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Building a cleaner future, one bottle at a time

10 June 2025 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied

According to Dr Anita Venter, eco-bricks help prevent further environmental degradation, a theme often highlighted by World Environment Day.

Students filling plastic bottles with tightly packed wrappers, chips packets, and cling wrap until they are sturdy may not look like revolutionaries, but that is exactly what they are. This Eco-Bricks initiative is a grassroots effort that transforms plastic waste into construction material, sparking environmental change from the ground up. From there, the possibilities multiply – from benches to buildings, and from awareness to action.

It is not just about just stuffing bottles; it is about shifting mindsets.

Dr Anita Venter, Lecturer in the Centre for Development Support at the University of the Free State (UFS), believes eco-bricks directly address the urgent need for solutions to plastic pollution. “By taking plastic out of the waste stream and giving it a new, useful life, we're actively participating in ecosystem restoration and preventing further environmental degradation, a theme often highlighted by World Environment Day.”

However, the Eco-Bricks project is doing more than managing waste. “Beyond this practical application, it serves as a powerful community development tool, empowering individuals to take control of waste management and fostering a vital environmental consciousness.”

And while we can dream of a plastic-free world, Dr Venter is grounded in today’s realities. “So, my approach is that I'd rather have plastic contained safely within a bottle – repurposed in a regenerative way – than seeing it break down into nano-plastics, poisoning our earth. This project is about finding practical solutions within our current reality.”

A no-cost solution

Dr Venter does not lead from a podium; she is mentoring from the sidelines. “I'm primarily involved in mentoring our student champions. They are the real drivers, facilitating the eco-brick training peer-to-peer. It's about empowering them to spread the knowledge and skills, rather than me being the sole instructor. It’s a beautiful ripple effect.”

And ripple it does. “These initiatives continue in their communities, and that truly warms my heart,” she says. The students are taking the lessons home, creating a chain reaction of action and awareness. “It’s not just about building bricks; it’s about inspiring continued action.”

The concept’s biggest success story? Thousands of eco-bricks being used by the Natural Building Collective in the Western Cape for formalised buildings. Proof that what was started by students can reshape entire landscapes.

“I see eco-bricks as an incredible community development tool. What’s beautiful about it is that it’s a no-cost activity. Anyone who wants to start a community development initiative can pick it up, and they immediately reap the dual benefits of cleaning their environment and taking control of their own waste management. It’s very empowering on a grassroots level.”

Regeneration starts here

Dr Venter, who has been part of the initiative since 2013, sees it as integral to her broader environmental work as climate activist focusing on research related to housing, informal settlement upgrading, culture, socio-ecological development, regenerative design, and art. She is quick to connect plastic pollution to the deeper ecological crisis we face. “Plastic is a monumental environmental problem, rapidly leading to biodiversity collapse, which I honestly believe is a far more pressing issue than even the climate crisis itself. It’s stark – babies are now born with plastic in their tiny bodies, and these microplastics are found in every human organ. It’s a pervasive crisis.”

With students and community leaders now steering the project, she is hopeful about the future: “The beauty of something so accessible and practical is that it doesn’t need top-down direction; it flourishes from the ground up as people recognise its value and adopt it.”

Dr Venter’s commitment to making waste meaningful goes well beyond the Eco-Bricks initiative. In the project What Remains Through Time, Slowness and Stillness, waste is transformed into meaningful art, and communities step into the role of co-creators.

Using post-natural building techniques, the project incorporates both waste and natural materials, marrying ecological restoration with social transformation. Sites such as the Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein National Hospital, and Sekoele Holistic Living Arts Centre serve as hubs where participants can engage hands-on, learning new skills while strengthening their communities.

According to Dr Venter, the main activities at Oliewenhuis are from June to September this year. Here, the focus is on community collaboration and regenerative art that goes far beyond constructing physical spaces. “We’re aiming to break down social barriers and make art truly accessible and inclusive within public spaces. It’s as much about building community as it is about building structures,” she says.

So, what can you do?

Start where you are. Join an eco-brick or art-for-regeneration initiative. “Go beyond sustainability! We need to regenerate, to ‘renew, restore, revitalise’,” says Dr Venter. Attend a training event. Share what you learn. “That’s how we create real, lasting change – through shared knowledge and empowered action.”

News Archive

State of our campuses: UFS closes campuses until Friday 28 October 2016 to readjust academic programme

2016-10-15

UFS announces strategy for completion of the 2016 academic year

Agreement between UFS management and student leadership in relation to residences

After almost four weeks of student protests about fees at the University of the Free State (UFS) and the subsequent suspension of the academic programme and closing of campuses, the senior leadership announced on 14 October 2016 a strategy to ensure that students will be able to complete the 2016 academic year.

The university on 13 October 2016 announced that it will shut down its Bloemfontein and South Campuses until 28 October 2016 for crucial and complex arrangements to be put in place to readjust the academic calendar and ensure that all students can complete their studies. The senior leadership did, however, make it clear that the university will not be shutting down for the remainder of 2016.

No teaching and learning activities at undergraduate and honours level will be offered between 17 October and 28 October 2016. The university will re-start teaching and learning at undergraduate and honours level in the first week of November 2016.

