7000 plastic bottles become a 20m beacon of light

A 20m tower made from more that 7 000 recycled plastic bottles on a redundant communications tower beams messages of hope and trust over Troyeville‚ Johannesburg.

It is estimated that in South Africa‚ nearly 250 000 plastic bottles are dumped into the environment every hour‚ posing a danger to wildlife and oceans.

The purpose behind the iThemba Tower‚ which will be officially launched at the weekend‚ is to address these issues by raising awareness about the importance of recycling.

A street artist known as R1 said the iThemba Tower project was inspired by a pilot project in 2013 when he collaborated with Isaac‚ a homeless person who survives by recycling plastic bottles.

“We started becoming friends and decided one day that we will use his bottles to create this large installation and we wrapped it around a light tower not far from where he lived‚” R1 said.

He said Isaac’s installation was later exhibited at the Spaza Art Garden in Troyeville‚ a safe haven for creatives.

“Inside the garden‚ there is an old redundant communication tower and we wrapped the bottom part of the tower with Isaac’s bottles.”

R1 said the community of Troyeville was so inspired when Isaac’s installation went up and suggested: “Why don’t we continue this idea and cover the entire 20m high tower with recycled bottles.”

A team of informal waste collectors collected plastic bottles from bins around the city to decorate the tower.

The project then involved awareness campaigns at schools about recycling.

Messages of hope from the community and the schools were included in the bottles.

Bushveld Labs‚ a design and engineering specialist‚ installed LED lights in the bottles‚ so that the tower becomes a beacon of light at night.

R1 says: “The old redundant communication tower has become alive again. 'iThemba' means trust‚ hope.

“The 20 metre installation has become a landmark and symbol of inspiration.”

A documentary film of the iThemba Tower project will be shown at the Bioscope Cinema in Maboneng‚ Johannesburg‚ on Sunday at 10:45. Entrance is free.