No sooner had an electronic charging station been installed at Constantia Village and people were calling and emailing to find out how it works.
Marketing manager Nicci Venter said the electronic charging (or e-charge) unit was fitted on Tuesday November 22.
Alan Boyd of the BMW Group said the site was chosen due to geographical location and potential electronic vehicle (EV) coverage. He said all BMW I customers will be able to see the charging station on their BMW I App and on the vehicles navigation system. He said an EV customer needs to swipe the radio-frequency identification (RFID) card to gain access, then connect the cable and the vehicle will start charging.
“The service will be free for a period, which is to be determined by Constantia Village,” said Mr Boyd.
Mr Boyd said other charge stations in Cape Town are V&A Waterfront and BMW dealers at SMG Cape Town, Auto Atlantic, Donford Motors, Forsdicks Tygervalley, Paarlberg BMW and Auric Auto.
The e-charge unit is the latest environmental project to be installed, for its size making it the greenest mainstream shopping centre in Cape Town, with solar panels on its roof, an on-site edible garden project in the car park and a recycling depot at the back with funds going to the Constantia Valley Greenbelts.
Ms Venter says it’s evident that the majority of their target market are customers with a green footprint.
“They come in wearing cycle gear, gym clothes, eat healthy food and are environmentally conscious. This centre fits their lifestyle,” she says.
In September, management held an eco-friendly showcase which had great support. Local businesses and organisations supported them, such as Soil for Life.
“I did a market survey on our website and found their most popular link was the organic garden, followed by recycling,” she says.
Did you know that polystyrene cannot be recycled? This is one of many items being dumped at the recycling depot behind Constantia Village. Even worse are items such as (used) disposable nappies, chemicals, paint, toothpaste tubes, dog food packets, clear food punnets, washing powder packets, chips packets, motor oil containers, acids and solvents.
Constantia Village management say their waste to landfill is too high and they are doing their best to reduce it but they need customers to join them and not to dump wet, dirty, contaminated or non-recyclable goods at the depot.
“We’re currently designing some flyers and building signage to tell the public exactly what we can recycle as we have been receiving general household waste which we can’t recycle from our side,” said Ms Venter.
For more information on recycling visit www.wasteplan.co.za