However, teaching and learning will not take place in the classrooms during November 2016, but through a different mode of delivery that consists of a combination of printed and recorded lectures, study materials and learning aids that will be provided by the university and delivered through Blackboard. In this manner no attempts at disrupting the rest of the academic year will affect our students’ academic programme. Students, however, will sit for the exam on campus.

Students in residence accommodation can return to campus as from 29 October 2016 and it is recommended that students who do not have off-campus internet access return to campus in order to access study material to complete the academic year.A new timetable for exams is still being developed and will be communicated as soon as the arrangements have been finalised.

Faculties have been differently affected by the loss of teaching time. Some faculties like the Faculty of Law have completed their curriculum, while other faculties like the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences require more teaching time. Some faculties, like the Faculty of Health Sciences, cannot do teaching through alternative modes of delivery.

The needs of the different faculties have been taken into account for developing a rescue plan to complete the 2016 academic year.

The Faculty of Health Sciences will continue its classes and clinical rotations as normal for all three schools on the Bloemfontein Campus and in the relevant hospitals. All students registered in programmes in the Faculty of Health Sciences will stay in residences for the full period of their studies and exams. Final-year medical students will graduate in December 2016 as expected.
In the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, final-year students for the Certificate in the Theory of Accounting (CTA) will stay on campus during October through to December 2016 and their classes and tests will not change.
Arrangements for all other faculties and programmes are being prepared and within the next week, students and parents/guardians will receive communication about how curriculum content will be completed and when the final exams will take place.
The university is extending the academic year so that we can recuperate all the lost teaching and learning time. The qualifications conferred on the 2016 class will be of the same quality and standards as all UFS qualifications.

The UFS is and will remain a fundamentally contact teaching and learning education university. However, under the current circumstances faced not only by the UFS, but higher-education institutions across the country, the best way of ensuring the integrity of the academic programmes in most faculties is by using an alternative way of teaching and learning. Other South African universities have chosen the same approach to be able to complete the academic year.

Instead of students going to class, they will have content delivered to them where they are (library, computer labs, their own computers, etc.) through Blackboard and printed and electronic material. This is a different way of learning but students will be carefully guided and supported.

Faculties are currently preparing all the necessary materials and instructions to support student learning.Standards and quality will be the same as if students were attending classes. Some faculties require practical laboratory work as part of their curriculum. The exam timetable will be adapted for these students to be able to complete their practical work when the academic activities commences in November 2016. The relevant faculties will communicate the schedule of practical work directly to the students.

Students in their final year will complete their studies during 2016. It is possible that in some cases the graduation ceremony for these students will be in June 2017 instead of April 2017. This will not prejudice students with bursaries, or committed employment in law firms or other businesses. The university will provide the necessary academic transcripts as proof of the completion of the relevant qualifications. None of these changes will affect postgraduate students.

The university will maintain regular communication with students and parents/guardians to update them on the new exams timetable.Faculties will communicate directly with students about issues related to their programmes.

“One of the areas in which significant progress was made, is that we were able to agree on a basis for stability with student leaders. The student protests occurred during an important time in the university’s academic calendar and the readjustment of our academic programme has put tremendous pressure on academic and support services staff, and created anxieties for parents,” said Prof Nicky Morgan, Acting Rector of the UFS.

“The senior leadership restates its commitment to free education as well as its willingness to stand together with students and other public universities to impress on government the urgency to decide on a time frame for the roll-out of free higher education for the poor and missing middle. We will use the next two weeks to meet with the leadership of Universities South Africa to coordinate collective action in this regard. We will furthermore also roll out a series of activities to inform and educate students and the general public on different models and experiences of providing free higher education,” he said.

The strategy to readjust the 2016 academic year is applicable to students on the Bloemfontein and South Campuses.

Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Brand Management)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

State of our campuses #15: UFS closes campuses until Friday 28 October 2016 to readjust academic programme

State of our campuses #14: All academic activities on UFS campuses remain suspended on 13 and 14 October 2016

State of our campuses #13: Availability of information about plans for remainder of UFS 2016 calendar year

State of our campuses #12: All academic activities at UFS campuses suspended for 11 and 12 October 2016

State of our campuses #11: Academic activities on UFS campuses continue

State of our campuses #10: Impact of non-completion of the 2016 academic year on UFS students

State of our campuses #9: Academic programme on all UFS campuses to resume on Monday 10 October 2016

State of our campuses #8: UFS extends vacation as from 28 September until 7 October 2016, 28 September 2016

State of our campuses #7: All three UFS campuses will be closed today, 27 September 2016.

State of our campuses #6: All UFS campuses reopen on Tuesday 27 September 2016

State of our campuses #5: UFS campuses to remain closed on Monday 26 September 2016

State of our campuses #4: Decisions about the UFS academic calendar

State of our campuses #3: UFS campuses closed until Friday 23 September 2016

State of our campuses #2: UFS Bloemfontein and South Campuses closed on Tuesday 20 September 2016 (19 September 2016)

State of our campuses #1: Academic activities suspended on UFS Bloemfontein Campus (19 September 2016)

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