University students get serious about going green – Seipati Moloi and Collen Maepa

Date: May 16, 2015 | News

University students may best be known for last-minute cramming, fun escapades and sleeping late. ​

But while the rest of the world is focused on the financial troubles flowing out of the credit crunch, some students are becoming increasingly vocal about turning their campus green.​

A group of students at the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) Doornfontein Campus (DFC) is a microcosm of what is happening across UJ’s student communities.

Sibusiso Bakana, a B-Tech Electrical Engineering student at the University, started Green Life Style (GLS) with the aim to influence, educate, and promote a sustainable green lifestyle. “A few students and student residents have adopted a set of eco-rules and I’m hoping that the GLS will spread to the rest of the UJ’s student communities,” says Bakana after a recent student awareness protest about energy conservation and the fight against global warming on the DFC.​

Established on January 2011, the GLS serves as a groundbreaker for issues concerning energy saving initiatives within the UJ student community. It is based at DFC and operates under the support of Professor Harold Annegarn, Chairman: EnerKey, Dr. Zola Njongwe, Deputy Vice Chancellor: Strategic Services, and Dr. Hester du Plessis, Senior Research Fellow at UJ.​

“Students play a vital role in the transformation of our University and society as a whole. We can plough back to our society in different ways and green is what this student organisation will do for UJ. We believe that our vision is congruent with the University’s values,” says Sibusiso Makana, chairman of the GLS committee.​