It's also Clean-Up and Recycle Month, where organisations and volunteers get stuck into cleaning our beaches, rivers, streets and parks.

South Africans also celebrate their heritage as South Africans. This heritage includes our country's beaches, mountains, game reserves and forests, and even our own communities.

Fibre Circle, the producer responsibility organisation for paper and paper packaging, is one of the many supporters of the Clean-Up and Recycle programme, an initiative pioneered by Plastics SA.

Some 500 000 iconic yellow Tuffy bags, made from 100% recycled plastic, have been specially produced for 2022's clean-up initiatives.

We applaud our partner organisations for their support of cleaning up our country. This should not just happen one week during the year but should be part of everyday life.

As citizens, we need to be more conscious of what we do with our waste, whether we are at home, in the park or enjoying time at the beach. We also need to get away from the mindset that throwing rubbish on the ground for someone else to pick it up creates employment.

Here five ways in which we can keep our country beautiful and clean:

1. Uce a bin:
Whether you call it udoti, trash, matlakala, litter, inkunkuma, rubbish, vuilgoed, or garbage, it belongs in a bin. If you cannot find a bin, keep it with you until you do. Do not throw it on the ground for someone else to collect.

2. Don't throw litter where it does not belong:
Do not throw rubbish in road storm water drains. This ends up in rivers and eventually the sea.

3. Be part of the change:
Get involved in your own community to keep your own pavement and street clean.

4. Separate your waste and recycle:
Separate your recyclables from your food waste and other rubbish.

Paper recyclables need to be kept clean and dry to ensure they can be recycled into new products. Compost your food waste, either as a household, with your neighbours, complex or community. This is a great way to enrich food gardens.

Support your local recycling collector with recyclables that they can sell.

5. Be a responsible voice in your community:
Share these messages with your family, neighbours and friends. Report illegal dumping to your ward councillor or municipality, and follow up until it is addressed.

Cleaner communities are happier and safer for everyone. Let us do what we can to keep our country beautiful and protect her natural heritage.

For more information, visit www.fibrecircle.co.za.