persons such as Mr Jack Klaas and Mr Kobus van Loggerenberg, a former SRC President, facilitated the negotiation process,” said Dr Moraka.

Students on the main campus in Bloemfontein will vote for a new SRC on Monday 15 August 2005.

SRC elections will also take place on the other two campuses of the UFS, which have their own SRC structures.

Students on the UFS-Vista campus in Bloemfontein will vote for a new SRC on Monday 15 August 2005 and Tuesday 16 August 2005.

At the Qwaqwa campus of the UFS, students will vote for a new SRC on Friday 26 August 2005.

The election processes on all three campuses will be closely monitored by independent electoral bodies. 

After the three campuses have elected their respective SRCs a central SRC will be constituted.  The central SRC will have 12 members made up of delegates of the three campus SRCs, including the presidents of these three SRCs. The main campus will have five representatives, the Qwaqwa campus will have four representatives and the Vista campus will have three representatives.

Main campus voting schedule:
Monday 15 August 2005 from 07:00-21:00.  Ten voting stations will be set up across the campus.  The results will be announced on Tuesday 16 August 2005.

Vista campus voting schedule:
Monday 15 August 2005 and Tuesday 16 August 2005 from 09:00-18:00 in the administration building.  The results will be announced on Wednesday 17 August 2005.
 
Qwaqwa campus voting schedule:
Friday 26 August 2005 from 09:00-18:00 in the Senate Hall.  If there is no objection to the final results, it will be announced on the same day.


Media release

Issued by:  Lacea Loader
   Media Representative
   Tel:  (051) 401-2584
   Cell:  083 645 2454
   E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za

14 August 2005
 

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