In commemorating World Environment Day in the month of June, General Motors South Africa (GMSA) in conjunction with Food & Trees for Africa donated 30 trees to Settlers Park Primary School in Walmer, Port Elizabeth, during their annual Green Week programme.

Settlers Park Primary School, established more than a century ago, is one school that takes the environment seriously ,said Mr Angus Clark, GMSA's plant engineering manager and also head of the Strategic Resources Forum Task team of Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber. With a motto that reads 'We Care' it is evident that this school cares for the environment. Their water and energy conservation initiatives bears testament to this, Clark affirmed.

When drought targeted the Nelson Mandela Bay region a few years ago the leadership of Settlers Park Primary started to raise awareness in the school about conservation. The school erected wind turbines and began to generate its own water and energy from there. According to the school principal, Mr Andre Schlemmer, the water generated by the wind turbines had been tested by the local university and proved to be of good quality and useful for human consumption. He said the school intends to add more wind turbines in order to generate its own power. "We have to leave a legacy that positively impacts the environment for the future," said Schlemmer.

The trees that GMSA donated through the Food & Trees for Africa organisation are indigenous Waterberry and Yellowwood trees. "We are removing all alien trees and replacing them with indigenous trees,"said Schlemmer. Furthermore the school started its own vegetable garden and reduced its paper usage. "We have managed to reduce our dependence on paper significantly by capturing all data electronically and where possible we use modern technology to communicate with parents," Schlemmer added.